The claim was that having Morgan in Portland was somehow bad for the league, and that somehow having her somewhere else would be better for attendance . As you say, the other venues don't have the capacity, so even if she filled those venues, it wouldn't even bump the total attendance much at all. That's just part of the small thinking of those teams. Several have MLS stadiums available also, but they chose small multi use venues that aren't all that great to watch or play on. Ask Leroux. And Morgan isn't any more of a hometown player anywhere else than she is in Portland. The league Doesnt have a team within a thousand miles of her home town. Portland is the closest place. And having her anywhere else doesn't mean even that franchise will be saved, especially WNY. Wambach is the one who was World player of the year, and its her home town, remember? Are they going to sell out every game? If teams want to succeed they will have to build teams that are fun to watch in venues that are fun to be in. Then they will have to learn to market to wider adult audiences. 12 year olds will not be a long term repeat audience. At some point they lose interest for whatever the next cool thing is for a teenager and Alex Morgan will seem like an old lady. That's the real marketing secret in Portland. They market to soccer fans of all ages, and they market hard to them and cultivate hard core groups like the TA and Riveters. And they provide an experience people want to come back and do again.
The claim was that having Morgan in Portland was somehow bad for the league, and that somehow having her somewhere else would be better for attendance . As you say, the other venues don't have the capacity, so even if she filled those venues, it wouldn't even bump the total attendance much at all. That's just part of the small thinking of those teams. Several have MLS stadiums available also, but they chose small multi use venues that aren't all that great to watch or play on. Ask Leroux. And Morgan isn't any more of a hometown player anywhere else than she is in Portland. The league Doesnt have a team within a thousand miles of her home town. Portland is the closest place. And having her anywhere else doesn't mean even that franchise will be saved especially WNY. Wambach is the one who was World player of the year, and its her home town, remember? Are they going to sell out every game? Would Morgan change that? And would it have been any more fair to have Morgan there instead? If teams want to succeed they will have to build teams that are fun to watch in venues that are fun to be in. Then they will have to learn to market to wider adult audiences. 12 year olds will not be a long term repeat audience and they dont buy season tickets. At some point they lose interest for whatever the next cool thing is for a teenager and Alex Morgan will seem like an old lady. And they will have to think hard about using the venues in the center cities, not an hour drive out of town. That's a lesson the whole country should have learned when the NW teams entered the MLS. That's the real marketing secret in Portland. They market to soccer fans of all ages, and they market hard to them and cultivate hard core groups like the TA and Riveters. And they provide an experience people want to come back and do again. A big chunk of the folks I sit near at UP games have been in the same seats for 20 years. I saw a majority of those same folks at the Thorns game. Those folks are your market.
You must have fallen out the bed and hit your head to a make a slightly anti-Morgan post, but you are correct she isn't putting 10k a game in Rochester, if Wambach cant. Also, KC proved this week it's completely beyond her when 4100 people showed up in the rain for that team, which has a lot of marketable hot properties, the most in the league on one squad. The package they offer is hotter than a singular Morgan. Morgan would be worthless with a small stadium team. Maybe if Chicago was attached to the Fire, you could put Morgan there, and see if she could draw in the Fire stadium. Portland got rewarded with Morgan and Sinclair because someone saw the storm ( crazy attendance) coming in Portland during allocations. It's all good, if portland can do that year after year. Also, those KC girls wear the shorts a bit too short, esp Ms Cuellar and Cheney. Missy Geha - 2013 Color Commentator of the Year