i think the most relavent is cmonaco's point about the experience of playing in Giant's Stadium. It has all the warmth of playing in a toilet bowl. It's warm enough with a packed house for NFL games, but when it's 1/4 full for Metros it sure is desolate. Field turf has only made it worse. There are many things that go into making an experience that draws you back again: the excitement on the field, the committment to your team, the crowd, the beer and the surroundings. The one that has been consistently missing the surroundings. And the beer. And the team. and the crowds too, but mostly the surroundings.
Saturday was my first game this season--the others conflicted with my kids' game schedule or the rest of my life. I don't think it is Giants Stadium, specifically, that kept attendance down--soccer games have filled that stadium in the recent past. I'd say it is mostly 2 things that are related: First, this is just not a compelling team. Our best player is on Man U, our "star" goal scorer has not been scoring and gets dumb cards, and our other National Team player is solid but not spectacular. Guevara can be fun to watch, but takes stupid fouls and cards. Our young players may be promising, but they aren't doing anything to make headlines. And they limped into the playoffs after a good start. Which leads to the second issue-lack of media coverage/excitement. I am an AYSO regional commissioner, and no one that I spoke with on Saturday morning at a tournament (including coaches, parents, players and referees) even knew that the MetroStars were in the playoffs, much less that there was game that evening. Maybe a winning streak, a few spectacular goals, some players with charisma, would get coverage in the mainstream media. I rarely post, but being at the game with such a weak crowd annoyed me. Plus, the red hat was stupid.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Theories for 10k playoff game attendance? If there actually were 10K, but in fact there were only about half that many. Too bad.
Here's the primary reason there were only 10K at the match: Seriously, how many families did you see? Not many. You bring a family of three it's going to run you about $85 for tix, food, parking, etc. Is it worth spending $85 of your hard-earned money to see the Metros play? No friggin way! You want to get the most bang for your buck and a Metros home game certainly doesn't provide that.
Corazon and Jordan Beck had it right. The rest of you guys are lost. Sorry I didn't see the Dan R. post- there has to be a playoff game attendance over 15K, unless the game was played on a Wednesday night. Beck said that up in Westchester, NO ONE KNEW THAT THE METROS WE'RE IN THE PLAYOFFS! That is a failure of the Director of Marketing! I used to be able to see a small sash under at the bottom of the pback page of the NY Post, that there was a GAME ON! We have all tried to go to a NY team's playoff game, b/c we knew WHEN IT WAS GAME ON. Even if the home team had no chance, we went b/c we knew it was time to show. The Metros had less than 10K attendance last week-period. And it has been like that all year. Hey, you know what- the City Parks Dept. tells me that the MFO will appear at the NYC Parks Soccerfest 2003! It's slated for mid-Nov. The team will be bringing their mascot, HOO-RAH! MY QUESTION: Where the *#*#*#*#*#*# have they been before that date? Doing things to rally up a good playoff crowd? Hell no!
I agree with that 100%, and obviously poor performances at home also hurt, but only a little. They had been playing just as poorly a few weeks ago when the worst team in the league came to play a completely meaningless game, and they still managed to pull 14k. So I think it's definitely the lack of a rock solid schedule which is to blame. This is soccer in America where playoff fever and thousands of walkups are unheard of.
I think the $85 is well worth it. I'll think the $85 (or more than $85) is a better value in a nice, full, grass stadium in Harrison, but that's not an option yet.
MLS playoffs generally haven't drawn well. Why not just add an extra week of regular season games (so the group sales and Rangers fans can mark it on their calendars), and dump the playoffs except for MLS Cup (Fire vs. Quakes this year)? This isn't that extreme of a proposal. It's not like asking for promotion/relegation. Maybe MLS could use it as a marketing point -- i.e., regular season games really matter, not like the NHL and NBA where everyone makes the playoffs. When the league finally has more of a media presence, then they can start adding playoff rounds. Then you'd have the media buzz to get people out to the playoff games.
CMONACO and Beck are right on! I went for the first time in 3 months, mostly because the team is not compelling enough for me to drive an hour from Westchester (these are really the NJ Metros, as far as marketing goes) and pay that kind of money to watch when I can do so many other intersting things -- including soccer-realted stuff. And of course, they get shut out! I went with a friend who lives in Jersey City and is a fan but didn't know what time the game was till I told him the night before!
$, its all about the $, $25 per ticket is a lot for people to see a team that has sucked the last couple months and rarely puts the ball in the net, even the group tickets were $20 and u had to get 10 people to do that, there has to be another way the metros can offer cheaper prices for groups becuase u arent gonna find large groups of loyal fans or a group of juss poeple to introduce to the MLS who would pay $20.... wit $25 tickets the only thing ur gonna get are people who really enjoy soccer, if you want to bring in fans to soccer than more expensive tickets arent gonna help
This really isn't a half bad idea when you consider it. It's unique yet is easily understood by non-fans of the sport. Every other marking scheme the league has tried has fallen flat so what do they have to lose.