You are, however, one of those who puts a lot of faith in your own highly scientific "how it looks on TV" measurements.
Watch out kids, "real soccer fan" crusio is in the hizzouse. So if there was a "real soccer fan" out there who wished for your dying in a fire for the better of the league, you'd be cool with that, right? Not saying that that "real soccer fan" is me, because I love all God's children, but I'm sure that there is one out there who thinks that death by immolation is a fate befitting some pretentious, more-Catholic-than-the-Pope doofus at Princeton, passing judgment on who lives and who dies in his fantasy MLS.
KC was ALWAYS the wrong choice for a team in the plains states - It always shoulda been St Louis with a much stronger history of soccer - But Hunt wanted something for his town of KC and this disaster is the result Last games attendance is not an aberration - Its the norm Gotta move the franchise - St Louis, Houston, Portland, Vancouver, Philly
this disaster was not caused by putting a team in kansas city! this disaster was caused by absolutely no promotion months after the owner declares the team is up for sale and may be moved. The attendance dip you see is because of a lack of promotion, and disillusioned fans that think they are losing their team! get a clue
I would love to see your "numbers" that show the attendance on 6/29 is the norm for Wizards soccer games??
It seems to me the problem KC has is if it is not promoted to the highest levels their attendance just falls off the charts. Other markets are barely being promoted also this year and their numbers have been bad but not like KC's. It seems this has been the case ever since they have been in the league. KC is a tough market for MLS because it is not big yet has the competition of MLB.
I understand that those games meant a lot to you; but I think if you polled the fans of the league as a whole, maybe one of those would make such a list.
As much as I hate to admit it, an earlier poster had it right. KC is a great town, but ST. Louis would have had a better chance of above average success. St. Louis is a big soccer town, evidence of this is clear when you look at the mens national team roster. Brad Davis, Pat Noonan, and Steve Ralston are all from the St. Louis metro area. On the same note, Missouri as a whole is a great soccer State. Looking at the National Team roster Missouri is second only to California when it comes to State representation. I would hate to see the wiz move, and hope they stay in KC, but if they gotta go let Anheuser Bush build a stadium at their already in existence soccer park in St Louis and move them there! On a side note, if you want to see league wide attendence increase, put some good ownership in KC and ADD a team in St. Louis. An I-70 rivalry in the MLS would be a good thing.
After hearing Murstein dropped out of the bidding for KC and his comments about 2k people in an 80k seat stadium, I can't help but wonder if the attendance at this game is what made him change his mind. The timeline is very coincidental. Thats why I was saying no matter how little marketing is being done a showing like that wont help KC's cause. Hopefully, the local group comes through for you guys and Murstein won't matter anyway.
KC need to move to STL, they can play at the Soccer Park out by Highway 40 until a new place can be made Soccer Park's main pitch can hold a good 12,000 people......and atleast people would fill it
I'm not disagreeing with you, but I just moved to KC from St. Louis. I spent two years there and got to know a lot of the 20-30 year old guys that play in the indoor leagues. I always talked up MLS and the Wizards to them, because I came back to KC for all the Wizards games even when I was over there. Many of them didn't think St. Louis could support an MLS team. Most said that with how involved the city is year around with the Cards, Blues and Rams that it couldn't get support. I don't know if that is true, but that is what I heard from more than a handful of people. I had always thought with the large number of children, and even adults, that play in St. Louis that there would be great support for an MLS team. Who knows... Murnstein had to be talking about the last game where no one came out. I would assume from his comments that he was there, and yes it was terrible. I can only hope that the local buyers take the time to look to the last few years and see what a well run organization could do in KC. Because I think the last few years show that the support would be great.
You'll have to do a whole lot better than that. Though this year's no-advertising ownership situation is causing crappy attendance, they averaged about 16,000 last year.
This is the first time in decades someone has called the Royals "competitive". Zing! I can say it because I wear a Royals belt buckle. Bring on the numbers! (pay attention, I'm about to point out your disregard for facts) Kansas City average attendance... 1996 - 12,878 (first season ever) 1997 - 9,058 1999 - 8,183 2000 - 9,112 2001 - 10,954 2002 - 12,255 2003 - 15,573 2004 - 14,816 And this season, with ownership in question, we've fallen to 9,615. Right ahead of Dallas (who's getting a new stadium) at 9,031 and right behind San Jose at 10,836. If only we were far and away the best team in the league, with a sound ownership situation...we'd be drawing a WHOPPING* 11,723 like the New England Revolution...or in a town that doesn't have to compete with baseball and has their own stadium like Columbus at a STAGGERING* 11,354. Listen, any "Kansas City is DOOMED! Nobody there likes soccer!" claims are baseless and based on what you caught a glimpse of on TV (like Eljefe said, "very scientific") or heard Eric Wynalda make a snide remark about. Do a little bit of research and have some common sense before you post. *Sarcasm
I'll post this quote from the Wizards board about Murstein pulling out of bidding on the Wizards Some people in KC already knew that Murstein was not going to get the team.
Don't bother... ...they don't care what the facts are. But they sure as heck like to talk like they know all the facts.