2003 - The "lost" money

Does the Crew actually see this as a $463k loss, or does MLS? I've always thought of the profit sharing of MLS as a two-way street. Last year, we gave money away that we didn't get this year. This year, we took money away that we weren't able to make.

 

Well since we're trying to judge what should have been against what actually was, lease fees and Expo center revenues aren't probably germane.

But you CAN say, very easily, that if the Crew had the year they were expected to have, attendance would not just have equalled last season but would have increased. So throw into that lost revenue from, conservatively, 1,000 people per game na d you begin to see the depth of the loss.

Toss in a couple sold-out playoff games and it's easy to make the case that the Crew left an easy million bucks on the table.

And THAT is what must keep Smitty up at night.

 

FF can you do my taxes?

 

I know that this is comparing apples and oranges, but doesn't it just piss you right the fvck off that the Lions sell out every home game? The Lions?!

 

It could say more about the dearth of alternatives in little D. There are just so many Redwings seats and who cares about the sPitoons (or all the NBA for that matter).

 

The biggest risk was rehiring Greg. Hard to build some excitement and replace the lost season subscribers when you have no way to create a real sense of anticipation for the '04 season. The public is rightfully wary of buying season seats to another dreadful season of SOShat. Yeah things will change somewhat, but new season ticket sales will be hard pressed to replace this years losses. Smitty will need a big season to just get back to this year's attendance if you take the real butts in seats numbers from the last 6 home games.

Why buy a season when there will always be plenty of tickets to every game? I couldn't GIVE my tickets away to the Dullass game. Even if Greg can revitalize the team, Smitty gave up the marketing high ground where you can wave flags and shout salvation. If we start slowly we'll need to go deep into the playoffs just to get back to '03s figures, much less '02s.

Parking will be easier - yeah that's the bright spot...parking.

 

RE: Parking, I think I recall that the Crew gets two bucks of the seven they charge out in the field and all of the ten they charge for the paved lot.

RE: Raoul's comments, that what really surprised me about the decision - it leaves Smith darn little in the way of marketing. "We're not changing much, but we'll be a vastly improved team next year anyway" does not have a lot of zing, sloganwise.

And let's face it - a whole lot of coaches in all sports who get canned don't really deserve it. They get fired because it's easier than firing all the players, and you have to do SOMETHING to convince the public to give you another try.

Even if the team magically gets way better, it's going to be June or July before a skeptical public notices. A couple wins in April ain't gonna cut it. And if they start slow, heaven help them. It could be mighty lonely in there, regardless of HOW the team is doing.

 

The Crew has marketing? News to me.

The real sad thing about all this is, as long as the Crew keep around 16K it doesn't raise a red flag because several other MLS clubs will do far worse. HSG can lose a million dollars a year on the Crew and still turn a profit with CCS with the other events it holds that aren't bound to MLS.

As for perception by the mass public, sadly, the Crew are not at that state of being that they really care if Andrulis is coaching or not. The Crew are going to lose some season tickets from the likes of us and maybe some buisness because the team isn't all that interesting, but Joe Public is going to continue to look at the Dispatch one day or hear there is a game at CCS and just decide to show up. That will keep our average at around 16K.

At some point, this organization is going to have to wage a marketing war to secure the hearts of Columbus and Central OH citizens or the sporatic lifeless crowds will continue. If it happens, it's going to have to start with a winning tradition because Columbus, with our inferiority complex, will only accept winners into our hearts. However, sadly, this orgaization doesn't seem willing or capable of doing that.

 

Pretty sure the Pistons lead the NBA in attendance last year. If not, they were very close. Too lazy to look it up.

Dearth, huh? Not quite sure what you mean. I would point the exact opposite. The fans here are insanely loyal. With the exception of the Tigers, most of our teams sell out in the face of rising ticket prices every year. So much so, that the average fan, me, is priced right out of the joint. Hell, I would have to take a damn mortgage out if I wanted to buy season tickets to the Wings.

And you can't argue that Michigan puts a bad product on the field. Or the Red Wings. Or the Pistons.

We may not have as much going on here as Chicago, but we aint Columbus either.

In fact, I'm pretty confident that even if OSU went into major suckitude, you guys would still sell out the 'Shoe.

My point is that it's too bad that even though the Lions have such a glowing reputation, that they still manage to sell their stadium out. The same can't be said for the Crew. Soccer has a very long way to go before people will go because it's the place to be.

 

But the Lions, the wings and the Pistons, like the Buckeyes, have a glorious history that people pay to go bask in. (Yes, even the Lions - it's the history that makes it an event, the fact that your father and grandfather were fans, etc.)

The Crew is a new team that's never won anything. (Please spare me the US Open Cup reply - the average fan knows little and cares less about cup competiton. Hell, there were only 5,000 people there the night we won the damn thing AT HOME.) There's no glorious history, no dusty old memories.

All they have is the product on the field. Today. It's all they have to sell.


RE: my previous post, I forgot to make the real point: in ANY business, a manager is not just judged on how he did as opposed to the previous year; rather, you're judged on how you did against the numbers they projected.

Simply equalling last year's numbers, in any business, is a failure. And I'm guessing the projections for CBus were pretty strong. Make no mistake, this was a monumental failure, and the only head that rolled was the lowest-ranking assistant coach.

My advice: send HSG your resume - they're obviously a great place to work. Nobody is held accountable for results.

 

So do the tigers, but people in Detroit know that the Tigers play 2nd fiddle to the Wings when it comes to Mike Illitch's money so they have not only lost their cathedral (Tiger Stadium) but they have lost their faith as well.

Of course they do suck royal ass too...that may factor in as well

 

I think you and I agree. But we said it differently.

Surprisingly, no glorious past is assisting the Tigers in their attendance troubles. The fans have lost interest because they KNOW that Illitch doesn't open up the wallet to buy talent. Personally, I couldn't give a sh!t about the Tigers. I don't follow baseball.

But I want all of my other teams in this town doing good. If only the Lions could get their sh!t together.

 

C-bus crowds respect effort AND winning. Marketing a limp dishrag team with no tactics, a bunker style, and the creativity of a Velveeta on whte sandwich will never attract the 15-30yr old players they need to survive and will lose all entertainment value for the serious fan. I would rather spend $125 to get the EPL cable package than waste my time at CCS if we don't get substantially better. OTOH, SJ would have had the crowd to 20+ for last half of the season and built a "been there" story that draws all the market segments. The Dispatch would have loved to have a local banner sport for the summer instead of flogging baseball.

I don't know what Jimbo is planning on turning in for projections in '04. If he projects 17+ average -he's toast without going deep into the playoffs and starting strong. Otherwise, the ONLY strategy is to can Greg by mid June for a weak performance - even then he's probably toast if (I personally still believe Greg was a Clark Hunt decision) he kept Greg and we put on the soccer sequel to this year.

 

Here's a Bob Hunter article about the Blue Jackets and their recent string of mediocre play / poor results / and endless line of excuses. It reminds me very much of my other favorite Columbus team. Maybe this town is too okay with the Jackets and Crew losing as long as the scarlet and gray win 10.



http://1460thefan.com/tf.php?story=dispatch/2003/12/16/20031216-F1-01.html