Club America taking over and renaming the San Jose Earthquakes - Good or Bad? Personally I see this as TERRIBLE. The Earthquakes finally start to come around in every department and than it is pulled from them. I see how MLS wants Hispanic fans, but this will NEVER make the team fly as an American team or a local team. Not to mention the Earthquakes, along with Sounders, Whitecaps and Timbers all are carrying on a nice long legacy and futbol tradition in their cities. Don't throw that away for some cash from Club America who could care less about growing futbol in the USA but only to compete with Chivas. AGAIN --- learn from what Australia has gone through for decades now and is only this year changing. Ethnic teams do NOT work and will not sell the game.
I think that a change of names would CLASH with both Hispanic and American fan base opinions and cause an EARTHQUAKE in that part of AMERICA. So I think the team should move to San Francisco and have a poll for a new name every week.
Seriously. This poll should have a "I don't believe for a second that this will happen, and if you think this is going to happen, you probably believe any crap that someone tells you." Just my opinion, though. But that's why I didn't vote in this poll.
My guess is that a name change most likely will not happen. It wouldn't really make any sense, but then non-sensical MLS actions have happed before. Aside from the Earthquakes having a tradition in the bay area etc. I think there is a broader question, which is, is it good for American soccer to have clubs from abroad branding their clubs in MLS?
CA and the quakes... why dont they just start to market the quakes in spanish as well as english... mettamoras or something like that??? that way they can market to the hispanic community, and keep the quakes...
Kind of a black and white options, w/ no room for middle ground, which if anything is more likely to happen. Club America Earthquakes, just like Guadalajara is known as Chivas, Arsenal is known as Gunners, etc.
How about a third option: "good-- if the only other option is not having a pro soccer team in the Bay Area"? Changing the team name and identity would hurt some fans just as much as contraction. The Quakes' remarkable post-season will be remember for years to come if MLS ever makes it big time. The two championships are remarkable. So I wouldn't want anything to happen that separates C.A.'s US team from this young, but fabulous, tradition. But the bottom line? C.A. Earthquakes sounds fine and, if we trust white general managers to market to both white and latino audiences, why can't we trust that a latino GM will do the same? Do you think Televisa wouldn't like to make money out of every market possible?
      Definitely bad... and losing the "San Jose" from the name is just as bad as losing the "Earthquakes" from the name!       Besides, a team-name change would accomplish nothing positive for MLS or Club America (who is reported to be one of several potential Investor/Operators interested in the Earthquakes). I doubt that most CA and other Hispanic fans care what the team's called as long as it has some Mexican stars playing for it... while long-time Earthquakes fans would be pissed off at the loss of the team's identity.       Oh yeah, and here's a great line (originally found here): -G
Make that Club America USA Clash Earthquakes. Now you've got something. And while we're at it let's rename MLS to MFL USA!
Here's another great line: Don't complain about a name change unless you can pay for the team yourself. Believe me goodsport, I'm with you guys in almost every way possible (well, as much as I can be after you kicked our @sses fair and square in MLS Cup...) I too am tired of posters that don't understand how sh!tty your front office has been and posters that expect perfection where improvement should be the watchword. But as victimized as your club has been, the poor financial bottom line leaves it open to this sort of "attack" where the supporters lose the ability to define what the club is. I sincerely hope C.A., if their investment comes to pass, finds a way to keep the club's identity. But in the mean time, if the rest of us suggest compromises, I think it's a little late to complain.
BAD BAD BAD BAD If they wanted an expansion club, I say let them do whatever they want. Don't take an existing club and do this, though. Especially the champs.
Back in the NASL days, there was a team named the Montreal Manic (or "Le Manic de Montreal" en Francais). In 1981, they were an expansion franchise that averaged a very high attendance for the time and were pulling crowds of over 58,000 in the playoffs. An amazing success all around. Sometime in between, I believe, the 1982 and 1983 seasons, it was announced that in 1984, the name of the team would be changed to TEAM CANADA to match the newly monikered team at RFK Stadium, TEAM AMERICA. The fans in Montreal went berserk. In 1983, attendance dropped below 10,000 per game, if I remember correctly, and the team folded before the 1984 season ever began. The moral of the story: The Earthquakes are successful and have a tradition that goes back 30 years. And they have won two championships in the past three seasons, to boot. Leave the name alone. Stop the colonization of American soccer.
First. Let me say I wish this was happening in Kansas City. I wish to god all mighty that club america was interested in buying KC..we are unlucky..all club america would do would be to bring in good players and run the organization like a soccer franchise and not a part time job like they do in San Jose As far as San Jose is concerned..well if we can get 15K for games on average for wizards games..you guys should be doing at least that and probably close to 20K given the richness of the soccer playing community and the large latino population.. as far as the name Earthquakes..what is so great about the name anyway...it is an old NASL name and you guys were not even that successful.. Club America San Jose would be great..or even Club America Earthquakes..but i actually like Club America San Jose..it has a great ring to it..you dub yourself the Earthquakes..ok..lets move on
I omitted the first part, because aside from it being an interesting story, it really doesn't have anything to do with the subject of the thread. Yeah, the Montreal Manic of the early '80s were a well-attended team whose fans revolted when the team's name was changed. Yes, I get the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" message, but today's Earthquakes usually have the worst-attended team in the league. In terms of the off-the-field performance, they are very much broken and need to be fixed. I don't know if this Club America move is the right one, but I wonder what the "Don't change anything. Keep the Quakes as AEG's welfare cases" crowd is watching. Would you prefer it if Club America got an expansion team in Houston and just let MLS contract the Earthquakes? The San Jose Clash are the best-attended soccer team in San Jose history. It would seem, then, that Bay Area soccer fans have little use for the "Earthquakes tradition." Certainly, they haven't qualified as "successful" off the field. Maybe that's the problem. The "Earthquakes tradition," as defined by the NASL Earthquakes was of about 10-15,000 fans a game turning out to see the home team, dressed in red, consistently field one of the worst teams in the league. Local fans don't know what to make of this blue-clad team that wins a lot.
If the same could be said of the Earthquakes, I think it's safe to say we wouldn't be having this discussion.
      But we can... sort of. We buy season-tickets.       And believe you me, save for a few, most Quakes fans are renewing their season-tickets for 2004 (a team-name change and other changes won't be happening this year, in any case), and word is that season-ticket sales are up somewhat this year. We can then later also threaten not to renew our season-tickets for 2005 if the negative changes take place, but will renew if they don't take place.       It may or may not work, of course, but it's worth a shot. Even if Club America (or whoever else, as there does seem to be more than one potential I/O interested in the Quakes) doesn't listen, MLS certainly will - they may or may not give in to CA's demands, but as 51% owner of all teams, they certainly have the power not to. -G
      Let's compare Kansas City's MLS attendance track record to San Jose's.       At least it can be noted that San Jose's first five straight formative years of on-field ineptitude and front-office indifference gradually eroded SJ's attendance numbers, and its musical-chairs of front-offices in the later years did nothing to help the situation.       Kansas City, on the other hand, had better teams for more years than San Jose had, with a stable front-office the whole time... yet still only drew in the four-digits in years 2-5.       Sorry fuentga, but if there's any group of MLS fans who don't have a leg to stand on to sling attendance-smack at San Jose, it's Kansas City fans.       Buy an Earthquakes season-ticket or a few, and then we'll talk. -G
Math is not your friend, but it's my friend. San Jose Earthquakes, during the period where people actually went to their games, aka 1974-85 1974: 10 home games, 16,584 average 1975:_11 home games, 17,927 average 1976: 12 home games, 19,286 average 1977: 13 home games, 17,739 average 1978: 15 home games, 14,281 average 1979: 15 home games, 15,092 average 1980: 16 home games, 13,169 average 1981: 16 home games, 12,400 average 1982: 16 home games, 11,012 average 1983: 15 home games, 11,933 average 1984: 12 home games, 10,676 average Total: 151 home games, 14,292 average San Jose Clash 1996: 16 home games, 17,232 average 1997: 16 home games, 13,597 average 1998: 16 home games, 13,653 average 1999: 16 home games, 14,959 average Total: 64 home games, 14,860 average You were saying?
      Comparing the averages of four seasons compared to eleven seasons, including the final declining NASL years when just about all the NASL teams' attendances were in decline?       If the Clash had existed for just one season with an average of 25,000, would they also have been considered "the best-attended soccer team in San Jose history."       It'd be more realistic to compare the same amount of consecutive years... but which four-year period of the NASL team? The first four years? The last four years? The middle four years? -G
I agree it's always going to be worth a shot. I think you guys deserve better than you've gotten (well, front office-wise). I guess my point is that while all the BS numbskulls are off-base with their complaints about attendance (you guys didn't make the situation so you don't deserve to get criticized for it), there's a bottom line and, as Clint Eastwood more or less said "deserve's got nothing to do with it." Best of luck on showing to Club America why "Earthquakes" matters.