Bingo. I have no more interest in KC v. Columbus than Lazio v. Inter. But the latter game will be a significantly higher level of soccer so I'll watch that.
Its not that "we couldn't do both" its really like, why do both? With AC you get a really strong brand to build on that can compete in the US Open Cup, play in the CONCACAF Champions League, bring in teams for friendly matches like Montreal is doing with AC Milan, Fiorentina and you have a chance to go to MLS ect.... Its really simple, running one team is easier then running two. "How many national stars does the men's team?" Doesn't matter LOL!
Yup. And look at the Cities...Portland, Montreal, Vancouver...all cities like us. That's pretty common of most of the cities in Div II though...top tier cities. I think if the MLS could somehow brand itself to DivII...rename it MLS Div II, yeah...boom...attendance would should up right there.
Well, maybe. You'd still be getting that minor league product. You know the saying about 'polishing a turd'? Hopefully it's a non-issue and the team grows organically the next few years. But something as big as an MLS franchise would aid in a major kickstart. The marketing group at AC is just going to have to be more creative until then.
Ok...let me break this down...this is just my thinking. People in this City LOVE the Major League Tag....with all the basketball fans we had, and even though we had a Minor League basketball team, with local players, that won two consecutive championships, it didn't draw flies...why? Because it wasn't NBA. Now, the minor league baseball teams have one that draws well, and one that doesn't...for their league of course...but that's the Frontier League...no questions about that are there? Stick the MLS Tag...people in the states will get a bit dumb...get it on FSC, like the USL or even on ESPN2...they show NBA D League don't they? And it'd be very different...but I think we need to accept that 4,000/game is a very good number for us.
These AC St. Louis games are an absolute blast to attend. This is an amazing time to be a soccer fan here. Think about it, supporters get to do just about everything they want to do: organized marches/entrances, fireworks, smoke bombs, banners, flags, cheering, standing, singing, ... And there's no threat of violence of any kind. We have all of the passion and traditional celebration of international soccer, but none of the, uh, bloodlust. It is clear that this situation will not last forever. Maybe something will go wrong at game, and different rules will be enforced. These are probably the "good old days" and we should keep that in mind. Whether we have 3000 people or 5000 people in attendance is a minor issue by comparison. Of course, some of us look forward to MLS, a larger venue, and larger crowds. Our current team consists of young, hard working players. Our team and its level of play do not matter on an international scale. Perhaps we'll land an MLS franchise at some point; that team and its level of play, along with the rest of north american soccer, will still not likely matter on an international scale for a very long time, if ever. If we have an MLS-scale venue with MLS governance, I would be surprised if our game-day atmosphere could be replicated in it. So I intend to enjoy the game we've got (and I'm letting my friends know), because I'm not sure it can get much better.