NASL Commissioner David Downs Addresses Media; Says Games Will be Live Streamed, Outlines New Role
NASL commissioner David Downs addressed the media before the opening weekend of the league.
The North American Soccer League held a conference call with CEO Aaron Davidson and new league commissioner David Downs this afternoon.
Davidson started the call by saying he will remain CEO and chairman of the board of governors while leading the commercial side of the NASL. Davidson then handed the mic over to newly-appointed league commissioner David Downs who took most of the questions from the media, despite being on the job for only 3 days.
“I’m really excited to be taking on this new role as commissioner,” said Downs. “I grew up in the heyday of the old NASL. I’ve watched the sport grow in North America over the past 40 years in leaps and bounds. I’m also very privileged to have been involved in just about every aspect of the sport here during the time. I started out as a player of very limited ability. I was a youth coach, a parent, a spectator, a TV executive that worked for both ABC and Univision to broaden the coverage of the sport here in the United States. And then most recently a USSF employee leading the charge to bring the World Cup to the United States. Now I have this unique opportunity. A chance to become part of something new and challenging in the sport that I clearly love. And just maybe in a modest way to help the sport along a little bit.”
Downs first announced a partnership with Joma who will provide balls for the league and,starting the weekend before July 4th, will introduce an NASL ball reminiscent of the one used for the old NASL back in the 70s but with a contemporary look.
Replica NASL ball available on NASL website.
In the meantime, the league presented a special NASL limited-edition replica ball available for sale on their website with only 2011 available.
“We are pleased to partner with a top international football equipment and apparel manufacturer that shares our vision of the continued growth of this sport in North America, and really excited by the design concept of the NASL ball which will debut this summer,” said David Downs, NASL Commissioner.
Downs was asked numerous questions about live streaming for the league which the NASL has continued to say there will be but have never released an official statement confirming that it will be required by all teams.
Downs said there were 3 teams with TV packages: Montreal, Puerto Rico and Tampa Bay, and hoped to get more in the future. However, for now he will be happy if all the games are live streamed.
“It’s been our decision in recent days that we want our fans to be able to follow our clubs whether they can attend the matches at home or on the road,” answered Downs. “In any case we want them to be able to see every match and build their interest in the league. So we will be streaming on the web every single match throughout the season. One way or another all of our matches will be covered.”
Downs went on to say that he hoped someday there might be a national audience for the league’s game but for now they were content to have live streaming for each match.
“This opening weekend the matches will be streamed on the home team’s website and NASL.com will have links to all the matches as well,” said Downs.
Downs said that in the future there would be a dedicated web page with a player to watch all archived games as well as live games, and planed on having a highlight package available after each week’s games as well. He explained that the NASL is still in the final negotiations with a company that will help them set up this service and with the short time frame since the league has been provisionally sanctioned, they are running on tight deadlines.
“We think this will be one of the ways to market our league,” said Downs. “We believe the quality of play will be an enhancement to our brand image. So we’re really looking forward to putting a highlight package out each week.”
Downs also addressed the instability of teams in D2 and his primary goal is to get the league permanently sanctioned in 2012.
“Obviously stabilizing the ownership structure is one critical component,” explained Downs. “I will work on that tirelessly over the next 7 months. I think another aspect that’s important to U.S. Soccer is that we conduct the league in absolute first class professional manner. I think it’s also important that as a league we share our best practices around the league and work collectively, not just individually, to maximize success in each of the individual markets. Those are just some of the areas that we’ll work at to ensure the league’s health in the long run.”
The new NASL commissioner also addressed how the board of governors will allow him to govern the league, teams and players.
“I felt it was important that the league have a commissioner that was independent, impartial and fair to all the teams in the league,” said Downs. “That is first and foremost to the job of a commissioner of any sports league regardless of where he gets his mandate or who hires him. Yet it was very important that Aaron [Davidson] as the spokesperson for one of our majority and key owners of the league [Traffic Sports] and someone who has put a lot of time and effort into helping build this league, have an appropriate say in the league. As the commissioner I will report to the board of governors. I will do my best to respect my eight bosses, the eight teams in the league, and earn my position for next year. But I also think it’s important for me as commissioner to occasionally act in the best interest of the league even if it might be in conflict with any one particular team.”
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“As the commissioner I will report to the board of governors. I will do my best to respect my eight bosses, the eight teams in the league and earn my position for next year.”
Mr. David Downs
aka The Commish
aka D2
Very much enjoyed the read about the press conference. I’m really excited about this hire.
My math is not so good, I’ll be the first to admit. If Traffic owns Ft. Lauderdale, Carolina and Atlanta and the league owns Minnesota it seems to be like if we keep it real the commish only has four bosses: Traffic, Tampa Bay, Puerto Rican and the Edmonton ownership groups.
If you want to be generous then you can throw in San Antonio. But that is a bit of a strecth and only makes five.
My question is not about the impartiality of the new commish. He has been very forthcoming about the input of Mr. Davidson. It seems to be like their are not really going to be eight bosses. there are going to be four or maybe five. It is about the reality of the number of “bosses”. I guess that it is understood that each club will have an equal vote but the reality of the situation strikes me a bit differently.
And things just keep rolling right along leading up to opening night. I’m SO eager to hear from all the critics that for the last 12 -1 5 months have nothing but bash the NASL. You know, this league may not end up surviving, but there is no way that anyone can say they did not make a truly professional, first rate effort of making it work. In just a few months time this league has managed to look 1,000 times more professional then the USL has over an entire decade.
Tons of great points and topics in this story. This right here is to me one of the biggest points:
“I think it’s also important that as a league we share our best practices around the league and work collectively, not just individually to maximize success in each of the individual markets. Those are just some of the areas that will work at to ensure the leagues health in the long run.”
Every team except Montreal needs to take a serious look at what Traffic did this year to turn 1,254 into what I believe will wind up being 4x that number. Yes, the Strikers rebrand is most certainly a huge factor, but they also did a lot to get the Strikers brand back in front of the community, and at a price point in year one that is going to exponentially increase the fanbase.
You tell me what’s better, 2,500 average ticket sales at $19 or 4,000 at $13? The money works out the same pretty much, and now you’ve got 1,500 more people per game in your stadium buying concessions and merchandise. I think too many organizations for too long have looked at it from the wrong perspective. They all want to try and figure out how high do I need to put my ticket price to offset as much operating expense as possible? It should be what is the price point I can use to really balloon the number of people coming in the gates? Make some short term sacrifices to build your fanbase as high as possible right out of the gate, and in the long term you should be able to make it up if you can provide the atmosphere that gets them to come back. Obviously you need to make sure you’re in the right markets. If the potential fanbase is there, you just have to spend up front to pull them in. I think it’s easier to keep fans once you have them then it is to get them to come in the first place.
Anyway, live streaming finally confirmed is another positive for the league. You want all of your fans to become invested in their teams. Not many people can travel to away games, so a way to follow our teams on the road, LIVE, is essential, and I’m glad the league is getting it worked out.
I continue to be more and more impressed by the way things are falling into place, and I make the same appeal I’ve been making in all my posts everywhere these days – now it’s our turn. We the fans have GOT to go out to the stadium and support our teams. I’ll see all my fellow Striker Likers out at Lockhart Saturday afternoon for the tailgating!!!
@yankiboy – As a fan of Traffic’s “true” team, I get the caution by other fans. Hell, up until two months ago, Traffic’s biggest critics were the small group of faithful Miami FC fans who felt their opportunity for pro soccer in the long term was not in the best of hands to be sure. But a few things here.
Exhibit A – The huge amount of money Traffic has put up to ensure this league gets a fighting chance. No one else was going to or did step up to the plate to make this Saturday happen. For that, 8 markets full of pro soccer fans should indeed be grateful.
Exhibit B – Anyone who is skeptical about the direction of the NASL, thinking Traffic is too involved in guiding it, keep an eye on the Strikers this year. You Will Be Amazed.
So let’s wait and see how things play out. Don’t forget, this league formed supposedly because all of the owners who joined it shared in the vision, not just Traffic. I sincerely hope Downs can focus most of his attention on finding new investors and working with each individual team in being as successful in their home market as possible.
very excited i wish all the teams the best because next year San Antonio Scorpions will Dominate D2(HOPEFULLY). LOL
Strikers Return: “I’m SO eager to hear from all the critics that for the last 12 -1 5 months have nothing but bash the NASL.”
I was just thinking… Bart (is that his name?) has been suspiciously quiet lately.
Downs seems like a class act. This will be a tough job though especially not having full authority and reporting to Davidson as CEO of the Board.
I am very surprised that the D2 league (NASL) is not going to have any national tv, yet somehow the D3 league (USL) has managed to get a game of the week on Fox Soccer Channel. In the general soccer public perception battle it will seem like USL is the higher league because the NASL will be invisible on national tv.
My sense from this story is that the NASL isn’t fully prepared for the season that begins this weekend (no game balls, no destination site for its webcasts, etc.) At least it seems like Downs gives them a fighting chance to make it.
All of this NASL 1970s retro crap is making me a little nauseous. If players start wearing really short shorts and bellbottoms for warm-ups I will vomit all over the beer garden at the Nessy. I wonder if Commissioner Downs is going to have green shag carpet in his office too?
@ Vegas Vic
I believe USL pays to get on FSC, and that’s a colossal waste of money IMO. Your not going to get a national audience for say, Charleston and Rochester. Only viewers in Charleston and Rochester. So why waste money paying to get on national TV?
Regional TV deals make more sense, like Tampa, Montréal and PR have.
Correct F19. Not saying it’s a waste of money. That’s your opinion but you are correct about the league and teams paying for it. Something which has been in both print and comments here on this site plenty of times.
Strikers return,
I don’t really have the time tonight to go into it all and I’m excited for the Strikers opener as well, but I think it’s way more complicated that you are making it out to be. You have to ask yourself how much has all this logo stuff, publicity, etc… cost them. The ’08 Thunder did the same thing and in the end couldn’t make the money back up. I don’t think a D2 team can sustain that for very long unless you have crowds of 5 to 7 grand for each game like Portland or Montreal with their 13,000 per game.
Point being not every owner can afford that sort of publicity and rebranding. The numbers in the stadium are not without a price. But hopefully it will be a great game and those fans will continue to come back, even in the heat of the summer.
@ Vegas Vic
To the leagues frustration they were provisionally sanctioned to be a new league 6 weeks ago. How do you fully prepare to run a league in 6 weeks. By the way, the league will be using a high quality Joma ball to start the season off. That was announced today.
MH
I am here and alive and well. I think the new Commish is a great find for NASL, and said so on a previous post.
So far, everyone is making announcements. Let’s get to mid-season before we start casting disbursions on those that are still destined to lose about a million a year.
So far the BS looks good.
@Strikers Reurn: I, for one am very grateful to Traffic. I would buy a Traffic T-shirt if they sold one. Traffic saved the second division as we know it.
But after Traffic dumped all that money into the league I think that it is a bit far fetched to think that they are not going to protect thier interests (as well they should). I’m not talking about match-fixing or anything so sinister. I’m just talking about voting as a bloc and throwing their weight around.
@Soccer Boy: What’s the deal with you, Dude?
You need to put something more positive in your 8-track player otherwise you are going to drive yourself crazy when the Stars host 70′s night at the Nessie.
The 70′s are where it was at. I mean, they made a successful tv series about how groovy that time period was and it somehow lasted for four or five years or something.
Stop freaking out and just Freak Out!
@Yankiboy–”The 70′s are where it was at. ” Last time I checked double digit unemployment, double digit inflation, long lines for gasoline and a Democrat in the White House was not necessarily “where it was at.” You can keep your 8-track, and I will use my iPod and the Jubalani soccer ball. Come on you Stars!
@BQ – Point taken about the ability to do what Traffic did up front to try and build the fanbase to the point that they could make it back. But isn’t that what the new D2 standards are supposed to encourage? Unlike the old USL process of handing out franchises to anyone and everyone, shouldn’t we be getting to a point where the only owners/investors in D2 are the ones who actually have the chance to make it work?
Doesn’t someone have to find the formula first, so that others can copy it? Looking at the failure rate of D2 over the last 15 years, if you were interested in investing in pro soccer, wouldn’t you want to wait and see a few teams actually figure out how to make it work at this point before joining in? Again granted, the Strikers rebrand is a huge factor on what is going on. People outside of South Florida are so used to scoffing at Miami FC (rightfully so) that they just didn’t seem to have an inkling of just how much value the Fort Lauderdale Strikers brand still carries in this community to this day. This isn’t going to be a flash in the pan. People aren’t going to show up in droves on opening night and never come back.
I’m telling you, this team will average more fans per game this year than the last three years of Miami FC combined (approx. 3,900). That 5k – 6k average target you were talking about? With a playoff team that plays well at home, we’ll be towards the bottom of that range. But if this team gels and is competing for one of the top two spots all year, we can definitely be at the top of that estimate too. If this team makes the championship, we’ll see 10,000 at Lockhart. They’ll HAVE to open the south side seats. Ok, I’m getting ahead of myself. As our good friend Bart says, all the hype is great, but now let’s see the results.
@yankiboy – I understand your reservations about the direction of the league being in the hands of Traffic. In response I offer a couple of things. First, Exhibit B from my earlier post. Traffic is FINALLY getting in right down here. They didn’t just slap the Strikers name on their franchise and send up prayers that would do it. They’ve had events all over the place for the last two months, getting the team back in the public eye. The have been wickedly shrewd in their ticket pricing, making it REAL easy to become a season ticket holder. $100 for a reserved season ticket, right on the midfield stripe if you ordered early enough (like I did!).
What I’m getting at is, if you see what the Strikers are becoming up to now, and continue to grow into as this season goes on, I think things are in good hands. But let’s put that aside for a moment too. Traffic is only behind the Silverbacks and Railhawks because they have no choice at this point. As you said, they’re protecting their investment, which is the Strikers. Let’s be honest, if they can’t turnover at least one of those teams to new majority owners next year, the provisional sanctioning might not stick for 2012. It’s in everyone’s interests to get that fixed this year. Then those concerns start to lessen even more.
@ Strikers Return
Your statement that Traffic is only behind the Silverbacks and Railhawks is just plain incorrect. Traffic is not only funding the Railhawks and Silverbacks, it is also funding Minnesota and subsidizing Puerto Rico, although not directly.
I don’t care if you want to split hairs by saying the “league owns the team” it is still Traffic funded.
I don’t think charging $100 for a reserved season ticket is wickedly shrewd, it is tantamount to giving the farm away. It does not create revenue, only potential bodies in the seats, and if the games are not entertainment, because the tickets are so cheap, not attending is no big deal as the season ticket holder has no real investment in the team.
I think the proof in the pudding will be attendance at the end of May, the beginning of June, after the “newness” has worn off.
Fundamentally, nothing has changed from last year.
@Bart – You kill me dude. You’re like some stodgy, crusty old guy who is mad at the world because he didn’t get the table he wanted when he showed up at Olive Garden at 4:00. You obviously just picked out parts of my posts and commented on them without getting the whole message. But it’s ok. I understand the crustiness comes from the fact it is now opening day for the NASL, a day all USL lovers were hoping would not come. The difference between 315 to watch the debacle that is the USL International division in what is supposed to be a REGIONAL league, and the probably 6k plus that will be at Lockhart in a few hours must be very disheartening.
Traffic is selling tickets at a lower price point, but they’re selling so damn many they’re overcoming the effect. And you know what else Bart? Now there are that many more people in the stadium buying concessions and merchandise too. AND, there’s that many more people at the game who can now go back to their friends, family, co-workers, Facebook friends, etc. and say, HELL YEAH! Strikers baby!!!! You have GOT to come to the next game!!! They are building a fanbase. Heard of that? And finally, I can’t explain to you what the Fort Lauderdale Strikers brand means to this area. If you don’t know, you just won’t. Just keep an eye on those attendance figures, as well as how the Strikers are doing on the field.
There’s still room on the NASL train Bart, jump on board!
Almost 6,500 fans down in Miami for that game! Well done Florida. It was exciting to watch from a bar we packed out on the south side of Edmonton (an area I never really get to). And what did I tell you @Strikers return, about our young Alberta boys? Impressive I know.
@ Stinkers Return
Not bad for the Strikers to have an opening crowd of 6,400 on opening day, not bad at all.
Compare that to Orlando last night, that had a crowd of 7,933! Not bad at all either!!
I would say that there is not any difference between the leagues, in fact, it will be a success story based upon the efforts of individual team marketing and efforts in their marketplace.
I still say the key indicators will start in June.
Glad you brought up the Orlando attendance because I was going to. Of course we really have no idea how many from either team were comp tickets. Atlanta had a nice turnout last night of 3, 543 and Tamp Bay drew 3,800+. Never saw numbers on Carolina and the weather was awful. Big storm delay just minutes into the game.
@Daniel – Credit where credit is due – FC Edmonton played a very solid game. Their keeper played very well, and this young team has some speed and ability up front. They play aggressively in attacking, and I’ll be the first to say to the rest of the league, be wary of the scoring ability this team will possess. They are definitely better than they’ve been getting credit for.
All that said, the Strikers certainly had enough chances to win the game, and that was without Thompson, Kirby, and Glaesser, all important pieces on this team. Opening night was perfect except for the final score. But I expect the crowds to continue to be big, and for the team to get things going very quickly, starting this Friday against the Stars.