Does FC Dallas have a presence at Stonebriar mall in Frisco yet? The team should have something there every single day from now until the start of the season to make more people aware of the team, the new stadium, and the next season. Best advice would be to have a small booth with a TV to show highlights of the past MLS season (league highlights, not just Burn highlights), sell merchandice, and season tickets. Just be an advertisement for the league and the team. Get in people's heads enough that they can't forget about the team.
They don't yet. It is in the plans though.... or so I have been told. Too early to advertise like that I think. I say wait till after Christmas.
I know this idea has been thrown out there before, and I believe mentioned by FC Dallas FO as well. Right now might be too early, and during the holiday season those kiosks can get quite expensive. Perhaps starting in January this would be a great idea. Closer to the season starting, and if they get their crap together they actually might have merchandise to offer other then a poorly done screen tee and a baseball cap.
No no no!!! Willow Bend is the snobby mall. Stonebriar is the mall of the masses. I read a report earlier in the year about Stonebriar where they stated that it has a foot traffic number of 400,000 people per weekend. If FC Dallas could divert just 5% of that traffic to their stadium they would have a sellout for every game.
It is too early... people don't want to hear about something that isn't happening for 6 months. In one ear out the other. I'm talking new fans here.
True....and a valid criticism. But the Roughriders had Hick's billions behind them...and were more of a sure thing from a profit point of view. Plus, he could write it off as grass roots Rangers marketing...which in a way, is correct. Roughriders were brand new to the DFW market, not so for FC Dallas, urrrr, the Burn.
I think the sooner the better. You have to get in people's minds, and stay there. It also might click with some shoppers, shopping for their kids/husbands during the holidays. I don't know when the Jerseys, etc will be ready by, but it would be a mistake to not have a kiosk up there for the holidays. I know it is more expensive, but if you want to be seen as a viable professional sport, you HAVE to do these things. Putting a kiosk up in January is cute, but you don't get near the visability, and you won't have near the number of folks looking to buy things. You get what you pay for.
You are right and it makes sense but they will not have the merchandise and jerseys by Xmas....bottom line.
Let me say even more - this is your chance. This is your chance to sell FC Dallas as a REAL sports franchise. This is your chance to take advantage of the new stadium. This is your chance to make soccer work in the Dallas area. If you want people to get used to the re-branding, the move, the new stadium, etc, you have to shove it in their faces! Like Steve Davis said, this is the best and only shot for soccer in Dallas. Don't blow it. Sure, it will cost a little money, but with the new stadium, you are going to have more money to spend. Waiting until next year to do stuff like this, after a year of a half empty stadium is NOT going to work. You have to sell the team, the sport, the new stadium NOW, and sell it hard for the next six months. After that, the momentum of the franchise will carry itself to a certain extent. Bottom line: FC Dallas should be doing everything possible in order for the mainstream media and mainstream sports fan in the DFW area to view it as a "real" sport and a "real" team. Sure, that means spending money. But you have to spend money to make money.
They aren't even sure if they are going to have them until right up until opening day at this point....so Xmas is definetly off the table from a merchandise sales perspective. There are a lot of things you can do other then mall kiosks to drum up publicity. If the kiosk is not reasonable from a cost perspective, and from what I know about their pricing at Stonebriar they aren't during the holidays, replace that with something else. Some of you are talking as if a kiosk is THE ONLY thing they can do, and that isnt' the case.
Bottom"er" line: FC Dallas can't do EVERYTHING possible, no franchise can. There are limits, reasonable limits based on budgets. What if they go all out and spend like crazy to drum up business and they fall short? What do they do then, close up shop. None of us have seen FC Dallas's books, none of us know what kind of budget they are working with. None of us have seen HSG's books and know what they can afford to give each franchise for marketing. I know it sucks to say it, but you have to trust that GE and gang are doing whatever they can to market this team.....their jobs depend on a good launch in Frisco.....they aren't taking chances with this.
Nobody is suggesting that HSG overextend themselves to the point of ruin. It is less reasonable to blow their only chance at making a positive first impression in a new market because they wanted to save $25,000 grand by opening a kiosk in January instead of October. You only get one chance at a first impression.
And again, having a kiosk in Stonebriar is NOT the only way to make a first impression. It is not the end all be all of marketing efforts. And if they calculate it as a losing proposition (not enough bang for their limited marketing buck) then it won't happen....and I wouldn't disagree with the decision. It's all about value for your marketing dollar. If by overspending for a kiosk at Stonebriar prevents them from doing other things that 'might' have a bigger impact, then its a bad deal.
Totally agree....but from what Buzz is telling us, its not their fault that the league was in negotiations with Adidas for a league wide deal, hence slowing down their ability to finalize a design.
Hicks' millions are no different than Hunt's millions. Heck for a while the rumours around town was that Hick's had lost all his millions. Financially speaking the stadium in Frisco is also a writeoff. Not grass roots marketing for another league, but it certainly fits in as a $100,000 charitable contribution to the students of Frisco for the next 30 years. As far as handling marketing during the transition from Burn to FC, HSG just needed to call up TexasArsenal for he was able to describe it succintly in one sentence on one the flyers that the Inferno distributed earlier this year. Besides, the transition is over. There is a christmas season between now and the beginning of next season. To not have any contingencies to acquiring merchandise constitutes poor planning on their part.
I agree that a kiosk is not the only way to make a first impression. But it an obvious way to reach the market that HSG covets. Where do the kids spend a great deal of their free time? Hmm...