Boston is an over-rated soccer market

Discussion in 'New England Revolution' started by Savage Nation F.C., Oct 4, 2003.

  1. JMMUSA8

    JMMUSA8 New Member

    Nov 3, 2001
    Webster
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    who said stop?
     
  2. BigFrank

    BigFrank New Member

    Apr 3, 1999
    Dublin, Ireland
    Ratings game

    The TV ratings came out in yesterday's El Globo.

    Some good news soccer, but not the Revolution.

    Saturday night's Red Sox playoff topped the weekly list with a 26.7 rating - 16.7 rating on Ch. 5 and 10.0 on espn2. (Each ratings point represents 1 percent of the Boston area's 2.3 million homes.)
    A total of 42 sports programs received at least a 1.1 rating.
    The Revolution, who normally get in the 0.3 - 0.5 range and topped off at 1.0 this season, didn't register on the list.

    The good news for soccer is that the US - Germany Women's World Cup semifinal did very well with a 3.4 on espn2. That was the third highest rating that was on espn2 last week.

    That is a very solid number for soccer in this market or any US market.

    FYI - the Red Sox had a 23.2 rating on Ch. 5 and ESPN on Sunday afternoon, head-to-head against a 14.5 for the Patriots - Titans game on Ch. 4.
     
  3. Andy_B

    Andy_B Member+

    Feb 2, 1999
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That is an understatement.

    This was a great number for the Boston market. I would not doubt if it was the highest in the country as it nearly TRIPLED the national average of this game which was 1.2.

    I wish the media would consistently publish the same format for big soccer games like WC games that are shown on two stations at simultaneously so that we can get the true number instead of only presenting the english number which they usually do.

    Andy
     
  4. Tony Biscaia

    Tony Biscaia Member

    Feb 17, 1999
    But Andy, if they did that, soccer numbers might actually look much better. Actions like that just wouldn't be consistent with anti-soccer conspiracy theories...
     
  5. KevTheGooner

    KevTheGooner Help that poor man!

    Dec 10, 1999
    THOF
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Andorra
    See? If Boston was such a good soccer market we would have QUADRUPLED the national average. What a bunch of lame-o's we are. Thank God the B's are skating so we have something to DO around here.

    Indeed, the "where have all the Revs fans gone" thread is one of the best threads on BS and this one adds little to it....

    Except for the swedish footballer :D
     
  6. Chowderhead

    Chowderhead Member

    Aug 3, 1999
    Central Falls, RI
    The guy stirred the pot a bit. So what?

    An overrated soccer market? No. But, for the sake of argument, let's assume that support, in the form of gates at Revo and USNT games, has been lacking. Why?

    It's down to a cultural reason: New Englanders have always been to hard to impress and excite. And the perception that so many games are meaningless (kickabouts with the Wizards on a languid Saturday afternoon in July when you know that they have months to figure out a way to weasel into the playoffs; WNT friendlies with Ireland or whatever; Gold Cup matches with Martinique and even Cuba; even games with something on the line like a WCQ with Trinidad, Barbados or Jamaica that in the minds of many lack MEANING) discourages attendance even though some interest is generated.

    The stadium experience is OK but nothing to go nuts over and with its size pre-match scrambles for tickets are rare.

    So, you know that there is always another game around the corner and that tickets are easy to get.

    Add the element of burnout ( my guess is that even Magpie and Monty have only so much messianic zeal), the endless list of alternate activities available ( Hmmm...Rev v. Dallas on Saturday afternoon or a weekend on Block Island? Rev v Crew in an empty cavern or the Steely Dan show at Great Woods? The US Cup game v. Charleston or dinner on Federal Hill?) , the dependence of those involved in the game (Should I blow off my CCASL semifinal match to go see the Metros and a hungover Mathis? Should I blow off my over-35 league game to go watch El Salvador?) and you end up with a still interested but less fanatical following.

    So, you live with the fact that the stadium is less than overly appealing and that few games will have a ton of juice. You pick and choose and when you go you get to shoot the breeze with some cool people for a few hours and that's it.

    As far as Gillette's appropriateness as a USNT venue is concerned, well, consider that it's owned by an MLS investor, its dimensions are ideal, it can accomodate large crowds and it's relatively close to Europe. That won't change. So get used to it.

    But don't expect those from a culturally rich region to drop what they're doing to go see Kirovski or Razov or whoever kick it around against Cuba or Barbados.
     
  7. Brock

    Brock New Member

    Feb 17, 1999
    Tewksbury, MA
    Is Boston an overrated soccer market? Nah.

    Is Boston a more sophisticated (maybe you could say spoiled) Soccer Market? Yes. Oversautration? Yes. I think it has come to the point where New England Fans come out for meaningful matches. And frankly (not Big Frankly) any match that has the word friendly in the title is probably not worth my while anymore.

    Do Birmingham, Houston and Seattle get excited about their one-off matches? Sure they do. Someone has to appreciate a meaningless friendly, so why not them?

    Another factor that Savage may be overlooking is ticket prices for USNT matches - care to speculate how much cheaper the tickets are in B-Ham Seattle etc than in Foxboro? There's only so much $$ to be had...
     
  8. gotyourback

    gotyourback Member

    Jul 18, 2002
    Aurora/Arlington
    Gospel.
     
  9. Savage Nation F.C.

    Savage Nation F.C. New Member

    Oct 4, 2003
    Elitest Northeast
    Looking back I probably should not have called Boston an over rated market. Others have been more precise on this board by stating its an over saturated, undermarketed region. I do think USSF does overrates the market and my major thesis should have been that soccer needs to be marketed to other parts of the country like back in the 80's(remember the World Series Of Soccer?) when the US Men barnstormed almost every state prior to WC 94. If Boston is too upscale for the Gold Cup or WWC , put it in a city that would really appreciate it. I think it ridicoulous to put the US open cup in NJ tommorow. I keep hearing how MLS is losing money because how much it costs to open the gates at Giants, does anyone think they'll draw over 10k tommorow? Just like that marquee matchup vs China last month that drew 9k. In yr 2, the final was held in sold out Indianapolis.
     
  10. ToMhIlL

    ToMhIlL Member+

    Feb 18, 1999
    Boxborough, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Regarding the Mutts opening up Giants Stadium for the Open Cup, that's a USSF decision, and (here's a shocker) they have been known for pure genius when it comes to showcasing the second-oldest knockout club cup in the world. Remember in 2001, when the Revs had their last game cancelled with the Mutts? There were over 15,000 tickets sold for that one, and the front office decided they would honor them if they hosted the USOC final in late October. Instead, the USSF let the Galaxy host it in Fullerton, in front of Brian Dunseth's family and 4,000 of their closest friends. The rest of the soccer-mad Angelenos stayed home because the Oxygen Network was showing a "Touched by an Angel" marathon on TV that afternoon.

    So regardless of whether Chicago already had a friendly scheduled for Soldier Field (Mexico vs Uruguay) that they could have made into a double-header, the USSF decided to give the Mutts their best shot at winning a title.

    This is one of those "hold your nose and vote" situations, where you wish that both teams could lose, but I would have to grudgingly hope that Sh!tcago manages to win on a crappy own-goal.


    As for JMMUSA8's comments, I agree too. I know a ton of people who would have been more than happy to donate various stuff for the drive. And guess which is the only team that is not doing Futbolito, the small-sided games that just about anyone can participate in? Yep, you guessed it. Of course, the blithering fools who do PA announcements make sure we all know about it, even though you couldn't participate if you wanted to. That's like showing a nice juicy steak to a dog, and then explaining in legalese, the concept of ownership of property, and that as a dog, well, sorry pal, I'd love to help you out, but you're always broke!

    Tom
     

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