They did that last year. Lockhart drew better than FIU. The large Hispanic fan base in M-D County does not support the sport locally. While FIU is a decent stadium it is usually empty for the Blues games. Yet, it seems that the old Striker Likers will show up for The Blues at Lockhart, as long as they think they are seeing a team worth watching. By season's end both stadiums drew nada because the Blues really weren't worth watching. It would be interesting to see what the attendence at both stadiums would be like if MFC became a Div 2 powerhouse & won championships & Cups with amazing regularity. I suppose a bit more advertising would help, too... Sadly, this is the case. Now that MFC is setting up an Academy in Ft Lauderdale Baseball Stadium, across the street from Lockhart Stadium, I think we have a hint where they'll be playing for the forseeable future. Now they must market this team & make it a winner on the field, too. Maybe then we'll start to see many more people in the stands. Hopefully this includes at least a few of the large number of Hispanics in Miami. There's well over a million of 'em. It would only take a few thousand to fill up the place. Add the Striker Likers and the Palm Beach jillionaires and maybe we'll start seeing sellouts and SRO. Wouldn't that be nice....
Somebody must agree with me. Look at the poll results. Now I'd be curious to see what the results would be in an internet poll targeted to the Spanish speaking and Portuguese speaking So. Fla. soccer communities. The comments I keep hearing are that the team did a poor job of marketing to the Hispanic community in Miami-Dade County. Within the folks I know that fit that latter demographic, there are plenty of soccer fans. Not one knew that Miami has had a professional soccer franchise in recent years - not until I told them. I'm going back a few years, but the growing Brasilian community seemed quite aware of Iwo Wortman's involvement with professional soccer in Miami a few years back. I remember seeing his interview on PBS with Marcos Cesar, but that was in Portuguese. I also remember seeing him a respectable amount on English language media. Fast forward to today. I'd be curious to know more about the recent Miami marketing effort compared to the marketing effort aimed at points north - like Broward and Palm Beach - but I sense a disconnect in the marketing. It is one thing if folks simply are not interested. On the other hand, the professional soccer effort in So. Florida - and Miami in particular - might be hurting itself by failing to get its message out to a huge local potential fan base.
Yes, approximately 25% agreed with you and 75% disagreed with you. And I guarantee that its in the ballpark of being right, since FIU had about a 50% drop in attendance from Lockhart.
Sun Sentinel's Jeff Rusnak (and all around great soccer reporter) will have a column in tomorrow's paper discussing in detail Traffic/MFC's plans for a stadium. He seems to think that they are serious about the baseball stadium and Lockhart. It will probably be online here at some point.
Well, there is precedent for using Cricket Grounds for soccer games. This could be our very own Kensington Oval.
I just checked. It is not online yet. Maybe later today? Maybe during the week? Maybe I should go to Publix & buy today's paper?....
There has been no marketing effort in any part of South Florida. The few newspaper stories/articles that appear in the English editions of the Herald & the Sun/Sentinel are it, as far as I know. I think the same in the Spanish language press, too. TV is much the same; occasional mention in passing. This is something we've been complaining about constantly. We agree with you. There is a fan base of unknown size that has no clue that the Blues exist. Priority one for the Blues is assemble a good, competitive team on the field. Priority two, and as important as number one, is to get the word out by as many means as possible. Market, market, market in all of South Florida. Let the folks know that you exist. I'm certain that there are 5,000 people, maybe 10,000 people, between the Keys and Jupiter that are interested enough to come and watch the Blues consistently if they get to see a good, competitive, entertaining side on the field. Maybe. We really don't know. As you have learned, most folks here have not heard of the Blues. Finally, have the patience, and accept the $$$ loses, that this will take to grow. It won't happen overnight. It won't be cheap. Keep the faith. It's the only way you'll get it to work.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/columnists/fl-soccer-column-rusnak-0228-20100227,0,3626200.column Moving to Lockhart stadium..
Well it's official I guess. Certainly a bit large but you can't complain about Lockhart. The home of soccer in South Florida once again! Can't wait for the season to start!
Yes there is a difference. The Gatos/Toros drew slim to nil fans in Miami before moving to Ft. Lauderdale, becoming the Strikers, and becoming one of the most successful and well-attended teams in the original NASL. The Strikers are one of the most memorable and recognizable brands in North American soccer. Now Miami FC has drawn slim to nil fans in Miami and has moved to Ft. Lauderdale. Only time will tell if changing names to the Strikers will revive this franchise as well(although history suggests it will, every incarnation of the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers has drawn good crowds and played well on the pitch). They already have, back in November: They also registered the names of several other old NASL clubs. In addition they also registered "Miami Strikers" but that will obviously not be used.
where are there the fans who said FIU is better for soccer? http://soccersceneusa.blogspot.com/2010/02/miami-moving-games-to-fort-lauderdale.html
"Strikers," Gerd Mueller, Nene Cubillas, Steve David...it is all coming back to me. Seriously, if the name helps draw the crowds, I'm all for it. I don't think it will make any difference at all with the large Hispanic and Brasilian communities we have been talking about, but I can see where it may ring a bell with anyone who has lived in So. Florida for a while. It sounds like Traffic has an interesting and ambitious long term game plan. Having recently made the roundtrip drive to Tampa for the USMNT friendly, I don't mind driving. However, from my location, season tickets are impractical. On the other hand, I'd like to support the effort as much as I can and will certainly make the drive up to F.I.U. or Broward to catch the week-end games.
Congratulation's on the move to Lockhart Stadium. I've attended many games there and i love the intimacy of the stadium. The seats are pretty close to the field so the fan's feel close to the action.
To be fair FIU's seats are even closer to the field. However FIU has fake turf and nobody showed up. Lockhart wasn't much better in drawing fans, still under 2,000 average, but it was still a lot more than FIU. I think once the team officially becomes the Strikers the numbers will spike a good bit. Also another thing Lockhart has going for it is that the cameras for the webcasts/TV are positioned opposite the fans. FIU and before that Tropical Park had the cameras facing the empty seats, making bad crowds look even worse on video.
I haven't been to FIU's stadium but I've seen it on tv. I don't like the field turf either. If Miami FC/Ft.Lauderdale Strikers can average 3-5,000 fan's at Lockhart Stadium,the atmosphere will be pretty good.
That's because it was. It was the first facility specifically built for MLS. It existed before obviously MLS was it was totally revamped for the Fusion. These days it's showing it's age, but it' still a decent facility.
Specifically RE-built for MLS in my humble opinion But great that it will be used again for soccer, because a few years ago there were talks of tearing the whole place down And the Fort Lauderdale Strikers brand is just icing on the cake Hope they do just like the Rowdies and also bring their hoops back
That's good news then. Even if it doesn't help draw fans, it is still a really good name and way better than Miami FC.
They damn well better lol. That's one of the major advantages to reviving the Strikers brand. I can think of just one(can't remember the name, it's certainly not a major one) club that has shirts that even remotely resemble the Strikers. Bringing those kits back turns us fans into walking billboards for the team, instant recognition. I get stopped by someone at least once every time I wear my retro George Best jersey.