Attendance Numbers Have Some Concerned but Not NSC Stars Front Office
NSC Stadium
Big Soccer, IMS and several other websites seem to have some supporters of the USSF D-2 Pro League concerned that the new NSC Stars soccer team is not drawing well enough after three games to support the team long term.
The numbers for the first three games were 2,310 for the opener, 627 for a Wednesday evening game with poor weather conditions and a cool Saturday evening of 753 for an average of 1,230. Looking around the league Crystal Palace Baltimore has played 2 games and are averaging 1,050. Miami FC, who has a history of anemic attendance, is averaging 1,368 – just 138 more than the Minnesota Stars. Yet the Stars seemed to be the center of attendance concern, including persistent rumors of other teams within the league concerned with Minnesota’s attendance numbers.
“I don’t think its fair to base an argument on our attendance on the first 3 games of the season with this situation,” said Kris Bjerkness, General Manager of the team. “We have 12 more games to play. I think to base criticism of attendance on the first week of the season is kind of harsh.”
Bjerkness was asked if there is any panic with the NSC front office over the low numbers; he replies, “Not at all! The former pro team here, the Thunder, rarely if ever played a home game in April and many times the home league schedule started in mid-May. In a sense we’re a little bit out the cycle of that past.”
Looking back on past Thunder schedules it was rare for the team to have any home games in April let alone 3. The Thunder sometimes didn’t open their season until mid-May and Bjerkness says he remembers a year when they didn’t start until the NSC Cup youth tournament which is in late May.
As well, Bjerkness says this was a special year with the team just starting and the friction in the league between the USL and NASL and trying to put together a schedule which was not easy. “The compromises that we made in regard to schedules was to help the league. No one else has played 6 games in the first 21 days of the season. In a sense we (NSC) became the relief valve in making the schedule work for the rest of the league. Playing 3 home games in one week early in the season was helping the league as a whole.”
However, in return the NSC was able to schedule home games around every youth tournament that they will put on this summer including 2 games during the world famous Schwan’s USA Cup. The Stars front office said early on that they believed they could market those Stars games to the tournament participants better than the Thunder could because they run the tournaments and have lots of experience in marketing to those youth tournaments. Those tournaments will start in late May and continue through mid-July with the conclusion of the Schwan’s USA Cup.
Barclay Kruse, Media Director for the team, says that the NSC decided purposely not to “front load” things like the underwriting of 89.3 The Current alternative radio station, but instead chose to delay some of that for when the weather was nicer. “We didn’t want to execute some things that would attract the casual fan and have them show up in the last week of April when there was a chance they could hit some chilly and windy weather, which is exactly what we had,” said Kruse. “I’d rather wait and have them come in May, June and July when it could be a lot nicer.”
Building a team in 3 to 4 months seems to have been an amazing feat even if you are a critic of the team and the Stars GM says they just didn’t have the time to pre-sell the season the way they would have ordinarily done. “We had a pretty short sales cycle in those first three games,” said Bjerkness as he pointed out that they have put together a pro team in three and half months time.
Kruse said his department has a lot of things that are still sitting on the “to-do” list as they have been putting in long days just to get the team up and running. He expects the summer interns to be arriving from college soon which he will then put to work on some of the projects that he believes will help attendance. “These are all things that will fall into place at some point in the season and will really flush out in years to come,” said Kruse.
Kruse said there are some promotions coming in future games to groups like the Sanneh Foundation, Minnesota Foster Families and an Armed Forces Promotion which they believe will help their numbers.
IMS has also learned from several sources that the USSF has asked each team to not pad their numbers this year but give accurate counts on attendance. Which means all teams may be down from past years. The Minnesota Thunder were notorious for heavily padding their attendance numbers. Bjerkness says that the team just wants to be honest with the fans in general and he promises that the attendance numbers will be accurate in portraying the numbers of fans at games.
Kruse agreed and said that honest head counts are a goal of the organization this year. He said that the ticket systems they have put in place has had a few snafus so far and that they are still working those out for accurate numbers. But he believes they are getting a handle on it as they move forward.
It’s widely believed in Division-2 soccer that in order to cover travel expenses, most teams need to draw over 5,000 fans per home game to break even and cover their costs. However, with the NSC owning their own stadium (which is paid for) and with so much of the staff already in place, Bjerkness says that the organization only needs to draw between 2,000 and 3,000 per home game to hit the break even number for this year.
“Of course I would have liked to have more people here at the first number of games but I’m also realistic,” said Bjerkness. “With that said we still have some work to do, obviously. We now have a breather here where we can start to work on more group and promotion sales. I’m optimistic and think we’re going to get there.”
The Stars have their first full week of training with no midweek games since their opener in Vancouver on April 11th. They will play next Saturday in Montreal on May 8th and then have another full week of training before hosting the Miami FC Blues on May 15th. Expect the NSC staff to be working hard to bolster the attendance numbers for that Saturday evening game.
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Interesting. Thanks for the info BQ and thanks to the NSC for discussing the issue.
Well, that shut me up. Awesome job, Brian.
Most of those who comment here are extremely sensitive to criticism of the NSC Stars organization, but it’s OK to take potshots at the former club:
“The Minnesota Thunder were notorious for heavily padding their attendance numbers.”
How much is “heavily” exactly? How does that differ in degree from what some spectators noticed at last week’s NSC games, which Kris Bjerkness basically admitted:
“He said that the ticket systems they have put in place has had a few snafu’s so far and that they are still working those out for accurate numbers.”
SoccerGuy-
I thought the count for last Saturdays game was spot on. I am confused as to what you are asking? I understand the “criticism” comment, but I don’t think “heavily” could be described as to the counts produced by the NSC, as since I was actually there, the numbers seemed much more on point than what we were told last year going to Thunder games.
That being said, I do think the average attendance for this team when the season is over will be at around 2000.
Mark from Maple Grove — April 29, 2010
“The 627 attendance [against Rochester] was very generous. My girls counted only about 300 there”
How many do you think the Thunder would have announced for that game?
And what do you think the actual number was for the opener, announced at 2,310?
In 2006 I was at Thunder games where they didn’t break 100 but announced in the 1000-1500 range.
What completely confounds me are folks who I believe claim to be soccer fans take the time to go to a soccer specific blog and post primarily comments that are usually very negative to various soccer teams, organizations, leagues, etc… I’m not saying we should all be a bunch of pollyanna’s with rose colored glasses on, I just question if they are the soccer fans that they claim to be. $5 will get you $10 that many of these are the same folks stirring it up on the MN Futbol blog. Not sure the point – maybe someone could enlighten me?
Regarding the current attendance discussion, I would bet there are a few folks walking around town whose knee jerk reactions have given them swollen jaws.
Tom, what confounds me is people who would enter a discussion and spout useless cliches like “$5 will get you $10″ and “knee jerk reactions have given them swollen jaws.” Do you have anything remotely specific or meaningful to add to the conversation?
Yes, please feel free to read my recent comments on this topic in I believe it was yesterday’s post by BQ. Sorry if I touched a nerve, I guess all the negativity just wears me down……
Speculating that Tom is simply saying it is easier to complain than to construct, and that critics are more vocal than proponents. Or maybe he is just tired of the whining associated with head-counting.
In the North End we count, but we do not count. (Think about it and it will make sense.)
Remember, Nessy loves all! She will, however, eat the ones she loves less.
It was in the Austin game recap. Same one where you in multiple posts:
1)had a “conversation” regarding comments made by SB
2)criticized the “professional soccer” being played
3)commented on the small crowd size
4)disparaged Warren’s goalie play
5)questioned how much Schwan’s sponsorship is and NSC’s motives
6)commented on the $13 ticket price
7)suggested we swap the Stars for a PDL team
I guess we all need to define “meaningful” as I am trying to be specif.
Since when is it inherently negative to ask questions? Is this the Minnesota Nice version of “don’t ask, don’t tell?”
1) We had an exchange, maybe there were slight disagreements. So what?
2) Yes, I think 3 goals from the run of play in 6 games is substandard.
3) None other than Superrookie, arguably the most enthusiastic, idealistic fan of all, agreed with me.
4) I hardly disparaged his play, only questioned some of the hyperbole surrounding his PK save, and the role a backup GK has in attracting fans.
5) Isn’t anyone else interested in these fairly significant issues? If NSC has struggled to establish strong attendance or a high-scoring, winning team, how exactly were they capable of attracting 35 sponsors?
6) Has the product improved by 160% over last year?
7) Yes. If it’s negativity to recognize 20 years of failure instead of recycled optimism and accounting sleight of hand, call me guilty.
I have some formal training in “crowd counting,” (yes, it is a pseudo-science) and I would not dispute the counts given by the Stars. I do not that some kids counted 300, however, it is unclear at what point that “count” was given. I would also doubt that someone kid has any formal training or expertise in this area. As anyone trained in this science would know, a crowd count cannot be based on one person’s observation at only one point in time. However, it is something that is done over the course of an event.
Based on my trained observations, I think the three home counts given by NSC were fairly close to being accurate–give or take a few people. Just my humble, and expert opinion.
PS: MN Soccer Guy, I think you need a vacation. Lighten up, eh? You are the overly sensative one here…
I wouldn’t say MN Soccer Guy is overly sensitive, he just brings a different perspective to things. Minnesota sports in general are filled with homers and when you criticize a local team then all of the homers start to get overly sensitive. Most of the people making comments on this blog are overly sensitive when someone like MN S G throws out an opinion that goes against the ideas/thoughts of the “feel good” Stars/former Thunder crowd. (Note: “homer” isn’t meant to be a negative comment)
I think American soccer attendance is a serious, complex issue that any true soccer fan should take, um, seriously.
I’ve been watching the comments on this site for a few weeks now. I think everyone is legitimately concerned that the attendance for the Stars won’t be enough to keep the club in business.
It is after all a business proposition for NSC. Why else did they buy this team.? NSC does not have an endless money supply and it’s obvious they’re hopeful that once the summer season begins that youth players and their families attending tournaments at NSC will stay and watch a Stars game.
To be honest this strategy hasn’t been all that great the past several years for the dearly departed Thunder.
I’m excited to have pro soccer here but unless NSC begins marketing this product differently and makes it less costly to “trial” the product they’re going to struggle getting over 1000 in the seats much less the number they need to break even.
I think they will exceed 1000 on nights of big tournaments like USA Cup but will struggle the rest of the season. I know the last thing I want to do after watching a few tournament games up at NSC on a hot afternoon is hang out to pay to watch another soccer game. (PS- I also think the new tix prices are too high) Most of the time I just want to get home and wash off the dust and dried sweat.
I really hope I’m wrong with these thoughts but somehow…someway…they need to find a way to get the word out…to market to folks other than youth players and families in order to make this work.
Peace in soccer. Over and out.
Foster families to be honored, thanked at Stars soccer game
http://bit.ly/aP0bKj
Padding attendance stats?
Just kidding!
That’s something nice for the community and a decent marketing idea.
Marco, I disagree on the ticket prices but otherwise I am not that far off from where you are at. MLS found out the hard way that the soccer moms and dads are already gone 3–5 nights a week with Billy and Sally and perhaps once a year some of those families will come out to a game. But a lot of times thats all they want to do is go to the lake, a movie or something other than soccer as its not only the childs life but now its their life as well.
I have concerns about the amount of money that will be spent on advertising to the younger, mainly male who will come out to the game because they love the sport, get to see it live, get to drink some beers with their friends and have a good time in the process.
If the Thunder could get these sort of numbers (see link below) even if they are inflated, the NSC should be able to come close.
http://bit.ly/dgfgFu
Sadly, the one year I was excited about the marketing efforts of the Thunder is the year they hired Peter Johns and the team even had 30 second ads on ESPN for the Champions League games in the spring. I felt like, FINALLY, someone is finally marketing the right bunch of people. Then the team left Saint Paul, moved back to Blaine, fixed up the stadium so it was a beautiful place to watch soccer and all the soccer in the city and urban soccer promoting they had been doing was down the drain. Johns quite after a disagreement with management and the whole thing went to hell in a hand basket. Attendance dropped.
Listen, I would love to have an MLS team here someday, although I’m becoming more and more cynical that it will ever happen. However, I am fine with a D-2 team. But my only wish is that somehow, someway we could find the money to market the team as it deserves to be marketed to see if we really could draw numbers to the sport when someone actually spent a fair amount of money to bring it to the attention of not even the general public, but at least to those that are soccer fans in the state. I just don’t feel like that has hardly ever happened here in MN and that sort of makes me sad really.
I think there is a fine line between bitchin and complaining, and asking tough questions about a club we are all trying to support. I would say, everyone take a look back at their last ten posts. How many were positive? Negative? (SR doesn’t count, that guy is way too upbeat!). Tough questions are fine to ask, I ask them all the time on these boards… but the glass has to be half full at some point, right?
1. ?
2. too early to complain about this. patience young jedi.
3. See #2
4. no one uses words like “hyperbole” anymore. big pk save, and solid keeping so far.
5. see #2.
6. Perhaps Thunder undercharged?
7. Too early to make that statement?
I hear your frustration, BQ. Looking at the attendances that the Thunder had, it’s easy to imagine that if the team were, as you say, ‘properly marketed’, that you could have numbers rivaling Rochester.
Too early = Too easy
Too early + too early + too early = Too late
GAA of 1.82 is OK at best, especially if your team is scoring 0.67 per game.
Sorry, I’ll try to stop using big words while asking relevant questions.
I can’t believe you had ticket at 5$!!! That’s incredibly cheap!!! Even at 11$, it’s a steal! (except for seats behind the nets, obviously).
I am happy to be upbeat.
If it wasn’t for idealists we would have soccer here in the first place.
Plus, I figure if I am nice enough to MN Soccer Guy on here he will buy me a beer before I move to Florida. One can hope, right?
SR, you’ve given me the best reason yet to attend a game. If I can fit in an 8 AM State Cup youth game in Stillwater, a 16-mile marathon training run and my daughter’s dance recital, I will look for you on May 15. In fact, I’ve got a case of PBR in the fridge for the tailgate!
Ahhh! Beer=harmony
While this is all nice and cozy, the fact remains that even if the stadium is covered, NSC still has fan base problems.
I understand that you want to promote Minnesota, but numbers are numbers.
Nothing has changed in the analysis. No Division II team can survive at a 3,000 maximum fan base.
@Bart: I guess you know more than the folks that run the NSC then:
“However, with the NSC owning their own stadium (which is paid for) and with so much of the staff already in place, Bjerkness says that the organization only needs to draw between 2,000 and 3,000 per home game to hit the break even number for this year.”
Is it necessary to do more than break even for the NSC?
My attendance so far this year is zero, unfortunately. I haven’t been compelled to rearrange my schedule to make games, and the drive to Blaine compounds the problem. In fact, I really miss being able to bike or take the bus to games. As much as the Jimmy stunk as a soccer venue, it sure was a better location. The reality is that I feel that I need to tailgate to warrant the 1 hr of driving to get to the game in Blaine (I hate driving), and quite simply I don’t always have 4-5 hours to make it happen. While I know it is going to happen, I really wish we were back with soccer in the city. We’d lose some teenyboppers, but I bet if you stuck with it for a few years you’d find a gold mine of urbanites ready to embrace the team.
FormerThunderGunner,
I think you are 100% correct. A location that would be comparable to where Augsburg is located right off of 94 and 35W would be ideal. Maybe if they expanded Parade soccer complex??? Who knows…. Just thinking outside of the box.
MN Soccer Guy – I still think you need a vacation!
Might have time for a vacation in about 10 years, when our youngest finishes high school. Plenty of time to watch soccer then.
Maybe we will have a PDL team by then MN Soccer Guy.
Sorry if this is ancient history, but the Twin Cities Tornado had an amazing PDL season in 1999. Four players from that team — Jeremy Iwaszkowieck (Clemson), Tamba Johnson (Wisconsin), Nate Winkel (Marquette) and Mark Schulte (Dayton) — were selected in the 2000 A-League draft. The back line of Dustin Branan, Chris Scanlon and Schulte all stood 6-3 or taller, and the team scored 55 goals in 16 games. The Tornado had a bunch of college kids, including Donny Mark from 2000 NCAA champion UConn, plus a few local veterans for stability and leadership. Their home field was Braemar in Edina, arguably the area’s best soccer venue outside the NSC stadium and exhibition fields.
umm, bq? taking creative license with my post?
If people are using screen names rather than their own name there is probably a reason and I will respect that whenever possible. You and I may both know who MN Soccer Guy is but others don’t. So yes, I did change your post and replaced his real name with his screen name. Please respect others privacy.
MN Soccer Guy- were you part of the veteran leadership and stability on the PDL team? I only ask to see if this is why you are so biased towards the PDL.
Ok, I am an analyst by nature. So if the Stars only need to average 2-3 K fans per game, versus the 5K (conventional wisdom, other team targets, etc.) then numbers look like this (assuming the cheapest ticket price):
15 home games * 2000 fans not needed * $11 = $330,000
15 home games * 3000 fans not needed * $11 = $495,000
That means they save/don’t spend between $22,000-$33,000 per game on a venue. Anyone paying 22K-33K for the NSC for 1 game should call me…I have a bridge for sale…and lets not forget about not needed concession revenue also. Conventional wisdom would put concessions around $5 per person, with about $2 per person in profit. So that means another 6k-9k per game (or 90-125K) of not needed revenue + merch sales + parking + sponsorship reductions + …
I talked with an official from the opening game. The attendance number of 2,310 may be overstated by 1,000-1,500. I thought they were supposed to report ‘actual attendance.’
I do agree with MNsoccerguru and others that it is too early to tell what attendance may be like for the rest of the season. If the Stars could win 1/3 or over of their games, I would say it is a successful season on the field…better than the Thunder over the past few years. Unfortunately, the tax payers will not allow an operating loss for more than 1 year.
I was on the Tornado staff, not providing stability or experience on the field. I think the PDL just makes more sense — no player salaries, less travel, regional rivals and local players to help attract fan, media and sponsor interest.
Mnsoccerguru2, I don’t know who you are. If people really want to know who I am, they should be able to figure it out from my posts here or on the USL discussion board.
Zlatan – Why wreck your analysis with the fallacy of tax payers being on the hook for any of the Star’s operations. Substitute the word “management” and you have a decent point.
Zlatan-
The official you spoke too is wrong. The number reported accurately reflects opening night
attendance.
Taking that into account, you bring up an interesting argument that I would like for you to expand upon. I am confused as to how you figure the 22k-33k for stadium rental. Does that take into account the assumed expenditures of running the team: player salary, coaches salary, trainer salary, ticket sales salary, administrator salary, travel and team supplies (jerseys, balls etc…)?
Because, I would assume that the franchise is saving the most money as compared to other teams in the league in their operations. They have only needed to add 5 paid positions (outside the 21 signed players). The rest of the costs are already built into the NSC structure, so, in essence, it is just another NSC business line (of which you will argue is a tax payer owned blah, blah, blah).
I believe, judging by the ability of the NSC to operate all of these years, that they have a pretty well thought out business plan on this team. I also think that owning your facility, owning concessions etc…is going to allow them to be around for a long, long time.
So, in short, can you just explain what the hell you are talking about so this un-educated non-analyst knows what you are trying to say?
I find the topic of venue location interesting. I love the NSC as a venue as it is about 10 minutes from my house. If they Stars would move to Augsburg or back to the Jimmy I would be hard pressed to attend. Parking is terrible around Augsburg. St. Paul/location of the Jimmy is just not my cup of tea.
I do love my car and prefer a car over any other form of transportation.
Thanks. I live near Central HS and my kids attended that school. I went to almost every game that was at The Jimmy. I have no problem with a location which is a several minute bike ride to some of the coolest bars and restaurants in the Twin Cities.
Urban soccer actually makes a ton of sense as most MLS teams are finding the hard way. But I digress.
Blaine isn’t exactly my cup of tea ethier. I’m not a burbs guy and I love the concept of low polluting urban transportation. I hate the thought of all those cars driving way out to Blaine for each and every trip to a game. But things are what they are. The stadium is there and its beautiful stadium. We’ve been through this argument before both here and on the Thunder discussion boards. It’s a no win situation with some saying they love Blaine and would only come to a game in the northern suburbs and others who stopped coming to Blaine because they won’t drive all the way out there. Others wanted and some needed the public transportation mode. How about the folks that live in Apple Valley or Prior Lake?
I’m sure your just being honest but I’m sure you can also see how some of us are going to be offended by your “St. Paul/location of the Jimmy is just not my cup of tea,” comment.
Lastly, its been said a million times but I repeat for those that have not seen it before. James Griffin was a horrible place to play soccer for the locker rooms and the narrow field with football lines. However, the intimacy of the stadium brought people together and made it feel more like a soccer stadium than the NSC ever did until they did the renovations at theNSC stadium. At the Jimmy you were finally up close and personal to the game itself. I am not alone when I say that coming to games at the old NSC stadium was sterile. You were a long way from the action and if anyone actually tried to make any noise like the DC’s you were practically driven out of the stadium by the folks sitting around you.
If they want to get attendance up, they need to connect more with mysa clubs.
I have tried to get their RSS feeds for team news and schedule working on my clubs’ soccer site with limited success. I have emailed them about it with no response.
We all want them to succeed as a team and a viable enterprise!
The area around the Jimmy isn’t my cup of tea because it is St Paul Central and we all know that Central is horrible.
Como Park What What!
Mark, The rss is up and running and has been for quite some time. Not sure who you contacted at the NSC but it is very unusual for them not to get back to you. At least that has been my experience.
Anyway, if you give Scott Clasen at sclasen@nscsports.org a shout he can help you with whatever you need in regard to the website. He’s the web guy there and has been doing a great job. I talked to him about your situation and he would love to talk to you.
As to your comment, “We all want them to succeed as a team and a viable enterprise!” I wish that was true, but I know there is a vocal minority, many connected with MYSA as leaders of clubs, that would love to see them fail for their own spiteful reasons. The bulk of MYSA clubs are on board with the new team and feel the same way you do.
BQ, please do not be offended. My mom is from St. Paul and my dad is from Minneapolis. I have worked in both cities and I just have a preference for Minneapolis or the suburbs. (My favorite White Castle is the one on Lexington/University–if it means anything. Great atmosphere!) Maybe we can all lobby the legislature really hard and they can run a trolley line up to NSC.
BQ – I understood (maybe not agreed) with MYSA’s stance regarding the Thunder due to MTA and the inherent conflicts and impact that relationship had with the balance of their membership, just curious what you think the reasons might be now? USA Cup vs. MYSA playoffs? NSC youth camps? US Club vs. USYS? In the immortal words of Rodney King…”why can’t we all just get along”?
Note carefully my words: many connected with MYSA as “leaders of clubs”. So I am not saying MYSA openly. After all they did show up at the NSC Stars Stakeholders meeting and sanctioned USA Cup again this year. I said “leaders of clubs”. There have been a number of cases this spring of some people associated with some clubs who have openly bad mouthed or boycotted the NSC by sending emails out to other club leaders in a MYSA districts or the whole of MYSA. I have also heard some people say that the NSC have to prove themselves after the Thunder and MTA thing which leaves me scratching my head. Why does the NSC have to prove anything to anybody about the Thunder, a totally separate and defunked club that owes them nearly a 100 thousand dollars? There is no reason there.
There is just a lot of cary over and yes, the USA Cup v MYSA district playoffs to get to MYSA State tourney. I do wish that both parties could hammer some sort of agreement out on the later that would put that issue to bed for good.
BQ – thanks.
My point was that the dollar amounts saved from having their own field, is no where near the difference from what a P & L would require. I believe the GM stated or inferred that only 2-3 K fans were needed to break even as they have their own facilities. I am questioning the impact of this statement. Yes they save on some office jobs as well. However, the Thunder and many other clubs also use “interns.” I would like to see a pro-forma from this non-private organization for team operations.
To the point of “tax payers”. Ask yourself, who owns the NSC assets? If you say a holding non-profit company, ask yourself who owns that holding non-profit company. Just because tax dollars bounce through a holding company, does not mean that something is not tax payer funded. So if you say that only the field and facilities are owned by tax payers, then who owns the the team? Right, the same holding company that owns the facilities and other assests. And do tax payer $ flow into the holding company…yes they do. Wallah…tax payer owned team, facility and assets.
I’d go see games at the Jimmy (for example) if any of the NPSL or amateur teams were to play there. We’ve got some high school stadiums in Minneapolis too. I’m hoping to see some Kings or Twin Stars games in those stadiums, where kids who should really be seeing more soccer can get to see it.
Also: CENT-ROH!
Just got word of this from my father who listens to AM 1500:
http://kstpam2.hubbarddeals.com/index.php?index_type=promo-detail&pid=101104
$26.00 + 3ish for shipping for four general admission tickets is pretty decent. Just ordered one.
One of the main “leaders of clubs” is Niels Wartenberg from Chan/Chaska, who has done just about everything in his power to boycott anything that has to do with the Stars…
One of the main “leaders of clubs” is Niels Wartenberg from Chan/Chaska, who has done just about everything in his power to boycott anything that has to do with the Stars…
First things first, I have no qualms with the ticket prices. I think they are spot on, in fact a little low. I also have not been able to make it out to a match yet. Unfortunately, my schedule has been pretty booked so far this season, and I may not make it out to a match before July. The field is good. I think it has great possibility. Though it is a ways out, it’s not like MLS clubs don’t have stadiums out in the burbs, so I think there is nothing wrong with that. With that said…
I’ve been on here before bitching about the logo, name and the idea that maybe they should not have even played this season, and I know that I am not alone on those issues. However, low attendance could very easily be attributed to those exact issues, and in my opinion it all boils down to the “need” to field a team this season. I have heard it mentioned numerous times by staunch supporters and team officials (even in this article) that people have to realize that they were building a team in 3-4 months. How can anyone use that as an excuse?
Short planning time =
1) No time to sit down and really work out issues with the name
2) No time to spend with a graphic designer and work out some ideas into a few mock-ups and then into a solid, professional logo
3) No time to sit down and have a marketing firm draw out ideas for print, radio or TV adverts; and therefore, no real opportunity to get the word out into the community about the team, it’s schedule, the stadium or it players;
4) Most importantly, no time to raise the necessary capital to actually do any of those items just listed.
It’s hard to market something that was thrown together.
It’s great to have a team to go and spend a summer evening drinking beer, eating brats/hot dogs/nachos/etc., but in the end, that want to not have a break, to take the bull by the horns and get in there right away, may be our real problem. Only time will tell if the rest of the season is like this. Who knows – and hopefully – at the end of the season, these arguments may have been all for naught.