Three more from Gus! Tornberg & Co. kick it around Soccer Notes/by Gus Martins, Boston Herald Revs falter again in Brazil Revolution Notebook/by Gus Martins, Boston Herald Strike while hot: Revs' Harris wants to start by Gus Martins, Boston Herald
It ain't necessarily Frank's fault While recent columns from both scribes couldn't contrast the quality difference between Gus and Frank more, the quantity is not really under Frank's control. This is usually a Globe editorial decision. I can't understand it. They have a reporter on the spot, yet there's no coverage when they have the space- Sports Extra on Friday and the Sunday section. In addition to "Soccer Tuesday" and an occasional other weekday article, we'll probably end up with one good sized story on page 1 of the sports section the day before the season opens, along with a few sidebar columns inside. Makes you wonder though, whether Frank is down there at his own expense, - i.e., a "working vacation".
From the Martins article Tornberg & Co. kick it around: "At the same time, they are interested in learning more about the ways we market our teams in the United States. They want to find the relationship between ownership, management, fans, sponsors, employees and game staffing." They may be less interested in Revs marketing ideas when they learn that the Revs plan to voluntarily play the home leg of a home-and-away series in the away team's stadium.
$$ Sometimes it is a business decision. One team may offer $25,000 to change the venue and if you think that is 2.5x your predicted gate receipt, it makes financial sense but sucks for the fans.
$$ It would be really disgusting if the brass took this mindset. I think a rough model of long term success in the league runs something like this: 1 domestic talent --- stadiums --- marketing / improved level of play 2 - increased prestige of league \ more fans in seats 3 increased investment/marketing/ad. revenue 4 promised land! (can you tell I don't have an MBA? ) They must agree that showing well at an international tournament is an important part of step 2 and would take precedent over selling your team out to make a buck.
Re: $$ On the other side of the coin, 1) the team and the league have been bleeding $$ for 6-7 years now! 2) outside of us "hard-core", no one else even knows that there is a Concacaf Champions Cup, or would care if they did! Yes, things like prestige and credibility are worthy goals, but when you've been losing money steadily, they're not likely to be among the top priorities (unfortunately).