Sorry, cannot agree on your timeline. I give it ten years, 2016.
Yes, the fact that ESPN/ABC/Univision are all now paying for the right to host the MLS games is going to really help. they will actually make an effort now to promote the games/game.
Kevin Lindstrom <klindstr@flash.net> wrote:
I certainly agree that full stadiums (paid and attended) is what will get us over the hump. Obviously, the coverage we got for our MLS Cups here in Frisco and from what I could tell the All-Star Game in Chicago this year attest to that.
But that comes with two things - better marketing (which hopefully comes with the new television deals) and better play (which will retain more of the people who come out). It remains to be seen how that will play out in terms of the DP rule and the
youth development system, etc., in terms of short term and long term gains, but obviously it is an important goal on the part of MLS.
My guess? Come 2010, you'll be pretty darn close to the league that everyone wants to see - almost all teams in SSS, mostly (if not all) full, with a much higher quality of play, and 16 teams. At that time, I'd assume that you'll have only half the teams making the playoffs, plus other things to make the regular season more competitive.
In some ways, yes, three years is a long time. But considering how far we've come and how far we had to go, and how long it took us to get here (as in, think back to 67...), three years isn't that long of a wait for what will truly be the Fifth Major Sport.
"Christopher L. Jerry" <cjerry@wmata.com> wrote: I think its true that soccer gets more
attacked on this attendance issue
that other sports, but I also think its for good reason. Soccer
fans---and I am one obiviously but not going to duck the
truth---COMPLAIN about media coverage more than other groups. People I
have talked and even argued with in media over time, make the point that
when more fans---adn they mean PAYING fans---fill the stands, coverage
would increase. In a league and city in which a team might be asking for
some kind of public funding for a new stadium, if you are padding your
stats to make it look like you have 30 to 50% more paying customers than
you have, and that base was only 15K as it is, it should be brought into
the discussion about your ticket base.
CJ
>>> Daniel Veshia 12/16/2006 11:53:43 AM >>>
Yes, and as YOU know, I bitch about them as well. It does seem the the
media re attacking soccer more on this issue though. It maybe stands
out more
so when large chunks of seating are unsold instead of random
seats throughout a stadium.
Also, could be that MLS is reporting as much as twice the attendance
as what other sports do. ie 20K attendance when actual is 12K in MLS vs
65K attendance when actual is 60K in NFL.
A 50% markup in attendance is huge. I really doubt most other sports
NEED to raise the attendance because their freebie tickets actaully get
used.
Kevin Lindstrom wrote:
Come on, guys. Every league in the US uses tickets out, and includes
tickets that are a part of sponsorship deals, promotions and other
non-revenue tickets in their announced attendances.
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