It would been much nicer if Crew had 20.000 fans at game,because they sure missed a very good game thursday night.
Because for much of last season Reis and Hartman were battling it out for the starting position. Schmid eventually settled for Hartman, but decided that since they were so close in quality that Reis would be the starter for US Open Cup matches. Is MLS Cup more coveted by clubs? Yes. Did LA take this match lightly? No way.
As is the six thousand that were there will never forget that night. And somehow in my innebreated state I remeber yellin in a cell phone to Bailey afterwards. The game absolutely mattered to the players and they showed their appreciation to the fans afterwards, even 1 or two (Lalas being one) Galaxy players gave us in the north end a hand while leaving the field. And the Crew boys definitely appreciated our presence. The fans make the Open Cup worthwhile, and our boys knew the diehards were there. I'm still a little drunk two days later, and I know I'm not the only one. As Bailey said, Eureka!!!!
Harkes on taking the Cup to the fans in the North End. "The Cup belongs to the fans tonight, not us. We worked hard out there, but they did everything to support us. They were there tonight and they were loud. They have been great to me here. I love them." Harkes on the crowd: "In the first half there was a time when Cobi knocked the ball over the line for a corner, and the crowd was up on their feet cheering. Now that's like the EPL. They're reacting to every play on the field and that is brilliant to see. The atmosphere tonight was great."
Connoly is a very good columnist and reading that and the above posts moves that attendance number to the back of my head. I still wish there were more people there though. Not to dwell on attendance but I always love seeing a full Crew stadium.
We can only hope that more US soccer fans begin to take this tournament more seriously and it begins to get the attention it deserves. One good way to get that attention is to have the Final in the home stadium of one of the teams that makes the final. I hope this trend continues. I would also like to the see the USSF offer a bit more money to the winners. $100 grand doesn't go as far as it used to.
There are a lot of elements to the "attendance" question with regard to the Open Cup. (And as numerous posters, players and writers like Connolly and Scott Tann have noted, the atmosphere was absolutely electric. There were only 6000 people there, but they were 6000 hard core, diehard soccer fans who knew a great match when they saw one. And I've heard 15,000 in that building not make half as much noise.) A big part of the equation is American unfamiliarity with the concept of a dual-track (or triple-track) professional season. None of the "big" US pro sports have anything similar. So the very concept, I think, strikes American fans as sort of an "exhibition" or something. And as noted, US Soccer being in charge doesn't help. They are not particularly good marketers, and among other things the ticket prices are grossly inflated (almost twice what MLS seats cost) for an event they have trouble getting people to go to every year. And holding it on a Thursday night sure didn't help. In short, what they ended up with was a "stripped down" soccer crowd. The casual fans, local soccer clubs, hordes of children and corporate outing crowds were notably absent. (In other words, the people MLS sales and marketing departments pump up attendance with.) The day MLS can fill it's venues with 25,000 people like the 6000 on Thursday, soccer will have arrived for good. Right now, they just don't exist. Mostly though, like most things soccer, I really believe the Cup will "catch on" in years to come, and will in time be a much bigger event than it is currently. For now though, while overflowing stadiums look a lot better on TV, and certainly pay better, atmospheres and excitement like CCS last Thursday are pretty damn good as they are.
I agree with all of that. And how much does the horse show being in town hinder it? I mean, do people say, "I am not going near there because traffic, etc., will be a cluster"? As the Cup gains prestige (winner getting into CCC) people will pay attention more. The tournament, of which I am a big follower, needs help on so many levels, from getting state amateur associations more interested to having a true knockout instead of the bastardized qualification process. I think 6K at the final is the least of the event's worries, particularly if all 6K really wanted to be there.
Now here's a legitimate beef with the USSF. Their marketing shouldn't be an issue, since the USSF should be able to assume that the home team has... you know... FANS who want to support the team. But significantly upping ticket prices, there's something to complain about. Still a great game from a neutral's perspective, "neutral" in this case being defined as "someone who doesn't like either team." If I remember correctly, it used to be a straight knock out all the way through, but my club team's attempt to qualify was over 20 years ago, and they didn't have NASL teams competing for it in those days like they have USL and MLS teams now. I would think that having straight knock outs would be easier than the stuff they do for the USL teams, but there has to be some reason why it doesn't happen that way.
Legitmate beef with US Soccer What the hell is that underwhelming "crystal cup"? US Open Cup has one of the coolest most impressive trophies I've ever seen. The Dewar's trophy is huge and old skool with the name of every US Open Cup champion team engraved right on it. It is the emblem of the tournament and american soccer's heritage. It's REAL. NHL gets so much mileage out of the Stanley Cup. What the hell is US Soccer thinking?
The crowd that showed up may have been good, but the numbers cannot be explained away, or ignored when examining the health of the tournament. It is difficult finding actual numbers, but since MLS joined in, my impressions are: 1996 -- in DC: 8-10,000 1997 -- in Indianapolis (neutral site): full house at a smaller stadium (6,000?) 1998 -- in Chicago: 16-18,000 in the cold rain 1999 -- in Rochester: sell out 11,000+ 2000 -- in Chicago: 19,000 + 2001 -- in Fullerton: 4,000 + 2002 -- in Columbus: 6,000 + It's hard to look at those last two years and not be concerned. In Columbus case, it was their first shot at silverware (and it was buck-a-brat night ) Last year, LA was playing for one of their first trophies as well. When I flipped on the tv last Wednesday, I was expecting to see 15-20,000. How could they NOT sell at least their season ticket base and a few thousand more when they are hosting a championship game, I thought. If it was over priced, that is just stupid on the part of USSF, but if fans didn't know about the game, or knew about it and chose not to go, then I think there is a reason to question the viability of the tournament.
1999 had 4,000 or so. It was in Columbus, and featured Rochester vs. the rapidly-fading Colorado Rapids.
Well hopefully the tourney will survive, but low attendance will not help it out. If it has made it through 89 years of less than professional soccer, then I guess it will live on for a while.
"Question the viability of the tournament" my ass. Maybe I'm just finding fault with your wording, but I think it reflects some fans' ideas about the US Open Cup. This thing was around for more than 80 years before MLS kicked a ball. It needs better marketing
Feel free to bury your head in the sand. When USSF and MLS decided to include MLS in 1996, they made the decision to try to go big time. Now the questions are "how much do they spend" and "how much do they make" I'm guessing when you can only attract 25% capacity with the home team chasing their first title of any kind, they probably didn't make a lot of jack. It survived 80 years without MLS as a glorified local club tournament with low expenses and almost no revenue. I would love to see it survive and thrive, but I don't think it is out of line to question the viability of something that should have done much better the last two years.
Chris M, am I reading your post correctly? Are you questioning the viability of an 80 year old tourney based on the last TWO years of attendance? Please tell me you're not saying that.
That is what I am saying -- sort of. Granted, I am not submitting my thesis on the viability of soccer in the US, I am simply advancing a question on a message board, so relax. In 1996, the USSF decided they wanted to take the tournament to another level, and compare it to cup competitions in traditional countries. To do that, they wanted to include MLS, A-League, D-3 etc. I agree with this strategy. By doing this, they are upping the stakes. Greater travel costs, significantly higher rents etc. To justify this, the tournament needs to pick up steam in terms of interest and ticket sales. We will never be in on how much money is lost on this tournament, but it is safe to say that US Soccer will not stick with a dog for too long. They do not have the deep pockets of MLS owners. Unfortunately, their commitment to the tounament in terms of promotion have not been good. Obviously, they need a robust attendance at the final, not only to cover the costs of staging the final itself and the prize money to be paid, but also for covering earlier expenses as well. In answer to your question, my guess is that they would not kill an 80 year old tournament, however, I think they would explore the option of scaling back to eliminate pro teams and the added expense. Going back to the pre-MLS format will insure that the tournament will never make money, but it would limit the expenses in a manageable way. Disclaimer -- this is complete idol speculation for discussion purposes only.