backround: Concacaf released the following Concacaf Champions Cup Schedule/Press release today. Dates, times confirmed for first round of 2003 Champions Cup of concern to the NE Revolution fans (and fans of MLS) is the following: notice, both matches to be played in Costa Rica. Now, we know that the concacaf website is somewhat of a joke in many respects...but, many of us have talked to the revs office and they will not say it is a mistake or deny its validaty. Not only is this extremely irritating, frustrating, etc to loyal revs fans that have supported this club thru more horrible seasons than any fan should....but its embarrasing for a club in mls to not find some way...any way...to play a game like this on american soil. we rev fans have waited far too long for our side to get involved in something like this, only to have the 2nd leg played away from us. Please go to the following link and let rev's management know that its not acceptable to revs fans and to fans of mls for this side to give up their right to play this match in front of their own fans. N.E. Revolution to play their "HOME" leg at home pass it along to your friends, etc. revs fans need everyone's support....asap. thanks
the petition is closing in on 180 signatures. that's great. everyone should be proud that they've added their voice to the mix. today, i've been in contact with a higher up in the revs office who assures me that lou imbriano and sunil gulati will review the petition once i send him the link. in addition, i'm in the process of getting to Commissioner Garber, through his assistant, to view the petition as well. I'd like to wait until the end of the day to let them have their first glance at it so that more names/comments can be added to mix. if you haven't signed already, and want to do so, please get over today and do it. N.E. Revolution to play their "HOME" leg at home it wouldn't hurt to call the revs @ 1.877.GET.REVS as well so that other people in the organization know about this issue (and directly hear people that care about it) thanks
Whats the logic behind the decision to play the "home" game on the road anyway? It seems a bit bizarre and nonsensical just on the face of it, although Im sure there has to be some kind of reasoning going on among the MLS/Revolution people.
Why don't you try to actually get people to buy tickets to the "home" match. Vote with your money, not some silly online petition that will have no bearing.
I'm not clear on what you mean here. If the "home" match is in Costa Rica it might be a little difficult for Revs fans to make the game.
No, try to see how many people would be up for the game if it was somewhere in NE. Matter of fact, the Revs probably feel (and rightly so) that they would get more $$ out of the home game in CR then they would in any location in the US.
The Quakes and Galaxy would also probably get more money if they sold the "home" game to the away teams in Guatemala and Honduras. But the Quakes and Galaxy are taking the financial hit to rent out the local college stadiums and play the home game at home. Why can't the Revs do this for the good of the team?
*************** the good of the team. Make it out of the first round and then see. If they can't get a game anywhere near NE, why not go to CR and make some money. God forbid MLS do that.
The Revs have rented out Foxboro stadium, or at least incurred the expense, for US Open Cup games in the past, including vs. Mid-Michigan, where they were sure to take a bath $$$$wise. Unless it would cost significantly more to rent out Gillette for a match where, to be fair, who knows how many people will buy tickets for, I have no idea why they won't host a match. Unless they think they don't need to make the goodwill move due to last year's MLS Cup run but I digress.
"No, try to see how many people would be up for the game if it was somewhere in NE." That's not really the point. The Revs have known they'd be hosting a home match in this tournament since last November. I even recall conversations with front office staff who were equally excited to be playing in a meaningful tournament at home, whether that meant Gillette Stadium or some other venue in the region. Instead there's been zero marketing of this match, no tickets are available,with seemingly more emphasis placed on an upcoming friendly to be held at Gillette between Barcelona and Juventus, fans of which are not likely to start going to Revolution matches after their flirtation with the giant albatross down in Foxboro. What gets me is this: the Krafts are hosting four Gold Cup matches, the Barcelona vs. Juventus friendly, and a doubleheader with the Boston Breakers. The additional money they pull in from these matches and the additional MLS fixtures should easily help in covering the cost of a limited stadium-opening of Gillette. Instead, the Revs will be participating in a tournament thousands of miles away which will provide zero, ZERO access to supporters who spend their $$$ week-in and week-out to follow them. No TV, no internet, no messenger pigeon. I guess Kraft really is a minority investor-operator in MLS: he doesn't have or want to spend the $$$ to play with the big boys. I'm going to be bitter about this for a long time.... a long time. The Magpie
What I've been saying: is that this is the kind of thing that happens by playing a summer schedule. Ever since the old NASL switched to a summer schedule(the old ASL played the traditional fall/winter/spring schedule until the NASL came along) there has come with it this perception among the casual sports fan in this country that soccer is a 'summer' sport. Also since MLS is trying to model itself after the NFL or NHL or whatever, there also comes the idea that an event like the Champions Cup is somehow secondary to the league, when as anyone who follows European or South American ball knows, those clubs consider the ultimate prize to be the Champions League or the Libertadores. So A: the Revs treat the Champions Cup like a preseason friendly and B: they use the potential of cold weather at Foxboro as an excuse. Because MLS owners/executives are not hard core soccer people, this kind of thing will continue until the fans demand it stops. The best thing we can do is show up at the Columbus/LA/San Jose home ties in force regardless of who we support. If you can at all get off work and make the trip, GO!! It's a show of patriotism as well as support for the game. If those games all sell out, it'll open a lot of eyes around the league, and dare I say it, pave the way for a Champions Cup television package? Can you imagine Champions Cup soccer Wednesday nights on ESPN in prime time? Show up dammit, the future of this game is in OUR HANDS!!! We got rid of the shootout, we got a two leg MLS playoff format, we can MAKE MLS into a legitimate international league.