TV Exposure

Someone once said something about Nickelodeon. As outlandish as that seems, it's 1) better than nothing and 2) kids watching that will see the game then want their parents to take them to a game.

 

BEIN??? You got to be kidding. What percentage of US households get BEIN? Let me give you a hint, it's less than 10 percent. US households with computers and internet access is about 75%.

Look, money in the MASL is difficult to come by when teams have a ton of other expenses just to stay viable (or at least not lose a ton of money). Money has to be spent wisely. TV is not the way to go. Keep the games streaming online.

 

National Sponsors don't just line up once a TV Deal is announced. There are benefits of having a tv deal for sure, but until the league can have some better stability, it is just not a wise investment. There are other things that need to be in line first.

 

One World would be a more likely shot than BeIn. I think BeIn has developed a brand identity of only airing overseas sports to the point where the money from a domestic league time buy wouldn't be worth the loss of brand identity to them.

Either way, we're probably better off on ESPN3.

 

Hard for me to see anyone interested in paying the MASL to show any of these games on any form of TV when teams in large markets (Chicago, Detroit) don't draw well. The product just isn't very good right now.

The league is better suited to work on competition level before spending any of its own money on TV. Comets have had 4 games so far and only 1 has been worth paying to see for competition reasons. (Yeah, I've been a sucker and paid for all 4 games plus a lot of travel.) Last year's MISL schedule with only 6 opponents was far better entertainment value to me.

 

The sad part is that 2nd sentence might actually be true. Being the narcissistic dick that he is, Dion would probably agree to it. I can picture him telling everyone how he's an innocent victim who's as pure as virgin's kiss ("She came on to ME!!!"), and the women suing him are poor dirt bag hoes who are on the internet 24/7 looking for good looking dudes with money like him to hook up with so they can get a little taste. It'd be great reality TV. I'd probably watch it myself

 

This point of view brought to you by the year 1984.

Before you were born.

It doesn't work that way.

Kids don't watch Nickelodeon to watch sports. Not all kids see indoor soccer and think, "That's so cool!" and they definitely don't make their parents take them to games. (In enough numbers that you can build a reliable customer base from.)

 

And while they obviously won't pay attention when there ISN'T a TV deal in place, they still have to be sold on the idea when there IS. MISL 2's Fox "contract" was a wasted opportunity because there were no (to my knowledge) actual bona fide sponsors who came in because of the enticement of television (that's what also happened with USL's last outdoor TV deal).

Exactly.

And it's more expensive than many people believe, and you would never get everybody to share equally in the costs. The league doesn't have the money, surely, and the power organizations aren't likely to foot the bill, even if they get the lion's share of the games and "exposure."

 

Well the Blast have been doing something right by marketing the game to the younger crowd. (They often have more kids in their parade of Champions than say Detroit has total fans at their venue.) The market for indoor soccer has definitely shifted from an older to younger crowd and it appears as if only Baltimore has picked up on this. Despite all the adversity in the world of indoor soccer and the crummy economic climate, Baltimore has fielded an indoor team for 35 consecutive years. And this is largely due to their relatively recent effort to market the game to the younger crowd.

 

Any insight as to what specifically they're doing to entice this young crowd? And what sort of age group do you mean by "young"?

 

They've been doing that since before you were alive.

 

Seeing as he "was born yesterday", that isn't that long.

 

Young would be 6-16 crowd.

The blast market hard to local soccer organizations and groups. Organizations use tickets as fundraisers or drawings that cost like $5 a ticket to enter. They also hold soccer tournaments OR host special "games" prior to games on gameday. The premise is to give the kids a game at the "baltimore arena where the Blast pros play" as a selling pitch. You also get to walk on the field before the game in the "parade of champions" and sit on field while intros are made.

They also sell birthday packages targeting kids that gets you 10 tickets, pre-game party that includes a lockeroom visit to meet team and get autographs and you run through logo sign with your favorite player during intros for like $200.

The Blast do a lot of things better than other teams in other markets, but they do have the advantage of playing in a pro market that has only 2 pro teams, 1 of which isn't playing while they are (Orioles), and the other they are only competiting with on Sunday's/Monday's during the season (Ravens). The Skins, Caps, and Wizards play in or around DC which is a good 45 minute drive if not longer with traffic to DC that most in Baltimore don't want to make more than a few times a year at most.

The Blast in general are great with group sales in general, this is how you market kids correctly, get them interested but make it also worth it to the parents whether it be by helping their kids organization or seeing there own kid do something "special.

 

W

Which makes the attendance for the first three games more impressive. All of the groups that the Blast market to are involved in playoff tournaments in November, which is why historically the Blast do not have so many consecutive weekends in November filled with home games.