Why MLS thrives in PNW Soccer America They are a major shot in the arm for MLS and soccer in general. With them on board MLS leapfroged a few decades ahead. No minivans or orange slices: PNW soccer is cool - USATODAY.com
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. These teams have used good facilities to leverage nice fan participation from the get-go, building off all of the mistakes made by other clubs in other markets.
I think its interesting that there have been so many articles written about what Seattle and Portland and Vancouver are getting right with their launches, but nobody is talking about what it will take to sustain their momentum. It is great that all three franchises have great fanbases and local mindshare already. The challenge now is to keep it and grow it. To that end, I offer all three front-offices the following free advice: study what Toronto has done, and then do the opposite.
It doesn't hurt, either, that 2 of those 3 teams have given their fans something to be excited about by not sucking hard. Unlike Toronto, who's history is starting to look worse than the MetroStars'.
I think the "urban techie" argument is overplayed. Instead, there was a foundation laid and tended to all these years, starting with the NASL teams. It was no leap, just a rise of the tide. MLS decided not to have any continuity with NASL days [and Nike providing team names] while these newer teams are trying maintain some continuity.
I don't even need to read the article to answer this one. Its because the PNW teams (like every expansion team since Toronto, you know ones that aren't in the PNW) have been able to sit back for more than a decade and see what works and what doesn't work and apply those marketing tactics. Its because the original teams laid the groundwork to show that soccer can survive in this country, thus attracting sponsors to the league. Its because the league has gone from paying money out of their own pockets to have their games broadcast on television to having 3 national TV deals that pay them millions of dollars each year. That's why.
...I also think Philly and the SOB's aren't exactly chopped liver. TFC just has the modern version of MetroStar management. If DC had a stadium they would have been cool first. I also think Seattle and PDX aren't trends. I wonder about Vancouver and Mon-real. I think they will have decent fan bases in general, but I'm not sure the will be grand slams fro the long haul. ....and what GVP said.
Cheap and totally off the mark. On balance, TFC is doing quite a bit worse than the Metros ever did in their first half decade of existence. The Metros made the playoffs 3 times in their first 5 years. In the 5th year, they finished first in their division and came within a whisker of the MLS Cup final. Forget TFC's inability to make the playoffs thus far - do you seem them matching that this year?
Yes, one thing so many critics ignore was that the three teams were hugely popular in the NASL as well. There has long been a love for soccer in this region - it's not a new phenomenon. In fact, it's worth noting that Vancouver's average attendance is actually lower than what it was in NASL days (22,962 in 1979, 26,834 in 1980 and 23,236 in 1981) and Portland's is actually lower than at it's NASL peak (20,166 in 1976 - of course, the stadium limits the current attendance). I'm wondering how much the counter-cultural aspect of soccer has to play in its long history of popularity in this region. Looking at the foundation MLS teams have made (which is important) is not sufficient. Soccer was popular here long before MLS. If memory serves me correctly, Washington state has the largest number of registered youth players per capita in the USA. There's a reason soccer is big here, I'm just not sure what that reason (or reasons) is.
I think you stopped short of saying that PNW invented the beautiful game... But go ahead and bask in the glory...
I wasn't strictly going off of playoff appearances (or lack thereof) when I made the comparison. I was more so comparing the frustrations of the team's respective fanbases in the beginning years. Playoffs also used to be a gimme in the 90s, if your team missed them twice in their first five years that's pretty remarkable, I'd say. If Toronto had 80% odds to make the playoffs, they would have missed in 07 and 08. In 09 the odds went down to 66%, so they would have missed there as well. They would have made them in 10. So, you're right - but I wouldn't say I'm totally off the mark. As the pattern is playing out, it is starting to look worse for TFC (which is what I said anyway). Also, I've never taken digs at the Metros - I've always respected their loyal fanbase for what they had to go through.
What part of the PNW is Vancouver in again? Ah yes, the PSW part. I guess Cascadia is too confusing. Here's a key for the teams as well: even as they marked to this core constituency that has helped build the atmosphere, they haven't not marketed to families with minivans. To pretend the choice was either or is silly.
PNW is also a reference to the location on the continent, not just the location within their respective countries.
And yet for all the much deserved accolades both Portland and Vancouver tarp off some significant number of seats in MLS size stadiums. If we were to tarp off 7,000 seats and downsize the Arena to Portland's level our stadium would "look" a lot fuller that it currently does. Fully understand the comparative size of the markets but still small stadiums downsized with tarps must mean something...
So.. Just to make sure.. You are aware that even though they do have tarped off areas, both are outdrawing your Red Bulls, right? Glass houses, my friend.. Glass houses.
Let me help you out with that. Read below. Philly and Toronto are PNW teams and they seem to be doing pretty alright themselves. The renaissance in KC seems to support the statement below rather than there is something in the water up in Seattle, Portland, Vancouver that makes them rabid soccer fans.
Of course I'm aware though these teams have only played a handful of games the jury is still out. My post however wasn't meant as a knock on either team just a question on how tarps fit with the narrative of absolute soccer hotbeds? Is Portland too small to support 20,000 seats?
Speaking of perceptions about different regions of the country, wouldn't it be funny if MLS put a team in Orlando instead of Miami or Tampa and it actually turned out to be a successful Florida team?
But your comments completely ignore the fact that the three Cascadia teams were also averaging big crowds in the 1970s and 1980s - before MLS existed. I am trying to find out why soccer has been popular in Cascadia for much longer than MLS has existed. So, saying it's popular in Cascadia because the three have been able to see what works and what doesn't work for other MLS teams does not explain why Vancouver, Portland and Seattle were averaging in the 20000s during their NASL peaks. Why was it big back then as well?
While I think the team FO's have been savvy, I'd point to three things that are also a factor: 1) Previous great support for the team and ID with the team: check. 2) Good downtown stadia locations 3) Not a lot of other sports competition in the area (Seattle has 2, but do the Mariners count?)
clearly the USL teams were the secret to success for MLS in the PNW. Everyone knows the bearded fixie riders who made up their fanbases will jump aboard any bandwagon when they have the chance to be able to talk about how they liked something before it was cool and mainstream.
no, that's not it. PTFC have over 12,000 season ticket holders with over 1,000 people on the waiting list for next season. Demand is not the problem. As previously mentioned, the stadium infrastructure is the problem. JWF can barely accommodate the 18,600 that they have now -- the concourse, bathrooms and concession stands are all ill-equipped to handle the crowds that they have now, much less adding 2-4k more people to the mix. Trust me, ownership know they are turning down a lot of extra revenue by tarping those 3,000k or so seats ... but they'd rather not sacrifice the satisfaction of the existing ticket holders just to jam those extra folks in. I'm sure this will be addressed in the near future though.