I got the newest issue of 442 and the recap MANU's tour in the USA and in a paragraph the quote Sean Wheelock (credibility?) as saying one of MLS's problems is that the atmosphere is lacking at the games due to rival fans not being able to make the trip the long distances.. (as opposed to the UK) obviously this cant be fixed.... More importantly, he stresses thaat the most important things now is SSS which will lead to higher revenues, which will lead to better players being purchased, and the "whole thing will snowball from there." It might be stating the obvious by quoting him on this, but I agree with everthing except the last part. I think the quality of players will rise on its own as the popularity of the sport increases. Would the increased revenue be better spent on a better marketing campaign and image makeover? I cant help but cringe at the old ads for MLS that are dated, and think when compared to other leagues in the country, the MLS comes off a little, well chinsy... I obviously love the league, but my attitude is geared to attracting new fans/borderline fans....
Kind of a late response, but... I agree that $$ needs to spent on marketing and uh, actually SERVING the clients already at the stadium. But w/ better players, MLS would begin to tap into the dormant giant that is footie fanatic USA: the ppl who made '94, 2 Olympics and this summer's Champions Tour so successful. These ppl are already footie fans and don't need to be converted by anything other than quality play.
I think it is is true. Higher revenues will lead to higher salary caps which will lead to better paid players. This will lead to top talent wanting to remain here instead of going to Man U. guys like Johnathan Spector will actually consider MLS. We will also get the occasional superstar like a Stoitchokov is his late 20's instead in early 30's which will give a chance for fans to bond with them instead of a 1-3 year stint then gone. I remember one thing about my old club the Chicago Sting. The brought in a young talent names Karl Heinz Granitza. The guy was 23 when they brought him in. His prime years and he carried the Sting to the championship in 1981. he was voted the most popular atlhlete in Chicago in 1981. SO revenues are the key to better players and better talent staying here AND coming here.
Here's a problem with that, I think I also fall into that demographic. The nearest MLS teams to me are 6.5hrs to Foxboro, 6hrs to NJ or 6hrs to Columbus. Other than the fact that we get MSG which carries the Metros game why should I be a fanatic fan for any of those teams? Whenever they come to Rochester for an friendly or USOC game I make sure to get tickets. However, I'm not about to make numerous trips a year to see players that are perhaps in the 2nd tier of world soccer players (ala role players in the EPL, Germany, Spain, or Italy). IF it were VanNistlerooy or Henry or Beckham or Zidane I'd probably make a point of getting a number of tickets to see their games. That's the problem with this argument. There isn't a high enough concentration of fans like these in any given city in the US to fill a 70k-100k stadium week in and weekout. It takes fans coming from far and wide to fill up these stadiums, like what happened for the ManU tour. I think 1 thing MLS could do is work to get these exhibitions against MLS teams. SO that the people who are willing to drive for hours to see a big name European team will say, "Hey this MLS is pretty good!" (the fact that MLS teams are in midseason shape should help their results too!) Sometimes people have a hard time trying new things. The key is getting them to take the first bite.
Re: Re: 4-4-2 MAN U article mentions MLS growth strategy I was asking in a way if his has been known to be an accurate source of info, and provide decent insight to issues, or does he routinely talk out of his ass....
Re: Re: 4-4-2 MAN U article mentions MLS growth strategy I think that's the point of the importance of soccer specific stadiums, which would certainly not be of this size. A 30,000 seat stadium that's filled with cheering fans is going to be a much better atmosphere than a half full 60,000 seater.
Re: Re: Re: 4-4-2 MAN U article mentions MLS growth strategy Agreed. I also think that we sometimes overestimate the support that other teams get as well. how many teams in the top divisions of England, Italy, Spain, Germany, etc have 70,000 person sellouts every game. Only the top clubs usually have stadiums that large to begin with. I was reading an article about a couple of bigtime clubs in Italian Serie A who were paring their stadiums down to 35,000. SSS's will help for the simple fact that the money gained can be put into a salary cap to pay players more. Players are out for the money, as well they should be. where there is money, players will come. and where there are good players, fans will not be far behind. Remember, this is a business. Let's not fool ourselves on that issue.
Re: Re: 4-4-2 MAN U article mentions MLS growth strategy being that you are in Rochester i hope you have season tix to the Rhinos, if not you can only blame yourself if no MLS will come to your town.
Re: Re: 4-4-2 MAN U article mentions MLS growth strategy Whoever said anything about filling 100,000 seat stadiums? Filling 25-30k stadiums, now that is a realistic goal.