I have read this thread with great interest, as I am an elder of the Barra, a dedicated fan since day 1, but also a business owner who has to deal with stupid business stuff like building visibility, websites, maintaining a relationship with clients, etc. And like DCU I also employ a number of young people. I am disappointed because I think they are trying to kill off a lot of things that have been great about United since day one -- in the name of business. As an addict/fan, I still want their product. But as a business owner, this FO makes me cringe. People in this thread have mentioned any number of excellent issues where the BUSINESS incompetence of the group screams at even the casual fan, in communications, marketing, social media, pricing, event planning and other areas, and all are valid. But let's be clear... Its NOT an issue of money to proofread your copy on the website, to send out basic game-day info on twitter, to tell the game day staff about promotions, or to check your database to avoid sending "first time STH" emails to long-time supporters. And its NOT a question of age. I have employed dozens of interns over the years, and hired many 20 year olds who have put out plenty of quality work. Nothing explains the profound lack of quality of some of the stuff I've seen from DCU in the last couple of years. And to all this talk of running the team on the cheap until a new stadium is up, I call BULLSHIT. RFK is a crumbling mess, but the stadium doesn't sell the product and in any case, if they're going to open the damned stadium anyway, it makes sense to try to fill it. The many outreach activities people have talked about -- twitter, FB, radio, email, outreach to the ethnic communities, just showing up in bars -- all of these combined could cost less than a week's worth of private jet fuel, and would help send a positive message to the community (as well as making money). Whoever thinks that they can go stealth for a few years then come roaring back seems to miss one of the biggest rules of business -- its easier to keep the customers you have than get new ones. I'm not asking for perfection, and I recognize there are many challenges. But what I've seen makes me sad. Perhaps they really would prefer to leave the District, or perhaps their hope is to ride up the value of the team and sell. Perhaps they really think the SGs are a pain in the ass and think we're so stupid/committed that we won't care if they do their bit well or not. Perhaps. But on behalf of this board and the fans in general, I challenge the Front Office to do the business parts of all this with the same commitment to quality they expect from the players on the field. Support and respect the people who support you. Do the basics right. Communicate. Listen. For years, DCU was like a family, a club that we were all lucky to know about. Most of us felt proud to be a part of building the team and the sport in our area. The current FO has been clear that the days of friends and family are over, and the new sheriff is all about business. If that's the case, then man up and at the very least, run a good business that treats its clients right.
Natty - thanks for taking the time and energy to start the thread. As a former STH for many years and 1/2 STH for many years, I went to 2 matches last year (and a few more tailgates) and I went to the last match (only because a friend's son was playing). I have been disenfranchised for the past couple of years. I go to matches on a nice day, if I don't have anything else to do and primarily to catch up with old friends (the community). I will watch on TV, but DCU isn't worth investing my emotions, time and money - and this won't change because they build a shiny building.
Great thread. Sorry I'm late. We do this every year. I've started similar threads. I've been a season ticket holder since the first year. I agree with almost everything posted. I will add only a few things. My relationship with the team has become a Morrissey song. A love-hate. Last year, I was fed up. I wasn't going to renew. No call. Surely I thought someone would miss me. No call. Then the stadium got approved and I re-upped my 4 tickets. I tried to sell half a plan on this site for way less than my cost - nobody bit. I have been to one game this year -- the opener -- and I thought the whole experience was a drag. I'm extremely bothered by our negative tactics. I bought into the Kevin Payne "attractive/attacking" soccer." To me, hat was the foundation of DC's "tradition". Everything else went from there. Fans, unies, partnerships, taking non-league cups seriously, everything was done with style. Not so any more. Another thing that has really hurt the team was the threat to move. It killed part of my love for the team. I had to cut off my arm to save myself from the impending misery of he team moved. As a result, I've never recovered and the current FO hasn't even acknowledged it. If I was Levien, I'd be out front and center apologizing for the clubs threat to leave. Back to the style of play thingy... Someone mentioned that the DMV area gets great int'l soccer ratings. I also believe that means local fans expect quality soccer. Kick and run with brainless hustle ain't gonna cut it. Last year's first place finish brought me little joy and it clearly didn't bring fans of the beautiful game out. ... I remember making my wife watch DCU playoff games from our hotel room in Bermuda during our honeymoon in 1996 (thanks to ESPN international). I won't even be recording he games I miss when we go to the beach this year. I will try to give our tickets away, but I likely won't find any takers. Even if we are In first place. Sorry for the typos. Posted from my phone...
I've watched this thread since it popped up. Unfortunately, I've actually been too busy to post on BigSoccer. I've been constantly refreshing. Fortunately(?), this has been a very active topic and many people have covered points I wanted to make, but that has made my post an even greater mess than it normally would be as I deleted some of the repeated points. Eventually I deleted everything I was quoting and gradually crafted a new post. Then I passed out and realized I never posted any of it. I am sincerely sorry for the garbled nonsensical mess this post has become. @NattyBo, I know we listen to the same things. I thought it was funny that one show was blasting the Redskins for not tweeting anything about the trifecta and even gave DC United credit.* (I had to go back to look at their timeline to see that they actually hadn't.) RFK sucks. That's a truth. There's no arguining it so I won't. Accessibility has decreased over the years whether the elimination of the entrance to Lot 8 that was used by most from Virginia or Metrorail service becoming a sad joke. Few actually want to go to RFK. I won't get into that. The stadium isn't the problem though. I'm also not in the "if they build, they will come" camp. Likewise, I too believe the front office is taking the wrong approach of treating people as numbers. As has been said and backed up several times, the successful teams have done a lot to increase attendance before moving. Apparently, season ticket numbers have increased this year, but they are still some of the lowest in the league. The season ticket holder benefits matter because they go directly towards retention. Right now, I don't matter. The team got my money. Although I hated hearing College Nights would continue, I felt encouraged when the front office said they would no longer do any LivingSocial deals because there were not many returning customers. I hoped that would mean there would be fewer deals devaluing the season tickets. Likewise, I was encouraged that the team was going to offer season ticket holders much more than they had the previous year. Obviously that has not been the case. Last minute promotions are still a prominent thing. $20 for a stadium beer with a ticket thrown in? (I wouldn't mind some beers to help watch whatever it is that the team attempts to do on the field while other teams have clear goals.) It's not fun. A beanie or something might have kept my head warm too. I understand the location choice for the Champions Club, but there are other areas on the same level of the stadium that offer much better views and are open to anyone. Wasn't one of the other "bar" areas exclusive in the past? The view sucks. I had no idea people actually viewed matches from up there. The only thing that area is good for is segregating the STHs from the plebeians and guaranteeing that the STHs stand in exclusively long lines. Likewise, the season ticket entrance just feels and looks silly to me. It doesn't take anyone anywhere different. It's not even convenient for many. Pinstripes is in Georgetown. That's a pain in the ass to get to on a Sunday afternoon. The lines were crazy. I wanted to give the team my money and buy a jersey then. They ran out. I contacted who was my rep about getting a jersey for the same price. That has been a debacle. I'm going to the games. The team is getting my money. As I have asked several times over the past few years, what real incentive is there for me to be a season ticket holder? The team has somehow failed to take hundreds of dollars from me in merchandise sales. Now even the merchandise side of things is even more inconvenient since I can't use my discount online. If the team can barely hang on to people like us, how do they expect to fill a new stadium? You don't agree that's "Everything You Need to Know about This Match"? The prices have increased over the past few years, but still only about $25 at Nats Park for a ticket that includes food. *I'm using so much restraint not to go on a DC sports media tangent **I'm trying not to address the product on the field.
I've waited to reply, not to argue but to take a different stance. Yeah, DCU is a business -- always has been. Some of us on this Board "love" DCU, but that creature (despite the Supreme Court's "corporations are people" nonsense) is incapable of "loving" us back. You build a relationship with a team through whatever interaction you have with the players who come and go (said "Hi" to Tony Sanneh in a restaurant in Minneapolis of all places last year), your friends, family and actual personal attachments you make while at the game. I remember Eddie Pope's OT goal in '96, watching the Interamerican Cup final on Channel 53, jumping up and down with my son in 2004 at the end of the NE game, going to RFK on a cold November night in 2012 when Houston already had a stranglehold on advancing to MLS Cup, but cheering nonetheless for my team. Those memories are mine and no changing ownership group, cast of players or whatever can take them away. I've offered my suggestions to the current FO face to face. They have listened respectfully. They are in charge and have the right to adopt or ignore my suggestions as it is my right to continue to suggest. In the end, they will rise and fall on their decisions. Meanwhile, I'll be at RFK whenever possible because that's where I want to be.
There is certainly a current in here about what it means to support and love a team, and it being a business, etc, and I find that conversation particularly interesting. It's not really the main point of this thread, but it's certainly a component of the larger conversation. But regarding that, I just wonder if Ben Olsen treats what he does purely like business transactions. Maybe he does, but despite probably being my favorite DC United persona, I have never had the pleasure to literally talk with him. But my guess, based on the small window into his person that I've seen in the last 17 years, is that it's not purely business for him. I think he comes a lot closer to us on the spectrum than he does to Levian. And that's not to lift him up in any particular aspect, or to put Levian down even, but to just point out that I think there's plenty of room for give and take in the middle of that spectrum, and I'm not sure the club is striking it right now. I think part of the problem is that for too many people working there right now, it's purely a job. A business transaction between them and the club. Part of good leadership, I think, is making people feel like they are part of something bigger than they are, like they are all working toward common goals, and doing something worthwhile. I think Olsen gets that part of his job, at least. I'm not sure the people above him do.
As a fan based in NJ, most of your concerns do not affect me but one thing that was brought up that grabbed my attention was the badge change. Does the FO really want to change the badge? And if so, doesn't else feel like this would be a big issue? This badge represents the history and the tradition of the club. I mean, it may not be a big deal to most of you but I think changing the identity of the club would be a bad thing.
The observation about Olsen is very interesting. Remember, he either played with or against some of the guys now on his roster. I'm sure in his mind he understands the business part, but I can't imagine he also doesn't remember Bobby Boswell the rookie defender, or Chris Rolfe or Davy Arnaud, the guys he played against and respected. Having those types of shared experiences and relationships and still having to run the team (the business) in the optimal manner is very hard, much harder than if DCU had hired a mercenary to coach who had no links or pre-existing relationships with the players to be coached. I give Ben a great deal of credit that he has handled that dichotomy as well as he has.
Sports clubs are brands. When this owner group bought the team they bought that too. They have steadily degraded the brand. The SGs are part of the atmosphere that built the brand. The style of play built the brand. They have actively worked to degrade both. The community feel has been degraded. So why not the crest?
Well Hello Bigsoccer for the first time in god knows how long. Natty you bring up so many valid points. So we sat down with the FO last year and realized how little they give a crap. They flat out told us to our faces that we are less than 1% of all revenue and they could careless about supportergroups. THAT right there told me they have no idea nor do they understand the DCU fanbase. I also got the feeling is they dont care about STHs. We brought up the fact that EVERY game you can get a cheaper ticket than those who get STH, case in point, where is my 10 dollar beer they gave walkups? They said they will always have a gimmick to get walkups, so I asked then why buy Season tix? They said for priority into the new stadium and the events. I told them, the supporter groups do better events than you do, and the players dont feel forced to come to ours and are more open. Jesse sat in this meeting, sat in more meetings and knows me, so what did I get last week? A effin call from him saying he is my STH rep now and wants to know all about who I am and how I got into DCU and congratulate me as a 1st season STH. I laughed my ass off, called him back and he still had no idea. I said go into the database, I have been a STH since 2000 when I moved back to DC. Hes like oh thats under a different address and email, NO SHIT SHERLOCK, I got my season tix through the Barra, not DCU. But the worst is I have sat in front of him and talked to him and he had no idea who I was. I dont know about you, but I do not know any other Pauly Planzer's in the United States, let alone who come to DCU matches. The rebranding of the badge, the rebranding of Talon, the way they treat there fans, its a different lifestyle and a different community than we have been used to since 1996. This is the new norm as long as Tom and the team are in the FO. This is like Toronto FC, they ruined a great thing. We are headed down that road, and they dont care. It will not be until there is noone left in the stadium and they will finally look and realized they lost it all. Thanks for bringing this up Natty, this is talked about every match day in lot 8. I wish there was something we can all do, but like they said, we are less than 1% of revenue so they wont ever care.
If there's one thing we've learned over the years, it's that there is only one Pauly Planzer. Great post. I remember getting an email from a rep at one point asking the whole, how did I get into DCU line of questioning. It didn't bother me quite so much at the time because for all the games I've gone to, I've never been a STH and I spent 7 of those seasons in the press box. But that's the reality of things, anyone at the club who would have known that last part is long gone. Comparing what's going on now to before is invalid, because just about every single one of those people that made that happen have quit, been fired, moved on, disappeared, etc. If they want to run the club strictly as a business, that's their choice and I can't do anything to change that. But if that's the goal, every single thing you present to the public should be of top quality and represent that business in the most positive fashion possible. I don't know that anyone can argue that this is what is happening. I looked just now at the website under "Club News" and see 5 pieces this week (not counting News Stand linkfests), leading up to a match against the Vancouver Whitecaps. One is about tryouts. Two are videos with no written content, one is a short piece of bullet points on Espindola, and one is a lengthier piece with quotes from Dykstra (Andrew, not Lenny). I watched the Vancouver preview piece, it wasn't bad. Standard stuff and that's fine, thought it was decently put together and that Lindsay Simpson does a good job in that role. But I'd hope for one story a day at least during the week leading up to a match. What else are they doing? Especially at a time when media outlets are consumed with Caps and Wizards playoff coverage, the Nationals, and NFL Draft stuff for the Redskins.
That's the point isn't it? They don't know what they have. The bouncing stands and supporters singing and making tifo is what makes their brand different from the traditional US sports. I actively see long time supersupporters walking away from the club. And the soccer moms aren't replacing them. And new stadium, or not, successful soccer clubs around the world build their success on supporters and the STHs who bled their clubs colors. The MLS clubs whose attendance have tanked have been those who went down the route the current management is taking.
Look at Houston, Look at TFC, Look at Colorado, Look at Dallas. We are now part of this list. These clubs said SG's don't matter and didn't treat STHs like they should and are struggling to maintain a base. RSL, SKC, etc have grabbed the SG culture and have excelled with both the casual fan, and the SG and are extremely successful. My fear is that the new FO is going to push away so many hardcore folks and casual fans that by the time we have a new stadium, all 4 SG's will be in 1 little section surrounded by idiotic DC folks who paid money just to say I was at the new stadium. When there wear's off who is left? Go to Houston, new stadium is so empty and the SG is so freaking small. Yes KP did alot of wrong, but damn if he made sure there was a culture that was created that would be different than anything else in DC and grabbed the casual fan to come to games to experience it. Those days are gone. this year no matter what will get worst and worst attendance unless the FO does something different. There is only so much the SGs can do, and now that we can't control ticketing after a certain point, its a PITA for newbies to understand they have to call ticketing to get tickets in our section instead of come to the tailgate which I KNOW has hurt ticket sales to the newcomers that in the past would not of been an issue.
There's a lot of consensus here, I think. A smart FO would try to contact us, at least pick our brains before telling us no. But it sounds like they've done that anyway and then forget what you told them, soooo...sigh. My biggest fear since writing this has been upon reflection that they really do think a stadium will be a panacea. They've got a lot of rebuilding of this fanbase to do. No doubt they'll sell out some games at the new one, but, as others have pointed out, MLS is littered with 2.0 stadiums where they thought it was as simple as "if you build it, they will come"
Before the next home game you guys should march to RFK from Lincoln Park. It's been my experience that such a display brings about swift change.
That's exactly what i was thinking. This is not the same club it was in so many ways. It used to stand for a certain style and quality of play as well as support. Little of that is the case today. Other teams have passed us by in every way