I'm trying to figure out their attendance. The Rev-Rapids game last night was only able to pull in 7,784. They didn't have a Rockies home game last night. They were in Chicago. And even if people wanted to stay home and watch it, the game started at 12:20 in the afternoon local time in Denver. The NHL season is over for them so nada there. No NBA either. What really is going on in Denver? Through 3 home games they're only avg. 9,875 a game. We all make fun of Dallas but I predict that after today's games Dallas will have at least equal to if not a higher avg. through 3 games than Colorado. For those in Denver, is there no marketing? No commercials or anything? Why so few people? I remember seeing last year that they had banner on the light post in the pedestrian only part of downtown Denver. That was great. Is there nothing like that this year? The Rockies aren't doing that hot either so one wouldn't think that they're really pulling in a ton of people that might have gone to the Rapids otherwise.
Much discussion of this in the Rapids forum. Kroenke buys the team. Fires the beloved ticket staff, moves that and all marketing to his Pepsi Center empire (Avs, Nuggets, Mammoth lacrosse, etc.). Does nothing. NOTHING to promote the team. Big announcement of a stadium - concert venue, but ignores building on the past. Alienates the hardcore fans. Don't televise many away matches (which true fans need), yet televises home matches (which keeps suburbanites home). (Political decisions based on Kroenke's new cable channel, which the Raps aren't on) Keeps Hankinson, who this week subs out a striker for a defender in the last 10 minutes of a 0-0 draw at home when they are a man up!!! Who cuts two strikers from the team (including Carrieri, who is lighting up Rochester, which is drawing more fans than the Rapids), then has nobody left when injury strikes. Basically, if you wanted to destroy a franchise and throw away 9 years of progress, Kroenke is giving a textbook example. AEG had treated the Rapids as a poor cousin in some respects, but these guys it's just another "property".
Hopefully Kroenke and his people are just trying to get their $hit together right now. He's building a stadium so I can't imagine that its Kroenke's pure egotism that he wants to buy every Denver team.
Its this type of thing that I fear if/when Lamar Hunt passes away. He might enjoy having the Wizards, but without Lamar they might disappear. Kansas Citians have seen similar before. The Royals had one of the highest payrolls in baseball in the '80s when the Kauffmans owned the team. Since they passed on, new owners haven't been prepared to spend enough to remain successful and the team has gone downhill ever since.