With so much talk about how to appeal to the general mass American public as a whole and much of the uncertainty of how to go about it, wouldn't it be easier if MLS targeted certain groups instead? Of course as of late MLS has been trying to find ways to appeal to the Hispanic fanbase with the establishment of CD Chivas. So what if MLS could make a similar move an establish a strong fanbase with the urban communities across the country? Take into account other trends that were started by success in the hip-hop industry. Everyone knows about and are intrigued by the Cadillac Escalade SUV because its large sized chrome wheels appealed to rappers and appeared all over music videos. Again take the Chrysler 300C sedan that was all hyped up by 50 Cent and appeared in his music video. If MLS were able to make soccer appeal to the urban communities and gain some exposure in them not only would the appeal spread throughout the cities but also to suburban America. Just imagine the insanity and immense exposure MLS would get if a big rapstar to wear a soccer jersey.
for some reason i seem to remember someone last year or before wearing an mls jersey and it didnt get much. it was in a video or something, gah anyone remember this? it caused a big fuss
Was the team's jersey that this person was wearing actually a decent uniform? I'm curious also who the rapper was... there's a big difference between having 50 Cent wear the jersey and some 2nd tier artist
As nice as we think our jerseys are I wouldnt be caught dead wearing ANY MLS for fashion sakes. Sure it makes sense to wear it during the game, but comon, none of those jerseys are nice enough to be worn just as a fashion piece. I usually rock a team polo if I want to represent. And rappers cant really wear forigner team jerseys because they all have 20 million logos on them. I mean theyll prolly think "yeah Im all cool rocking the Vodafone jersey..WORD!" I have however seen famous people wear various national team jerseys, since those seem to be 'classier" looking and dont have any logos on them.
I remember a rap video with a guy wearing a Crew jersey, I've also seen a rock video I think it was "Yellowcard" wearing a Crew jersey as well. I think for alot of non hardcore MLS or soccer fans most people I"ve talked to seem to think the Crew always have the "coolest" looking jerseys.
I think it's possible to look 'cool' in a jersey, maybe not an MLS [definitely not the Galaxy ], but I saw an Afro-American DJ sporting a Lens (France) jersey at a Latino club. He was there promoting other gigs that he had for salsa clubs and techno clubs. And the boi had the ladies around him in full-force.
SeanPuffyDiddyDaddyCombs has a line of shirts under his Sean Jean label that are quite soccer-ish. Think TOFFS. He sports jerseys in photo ops too....seen him in Brazil and England jerseys.
So we crack the urban market with jerseys. Two questions: 1) What's the guarantee that selling a bunch of jerseys will translate into building a greater fanbase, or doing absolutely anything other than raising adidas' bottom line? 2) Since urban culture seems inextricably tied with the hip-hop culture, and in light of things like the stabbing at the VIBE awards and the recent unpleasantness in Detroit and their hip-hop-dominated NBA franchise, do we really want that element present in our still fledgling league?
I was thinking more about getting urban kids to want to play pro soccer over, say basketball or football.
It seems as if your implying that urban America and Black America are interchangeable and they are not. Urban kids are already playing the sport, they may not all be black but they are most definitely urban, so I guess I am confused, who exactly are you trying to reach? As for wanting kids to choosse soccer over NFL or baseball, that will be difiicult, there is alot of money to be made in every other sport except for soccer here in the States, so I would think most kids would opt for the big $ sports. Now if you could educate the young kdis playing that this is soccer offers a world of possibilites(literally) and they if they aer good enough they can play anywhere in the world, then this might be a factor in winning them over..........
I construed the thread to be about attracting fans, but I'll go with the idea of attracting players. I'd have to agree with Bayer04fan. Very few players are making any money (pro sports wise) playing soccer, so what's the attraction for an athletic kid to play soccer instead of trying his luck at something else? In any event, it boils down to kids and their role models. Are there any real soccer role models that would appeal to urban kids, and if so, do they play in the MLS? I'm thinking the answer to both questions is no, and I don't really see that changing in the near future.
What happens if that kid is like a lot of athletic kids: 5'10" to 6'0" and 150 to 170 lbs. Is pro football or basketball a realistic option? No. Does the kid have easy access to an ice hockey facility? Probably not. So that leaves just baseball and soccer as realistic options. And though soccer is low-paying right now, I think you'll see more and more talented average-size kids trying to make a career in it as more Yanks are successful abroad and MLS salaries rise.
Having celebrities in general wear MLS apparel can only help. I don't think you need to limit youself to hip-hop acts to spread the word. Having just about any visible and resonably popular figure could help: popular music figures, late night talk show hosts, actors. Hopefully the Addidas deal will make the jerseys more available to the general public. If the jerseys, hats, etc, can get into wider distribution at Walmart or K-mart that too will boost visibility and in time grow fans.
Keep the soccer jerseys out of Wal-Mart and K-Mart because that'll make it look like the soccer jerseys can't normally sell and need to be put on the clearance racks or to the wholesale stores. Just to add to my initial point. Before I used the comparison of the cars and urban fashion but if you look at Usher and his wearing of that Dark Blue Atlanta Braves Baseball Cap in his music video "Yeah", the sales of that dark blue cap went through the roof to the point where it was sold out and was selling for way over MSRP on ebay. MLS has to make sure that they give their players attractive, distinctive, top of the line jerseys that are highly marketable to the rest of the country.
I remember a few year ago when the NHL jerseys were a big urban streetwear item. Did NOTHING for the real popularity of the NHL which rates a zero in the urban -especially black and Latin- communities. Instead let's build the sport up in these neighborhoods based on participation, creating fields of urban dreams. Citing the connections to the great soccer players in the Carribean, Africa, and Brazil. And emphasizing the great black american players like Eddie Pope, Demarcus Beasely and of course Freddy Adu.
Keep the jerseys out of walmart and kmart etc? That's pretty damn stupid and counter to your whole point anyway. Make MLS look cheap? Man, most people , especailly kids, can't afford to wear the 75 dollar authentic jerseys of any sport. They buy the knock offs at the walmart, at the mall, etc. What you think every NFL jersey you see is the real deal? Hardly. MLS needs to give the players the best jerseys they can, and supply the public a diverse line of quality goods at reasonable prices, just like the other big leagues do. Soccer geeks shelling out big $$ for jerseys OVER THE INTERNET, is about as far removed from your mythical "urban culture" as you can get. I'd rather see MLS team apparrel at every mall, target, kmart, walmart...because that's where people shop.
I remember when Nike Air Jordan's came out... kids in the inner-cities were doing absolutely anything they could to get their hands on those things... and they cost around $200. Point is that a lot of these items made famous by celebrities weren't a result of a cheaper price but creating greater demand. Having $5 MLS jerseys that are just bought for their low price is not going to increase the fanbase. Seems like other leagues offer different price levels of their wares to make them more available to the public but at the same time offer the high-end products to their most dedicated fans. In the NBA you have the Replica on the low-end, Swingman in the middle, and your Authentics up on top. Last time I was in a Wal-Mart or K-Mart I didn't see any kind of sports jerseys there for sale.
Air Jordan's were popular because they were attached to Jordan's celebrity. MLS has not produced a celebrity of that stature yet, and playing for the Bulls was not the only reason why Jordan was so popular: his endorsement deal with Nike and the NBA used him for branding purposes building a portion of the NBA brand on his shoulders. A lot of money was spent to make Jordan what he was before the shoes came out. Right now MLS does not have that kind of money to through around. At K-mart, Fred Meyers, and Sears here I can buy warm-ups with Oregon Ducks and Beavers logos on them; t-shirts with Trailblazers logos; hats with Mariners logos, and Seahawks jerseys. Currently there is no MLS team nearby, I would hope that if one did arrive I would be able to find that team's stuff available as well. Although last time I was in K-mart in LA, Chicago, and KC I didn't see any.
A year or two ago, when the Fire was playing in Naperville, they were selling Fire gear at local Walmarts. In DeKalb, where I was going to school, about 45 miles from Naperville they had a good size wall full of Fire stuff, T-shirts, hats and replica jerseys. It was really cool finally seeing some exposure like that in a huge public place. I wonder what ever happened with that deal?
Air jordans were a one time unique phenomona. Has it happened since? Any other celebrity shoes really take off? And 200 dollar shoes you can wear every day, a shirt? hopefully not. Man where do you live? Around here you are up to your eyeballs in Bears, Packers and Bulls gear. Malls,Marts, gas stations, you name it.
If you recall, the whole idea for all the ugly uniforms and stupid nicknames was to appeal to a particular group, the skater/grunger crowd. It didn't work. MLS may be a little gunshy now. Of course, if they had appealed to the right group to begin with, soccer fans, we wouldn't be having this discussion. Having said that, though, getting into the urban market would be a boon for the league, and selling MLS gear at Wal-Mart/KMart and Sears would make is easier for urbanites, and working stiff suburbanites like myself to get stuff and be a walking billboard for MLS. PS: The KMarts here in the Atlanta area were selling Orlando SolarBears shirts back in the day.