Ok, we now know that MLS is in year two of it's relaunch, not to be confused with the other relaunch of the league that occured when Crew stadium was opened. Despite all the new attention, sponsors, revenue, and exciting players coming into the league, Glenn Davis and others have repeatedly state some clubs need to do a better job connecting with soccer fans and bringing a better atmosphere to their home games. It is interesting that exansion clubs like Houston, Chivas usa, Toronto fc, even RSL to some degree seem to take the league more serious and have a more die hard fan base which know how to create a decent atmosphere. And early indications are that Seattle and Philadelphia are ready to go all out too. It used to be thought simply moving into a new soccer specific stadium would solve that problem but as we saw with Dallas, and now Colorado that is not the case. Next up, Red Bull New York? RSL actually has done a lot to try to bring a better atmosphere to their new stadium by hiring supporter's culture proponent and fan favorite, Garth Lagerway. One thing to be concerned about is Philadelphia hiring Nick Sakiewicz. Wasn't he behind the problems one of the Metrostars early supporters groups had? So knowing that, DC, Chicago, Houston, Toronto, Chivas USA, and Real Salt Lake are probably fine, and Kansas City looks to be improving alot, what can be done about: Columbus Dallas Colorado New England Red Bull New York LA Galaxy ?? I understand that in some situations like the rules at Giants Stadium and Gillette Stadium are strict but is there anything supporters groups there are doing to try and bring a better atmosphere when they move into their new stadiums? And what's the deal with Colorado and Dallas? Is it just that these markets do not take MLS seriously or they don't market the team properly or the what?
It's a niche sport and Americans don't understand how to cheer. They need a timeout, tackle, or strike to occur before they start to cheer.
Beg to differ here, DC and Houston don't seem to have a problem. nor would Portland for that matter, and they're in the USL..... [youtube]e5-sc6TXkfY[/youtube] [youtube]ISxNURopKOM[/youtube] [youtube]RJri0CfH4RQ[/youtube] People do it all the time in college, it has nothing to do with Americans not understanding the concept.
Over half the teams you mentioned will be fine. - Dallas just signed Davino from Club America and are looking to do a marketing campaign this season for their team with him, and their supporters seem pretty happy and rejuvenated knowing that their team will revolve around him and Toja instead of Ruiz and Denilson. - RBNY is definitely in solid shape. They're about to play their last full season in Giants Stadium and are planning their move to one of the best soccer stadiums this side of the world. They also have a new coach who many want to play for, and Altidore is becoming more and more marketable to the mainstream public because of his play on the field and big name teams in Europe want him. - LA Galaxy in trouble? Hell nah. They have Beckham at the beginning of the season. They'll get plenty of press and sell-outs. If they have a better team record and improve on-the-field, they'll have great in-stadium support as well. - Philly's gonna be badass when they come into the league atmosphere-wise. Their supporters group could very well have over 1,000 strong per game when they come into the league thanks to those pesky SOBs. Their team will lack many things because they'll be an expansion team. Support isn't one of them. -Colorado has nowhere to look but up. A lot of their support was lost because the supporters didn't like Colorado's coach. He will either make the team a playoff team, or he'll leave after the season. I think they'll be rejuvenated, but it depends on how much their team attacks on the field from game one. ------------------ The two teams in the most atmosphere trouble IMO are New England and Columbus. - New England's stadium doesn't do much to make an atmosphere exciting, no matter how many fans they have. They'll always have support from the fans, but their stadium doesn't do them any justice. The only two things that can make New England's atmosphere stand out is 60,000 in attendance, or a new stadium. It's just not built like Qwest in Seattle where the noise can be bounced back onto the field by the roof. - Columbus has just had multiple possible DPs turn them down, just traded Herron for a 4th round draft pick, tore down the dedicated supporters area and replaced it with a stage, and their FO has dedicated at least 1,500 (possibly 2,000) seats to the opposing team's fans for Columbus's opening game, to where the local supporters group might get outnumbers as much as 10-1. Thanks to their FO, their atmosphere has "disaster" written all over it. That's unless they sign a MAJOR name quick AND focus their attention on making their stadium fan friendly to COLUMBUS fans instead of the other team.
Just as a point of reference---I've been a season ticket holder since day one and I go to the stadium to watch the match not to cheer. Of course I cheer and cuss out the Refs but for the most part I'm not upset with a match thats played without loud noise, smoke and fireworks. I think there are a lot of MLS fans just like me.
I think fan clubs can do a better job of trying to lead the entire crowd in chants rature than just composing and singing songs for themselves. Don't get me wrong the songs and chants of fan clubs are sometimes the only atmosphere that exists in MLS stadiums and they are great. At Red Bulls games when the home team needs a goal parts of the crowd usually led by the kids (though I pitch in too) get a "Let's Go Red Bulls!" chant going. I wish the Empire Supporters Club and the other fan clubs would pick up on it and get the entire crowd involved. Once again a difference in sports culture. In this country there is more of a tradition of the entire or at least large parts of the crowd participating in simple easy to follow chants (J...E...T...S...Jets! Jets! Jets! or Let's Go Mets!) than there is of separate fan clubs doing their own thing. Let's merge the two and create a new indigenous soccer sports culture. By the way I wish Red Bulls would end the ban on horns, they too add to crowd atmosphere.
Is there such thing as a Bigsoccer timeout? I remember someone recently referred to those horns as "creating the experience of a crowded truck stop." That is not atmosphere.
Jade, I'm glad you care so much about the atmosphere in Gillette Stadium. I'll give half a damn about your opinion when you start to come to games on a regular basis. We do our best given the tools and circumstances given. If you don't like it, well that is your perogative. I don't know why a DC fan for life would care so much about another teams display of passion.
I agree with this, and would add that the new stadium will help RBNY a lot -- a much more intimate environment where the roof will really trap noise, it will make the entire experience better. For the same reason, games at DSG Park and PHP will always need more "ompf" from the crowds because they are far more open and, despite the faux roof at Colorado, the noise seems to dissipate. At 70% of capacity, these stadiums just won't look or sound as good unless broadcasters make more of an effort to pick up crowd noise.
You're right, I grew up with "Here we go steelers, here we go! (clap clap) Here we go steelers...". Simple is good, at least to start. The whole DC United chant that bounces around RFK is a good example too. But people can and do sing songs. This is where immigrant groups who have a deeper tradition of this come in but even in a place like pittsburgh there was that whole "Pittsburgh Polka" song at steelers games so it is not necessarily a foreign concept as much as you might think. I think four things need to happen in the two markets you mentioned: 1) The front offices need to reach out to the serious footy fans, ethnic or otherwise and get them to come to games more. 2) They need to publish the chants, songs on the club website like DC, Houston, Chicago, Toronto, and I think Chivas do. 3) They could print them in the programs given out at matches so the uninitiated know just what's going on. Yes, not everyone in the stadium is going to be an active supporter rather than a passive consumer but most fans of the game who want an atmosphere might be more inclined to join in if they knew how. 4) It should be common front office speak league wide that they want their fans to build traditions. I was listening to Garth Lagerway's talks with RSL fans and people like he and Peter Wilt and of course the DC, Houston and TFC front offices should be the league wide standard. ESPECIALLY in expansion cities, so they get off on the right foot..
Because I can put my "what's best for MLS" as a fan of the league in general hat on. I personally don't care whether your atmosphere sucks but it does not do the league any favors when it comes to selling this sport. I just wanted to put this out there to see what people thought, it's not like I care. RFK has a great atmosphere. Shame I only get to go once a year now.
From a personal point of view, we the Barra owe a huge debt of gratitude to our FO. We weren't always like this. Like the NY/NJ fans we had some serious battles with security. We had two near riots and dozens of skirmishes and confrontations. Towards the end it got racial and ugly. Our FO intervened and actually brokered the peace by having security removed from our sections and having them replaced by Metro Police. It's been great ever since. We know the officers on a first name basis and know not to push the envelope. We tell our members if they screw up, they're on their own. CSC would eject you, the cops will arrest you. It all comes down to Kevin Payne understanding the culture of futbol and the decidedly south american flair we bring. It's not to say we haven't pissed off KP at times, because we did but as our numbers have grown the passion has followed, the incidents have dramatically decreased. Contrast this to Colorado where our members went on opening day last year and were threatened with expulsion and worse for merely standing and shouting. It comes down to what the individual clubs and stadiums want or will tolerate. If the people that run the Dick or Crew Stadium and the FO's are happy with the status quo then bringing change about is difficult.
Fixed you post in the first paragraph. As for stadium security. The guys in Crew Stadium have been great to us the last couple of years. I frankly think they are just happy to see someone that cares.
The million-dollar answer is the quote above. Whenever the FO puts strong emphasis into representing the fans well, you'll most likely see a successful atmosphere in their stadiums. If the FO has a "just another team" approach and doesn't focus on that team and their fans as their priority, you're more likely to see that team's fanbase take the same approach.
The problems with the fan base in Colorado go much deeper than Clavijo. Our current GM has shown a great disdain for the supporters groups, even going so far as to tell the groups leaders in a pres-eason meeting last year that "You are replaceable" and telling us that the groups cost the Rapids money because of the number of refunds they have to give to the fans who end up sitting next to the groups. Until the FO comes to its senses and realizes the value of the supporters groups I doubt you'll see much difference in Colorado.
The underlying thesis of this thread is that we need a lot more fans singing or bouncing or throwing streamers to make the experience worthwhile. I'm not sure I agree with that. The atmosphere would be instantly better if the stadiums were filled to a much higher percentage of capacity -- simply if there were more bodies sitting in those stands. The supporters groups certainly add to the experience, but even RFK and Toyota Park look and sound a lot better when full, notwithstanding the fact that those additional seats are occupied by people who aren't doing the full routine of the supporters groups. It's hard to make a small group in a big stadium seem exciting, no matter how great an effort they make.
Edit... drunk posting. Edit Edit... um, there are some very earnest supporters' clubs in LA. The LA Riot Squad is not one of them. We don't give a damn what anyone thinks. Tommy Mack LA Riot Squad Veni Imbibi Vici
great post i must say, although many hate the horns, saying that they dont make atmosphere, at least they make noise, and they can be used for simple chants the whole stadium can go along with. dont mind the thunder sticks either. the mls needs more instruments in the crowd too, and not just drums, maybe like a little pep band in the supporters groups. they could help out with the supporters' songs and make lots of noise to spread chants to other sections. works in college. for a supporters only thing, i want to see more big displays. especially when the teams come out. if you ever watch the argentine league on tv, you can see some of these excellent displays with loads of balloons, flags, streamers, smoke, flares, etc. they really go over the top with it. i would love to see that in mls. could really get a crowd going. even though it would be on a smaller scale, it could work. there's plenty of smaller supporters groups from south america that mls groups could get some ideas from too.
Why not? Japan's J-league does and we're a lot closer to S. American than they are. [youtube]jvCTz8Dld8Q[/youtube] Note shimizu s-pulse's stadium is not filled but they still create a good atmosphere. One could say it is easier to create a good atmosphere in a stadium that isn't quite full if the majority of people that are there are involved in doing so. [youtube]j7G_2hlirVM&[/youtube] [youtube]79T5-2X8vqI[/youtube]
There is one point that a lot of people miss when joining a supporters group. When in the stadium supporting the team you are going to miss most of the action on the field. Your job is to create atmosphere for the team. The players feed off of seeing a group of fans going all out. In Houston we have been asked by players to do more flares, smoke and other visual things because it gets them pumped up. We aren't allowed to do that really so when they see it it means even more to them. The supporters group is also a revenue maker for the team because fans come to the game to see the play and the fan spectacle. Seeing a group going nuts makes it easier for them to at least yell a little and maybe sing a song. They play on the field is improving but we must improve in the stands.
what I found works pretty well is actually doing shit in stadium instead of talking about it on general message board year after year. Most MLS groups, even big ones, can't get 40 people to consistently stand and sing whole game, it might be bit much to ask for elaborate tifo that takes more organization, manpower and $$$$$$$$$$ than most people realize.
If you want to ruin any game day experience, allow the goddamn horns to be blown. Those things are awful for soccer, especially on tv. RBNY is doing the world a favor with that ban!