A season-high 3,734 in Richmond for tonight's semifinal. You can figure out what Sacramento's number will be. Winner hosts the final next week.
Seemed like there were more than 8,000 in attendance last night.. I don't know how, but it was WAY more packed than usual, it was standing room only with butts in every seat, it was crazy.
Why doesn't Sacramento move the final to the other stadium they were in earlier in the year and get 20,000?
Because the other venue consists of artificial turf on a narrow field with football lines. Don't forget the track around the field.
Because size isn't everything. Their team has been playing for the last three months on one (grass, proper size) field and now, in the most important game of the year, you want them to go back to the other place? I am a capitalist, too, but I wouldn't do that to my team. That's silly. I'd find a way to get as many people in Bonney as the fire marshal would permit and price tickets according to demand and take my chances.
Yeah, "limitations" is putting it nicely. A horrible, sloped, artificial turf with permanent narrow lines, American football lines, college mascot and name, surrounded by a track, is another way of putting it. If Hughes didn't have a track and had natural grass, it would have been our home. But it's so terrible they went out and built a SSS from scratch.
Even as a capitalist you don't want to look like you're a revenue-maximizer or you'll devalue the brand. championship winners/finalists have more companies looking to become sponsors, and they haggle less ticket scarcity today firms demand - and price - for tomorrow's (season) tickets, no??
The Republic is in a great position, and would have been anyway. They likely could have sold out Hughes, but had they not won the game, they would have been open to second-guessing among the most fervent fans. As it turned out, their season ticket holders got the game "free"(ish) anyway, because of the snafu earlier in the season. They made it right, so kudos to them.
Have to say, Republic have been acquitting themselves well both off and on field. Definitely a tightly run ship up there. Just hope it's not just a facade to ensure they are considered for MLS expansion.
I imagine Republic will throttle back a bit if they are unsuccessful for MLS in the short term. They are definitely pushing hard to make a case for expansion, but I don't think their current business operation is sustainable if MLS is beyond 2020. That being said, I don't feel the team will fall off the face of the earth either. They'll find the "sweet spot" where they are more cost effective, yet still competitive. Sac is still a great market.
Are they profitable at the third division level, do you figure? I mean, startup costs, stadium debt service, okay. But do their operations make money? That should be sustainable until the market decides it's not enough to just win the third division and get 8k a night in their current stadium every other weekend. Or if they somehow forget how they've managed to do such a good job saying and doing all the right things to this point.
From what I gathered talking with a few team execs, I don't think they are profitable. They have a heavy office staff, high player payroll, and high advertising budget. This was for the MLS push, to my understanding. I am assuming they will scale down expenditures, somewhat to better match the revenue 8K brings (if MLS stands them up at the altar). What or how much that is, I don't know.
Any idea on how long they can maintain the higher level operation if MLS takes time to decide? Can they sustain this for several years or are they going to flame out early?
Just looking at how the Rivercats were run, I don't think it's a flame out situation. I would guess they might be more conservative till another MLS opportunity came up (assuming they get passed over this time- which I hope doesn't happen)
Well, they have better-heeled ownership waiting in the wings, but some of it is contingent on them actually being awarded an MLS franchise, is that correct? The Kings' guy did out-and-out buy them, though, right? Or was that contingent as well? (All that said, you'd have to believe, yeah, they'd probably scale back a bit if MLS weren't going to happen in the next 2-3 years.)
Kevin Nagle (the Kings guy) is the majority owner; the other investors are contingent upon a MLS franchise. Nagle said in an interview that he is committed to building a great franchise, regardless of league.
And that can be done, obviously. But the two most successful D3 teams of this latest iteration have been those built specifically pointing towards D1. Maybe that's the key.
At least so long as D1 remains an option. It'll be interesting to see what the future has in store for lower level clubs when they enter the D1 ISN'T and option era in the near future. We're already seeing how much of a struggle it can be for lower level teams when their D1 dreams are dashed like the Cosmos have been.
Or as a perceived option. Obviously moreso at the NASL level, but it seems like almost any non-MLS-owned USL Pro team dangles that carrot out there, whether it's realistic or not. Not all fan bases will be savvy enough to see it for what it is. In this new era, you mean. Because we have years of examples of D3 teams that haven't had MLS as an option and only a handful that have. But seeing how long a Sacramento keeps on as they are spending if, say, Minnesota or San Antonio gets the last MLS team of this expansion grouping (assuming Miami actually happens) and MLS says, "That's it for now" will be interesting. But they are D2 in name only. When that new stadium is announced right after Thanksgiving 2013, they'll be good.