http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/transcript-commissioner-garbers-state-league I’m sure many of you have been to Red Bull Arena. I can say without hesitation, it is one of the top stadiums of its size anywhere in the world. It has helped launch a whole new era for soccer in the metropolitan area here in New York City. People care about this team. There is a buzz about the club on Wall Street. There is a buzz about the team in the media. There is real interest in that club reflected in their attendance. And it is certainly reflected in the cultural significance that Red Bull New York has today now that that the stadium and a couple of key signings have helped elevate the stature of that team.
He should be concerned with saturation. 13 plus million in this city but that doesn't mean there's enough soccer fans to sustain two MLS franchises. On the one hand he praises RB and on the other he threatens to undermine all that's been accomplished.
Agree. I don't think there is a 1:1 correlation between population (or even soccer interest) and MLS fandom. If people wanted to be at an MLS game they would find their way out to RBA. There may be a small number of fans unwilling to take the train to Jersey for one reason or another and maybe some people on the Island or in Connecticut who just think RBA is too far away, but I think there are fewer of these people than Garber imagines. Hope I'm wrong, because he seems hell bent on making NY2 a reality.
I enjoy his acknowledgement that there's other potential investors for NY2 beyond those who've been so desperate for publicity. His being hellbent on NY2 has been a hindrance to NY1, discouraging potential supporters from making the effort with the promise of something else, something more convenient, ideal, successful, what have you...
I think you seriously how many potential fans automatically going to the match because it is in New Jersey. I used to have Jets season tickets. I was able to drive from Giants Stadium to Albany faster than it took some of my friends to get from the stadium to the Nassau/Suffolk border. With two bridge crossings the commute is too long for folks to make. Think about it this way, if the Islanders decide and up and move to Kansas City, would the displaced Islander fans give up on going to live hockey or would they go to Devil games? I think they would spend a lot of time in front of the TV.
You could be right. Wouldn't be the first time I was wrong about something. On the other hand, if we end up with two NY area clubs averaging 13,000 I don't anyone would be happy about that.
Following your logic, then, the NFL could put a third team in the NY market. I think Isles fans (what's left of them) would likely give up on the NHL rather than follow either of the other two NY metro NHL franchises but if they are hockey fans, they can easily take the LIRR in to Penn Station to catch the Blueshirts or switch over to the PATH to catch the Devils at the Rock. I don't think there's enough MLS fans in the region to support two teams. Garber's dismissal of this is perplexing. Harrison is well placed to serve fans throughout the region: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_metropolitan_area
I think/fear you're right. The logic that we don't yet have 25K/game showing up in NY so lets have another NY team and it will magically enhance the existing fanbase while another's spawned escapes me. And the idea that a derby will excite the fanbase is likewise dubious. We already have our archrivals, thank you very much.
I agree that there seems to be some misplaced emphasis here. I live on Long Island. I would have been happier if Red Bull Arena had been built in Queens instead of in New Jersey but I think adding a second team could create a Galaxy-Chivas type of set up. Only Chivas fans, and there aren't that many of them, are truly excited or satisfied with Chivas being in MLS. 27 million people live in the states of Florida and Georgia (that's combined not for each state). Those people live 10-20 hours driving time away from the nearest MLS team. Unless ownership/stadium issues are in much better shape for NY than they would be for a SE team (maybe they are and Garber knows this), it seems to me like the league would be better off for future growth, short-term and long-term, if #20 is a SE team and not a second NY team. MLS should try to win fans any way it can, but I don't think an intra-city rivalry is going to win huge amounts of fans by itself. I respect hockey as a cool sport, but I'm not that into it. And even though I live pretty close to Nassau Coliseum, Islanders-Rangers games and Islanders-Devils games really don't change my overall outlook on hockey that much.
honestly, NY area can support 2 teams. They're are thousands of soccer fans that will not go because 1) The team is Jersey - football fans are not baseball or american football fans. To go to jersey and support a team when you live in NY, simply for the most part will not happen. 2) The name (repetative, I know) - Most NY fans became socccer fans, many die hard fans because of the PL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga. they simply WILL NOT support a team called Red Bulls. How do you expect football fans to start to support them, when people who supported Metro turned their backs due to the RB name? Of course, some will come because of Henry and Marquez. Are they really supporters? Do they care about the RB? Will they come back once Henry and Marquez are gone? Answer, no, no and probably not. I saw a guy in college with a RB shirt on, i said to him "Come on you red bulls". Our convo proceeded like this (more or less) Him: "I like Red Bulls, but I'm an Henry fan. I support Arsenal". Me: Oh, that's cool. I support West Ham. have you gone to RB arena yet? Him: No, I want to go, but I live here on Long Island and can't be bothered going to NJ Me: Yea, it's a hike, I go when I can. It's a nice stadium. Him: I've seen online, looks nice. I want to go, but once Henry leaves, I probably won't ever be bothered. I'm a HUGE arsenal fan, and Henry is my favorite player. Me: Yea, he's a good player. Arsenal are shit and West Ham is the best....even though we are in last :hahahaha: Him: :hahahaha: Me: I'm off to class, take it easy seriosuly, that was it. All he cared about was Henry. Those are the type of people the RB are attracting. NY2 will attracts supporters, not fans.
Aren't you due for a screen-name change and a trip a couple of inches down the page to the NY2 dreamers forum?
what the ******** does that have to do with what i said. you don't like facing the facts that a team mite be more popular than the one we support. It's the truth, just admit it. your definitely a chelsea, man u, barca or real madrid supporter too aren't ya? i'm not saying that RB doesn't have Supporters. We do. There's plenty of us. Its like Man United. How many are "fans" and how many are supporters? It's no different that's the problem with RB fans. You never want to admit that people wont follow the club because of the name. you know deep inside it's a problem amongst potential fans, but won't admit it. Does the name bother me? yes, tbh, i hate it. I get over it. its the club i started to support and I won't change. ill still go to the games and sing for the RB. Just admit that the name is problem. You know it is, and 99% of the fans know it is.
Oh, those were facts you were citing, I'm sorry I thought you were cultivating a new form of humor and I just wasn't getting it...my apologies!
I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or serious. I'm sick with the flu so my head isn't all there, and i can't tell just by people writing. most RB fans seem to have this inferiority that a team is going to come along and be more popular. That's just what I have noticed.
Tell that to all those people on the Path going from Exchange PL to WTC. I don't like waiting 20+ minutes to get on the train and then getting packed in. Then they weren't fans of the team were they? Of course one interaction is representative of everyone's sentiments.
Now I'd like to extend genuine apologies. You obviously added the last three paragraphs after I had already responded to the shorter post. The team's the thing...the name of our hometown team has gone through several changes over the years Cosmos/MetroStars/Red Bulls just in my time as a soccer fan. Red Bull isn't my favorite either but team, and that includes the fans, trumps name or logo or uniform or owner or players or popularity or hipness. After Cosmos folded our new team in MLS has done enough to be respected as the NY/NJ/Conn metro area home town team and worthy successor therefore to the Cosmos even if results on and off the field haven't always met with universal approval. We've (team/fans) kept soccer alive through thick and thin and no glory chasing newcomers can push us (team/fans) off of our perch. Sorry again, Let's Go Red Bulls/Metro!
no worries. sorry for sounding like an ass. im really sick and edgy, my apologies. i think i did edit it before your response. we do have supporters. i make a 2 hour trip to see red bulls, sometimes dont get home til nearly 2am after train layovers and everything after a game. i go because its football, its live, and its our domestic league. the league will never grow unless people start going. I mean, i guess my opion on "facts", probbaly aren't the true facts, but I'm going by what I have been told my quite a few people. It's usually the same rhetorical answer. Many peoiple from NY do go.. i just want to see how many still go after NY2 comes. TBH, it will probably in the attract more poeple in NJ to start going, which is very good for the MLS and football in this country. RB have done a great job, ill support the players/team, and my fellow supporters, and sing as loud as I can. Like i said, i absolutely hate the name, the jerseys (i still dont own one or have 1 thing that says NYRB on it), but i get over it, as do many others. It's just a hurdle that many potential supporters can't/won't jump.
how many people won't go to jersey from LI, Queens and Brooklyn? I'm sure the number is far greater. nope they weren't, and probably never will be. One, no of course not. but a lot with the same response, yes. Seriously, majority of the people (that are die hard football fans in the metro area) won't go because of the name, i'm wondering how many will jump ship once the cosmos come around. I know at least a dozen people in my town alone that won't go because of what I said, and I know a lot more people that live in BK and Queens that won't go simply for the name. The name is a turn off amongst existing football fans.
I come from Queens to every game and it literally takes less than an hour with the trains. The stadium being in Jersey is such a sad excuse.
how many of them are die hard fans? i'm sure the number is a lot less. Then they're not soccer fans are they?
it's not the travel time (for some in BK and LI it could be). It's the fact that most take it to be a club in new jersey.
Right, and this is why most people from NYC follow the Bills because they're the only NFL team actually in NY Anyone who pitches this is just full of shit and wants to justify their apathy towards the team/sport. If a brand new SSS with legends of the modern game playing in it doesn't attract these fans then nothing will, no matter where the team is based, please don't kid yourself otherwise.