Edmonton fans, are ya out there?

Discussion in 'FC Edmonton' started by longballer, Mar 25, 2011.

  1. longballer

    longballer Member

    Aug 10, 2005
    Club:
    Carolina Railhawks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    What's going on with your season preparations?
     
  2. CHHSfan

    CHHSfan Member

    Oct 30, 2010
    Chapel Hill
    Club:
    Carolina Railhawks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    They tend to post on the team's website forum as well as a Canadian site.
     
  3. MrVillan

    MrVillan Member

    Dec 10, 2010
    Club:
    Aston Villa FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada
    http://www.fcedmonton.com/ is the team's site. The forum isn't super busy, but it's not in bad shape. There's also a fair amount of posting on the Voyageurs' site here.

    Plenty of players have been signed - a fair number of local Calgary/Edmonton guys, a few Dutchmen, and a sprinkling of Div2 experienced players.

    FCE's finished their preseason training in Arizona (lost to FC Dallas, beat a couple University teams) and is back home. They'll be playing WSA Winnipeg in a friendly (in the 'Peg) before the season starts.

    Most recent news is that a "monumental announcement" is coming in the next week. Speculation on the V's is either funding for a stadium has been worked out (unlikely IMO) or the announcement of a major sponsor (quite likely). Or it could just be a jersey unveil - they're rumoured to be black with blue accent.
     
  4. Smoke & Mirrors

    Jul 18, 2010
    Club:
    Ft Lauderdale Strikers
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    Nice color combo, but I hope they don't play many afternoon games, heh.
     
  5. MrVillan

    MrVillan Member

    Dec 10, 2010
    Club:
    Aston Villa FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada
    They're pretty far north there. In June, the sun doesn't go down until after 10:00.

    Anyway, the website has been re-launched in a new style.

    Also, off of the V's board:
     
  6. Smoke & Mirrors

    Jul 18, 2010
    Club:
    Ft Lauderdale Strikers
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    Would love to hear Edmonton has plans for a new stadium, that would be a great way to kick off their inaugural season. A new stadium owned by the team might be just the thing to help with the marketability and sponsorship of the team, which would hopefully help them gain a stable footing and become a solid NASL franchise. And you'd also have the added bonus of Kenn T. having to come around and admit he was wrong about the Edmonton franchise being quite simply, a trainwreck. Looking forward to welcoming your boys into Lockhart for opening night!
     
  7. CCSUltra

    CCSUltra Member+

    Nov 18, 2008
    Cleveland
    Club:
    Hertha BSC Berlin
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Edmonton is going to have to do a lot to show they're not going to be a trainwreck. They've already admitted season ticket sales aren't going well and their GM left (again).
     
  8. Smoke & Mirrors

    Jul 18, 2010
    Club:
    Ft Lauderdale Strikers
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    Well, that's some countering bad news about the ticket sales. They got good crowds for the friendlies they played last year, so it seemed like they had something to build on attendance wise. I wonder how much time the league's hired marketing firm PMI, has spent with Edmonton.

    To me the success of this first season and whether or not the league can start building momentum going forward is going to come down to how they can do at the gate. If the returning teams can improve on the average attendance numbers over last year, and the two new teams in Atlanta and Edmonton can just have decent crowds, then I think the trend will be in the right direction. More fans makes getting sponsorships easier. More ticket sales and sponsorships mean more money in the coffers to spend on even better marketing, as well as player salaries. Improved marketing and a better product on the field spells more fans. And so on. It all starts with getting the word out to the community about the team, and getting as many people to come in a try your product as you can.
     
  9. Mr. Caca

    Mr. Caca Member

    Oct 2, 2009
    Montréal
    Club:
    Montreal Impact
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada
    They're already in a way better situation than Cleveland was 2 years ago (that's the trainwreck position). They should be alright. :)
     
  10. MrVillan

    MrVillan Member

    Dec 10, 2010
    Club:
    Aston Villa FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada
    The two things may be related - at least that's the impression I get off of some of the Edmonton guys on the V's board. There was at least one guy who was very happy to see the GM go - he'd been railing about how FCE was setting themselves up too much like past Edmonton clubs. Was very skeptical of them because of their FO being made up of the people who had failed before. And he had the owners' ears. It's not impossible that his constant bitching combined with the lower then expected ticket sales prompted them to ask the GM to step away.

    The worry is that (IIRC) one of the Faths has taken over on a temporary basis. They need to fix that.
     
  11. longballer

    longballer Member

    Aug 10, 2005
    Club:
    Carolina Railhawks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The two NASL organizations that worry me right now are Edmonton & San Antonio. We need these guys to step up and prove their sustainability. Plus, we need a couple of new, strong groups to join the league.
     
  12. CCSUltra

    CCSUltra Member+

    Nov 18, 2008
    Cleveland
    Club:
    Hertha BSC Berlin
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    If that's true then it is a good thing that they are out. But it just seems like they haven't had things together for awhile now. Hopefully that will change and they aren't the Aviators 2.0.
     
  13. Smoke & Mirrors

    Jul 18, 2010
    Club:
    Ft Lauderdale Strikers
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    What kind of presence has the team had in the community leading up to the start of the season? Any events? Any fan interaction? Advertising/marketing?
     
  14. MrVillan

    MrVillan Member

    Dec 10, 2010
    Club:
    Aston Villa FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada
    Not sure, but it looks like there will be a stadium deal announced. Posted on the V's board:

     
  15. MrVillan

    MrVillan Member

    Dec 10, 2010
    Club:
    Aston Villa FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada
    [For some reason, I can't edit my previous post, so sorry about the double post.]

    The announcement turned out to be a sponsor. Sears Financial.

    [​IMG]

    Also get a look at the away kit (all white) and the keeper jersey (in green).
     
  16. ceezmad

    ceezmad Member+

    Mar 4, 2010
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    http://nasl.com/index.php?id=3&newsid=249

    beat me to it
     
  17. CHHSfan

    CHHSfan Member

    Oct 30, 2010
    Chapel Hill
    Club:
    Carolina Railhawks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Their ticket prices might be their biggest shortcoming. I think every other team has better prices than this.
    Day of Game Ticket Pricing

    • $23 General Admission
    • $28 Reserved
    Advanced Purchase Ticket Pricing

    • $20 General Admission
    • $25 Reserved
    Group Pricing Single Game (10+)

    • $18 General Admission
    • $22 Reserved
    Season Tickets

    • $330 General Admission
    • $400 Reserved
     
  18. drSoFlaFan

    drSoFlaFan DEFEND THE FORT!

    Feb 25, 2008
    Plantation, FL
    Club:
    Ft Lauderdale Strikers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I agree. Those are pretty high. The Strikers are charging $15 for adults and $10 for kids for GA and Sideline seats on gamedays. $30 for field level seats and $35 for the open air "suites" at the top of Lockhart.

    Those season ticket prices are really high. Heck for $342 you can get GA season tix in Seattle.

    I guess Edmonton's stadium holds fewer seats so even if they sell out they'll make less than other places. I guess they are trying to compensate for that, but those prices are pretty high.
     
  19. longballer

    longballer Member

    Aug 10, 2005
    Club:
    Carolina Railhawks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  20. Mr. Caca

    Mr. Caca Member

    Oct 2, 2009
    Montréal
    Club:
    Montreal Impact
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada
    Montréal.

    Life is expensive in Edmonton and as someone else said, their stadium is quite small (3500), so they have to compensate. However, those seats are all good and a good ticket in Montréal is more expensive than a a good ticket in Edmonton (by a good margin).

    By the way, tickets in FL and Minnesota are a steal.
     
  21. brentgoulet

    brentgoulet Member+

    Oct 12, 2005
    PuertoPlata, DomRep
    I guess that with these extremely low priced tickets FL and Minnesota will need at least 7000 fans per game to break even
     
  22. Smoke & Mirrors

    Jul 18, 2010
    Club:
    Ft Lauderdale Strikers
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    You're thinking too short term. The NASL is not going to break even or be a success overnight. Anyone who thinks so is kidding themselves. This year needs to be about expanding the fanbase. Notice I didn't say expand the fanbase to the point of break even. For the returning teams, just improve on last year's attendance figures. That's a positive step in the direction the teams and the league need to go.

    I think Traffic's ticket pricing and marketing of the team in conjunction with the rebrand back to the tradition of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers brand has been nothing short of brilliant. They have left no stone unturned in their efforts to build this team's fanbase this year. Miami FC's largest crowd last year was like 1,800 I think, right? That is going to be easily tripled, maybe even quadrupled on opening night. If this team gets off to a good start on the field as well, then May 14th check back in, because it has the potential to climb even higher as the Rowdies come calling.

    I know the rest of the teams in the league don't have the power of the Strikers legacy behind their marketing push this year leading up to opening night. But I certainly hope they have spent some time and effort in the community to raise awareness of their product. If the right markets are involved, I think D2 soccer can work in this country. It will take time, and patience, and money. But I think it can work.
     
  23. CShine

    CShine Member

    Dec 13, 2009
    Huntsville, AL
    Club:
    Rocket City United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  24. MrVillan

    MrVillan Member

    Dec 10, 2010
    Club:
    Aston Villa FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada
    I wasn't there (on the other side of the country, in fact) but the 100+ number seems to me to be a bit high. If they actually got that out, then hats off. Someone posted some pics on the Vs board, should help to get a sense of what it was like. [No big crowd shots, but in the below pic you can see a lot of people in the background wearing last year's jersey - they seem pretty spread out. I wonder how big the bar is.]

    [​IMG]
     
  25. CHHSfan

    CHHSfan Member

    Oct 30, 2010
    Chapel Hill
    Club:
    Carolina Railhawks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

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