How did they do a great job? Any idiot could put a match on among Real, Barca, ManU, Celtic and the top Serie A clubs and draw a huge crowd in NY. How is that relevant to marketing the MetroStars vs. the Wizards?
i was in section 125.i was dissapointed the game ened in a tie but the crowd was great,i got to see world class players like zidane and figo and when man utd comes to giants stadium i will definaly be there.
Then, they are doomed to be stupid and therefore fail. Which sucks for us as another soccer league goes down the tubes and i'll ahve to go to New Britain and watch the Ct Wolves, if they even exist in a few years. Rickster, it is relevent if Rangers cannot garner more support than this match showed. Granted, the majority of Scots in this area may be Rangers haters, but I would imagine they would come out to the match. Just because I support ManUtd does not mean that I would not travel to see another English side compete. As for last night's match, it was great to see on TV, but it did not get me excited enough to buy a ticket. I do not like the Italian league, and I do not partricularly care for Real Madrid. I did not have the interest level to plop down some cash to see this match, that and the fact that I would have to travel down from CT to see it, and with all the horror stories about the PA...
I'm not eager to defend the NJSEA or Champions World, but this is unfair. First of all, getting Real and Roma to Giants stadium is impressive in itself. Second, no one expected 70,000 people for this game. That is a remarkable number for soccer in the US. These are World Cup numbers. Sure, scheduling the best team in the world helps, but when Metros played Bayern (3 days after they were CL Champs), I think 30,000 showed up? Can you honestly say you thought 70K people would show up last night? Again, I don't want to shill for NJSEA, but if any idiot can put 70K people in the seats, then we would have seen these numbers before. MLS and Metros have had some good exhibition matches, but they haven't come close to this number or this caliber of teams.
you'd be surprised.. I am member of the Kearny CSC, and it was me and 2 mates that went to see Rangers.. A majority of die hard Celtic Supports have no interest in seeing Rangers that is just my opinion from the environment that i am in. i can not speak for anyone else
What was Roma and Real's fee for this game? MLS is not willing to spend too much on good teams coming in, thats why we always get second or 3rd rate international teams.
Actually, if there was a game that I thought could bring in a reported 70k (not sure of that number) was Real Madrid and Roma. After all you have the Serie A champions, and the Champions League champions with pretty much an All-Star roster that was on display in the WC. If they didnt bring in that crowd then I would have really wondered about the number of real soccer fans out there. I would ask, aside from RM, who else can they bring in to get that many fans? And then I would ask, what is the fun in seeing these random friendlies? Unless of course, we have fallen much further into the entertainment abyss than I originally thought. Of course, I think it was a great spectacle last night. No doubt about it. And it does not excuse that the Metro and NJSEA are at serious logger heads that has to make you wonder if something hasn't seriously gone wrong in negotiations between them. But I am just rambling. As a buddy of mine has been saying, don't suspend your belief in reality because of this one game. Paul
I think a Man. Utd vs. Celtic match will get as large a crowd as this game last night did. Maybe we will see that next summer.
Oh yeah. You know to have these two teams you HAVE to have a big crowd like last night to make money. Otherwise, you lose a lot of it. I bet the whole affair just to have Real and Roma, after flights, fees, accomodations, etc.. exceeded $1 million. Then you have the fees of playing a game, expense of Giants stadium, paying the Fed's etc.... and all the other payoffs you have to make in soccer... it becomes costly. Then the assumption that 70k actually paid for all that... your profit margins start to narow significantly. Paul
So you actually went to a Real Madrid game Paul? Oh the shame. I actually enjoyed last night's game very much, and I think that next year's Man U. games (depending on the opponent) are likely to draw similar crowds. Are there ways to use these games to help MLS? I would like to think so, but of course, MetroStars/MLS and NJSEA/CW would have some thorny issues to work through. Is there enough money to be made for everyone? Probably not, but I'd like to see them working together. To have 70K passionate soccer people in one place with no link to MLS is a shame.
Yeah, and all those "madrid-ta-ta-ta" were roma fans screaming. i don't care either way (i just went to enjoy the game), but i would say it was 60-40 Real. Also, the logistics for this game were the worst i've ever seen - from transportation to bag-handling to everything else.
NJ State Troopers summoned to bag claim area! I left in the 71st minute, hoping to get my bag. Got it after 20+ minutes of Keystone Kops bumbling by the guys in yellow, who were getting very,very scared ("I see OJ") by the irate fans and their own ineptitude. NJ Transit also screwed up - BIG TIME. Football in the US is still rinky dink, third rate, Mickey Mouse (I'm so glad I only spent part of my formative years here!). Shot themselves in the foot, so to speak. Recall Ian Holm's line in "Chariots of Fire" "I've seen better organized riots"... Despite that, game was great - fans were like the UN,minus the ************************.
I brought a friend with me last night who has season tickets to the Jets. I always take him to Metrostars games. However, last night he said was the most intense he's ever felt the stadium. He said at Jets games, only after a touchdown did it get close. He see he was thrilled that this was jus a friendly, and had such a great vibe. Honestly, I had an amazing time. Watching the game was lots of fun. I went to a Yankees playoff game in 97 vs the Cleveland Indians, and that had nothing on this. It was amazing. I wish the product on the field matched.
Maybe the Metro should get thier help in marketing. Was there ANY Metrostar presence at the match? Sachin
not much of a metro presence in my section.. you would see a metro strip here and there.. but nothing stood out. does anyone have any readings of what the players have said on the game and the atmosphere.?
Hey cbsmith, shoot me an email if you would.... I hate to say it, but this game could be defining in many ways. It either causes a complete break between the NJSEA and the Metro (Knowing the ego's involved, its a break) or it gets the two back to talking and trying to figure out how to promote the sport without the political grandstanding that is going on.... Paul
Oh yeah, and I thought it wouldn't happen, but alas, the Cosmos references are starting to come out. Ok, someone take me out and shoot me. Paul
this may be tangential, but here goes.... WHO was the hottie who was the owner/managing partner/etc. of ASRoma? Be still my raging heart...
I intentionally missed this game because: - the NJSEA are a bunch of a$$holes looking to screw the Metros because they want out of Giants stadium - $35-70 tickets for a meaningless preseason match I have seen Real play in league games in Spain and have enjoyed them all. I'll go see Roma play when I visit Italy. If this was a Champions League game I would of been there in a heartbeat. I go to all home Metro matches but had to draw a line with this NJSEA/Harrison stadium nonsene! p.s. I never buy that overpriced crap they sell at the Giants stadium concession stands!!
>>I believe I read $500K for Real, and $250K for Roma.>> Wow and the Metrostars didnt want to pay 50k for a top Brazilian team to come over.
What did the marketing effort consist of in the local area. Was there newspaper ads for the game. Was there a heavy push to get people in the stadium or was it just the teams that drew out the fans. If there was a serious marketing push you would have to really question what the Metros are doing in terms of marketing.
Mainly, I remember seeing ads on the Jumbotron at the last Metro home match. I saw nothing on TV; heard nothing on the radio (but I listen mainly to WQXR-FM); saw nothing in the papers. But Zeff claims they gave MLS/Metro a lesson in marketing. I guess the lesson is "avoid Brownswan."
there wasnt anything in the local news.. nor did i see anything in the local papers.. Star Ledger had a schedule listing of upcoming events.. but i didnt see any full page adds.. i heard about it through my roomate who is good friends with a Champions World Rep.. he actually went out to dinner with the Roberto and Zinidane the night before the game.. and I think he was with them after hours after the game.. i still havent heard from him. I am not an atuograph collecter.. but i have a ball with a few players autographs on it that he got me from the dinner