Curious to know why the NE-MET game (whichever weekend it is) will be on Sunday instead of a Saturday, thus going up against the NFL. Does anyone else use Gillette besides the Patriots?
although, its hard to find the fsne complete sched's for those weekends....something tells me that between wanting to capture the warmer weather at 4pm on a typ nov day (v 6/7pm start) and the scheduling of college football and/or celtics on fsne (maybe other sched conflicts there too).....its just easier to do it on sunday. on the "plus side" of t.v. talk....it looks like ne fans will be able to see at least 3 of the 4 playoff games this coming weekend (if you get fsw). for whatever scheduling reasons, kc @ col won't take place until tues 11/4 with the return leg on sat 11/8. don't know if fsw is doing that 11/4 match.
Nov 9 Maple Conflict The 4pm game on November 9 puts the Rev playoff game in direct conflict with Maple games. A 7pm game would allow Maple players and parents the opportunity to play their game and then attend the playoff. Again the problem of the Rev management (or maybe it's MLS) not knowing the soccer community in Massachusetts. You wonder why attendance is significantly down this year?
I'm just dumbfounded why MLS would voluntarily schedule any game head-to-head against the NFL. There are people (like me) who like both. Way to draw in the casual fans.
well they don't really seem to have a choice about going up against nfl if they need to find tv time on fsne....that's just the way it is. and maple?....please no more maple talk. it seems to be a problem for all kinds of kid demographics in general if they do it at 7, 6, or 4. maple kids aren't the only soccer loving kids out there ya know? some of the city leagues ended their season this past weekend and lots end next weekend from what i understand. i'd really love to know what % of maple kids really make it out to the games anyway....as a general rule of thumb. as for the 4 pm games this past season. well, there were more than before b/c the revs did well last year...which meant espn(2) had them on more frequently. (look, i have no kids so i don't have an ulterior motive here...and i have no real first hand experience with maple. perceptually though (and i stress perceptually), maple parents/coaches come off a bit like mls and the revs are always pushing them out of the "live watching market"....when i've never really heard much of their overwhelming presence at the matches in the first place....no matter what time they occur. again, lots of soccer playing kids will have problems with whatever times are put forth and i don't think maple kids represent the majority % of kids out there....although i suppose i could be wrong on that)
I had guessed right on both counts. I don't hold your preconceptions against you, but MAPLE families are, I would guess, an enormous part of the Revs core demographic. As the MAPLE schedule is more or less carved in stone months in advance, it wouldn't have lilled the Revs to consider it.
Little interesting factoid here: Go through the Revolution's weekend matches for the 2003 season, factoring out the attendance anomalies provided through double-headers. Take these remaining matches, then separating them by start time - the 4:00PM (or close equivalent) starts and the 6:00PM (or close equivalent) starts. Add up the attendance numbers of each start time and average them separately What start time has ultimately drawn more fans this season? You might be surprised. The Magpie
hmmm.... I got 13296 for one start time and 11135 for the other. I'll keep up the suspense and let others figure out which is which.
jon, i'm not sure if the "i had guessed right on both counts" was a "slam" or not....i'm not going to get bothered by it. however, i seem to remember things getting pretty ugly on the boards last year for mls cup and THAT DATE was announced by mls in jan or feb of 2002. would it have "killed MAPLE to consider it" back then? also, a strictly unbiased observer...it seemed to me that most all of the maple people weighing in on the subject last year only wanted to talk about how it affected them and how to drum up support from people like me that have no tangible stake in the issue to help them out (maybe i'm remembering everything incorrectly?). i rarely saw sweeping generalizations by maple parents/coaches/whatever that talked about how it affected ALL YOUTH soccer statewide....which basically led me to the "superficial perception" that maple believes maple is the be all and end all of youth soccer in the state and that it needs to be considered foremost when discussing how things affect youth soccer. in the end, the revs games aren't always convenient for me to go to as i'm sure it is for lots of people including lots of kids playing the game during this weekend and their families. i'd love for all the kids that really want to see this game (or any game for that matter) get the opportunity to see it. however, keep in mind, the revs are one of the few teams (if not the only team) that doesn't market to kids at all (giveaways/promotions/ticket discounts)....so no one should be shocked when the idea creeps into their heads that the revs aren't being considerate of kids. hey, they don't market very well to adults either. i'm still of the belief that the last game of the season should be an "amnesty day" for season ticket holders to use unused tix (in addition to those for the last game) up to, or double, the amount of season tickets per account. with nearly every team making the playoffs....they could get closer to a packed house in there and really push the product and the playoff. as a byproduct, i'm sure more kids would be using those tix for the last match.
"hmmm.... I got 13296 for one start time and 11135 for the other. I'll keep up the suspense and let others figure out which is which." Interesting, isn't it? The Magpie
To be fair, almost all of the posts last year about the MAPLE-MLS Cup conflict were critical of MAPLE. And as to whether the youth soccer market is a key demographic, it should be. My son plays in a BAYS league, and I think it's like the 2nd largest youth soccer organization in the country. They should have a few games each year (maybe nights expected to be slow, like Wednesdays in the summer) when they give a ticket discount to kids wearing youth soccer jerseys.
i know, i know....off the topic. but, colorado has a promotion nearly every home match...including 4 that outfit kids with a different replica piece of the rapids unis (socks, shirt, shorts, i think they count 1 other item in there as well for some reason). i DO think magpie's breakdown is very interesting in light of the comments that people with kids have made towards start times over the course of the season. i wish it was possible to see a % breakdown on youth v adults for those times.
I'm not sure that 6PM is much better than 4PM with regard to youth soccer (or those that participate - ref, coach, etc)... many games start in mid-afternoon and 6 PM is just too early to not interfere... of course now it is dark and 6PM would certainly count as a night game;-) rand
They have two weeks to make the field look and play well ... We'll just have to wait and see I suppose.
i don't think the reason for the freefalling attendance is not taking kids games into consideration, I think its the opposite. the revs management treat games like an extension of chucky cheese with the soccer celebrations attitude. Target college kids, hispanics, european heritage fans etc. I remember the Metros had TV ads last year with some big, bald headed psycho looking-soccer die hard featured that was really cool. Revs should look at the demise of the WUSA soon or jacksonville may be calling
one more thing, even the crap they sell at the Pro shop is marketed to kids. no self respecting adult Revs fans would ever wear that junk. Bring on Adidas and Puma and for christ's sake Revs management take some pride. I wish the Charleston Battery owner would buy us because that team even though being A league is first class in their operation and attitude toward the sport and stays true its soccer roots even though it would be easier to pull Revs gimmicks to attract fans in SC
Thanks for not being bothered - no slam was intended at all. My point was only that before I had kids I never noticed them. I would not expect anyone without kids to register that they were there except when the screams were particularly shrill. As a MAPLE parent, I see kids wearing their team colors throughout the stadium, particularly on early game times and in warm weather. I confess I don't know the numbers, but I suspect that the number of people at Gillette involved in some way with MAPLE number in the thousands. In a perfect world they Revs and MAPLE would sit down before the season and work it out. It seems right now that they are both too fascinated by the view inside their rectums. I agree with the points in your post: MAPLE is arrogant and self-important, and that the Revs do a poor job of marketing to kids and adults. And SNFC is right also - that overpriced dreck in the Pro Shop is not marketing to kids.
I just hope we came to the same conclusion. I will say however, based on this and some other things, I don't think the typical visitor to this forum is as representative of the Revolution ticket-buyer as we like to think.
This is interesting bu I think it may be a little misleading if you are counting 4:00 games during the summer when the youth leagues. are not playing.
"This is interesting but I think it may be a little misleading if you are counting 4:00 games during the summer when the youth leagues are not playing." O.k., for sake of argument, let's recalculate the averages, counting only those games that effectively fall outside what may be considered "summer." I'll count those home games from 4/19/03 until 5/31/03, and then from 8/30/03 until 10/25/03. This would be some eight games, start times equally split between 4:00PM and 6:00PM. Re-calculated results? Avg. attendance for 4:00PM start: 12,901 Avg. attendance for 6:00PM start: 9,960 Go figure. The Magpie
If you look at the playoff times of all the games, it looks like it been set up on a league-wide basis. If you have the right channel access, you can sit down and watch every game in order, back to back.