Comments on: FCB Miami: South Florida Soccer Fans Dreams Are Dashed

By: Lowell

Lowell — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:06:18 +0000

I can agree with you, but only so far. The stadium doesnt matter nearly as much as the quality of player on the pitch.

Now living in Atlanta, I had no problems purchasing $50 tickets to see Club America (a team I know zero about.) However, I knew there was quality before my eyes… even in a dome. I took my 2 year old son and his ticket was $50 as well. Sure he could have sat on my lap and I could have lied, but the price of admission was worth what I saw perform.

The NCRC, Home Depot Center, or whatever the heck the stadium is that the Panthers play in gets concerts all the time. Average concert ticket these days (without binoculars) is in the $60-70 dollar range. If soccer was made affordable… at least comparable to the quality of player on the field, then there would be no problem. Good teams with actual stars (not wash-out like Beckham) would garner a higher price, while low-end clubs (sorry Juan Pablo RBNY) would have lower prices and promote attendance.

It might sound nice in theory, but you and I know this scheme wouldnt work with money-hungry owners.

Take a look at College Football ticket prices. Depending on the opponent (conference/non conference) prices per seat vary. Why not the same approach for the MLS? I’d give $6 to see RBNY, and pay $26 to see LAG.

By: jcpillars

jcpillars — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:19:22 +0000

The problem with the Fusion, and I had season tickets and went to the games all the time, was not that people don’t like soccer here, or hurting economically. There is one reason only.

There is no stadium. Lockheart stadium was a retrofitted high-school stadium with an unpaved parking lot. The Orange Bowl is falling down with no parking, you have to run through the ghetto and hope the other guy gets robbed.

The recession economy would help MLS because it’s good cheap entertainment. There are more soccer fans here than a number of other MLS markets.

If you make it safe and easy to get to the games in a decent stadium, do minimal marketing, and price the tickets correctly, and those games will be filled.

The problem is the stadium. Always has been, always will be.

By: Derek

Derek — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:16:12 +0000

Was Adidas the deal breaker? Maybe but I think not having “total control” of the club hurt like the limit on players and so forth. If they did come into the league it should have been as a totally different team. No Barca kits or colors but unique to the area. Everyone would know that Barca was behind it so it would still be a draw. Being a Barca C team is OK until they pulls out and then the team would fold or it would have to change their name and kits not a good situation.

By: Ian

Ian — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:37:35 +0000

John, I’m told it had at the very least a moderate affect. I’d like Kartik’s take on this. Barca was not comfortable wearing Adidas kits.

By: John

John — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 02:42:47 +0000

I wonder how much Barcelona being Nike and the MLS being Adidas effected this deal.

By: The Gaffer

The Gaffer — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:16:51 +0000

Lars, the Miami market can be fickle. It expects a lot of its sports teams. When the Marlins and Panthers were successful, the stadiums were packed. When their performances waned, the crowds dropped. The same thing happened with the Fusion. When they had their first successful season (sadly, it was to be their last one), the crowds were rising rapidly and would have continued increasing the following season thanks to the team that Ray built.

Cheers,
The Gaffer

By: Lars

Lars — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:00:25 +0000

While I’m a fan of MLS expansion, I just can’t see any MLS team succeeding in this market just like I can’t see anything other than NFL or NCAA Football succeeding in this market. The fact is the majority of Floridians couldn’t give a damn about sports. This isn’t to impunge on the honour of diehards like Kartik and present company, but the fact is that these teams routinely do poor in attendance. Marlins, and Panthers are two great examples. If you look at St. Petersburg with its misnamed Tampa Bay teams perform equally bad.

Miami should get a franchise, but it needs to wait until the league has raised in stature in other markets, because quite frankly if nobody else gives a damn most Floridians won’t either.