Okay . . . Don't: • Bring in a player because he has a known name • Sign a guy to mollify the critics • Sign him by Feb. 1 just to have met their self-imposed deadline Dos: • Find a player who fits the system (whatever it may be) • Bring in someone young enough that he has motivation beyond a final large paycheck or two • Make sure he is healthy, fit and eager I really detest the idea that a DP has to have a well know name to be worth the time and money. In the long run what I want is a guy who is consistently productive.
I'm with the quality over name player. 10 years ago I thought we needed name recognition over ability but at this point, if the Rapids could build team that could win 12 home games and qualify early on for the playoffs, I think we could average 16k.
What's a "name" player, someone who's so well known it might draw in general soccer fans who don't usually come to Rapids games? Since Beckham was pretty much sui generis, someone like a Lampard/Thierry Henry/Cuauhtemoc Blanco type guy? I would agree, nothing like that. That would seem like a waste of money. The Rapids would need someone who'd be available for 30 games/season. For that "name" player money you could probably bring in two players and increase the chances of having one of them work out. A Saborio or Javier Morales would be nice.
Is there an up to date list of DP'S in the league. I saw San Jose just signed another DP. Are the Rapids the only team in the league with only 1 DP?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designated_Player_Rule Columbus and Montreal only have 1 at the moment, but I believe they are both close to signing another one. I don't think the Rapids need to get a name player, but they can't just sign some $500K player to be able to claim they signed a 2nd DP like they said they would. They need to spend money to get a true quality player.
I don't think the RFO is looking at a second DP in terms of how he might help the team perform. I think they are looking at the second DP in terms of impact on the bottom line. Assuming an additional $500,000 for the roster position over a non-DP produces a cost of $29,412 per home MLS match. Depending on the source, the Rapids' average 2014 home MLS match attendance was either 14,567 or 15,082. Assuming the higher figure and static 2015 attendance, the cost would be $1.95 per ticket per match. The stadium has a capacity of about 17,424, leaving an average of 2,342 empty seats per home match. Partly because of group discounts, secondary market sales, and season packages, determining the actual average ticket price for the Rapids is only slightly more difficult than finding our what really happens at Area 51. Forbes reported $54 early last season. In 2012, soccernation.com placed the Rapids' average price at $47. If the Forbes estimate is correct for 2015, an average attendance increase of 545 would be needed to cover the cost. Obviously, some combination of ticket price increases and attendance increases would also do the trick, and these are speculative right now. In addition, these calculations do not take into consideration and corresponding increases in merchandise or concession sales associated with either increased attendance or increased sales resulting from better on-field performance. Even in Kroenkeland, the cost of a second DP would appear to be fairly minimal, with a decent potential for recovering the investment. Unless, of course, it really is all about the tax deductions . . .
Are these places just taking an average of the face value single-game ticket prices? When the Rapids emailed the season ticket holder spreadsheet , the average season ticket holder paid something like $21/ticket. Hard to imagine that's doubled in a few years. The face price of tickets has gone up fairly quickly (west midfield tickets from $42 face to $55 face, I think), but the season ticket prices have been fairly steady.
In fact my season ticket price hasn't changed in the last 304 years (well, it may have gone up by about $10-$15 total). But @fortcollins' point is a good one, and one I've argued from the other end when fans have complained (mainly on Facebook) about KSE not bringing in a Dempsey or Bradley. The amount of revenue needed for that to be a successful moves leaves only two options, significantly increasing ticket prices or selling other players (O'Neill? Powers?) to fund the big signing. There's a "sweet spot" between a Torres and a Dempsey though, both in terms of on the field help and off the field financial success. That's what the Rapids should be aiming for (and I'd argue Rogadella is in or near that sweet spot). My fear is that they're aiming too high (unaffordable big name) or too low (DP for signing a Dp that has minimal effect on or off the field).
Tons of Marco Fabian chatter on Twitter today. El mexicano Marco Fabián se acerca a la @SoccerMLS por interés de @ColoradoRapids: http://t.co/2rSHY0kew5 pic.twitter.com/RNKDYDcTL7— MLS (@SoccerMLS) January 31, 2015
I assume the analysis is what you all describe - i.e., we brought in Padraig Smith (? the Sporting Director bean counter moneyball guy) for exactly this reason. If a guy is going to cost more money but is not going to result in a single extra butt in the seats regardless of performance, I think it's unlikely we are going to sign them. (Curiously, our sporting director costs money but doesn't do anything to put butts in the seat, but that's just me.) I think what is being left out of the equation is merchandise sales. A guy like Dempsey isn't really making money for the team with butts in the seats - I think Seattle was doing well with attendance beforehand, though I imagine they probably were able to raise their ticket prices quite a bit. But lets say that they slap Dempsey's name on the back of a jersey. If your goal is to raise $5 million from the sale of jerseys, if they charge $150 a Dempsey authentic jersey, they need to sell about 33,334 jerseys. I think it's pretty realistic to sell 33,334 Dempsey jerseys. The problem we suffer from is that I am skeptical that our reach is beyond our stadium capacity. I suspect Seattle sells a LOT more Dempsey jerseys beyond stadium ticket sales/capacity. The fans beyond those who come to the game regularly are too casual, and the Rapids need to do something to change that. I would say that this is something we could target with our third DP (yeah, i know, I'm dreaming). In the meantime, I'd like to see us sign someone who can bring some goal scoring excitement and electricity to the field...but really, I want someone who will make the team greater than the sum of their parts. We should use this to really build the team up, compete for playoffs and MLSCup, and go to the next level. The team should also work on improving it's appeal. That would require marketing and strategery - something that our team has proved terribly inept at.
Saw a retweet of this in my account. High profile Mexican player would help tix sales (but not for long if the team does poorly). High profile Mexican player who makes a difference on the pitch would get my attn. and support. Rumors of his narcissism are concerning. But I'm game if he is.
In my opinion the only way to increase long-term ticket sales and support for the team is to create a team that is competitive year in and year out. If we sign a player who is high profile in the "soccer public eye", he will do little to bring fans in the stadium consistently if the team does not win (unless he is like a Beckham, but that won't happen with this team). I know Hinchey gave two DP scenarios, but signing a player for name recognition only is asinine in this market. Vicente Sanchez has become a fan favorite b/c he can play, not b/c he is a well known soccer personality.
Couple Marco Fabian tidbits I picked up Googling: 1. Scored one of his 6 goals for Mexico at Mile High in 2013. 2. Got banned by the Mexican FA for 6 months, missing the 2011 Copa America, with some teammates for bringing women back to their hotel.
I agree with all of the comments made since my first post on this issue. The constraints on ticket sales are also crucial. The stadium capacity is essentially capped, because the design did not allow for physical expansion. A few hundred seats were removed from the stated capacity a couple years ago, and could be reinstalled. By all of the estimates, the Rapids are actually filling 86% to 89% of the seats per match. That does not leave much room for increased average attendance, regardless of the performance on the pitch. The season ticket prices remain an enigma. All the years I had tickets, my actual price per match was somewhere around 60% of the face value of the ticket. That may, however, be offset somewhat by club and suite seating. (A $35,000 season suite license certainly offsets a lot of normal people in the real seats.) My point is that, even at the absurd estimated levels from Forbes and soccernation.com, more than 500 ADDITIONAL paying fans per match would be needed to offset the cost, and those numbers increase sharply as the real average ticket price drops. With a gap between actual attendance and present capacity of only 2,342 seats, there isn't enough "wiggle room" for additional ticket holders alone to cover the cost of a truly talented DP. Additional income could offset these calculations, at least partially. I mentioned merchandise and concession sales, but there are many more examples. Better performance on the field could generate increased advertising revenue. (For example, a financially solvent jersey sponsor.) It could generate increased national television exposure and broaden the merchandise market. The bottom line that I see is the Kroenke bottom line, which would not likely move a lot regardless of the performance on the pitch. Given Kroenke's disregard generally for the Rapids and very little economic incentive, I would be stunned to see a top-quality DP appear in Commerce City (except, of course, for the visiting side). The Rapids could well land a second DP, but it probably is unrealistic to expect someone who could make a huge impact on the team's performance.
So from #1 & 2 above we should surmise he enjoys scoring? On a more serious note, if he is a headcase I don't want him here. Taking pleasure in watching a rival team's nutter is one thing, having your own to worry about is another.
Just to post this again but Marco Fabian plays for Chivas who is Fighting to avoid relegation (16th spot of 18). However, they have started the Clausura with 2W,1L,1T but still have a hill to claim and possible Relegation playoff games to go, only 18th place is auto relegation slot.
where do you get that the design of the Dick does not allow for physical expansion? Looking at the Dick, its not hard to imagine seating being expanded easily and considerably on the North end and a second tier level on the East side . I remember reading in numerous places that the Dick (among other recent SSS ) stadium design in fact allows for expansion.
Whereas, I do agree Stadium could easily be expanded with it's "no protection" roof system. I think he is referring to current capacity and I bet Rapids would increase prices several times before looking into expanding stadium, don't think Commerce City will fall for paying for stadium again.
The two Costa Rican players that I mentioned a week ago that I thought we should sign on loan, Joel Campbell and Bryan Ruiz, have now both been loaned out to Spanish teams. Campbell to Villarreal and Ruiz reportedly to Levante on a last minute deal. Too bad we weren't quick enough or willing enough to spend the money on one of those two. I think either would have been great for us. My other suggestion, Diego Forlan, is in negotions with a few EPL and English Championship teams. I'm sure there are other players out there who are frustrated with their lack of playing time with their respective clubs and would jump at the opportunity to be 90 minute players here in the MLS. There also must be clubs that financially need to sell or loan out some of their players. I'm starting to think the Rapids braintrust might not be trying hard enough or just are being a bit too careful or tight with the money needed to sign someone "big". The major European transfer deadline of February 1st is now past, so I'm thinking this whole 2nd DP goalscorer is not coming until June or July.
FYI- All League transfer windows/ deadlines only apply to incoming players, not outgoing (Sold, etc) players. So all that matters to us is MLS window. Edit: Does mean O'Neil will stay with Rapids, Really think he needs to become a visible force before any EPL team will show any interest.