Play all 30+ games on Independence Day. I mean if you promise a fireworks show does anybody and everybody in this country flock to it? Something they should actually do next year is try to get 6 games on July 4th since this obviously seems to work. It'll be on a Tuesday next year so you could possibly do that. When it's on Wednesday in 2007 that should be a very high priority. And perhaps another good idea would be something like $10 off 2 tickets to another (insert your team here) game in the future. May I also say that I was impressed with the KC-Colorado game on HDNet. I thought it would be dull compared to the LA-NE game that I wish could've been on. Well maybe putting 42,000 people in the stands makes players be more creative or something. Kudos to the Rapids for making KC look absolutely horrible in the second half. How the bloody hell do you give up 2 goals in 4 minutes to a team down a man? Josh Wolff isn't a defender.
Idea thrown around before... Impossible to do in NY, DC, and other dense metropolitan areas because of the holiday traffic already congesting those areas. Can u imagine the DC United trying to compete against the traffic headed for the 4th of July fireworks by the Mall in DC?
It hasn't worked in every city. As far as the crowd goes: If you played the same game in Arrowhead and in England or anywhere else with a great crowd, you would come away with a totally different opinion of it afterwards.
The season should start in March, and the league should a have a mid-season break in the summer ( 3-4 weeks, during the World Cup or in July or/and August ).
I guess I must be missing something here, Wolff didn't play as he's with the Nats for the Gold Cup. That said, the Wizards stunk up the 2nd half. Up by a goal and a man yet they give up two.
I'll probably get flamed for this...but what the heck. You know what these 4th of July attendance bonanzas tell me? That MLS will have a very difficult time ever growing the average attendances all that much. If every year, or every other year, Colorado is able to get 40-60k at one game, but continue to have stagnant attendance (or even declining atttendance) then the product just isn't being bought by the masses. Wouldn't you expect some of the 40-60k that come to this one game to get "hooked" by the game itself and start coming more regularly? But that obviously isn't happening.
Good theory, excpet that Colorado's attendance grew every year under AEG. It was only after the sale to KSE and the resulting slashing of the advertising budget as they wait for the new stadium that the Rapids attendance has declined.
Kronke bought the team in 2003, right? Attendance was down 5% in 1999 and down another 10% in 2000. So that's not quite true.
the Nationals played at home yesterday. The game was sold out. And yes, I'm sure it was a motherf***er getting out of there.
Well I chalked 1999 up to coming off the WC bump. We're only talking about 800 people a game there. I missed 2000, you're correct. Still from there through 2003 (minus coming off the 2002 WC bump) they grew to the point where they led the league in 2002. KSE's lack of advertising has really hurt the team. I think it's short-sighted as it's one thing to go 1 season (Chicago) or half a seaso n(Dallas) while you wait for a stadium, but the Rapids stadium won't open until 2007, at which point KSE will have owned the team for 3 full seasons.
I think they might be having the Nats play annually at home on July 4th. Until they play in separate stadiums, perhaps it could become a holiday tradition for D.C. to play on the road against a certain team... perhaps the Revs? A patriotic-themed rivalry on the 4th could certainly build up steam to the point where it becomes an American sports fixture.
One of the articles today in some newspaper addressed that indirectly. The deal is in places like Colorado, NYC, Kansas City, etc. people have to pay a bunch of money for things like parking and concessions. The MLS teams can't do anything about this because they don't control the facility. When I went to a Silverbacks game recently the 16 oz. beer was nearly half as much as it is at the Georgia Dome where the NFL Falcons play. So basically the point was, as Garber has said, you will have a very hard time attracting people to NFL-priced stadia and concessions. When people have their own facilities they can control parking, ticket prices, concessions, etc. If this is the case you should expect attendance to start rising for FC Dallas in August. I expect they will sell out the joint for the first game.
Wolff is a forward so obviously it wouldn't be a forward's fault giving up 2 goals up a man. That was my point. Can't blame it on the Gold Cup call-ups.
Except in the years after ones where there was an unusual occurance giving a bump to attendance limited to that year (1998 and 2002 show bumps in attendance for Colorado, those coincide with the World Cups) attendance went up. I have not looked at the numbers myself, but other BigSoccer posters have said that there are similar bumps for other teams in those years that dropped back after that year. Attendance in 1999 was still higher than 1997, and 2003 was higher than 2001. I'm making an assumption that if you were to somehow determine how many people were due to the WC "bump" and remove them from the 1998/2002 attendance, you'd see a steady growth from 1997 through 1999 and from 2001 through 2003. Again, I somehow missed the drop in 2000. No explanation for that. Attendance did grow by 2400 people a game between 1999 and 2001 though. The general point I'm refuting is the statement that none of the "greater attendance" coming to Colorado is hanging around for the soccer, and thus they aren't getting any converts so who cares. The attendance numbers show a general increase in average attendance while AEG owned the team, so obviously some of those people are hanging around for the soccer.
Really, attendance has been about the same for the entire MLS run. The differences are mostly due to doubleheaders, the length of the schedule, and the number of midweek games.
How about they just lie about the attendance numbers? That would seem to me to be the easiest and quickest way to raise the attendance figures.
Actually, I have a dream where one day the DCU stadium on poplar point will have an open end that allows for a view of the Washington Monument and Capital building, and that the 6:30pm game will end at about 8:30pm, allowing everyone in the stadium to watch the fireworks from the stands after DCU lays a 6-1 drubbing on New England, with the one goal being an own goal from Freddy Adu, who is responsible for all 7 goals in the match. The Metro will be well-managed by that point, and allow for smooth exodus by all.
You're arguing that a very good attendance at one game is bad news for MLS? I suppose MLS Cup '02 spelled doom for the league. No, I know what you mean, but all professional leagues take advantage of scheduling. The NFL and I think the EPL always schedule a glut of games around Christmas/New Year's. Baseball's always got added coverage during holidays, especially even when they don't fall on a weekend. Good attendances for some cellar-dwelling ballclub on the Fourth but it's always back to a vast oasis of empty seats the next day. The July 4th game is a spectacle and it's supposed to be, but it's only one game, and people are not going to find their love of soccer at just one game. I love the game but, trust me, I did not get into it overnight, and it didn't happen on an off-World Cup year. We should be happy for the "attendance bonanza," have the league happily pocket the money and continue to bank on the idea that people will eventually "get" MLS. Don't expect that to occur just prior to a fireworks show.
For the love of all that is holy....I'm not arguing that the 4th of July game is a bad idea or that the Rapids shouldn't take advantage of it. Its just an observation based on what I've seen go on in Colorado. Jeez....misinterpretation is the most favored pasttime of BigSoccer.
BigSoccer or not, no argument can be too precise. You're a good guy, that's why I attempted to address the point you were trying to make in the first place.