Just curious. any mathematicians in the house.. LA, a multicultural city, full of futbol, soccer and footbal fanatics. How much more time... if never, why I think it can be possible but how long.
How would you quantify this. Bigger how? Let me enumerate the ways the G's could be bigger, and I am sure to miss a few.. -Sell more tix -More media coverage -Higher revenue -More championships -Bigger fan base (though I wouldn't want the laker's fan base anywhere near my HDC) -Higher salaries -Bigger star quality I do think that the sport of soccer will grow in the US over the next several years. I also believe the Galaxy will see an increase in popularity, but it won't be huge. Part of the problem rests with your statement of multiculturalism. This is actually of the reasons why the Galaxy won't grow huge in popularity in the near term. While we are a multicultural society, we don't actually mix together more often than we have to. We tend to stay in our own enclaves, much to our own detriment. This of course isn't true of everyone; everywhere, it is true of most of us. The largest population of soccer fans in the US today are the immigrants from southern countries that have come to the US in the last ten to fifteen years. These people have come with a culture, and an identity that is centered in where they came from, rather than where they ended up. So they will associate with teams from their home town. Like real Chivas, Pachuca, CA etc. You simply can't expect them to dump the team they love and fall in love with a new team because they moved to a new city. I know if I move to any other town, I will not be changing my allegiance. I will being staying in my own enclave so to speak. Sure the odd Pachuca fan might come to 1 Galaxy game in 3 years just to see the MLS, but he won't bleed Galaxy colors, he'll bleede Pachuca colors. However, I do think that there are two untapped markets that the MLS should be paying attention to. First, the youth soccer market. When you consider that over 17 million kids play soccer in the US (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/03/rise.kids.sports/index.html) you can see that there is some very untapped potential. If 10% of those kids were to remain soccer fans and attend 3 MLS games a season, league attendence would be up by around of 10% at each and every MLS game (Assuming 14 teams and 15 home games for each team.) Now if you stop to consider that each of these players is probably not going to want to attend a game alone, you could easily see a 20% or even 30% increase in sales. The problem here is that attracting this crowd takes time. You can't do it by having their parents bring them to the game and feed them hot dogs. You need to win their hearts, make them feel invested in the team, so that they become a life long fan. The younger kids need heroes to make the game accesible to them. MLS should market these heroes to the kids. The NFL has this down pat. It doesn't happen overnight, and it can't be done in a single "marketing campaign." You have to make the team a part of that kids identity. The second group is the kids of the aforementioned immigrants from south of the US border. Sure, their parents came over with a team, that doesn't mean that they identify with the same team. Even if they were born in Guadalahara, chances are they don't remeber it and couldn't give two spits about it anyways. They wear the Chivas jersey because Dad buys it for them, but ultimately the kid wants his own identity. Enter the local team that is part of his community, and that is always sponsering, or appearing at his local rec/club events. Oh and that one player, he's pretty cool, and he plays forward like the kid does. When the kid becaomes a teenager he will even relish the fact that he could wear a jersey for a team that isn't his Dad's team. It's not cheap to go after a youth market, with the intention of making them a life long customer. It is however, not all that hard. You don't honestly believe all those laundry soap commercials during the kids shows are geared towards mom exclusively. Brand recognition matters. The most imprtant thing is that you have to be geuine with the kids. If you pander to them, they will bolt. I know it's a long diatribe, and my spelling and grammar is probably a mess, but this is something that has frustrated me about the MLS for years. Their approach to the youth market has largely consisted of targeting the parents, and trying to get them to bring the kids to a game. Instead they should be getting the kid to love the team, and beg his parents to take him.
I love the Galaxy but the honest truth is that the Lakers will "ALWAYS" be the biggest team in L.A. You are talking about a team that has had so many legends: Jerry West (MR. NBA Logo) Wilt Chamberlin Magic Johnson Kareem Abdul Elgin Baylor Shaq Kobe and the biggest legend in Laker history: It was Chick hearn who invented the word "Slam Dunk" and the most famous of them all: "The game's in the refrigerator. The door's closed, the light's out, the eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard, and the Jell-O's jiggling." Lakers are untouchable.
You hit on some good points there. You mentioned about marketing soccer to the youth, which I agree, is the future and needs to take priority, but the fact is that there are already plenty of fat beer drinking slobs out there that are already soccer fans, just no necessarily Galaxy fans. This legion of drunken fools could greatly increase our present fans, but nothing is being done to appease them. IMHO the the Galaxy FO spends most of their time marketing to kids and doesn't give us slobs the time of day. They won't even let the slobs have the bw-hotdogs we crave. Hey, not hating on the kids, just saying...
predicting such things is an impossible task. who would have imagined forty years ago that the lakers would become the most popular team in LA? basketball was a joke sport with eleven teams in the league, played by gangly, white, guys in ridiculously short shorts. there are so many factors that went in to making the lakers so popular, from winning championships (la loves a winner), to dramatic storylines (bird/johnson, kobe/shaq), to celebrity support, to adoption of the clothing by trend setters in the music and entertainment business. who knows where the galaxy will sit thirty years after its inception.
It is impossible to predict. However, as someone who just tried to buy Lakers tickets and went into sticker shock instead, I can say I'm very glad the Galaxy aren't THAT popular right now...
How long would it take for the Galaxy to be bigger than the Lakers in Los Angeles? When the Lakers move out of town....however long that is. Better bring a lawn chair.
Well I would have to say about 7-8 years. Mostly because I think it takes about a year for your legs to heal after you get the surgery where they break your legs and then then move the bones apart so they grow longer when they heal. and I am under the impression that the max you can go is about an inch a year. So you have to figure that the average height of the lakers is about 6' 7'' and the average height of the Gals is about 6 foot. And once we are done with this thread maybe we can talk about what would have happened if Claus Von Stauffenberg killed Hitler in 1944. or if we invaded Japan in 1945...
It will be decades for the Galaxy or any other MLS Club to be #1 in any community. The Lakers, Yankees, Cowboys, Red Sox, etc. all have something in common with Real Madrid, Man U, Club America, Boca Juniors, etc. That's that they've been around for years. All these teams have rich history that composed of many championships, hall of fame players, coaches, etc. When foreigners think basketball, they think the Lakers, when they think baseball, they think the Yankees, when they think soccer or futbol, they aren't thinking Galaxy, DC United or Dynamo. Hell most Americans don't think of MLS teams when they think of soccer. I myself, love the Dynamo, but first and foremost will always be a true Astros fan. I guarantee, however, that my kids will be huge Dynamo fans, and their kids will probably be also. That's really the only way soccer will grow in this country. A couple of generations down the road, MLS will have double or triple the fan support, which will mean more media coverage, sponsorships, bigger stadiums, etc. Will they ever be bigger than some the more historic teams in other leagues, that remains to be seen.
something curious would be LA withouth an american footbal team, that clearly show how diverse the city of LA is, heck even the name is spanish. i know most of you guys hate the fact that LA is almost a mexican city with the upper class bein jews and from europe a few americans in there. if there is no raiders, of course is possible for the gals to get even or bigger than the lakers. somebody said "LA love winners?" who doesnt? if LA is almost a "mexican" city, why no to bring the best mexican soccer player at the moment? which one is the biggest community after the mexican? why no target their mega stars from their leagues? if we are talkin winning, i thinking on kaka or cristiano... if you could bring beckam, then why no the real deal? american footbal is the biggest sport in america if im no mistaken, im sure the super bowl is followed for the majority of sports fans in america, and LA still dont have franchise, but 2 soccer teams are making it. the problem i see is that the gals are more worry about going to different countries without even getting most americans to know them. think about it, most americans know who beckam is but know nothing of the LA galaxy or MLS, but a lot more people outside the US would know about beckams and the gals... i guess there is still more work to do at home. i can imagine and LA gals game on england national tv, and in american, mls barely make it to a second rated espn2.
You may not have been here yet when this went on, but we tried that idea already. We brought Carlos Hermasillo, Jorge Campos AND Luis Hernandez to the Galaxy. Chivas USA tried it with Ramon Nunez, Paco Palencia and Claudio Suarez. None of them brought this wave of hispanic following that we always here about. I do, however, believe that Blanco may have actually finally bridged that gap a bit. But it was not in LA.
Aren't they redoing the movie Fletch? Maybe for enough money AEG could get the script rewritten so that Fletch is obsessed with the Galaxy and has daydreams about Landon Donovan and Becks as opposed to Kareem... Fletch was when I knew that basketball was here to stay. It could be the same for soccer ?
the G's will never be bigger than the lakers, but i do think it is possible to be 'as big'. guess my point is, USC football, LA lakers, LA dodgers are all big. they are so big in fact it is nearly impossible to say who is more popular. i do think that the G's will one day reach that level, but never exceed any of those organizations.
"Never" is such a long time, and I think those of you who say "never" aren't very old. The 1st Super Bowl was played in my lifetime. In 40 years, the sports landscape will be completely changed, and it's entirely possible that MLS could be huge. The Galaxy could be playing in front of 80-100,000, with big TV ratings. I might live to see it, if I eat right & get lots of exercise . The positive trends are there for soccer in the US.
you have a good point and the reason why was Jorge Campos.first season mls (no one cared) plus he played for Pumas and Atlante (not a big l.a. fan base)Luis Hernandez that dude was passed around mexico like the flu(so no real fan base)Carlos Hermosillo well this is how i came to the galaxy,my old man took me to see some random games in the beginning(free tix from friends)and if we were really bored(the rose bowl wasnt that far and never sold out)but Hermosillo was from the glory days of america the 80's or to us america fans "los ochentas"so he took me every time he could go,i think why america most fans didnt come to games like blanco was blanco played for america then the fire so there was still love for blanco and the fire is not another mexican team. Hermosillo play for three mexican teams before l.a. and one was cruz azul for six years.as for chivas usa no real mexican respects them, Paco Palencia and Claudio Suarez both were on there way out,paco from chivas, and suarez from life,and Ramon Nunez is Honduran.for chivas to blow up you need a name like bravo,but bravo now not ten years from now.but all this doesnt matter at all cuz if we beat the lakers there is still the infamous l.a. team which the logo is the unoffical symbol of los angeles... anyone want to hazard a guess???
all those players were brough after their prime. am talking giovanny dos santos, nery castillo, memo ochoa, vela, or maybe in the years to come, after hugo sanchez get replaced from an argentina coach you can bring mexicans icon, hugol! the only 2 names that could make a serious impact in the whole hispanic community right now would be riquelme or ronaldo outside of mexico, and of course messy, kaka or cristiano. any of the mexicans mentioned above would be huge! and i mean huge! no bc im salvadoran but you know how big de salvadoran community is in LA, and you know salvadorans are into soccer 24/7, so i dont see why Quintanilla is in Costa Rica instead of being here with gals, quintanilla playing 15 minutes per game would bring a couple of thousands paisanos... arturo alvarez? if anybody interested in a real salvadoran prospect here in LA, and could give him a trial, send me a pm ill give you the info of a kid that turned out already offers from mexico. he good enough to play MLS but i think he is going waste 4 years of his life to college. if anybody interested and could make it happend, just le me know, i met him semipro, he is 18. what about the jews players, is anybody any good in israel? i know a lot of jews people that are hardcore on EPL but they know nothing on MLS!! you know the jews, asian and arab communities are huge in LA. central americans at the moment i think Suazo or Costly, both great! oh yeah you do have carlos ruiz, which is still good. i know the team is making money going to other places of the world, but wouldnt be better to tour the US better? and get more fans at home? just wondering. think about the lakers having fans all over the states, with koby being the most popular nba player, im asumming Labron is second. just a few ramdon ideas.
never is a truth, based on how the question was asked. are the dodgers bigger than the lakers? are the lakers bigger than the dodgers? you would have to say no to both of those because at some point teams get so big it is impossible to say one is bigger than the other. do i think the G's will make that level yes, do i think they will ever be bigger than the lakers or the dodgers? never . . . name me a single team that is bigger than the lakers or the dodgers. point is, you cant.
not having an american football team has nothing to do with the percentage of hispanic people in LA, it has to do with the fact that tax payers are not willing to cough up the cash for the nfl fatcats what planet are you on? almost a mexican city? first of all, just because there are many hispanic people in LA does not mean all of those people are mexican, additionally how many of those 'mexicans' are pochos? as an fyi, pocho <> mexican. i probably should have not responded to your comments (and instead written them off to the typical ignorance of BS users), but what the hell. btw, the reason LA has a spanish name is because the US kicked mexico's ass and took the land (thank you very much), and no more reason than that.
Sterotype much? But I suppose that's a lazy man's substitute for actually thinking. On the other hand, since you are a BS user you may be overly influenced by what you see when you look in the mirror.