Can't MLS be a combination of Latino, Anglo and American sport cultures? With a touch of continental Europe and Caribbean flavor. There are potential fans in all of those niches and MLS would be stupid to ignore any of them. Of course the lion's share of attention needs to go towards the blue blooded Americans, especially the ones that play and/or follow Euro football. But a big share of attention can also be spent on immigrants and expats from other countries without betraying your bread and butter blue blooded American.
on the contrar it already has... the majority of the americans sports fans don not respect soccer mostly because of the foreigness of the sport...... david beckham is not tooken as a soccer player, he is a hollywood item for shows like ET and INsider and peoplemag and crap, for soccer purposes is to satify the foreigners of a euro face. .... at the end of the day for MLS to get more respect from the bIGS of US sport they need to cater to the american sports fan. its very obvious MLS and maybe the USNt are relying on immigrant passion for soccer accomplish ment, they sold tier souls at the expense of the american sports fan, who they felt wasnt able to understand soccer, but noooooooooo, they want to listen to some euro latin twat that has no clue about the american sports fan........ dang dude why do you think we have the best athletes in the freaking planet?????? why we go to another country and take no crap from nobody, WE are freaking americans Man!!!!!
On the same topic, did anyone else notice the SF Giants wearing jerseys that said "Gigantes" recently? I pointed it out and someone asked "what's that about?" I informed him "that's called ethnic pandering."
No, segregation, meaning "the directing of corporate resources towards the areas where you believe you will get the greatest return", is not only perfectly legal, but it's really a cornerstone of our great nation and something we should all aspire to. I fully support MLS in its efforts to segregate the United States. MLS = Major League Segregationists
Honestly, a few large firecrackers (see recent Neth. Vs. Albnia.) thrown on the pitch. Maybe a few nasty fights between players/fans would land the MLS on Sportscenter. If I were Don Garber I would figure out a way to encourage eye-catching events like: fighting, Vespa scooters flying onto the pitch after a bad loss from the 2nd story of RFK, large fences separating fans (different sections at least), and occasional pushing and stoping of the ref. The scary thing is....I'm serious. It would guarantee interest. If Americans are entertained by "touchdown celebrations", surely this would be more interesting.
The only thing latin stars could do to make the MLS more popular, is have those latinas come to more games in scandilty clad attire,drunk, cheering, and ready to put on a show
Yeah, I always thought a little fan controversy would put MLS on the map. America is the land of Pride Fight, Jerry Springer, Cheaters, Gangsta Rap, Pro Football, hunting TV shows, war documentaries etc ... The downside is that any incident involving fans would bring out all the safety fascists and their hoards of lawyers.
I wonder how much money Paul Gardner has made from writing the same column over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. The horse is dead, Paul. Move on.
Speaking of dubious provenance, I think you're giving it a little undue credit coining "Joe Sixpack." It's been a phrase common in sports since at least the 1970s (I did a google news search for it). To be fair, ESPN's current ad campaign obviously appeals to this strategy, but yes, it's likely a waste of MLS resources when what you should be doing at more effect per dollar is marketing to the people most like those who already show up. But of course I'd be willing to bet that's exactly what they do.
Interesting. It's a great term for BigSoccer... Yeah, I mentioned that there are some reasons to think general marketing will work where it failed before-- the structure of the new TV deal means that MLS doesn't have to do it on its own anymore, and the DP signings have created a temporary buzz that may get some casual fans in stadiums and make them into fans. But I don't think marketing Brian Ching to casual fans is going to have any effect-- and it certainly won't have more effect than the Beckham or Blanco marketing... I know where I'd put my money.
Nope. They definitely played a game in those jerseys sometime in the last two weeks. I can't remember who they were playing, but it was in S.F. It appears they've done it before, though.
im glad im not a "GIGANTES" fan..... i read a article it started out as a dedication to one of the players and then it went overboard with the "Diversity" thing
I am pretty pro diversity myself. Where I get anti is when it becomes contrived pandering which many times is what being disguised and peddled under the 'diversity' banner.
I am not sure there is a difference. If there is, I can't define it. I dont think I can actually define the part that are, offensive at worst, cheesey at best; but I certainly know it when I see it. Metro used to hold these latino days out at the stadium. Once a year they would clear a part of the parking lot and have some ethic latino dancers spinning around the macadam surrounded by carvel ice cream and hebrew national stands with a couple rows of folding chairs set up for people to sit in. It was beyond pathetic. To me, this wasn't a case of a club wanting to really embrace the latino market. It was a cheap ploy just to get latinos to buy tickets to that match. 'He latinos, this match is dedicated to you'. It came accross incredibly disingenuous to me. It came accross as pandering. I am not sure you can clearly define a difference, but some of these 'marketing ploys' have crossed the line for what I see anyway, as simply pandering.
A cheap ploy that brings in 5 fans for every dollar spent is better than an expensive play that brings in 2 fans for every dollar spent. If pandering is simply bad marketing, then why not call it... "bad marketing"?
I guess you can. But I also think its fair to call some of these ethnically driven market ploys, ethnic pandering. One sounds nicer, the other might paint a better picture. Gentlemens choice.
"Pander" just doesn't seem like the right word to me when you're talking about whether a marketeing ploy is good or not. You can definitely have successful pandering. I don't think you can have successful "bad marketing". So pander, for me, has no relation to the quality of the marketing-- rather it refers to the use of inappropriate or even "immoral" tactics. I think people here are more likely to call ethnic marketing "pandering" because they start from assumptions that focusing on race or ethnicity is de facto a problem. It's pretty hard to argue with someone if they believe that because, in their eyes, you might as well be arguing for ethnic cleasing.