Why not, everyone else has one Home opener 05/10/03 vs Fire: 3068 05/04/02 vs Rapid Reserve: 3044 Net: +22 05/24/03 vs Wisconsin: 3,523 05/18/02 vs Wisconsin: 3,332 Net: +191 2003 Total after 2 games: 6,591 2002 Total after 2 games: 6,376 Net: +215 2003 Average after 2 games: 3,295 2002 Average after 2 games: 3,188 Net: +107 So far so good. Hopefully the weather stays up, the press is good to us and things keep going up.
that is fantastic! Plus I read that Des Moines is one of the top 10 places to do business in the country. Maybe I should move there.
great numbers This is great to see. Apparently attendence has alot to do with location. Either you need to be in a place with a huge population or you need to be in place where there is absolutely nothing to do. I wonder which one Des Moines is? Only kidding, the Menace are obviously a good product but are located in a town without other major attractions to divert fan support. Good management practices have taken advantage of the situation which few other teams have so I tip my hat to the Menace.
I was a bit worried coming into this season that attendence might dip because of the new stadium delays and the coaching turnover. Nice to see that hasn't happened. The Menace are now a part of the community just as the I-Cubs. If we can just get the stadium situation resolved I think the Menace could certainly make the jump to the A-League and be among the more successful teams. There certainly is the fan base and ownership commitment here for that to happen.
That's it, call the moving van, it looks like you REALLY want to move to Iowa. If you want to work as a real estate appraiser I could help you, other than that you're on your own.
I actually was working in real estate some 10 years ago before I started working in soccer. Started taking the appraisal course, but bailed when the soccer gigs started. I might take you up on it though, is the market good in Des Moines?
You guys average almost as much as the SJ Earthquakes. Keep it up and you might be able to sign Landon.
MLS teams often talk of their "core" audience being a certain number and then expanding the core over the years as the casual fans become new parts of that core. Des Moines already has a core of 3,000 fans for PDL level play. If we build that stadium and move to the A-league, with Des Moines population and the Menace's ability to draw from outside the area (I live 2 hours away) I see a future of 8,000 - 10,000 average attendence, hosting MLS teams a couple of times a year through an exhibition or an open cup run plus other events we could host like womans games or open cup finals. It would be a good idea to keep this thread going and update the attendence after every game.
Yeah that Menace are part of this community. We have a nice core base and can spike to over twice that as shown last year with attendance over 5 and 6k. We get good media coverage on local tv and newspaper, moreso when NBA/hockey/local HS sports are over but hey that's how it goes.
This is actually an area I am trying to work on. We have a good group of smart fans, that react/cheer/clap etc at the right times in response to what's going on. The crowd at last years Open Cup was a perfect example. All 3K+ knew what the OC was all about. It's roughly that 3K crowd that we get constistently. However, Menace fans are more of a passive crowd. People don't want to be embarrased by sticking out in the crowd. I think they just need some leaders to make them not feel like they stick out. Which is why I am working on starting an official supporters group. (If any Menace fans are reading this, contact me and join!)
LOL, well at the very least, hopefully we can get Landon out to play against us if we do well in the Open Cup and can host the Earthquakes.
How far away are you from Omaha? --- Rowdy fans: The tough part is in most stadiums you don't have the seats behind the goals, which is the best place for the Ultras. If they are on one end of the stand, in a two stand set up, that could work, but it could also annoy those that have to stand up to see the action. We had some guys bring drums in New Orleans and that pissed off the fans. Wasn't good, and the drum guy took a lot of heat.
I can reach Omaha in an hour and forty minutes. We don't have seats behind the nets. The Menace were looking into doing this for later season games when attendence always climbs (hopefully will rival and exceed last year) but it was cost prohibitive. LOL@ fans being pissed at a drummer at a soccer game
I checked into seating behind goals. $90.00 per bleacher seat, so if you add 1,000 seats - its $90K. Its a long term investment, but it could pay off in 3 seasons or less if you add in the additional beer you can sell - Drummer: Typical baseball crowd, not the Cleveland Indians kind. Sat on their hands, bored unless a goal was scored.
I am part of a supporters group in LA for the Galaxy. We number about 100 for each match. We hate drums and despise those damn Mexican horns the kids love to blow. I think the best way to get a crowd going is with some good sarcastic chants/songs regarding opposing players. We have a pretty good arsenal of songs and the people around us love to listen to us. Drums become too much of the background noise and get tuned out. As for trying to become "official" in terms of a supporters group, get some numbers first at a match, stay away from membership dues and meetings and crap and make it a social thing. The Riot Squad here in LA plays pick up games together, meets at local bars for other matches and organizes road trips for away games. www.lariotsquad.net
can someone update on the stadium situation? i remember a website with plan but did all that work out or is there still negotiations?
Where oh where to begin. Snake Eyes is probably the person to ask here. There is still some information at www.buildthestadium.com basically when almost everthing was complete and shovels were getting ready to hit dirt last year the owner of the land wanted more money to sell. Then last month the city of Urbandale (where the stadium was to be located) backed out of their finantial commitment to the deal (money going to infrastructure such as roads and sewars and such). Now the club is talking to different cities in the area. It seems like Altoona is willing to make a deal work but seems to be a little far away from the teams fan base (although perfect location for me). They have sold out 20 suites at I believe $15,000 per suite and have sold naming rights to the stadium for something like $3.5 million and the ownership has deep pockets, it just seems like politics and red tape keep things from getting done.
No need to ask me, you covered it well. That's where we stand. BTW.. Altoona.. bad idea.. most of the Menace fans are in West Des Moines, Clive, Urbandale, Windsor Heights, and Johnston. Oh, and the owner of the land was Bill Knapp, great businessman, but real ass if you know what I mean. He and businessman/Menace owner Kyle Krauss don't get along.
I hope Krause gets it done. They and the fans deserve a nice facility. Any other options opening up yet?
Home game 3 05/31/03 vs St Louis: 3,787 06/07/02 vs Chicago Eagles Select: 4,108 Net: -321 2003 Total after 3 games: 10,378 2002 Total after 3 games: 10,484 Net: -106 2003 Average after 3 games: 3,459 2002 Average after 3 games: 3,494 Net: -35 2003 Median after 3 games: 3,523 2002 Median after 3 games: 3,332 Net: +191