"Support-The-Fort, Support-The-Fort, etc." Also, what ever happened to this one: Band Aid - Do They Know its Christmas: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5cX_ncZLls&feature=player_detailpage#t=178s"]YouTube - Band Aid - Do They Know its Christmas 1984‏[/ame] 2:58 in "What the hell" "Does Kraft know he owns this team" "What the hell" Oh My Darling, Clementine "Are you watching, are you watching, are you watching Bobby Kraft? This is shameful, this is shameful, this is shameful Bobby Kraft"
The only real protest worth doing is to stop going to games and stop buying merchandise. If you have twitter unfollow everyone officially associated with the Revs. Unlike their facebook page. If you have season tickets mail them in with a politely worded letter saying why you won't ever be coming back to a Revolution game unless real changes are made. Don't chicken out and start buying single tickets either. Don't give the Revolution or Kraft Sports Group your money, ever. Someone need to write a form letter/e-mail and we can all send in our complaints saying essentially the same thing. Any protest at games will be ignored. At best you'll just get thrown out/arrested. It's not worth it.
While the sentiment is right it won't hurt them at all... they used to average over 20k a game and now they average 10k a game and nothnig has changed... things may have gotten worse... a few hundred diehards leaving won't be noticed or have an affect. I rather be a thorn in their side than another face that goes unnoticed when it's gone.
And you think they'll give a shit about protests? They didn't give a ******** about our concerns at that last meeting. You won't be a "thorn in their side" because they'll just ban you from the stadium.
All I know is that the entire league will be watching what happens on the 17th, if they botch that up it will make their PR disaster even worse than it already isand it's pretty damn bad. This wasn't because people decided to boycott this was because people stood up for themselves... and as it is already I think I've been a pretty successful thorn in their side
The problem with attendance dropping even further below it's embarrassing levels is that selling the team to an investor that wants to move it would be a more likely Kraft response than improving the Revolution and the game day experience.
Expansion candidate cities: Atlanta Revolution Detroit Revolution Florida Revolution Milwaukee Revolution New York Revolution Ottawa Revolution Phoenix Revolution St. Louis Revolution San Diego Revolution
if the league wouldn't leave the craptastic San Jose without a team you can bet they won't leave Boston without one ... despite the 16 years of poisoning the soccer well that Kraft has done it is still one of the best soccer markets in the US for a dedicated and competent ownership group. they probably wouldn't even let Kraft sell the team outside Boston and if by some miracle they did they'd put another expansion team there within 5 years.
And the very sad part of this entire debacle will be that NO MATTER what occurs in the long run...Sell the team, Keep the team, do NOTHING as he's done for 16 FLOCKING Years..is that he most likely will FIGHT TOOTH and NAIL about holding onto SUM rights to Big Giant games at FUXBORO Stadium..!! That's the killer part for me... Be it that some(Hopefully, once the World Realizes how huge a Soccer Market Boston, is) that whatever they plan..be it SSS or whatever..I have that UNEASY feeling deep within my bones that BOB KRAFTY will def. have some piece of the proverbial Soccer Pie..NO MATTER WHAT OCCURS... But, I guess..Beggars, which I am certainly one, cannot be CHOOSERS..!! I made the mistake of giving this monumental A-HOLE more of my hard earned money for a NON-Revs event. Because if anyone believes that US playing ManU is anything BUT a Revs event..then please sell me some of your stash. I'd like to start taking DRUGS!! But, in the future..NO MORE $$ is going to Bob Krafty and his derailment of the beautiful game to suit his needs from ME!!
Is that so bad? I've reached the point where I feel this situation won't end well- the Somerville stadium talk is all smoke up our asses, and this team will eventually be sold and/or move, whether that happens in 3 years or 15. At this point, I'm in favor of everyone just staying away so that we can force the team to either be sold to a local group or move out ASAP, allowing everyone to start the campaign for an expansion team (rather then having to start it when the Revs move in 2025). It's clear that Kraft still finds value in this team, possibly from the foot traffic it brings to Patriot Place or as a tax write-off for the Pats, but mostly for these big-money games like USA-Spain and Revs-Man United. If giving him contractual rights to all USA games and big club friendlies would be the tipping point to get him to sell, then who cares? A 25,000 seat SSS wouldn't be big enough anyway, and a few good tailgates with our friends around the country (USA-Spain game sucked but the AO tailgate was awesome) would be a fun time. I definitely see the rights to such games as eventually being Kraft's biggest sticking point when his ownership of the Revs is no longer tenable, and I say let him have it. It would have no bearing on us being able to enjoy a playoff-caliber MLS team in a fun stadium closer to Boston anyway. The big thing now is to quickly get attendances/fan atmosphere down to such a desperate level where Kraft can no longer run the team as he's been doing, and to the point where no player would voluntarily come here. Better to force the inevitable now then wait several decades for it to happen.
this is where I'm at and it's absolutely rediculous that fans of a team that exists even have these ideas in their head. sad sad sad sad
Me and JoeGrav bandied this about a few weeks ago, and this is what we came up with: It's early Spring, the Patriots have left the Field In early spring, the Revs have already lost the shield, But in this city of Champions, we can shed a tear of joy At least, like the say in Cleveland, We're not Detroit And there won't be goals in Foxborough this Soccer Time The greatest gift we'll get this year is Ties! Oh-oh, where no one ever scores Our best Defender's AJ Soares Do we have a soccer team at all!
I know where you're coming from...and I see your point. Mine is..I'd like him to have NOTHING when it comes to this GAME. I know full well that won't happen..It's akin to me asking for World Peace or an End to HUNGER!! I'm not a Kumbaya singer...Mandacity and Loathing by the upper echelon of humanity will ALWAYS be here. Kraft and his minions use the Revs as a PAWN for his entry into SUM..and what that gets us fans is the CRAP that we've had to deal with. If some sheeple like to herded and prodded to walk on the line and into the pen, so be it. But what he's done to the MLS brand and the game in this area from a Soccer mind set is almost "racist" in nature. Anyone that doesn't get this remark, I can't help you...you're already gone! So why should I be happy if after the last ball bag leaves Gillette for some other city, or if we are so blessed, to a new owner's shiny state of the art arena in Boston/Somerville/Revere. That I would want Krafty and Co. to retain the RIGHTS to hold ANY Soccer related events in his Man Mall dungeon of a so called stadium? I say...NOFW!! but who am I...?
I don't know. MLS is run by folks with NFL DNA and the NFL walked away from Los Angeles. If Kraft thoroughly bungles the Boston market, I can believe the league would walk away without remorse.
I don't think Kraft loses moeny on the Revs. Most of his costs are sunk costs to support the Pats and other events. Asking him to sell the Revs is like asking him to not have another Taylor Swift concert. As long as it covers the marginal cost (the labor), he should keep doing it. I would not be surprised if he has not covered his marginal costs for the season by mid-season, and every ticket after that is just pure profit. Unless he feels like dealing with soccer fans to make even more money, he probably does not give a darn and may be even proud of the economics he is getting out of it. The criticism he already gets probably does not motivate him to do more from spite alone. I would say the Revs rank just below Taylor Swift concerts to him.
The relocating the current Revs/hoping for a Boston expansion is also helped by no clear frontrunner outside of NYC's second for a final expansion slot, assuming the league stops at twenty for a while.