OT: MLS closing in on NFL, NBA, MLB in U.S. - Landon Donovan

[PCSPounder]

Premier League as far as revenue

Thing is, I remember when Italy was on top, to some degree when Spain (well, the Real/Barca/other 18) was pulling more weight, and there are arguments that the Bundesliga has peaked into the front at least twice. In short, it can change and somewhat quickly.

 

[cliffclaven]

I heard from a buddy who was at the home opener in New England and said there was about 1,500 actual people at the game. He said paid attendance was 13,000 lol

Sounds like a panthers game

 

[Bookie21]

Sounds like a panthers game

Well , yeah, if getting 13,000 people in a 70,000 seat stadium is the same as the Panthers getting 13,000 in a 17,000 seat arena, I guess you're right.
At 17 home games in the MLS, they need a lot more per game than the Panthers average over 41 home dates though

 

[cliffclaven]

Well , yeah, if getting 13,000 people in a 70,000 seat stadium is the same as the Panthers getting 13,000 in a 17,000 seat arena, I guess you're right.
At 17 home games in the MLS, they need a lot more per game than the Panthers average over 41 home dates though

Lol, the panthers haven’t had 13000 actual attendance at any game since 2006-7

 

[Bookie21]

Lol, the panthers haven’t had 13000 actual attendance at any game since 2006-7

I didn't realize that. I only went off of paid attendance , to compare them to New England

 

[Dirty Old Man]

Is even the goal really that necessary? Little boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts...marvellous.

I want you to know, at least one American on this site got that reference. I wouldn't be surprised if I was the only one.

 

[Hoek]

Nobody is forcing you to turn away from the game and watch people sing, lol.

 

[Hoek]

New England is a disaster. The owner clearly doesn't care and is stuck in MLS 1.0 mode. A shame because there's so much unlocked potential.

 

[Lepardi]

New England is a disaster. The owner clearly doesn't care and is stuck in MLS 1.0 mode. A shame because there's so much unlocked potential.

I'm certainly no expert on U.S. demographics as I've never lived there, but with so many top-notch schools I would have imagined that Boston has a market for soccer. Isn't soccer very popular among hipsters in America? Are there many hipsters in Boston?

That's something Finland and USA have in common. There are a lot of hipsters in both countries who love soccer( in Finland they're often avid supporters of Finnish clubs and despise people who only follow foreign soccer leagues while belittling Finnish soccer). In most other countries that's not possible because it's the number one sport. Many Finnish soccer fans hate hockey with a vengeance because it's by far the most popular sport here, plus it's also so vulgar and violent. They are very eager to point out that it's idiotic to be a hockey fan because it's such a small sport globally. While trying to prove this point, I've even seen many of them claim in all seriousness that the MLS is bigger than the NHL in the USA. Their evidence? The fact that average attendance is higher in the MLS. By their logic the MLS is even more popular than the NBA in America.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

I'm certainly no expert on U.S. demographics as I've never lived there, but with so many top-notch schools I would have imagined that Boston has a market for soccer. Isn't soccer very popular among hipsters in America? Are there many hipsters in Boston?

That's something Finland and USA have in common. There are a lot of hipsters in both countries who love soccer( in Finland they're often avid supporters of Finnish clubs and despise people who only follow foreign soccer leagues while belittling Finnish soccer). In most other countries that's not possible because it's the number one sport. Many Finnish soccer fans hate hockey with a vengeance because it's by far the most popular sport here, plus it's also so vulgar and violent. They are very eager to point out that it's idiotic to be a hockey fan because it's such a small sport globally. While trying to prove this point, I've even seen many of them claim in all seriousness that the MLS is bigger than the NHL in the USA. Their evidence? The fact that average attendance is higher in the MLS. By their logic the MLS is even more popular than the NBA in America.

New England is a huge untapped soccer area because of how the Revs are treated by ownership.

You have a HUGE Portuguese population in Eastern RI and throughout Southeast MA and the Cape...Mostly from The Azores.
Massachusetts has 300k (2nd most in nation) Portuguese and RI has another 100k (3rd most in nation)

By % they are the 2 most Portuguese states in the country at 9.7% for RI and 4.4% for MA.

The region also has a high number of Brazilian immigrants. Mass is 2nd only to Florida at 65k

 

[LeHab]

New England is a disaster. The owner clearly doesn't care and is stuck in MLS 1.0 mode. A shame because there's so much unlocked potential.

Must be a tough market to get noticed when Pats/Red Sox are coming from Championship seasons and Bruins/Celtics are playing well while revolution hasn't made postseason in a few years.

 

[cutchemist42]

Well this wont help right? The people at r/MLS who track attendance also say it's down this year despite the new hot team being added.

 

[Brodie]

I could see an argument for the idea that soccer, tragically, began catching on right at a time when Americans were turning their back on sports en masse in favor of cheaper and more immersive forms of entertainment (video gaming, streaming services)

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Allowing standing room attendance helps.

Having the home team play for the title helped even more.

 

[PCSPounder]

There "might" be an interesting development... Chicago Fire appear to be getting sold, rebranded for reasons I don't understand...

...and moved back to Soldier Field.

That rumor took fire yesterday on social media, some regular media have given it legs, and it seems possible.

Getting MLS away from a virtual transit desert in the suburbs and back towards the loop might make a difference... along with several other upgrades that this currently sorry franchise needs.

Why leave "their own stadium?" Bridgeview owns it, and it is running a considerable amount of debt, so the story apparently leans toward selling the land elsewhere and/or razing it themselves.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

There "might" be an interesting development... Chicago Fire appear to be getting sold, rebranded for reasons I don't understand...

...and moved back to Soldier Field.

That rumor took fire yesterday on social media, some regular media have given it legs, and it seems possible.

Getting MLS away from a virtual transit desert in the suburbs and back towards the loop might make a difference... along with several other upgrades that this currently sorry franchise needs.

Why leave "their own stadium?" Bridgeview owns it, and it is running a considerable amount of debt, so the story apparently leans toward selling the land elsewhere and/or razing it themselves.

They need to leave Bridgeview but I don’t believe Soldier Field can be the permanent solution.

I don’t think building a stadium in the Burbs should be out of question but it does need to be served by L or even Metra.

 

[varsaku]

There "might" be an interesting development... Chicago Fire appear to be getting sold, rebranded for reasons I don't understand...

...and moved back to Soldier Field.

That rumor took fire yesterday on social media, some regular media have given it legs, and it seems possible.

Getting MLS away from a virtual transit desert in the suburbs and back towards the loop might make a difference... along with several other upgrades that this currently sorry franchise needs.

Why leave "their own stadium?" Bridgeview owns it, and it is running a considerable amount of debt, so the story apparently leans toward selling the land elsewhere and/or razing it themselves.

I like they are finally leaving Bridgeview but not too sure on the rebrand. They will end up being in Soldier field for a while. I can’t see them getting a prime spot in or near Chicago that easily.

 

[Brodie]

There "might" be an interesting development... Chicago Fire appear to be getting sold, rebranded for reasons I don't understand...

...and moved back to Soldier Field.

That rumor took fire yesterday on social media, some regular media have given it legs, and it seems possible.

Getting MLS away from a virtual transit desert in the suburbs and back towards the loop might make a difference... along with several other upgrades that this currently sorry franchise needs.

Why leave "their own stadium?" Bridgeview owns it, and it is running a considerable amount of debt, so the story apparently leans toward selling the land elsewhere and/or razing it themselves.

Wasn't there a plan last year to build a stadium in Streeterville or another part of the near-north side?

Chicago is one of the last problem spots for the league, one of the last "why is this team that should obviously be incredibly popular not?" teams along with New England. So many college educated people cycle into Chicago from the surrounding states in their 20s and 30s and become totally enamored with the city (including me next year!), these are prime soccer demo folks. Get even a fraction of the "wtf I love the Cubs now" crowd to start going to games plus add in the ones who are too loyal to Detroit, KC, St. Louis, Cleveland, Cincy, Milwaukee, and Minnesota teams to ever become enraptured with Wrigleyville and you've got a potent mix.

 

[Brodie]

I like they are finally leaving Bridgeview but not too sure on the rebrand. They will end up being in Soldier field for a while. I can’t see them getting a prime spot in or near Chicago that easily.

I can see both sides of this. The rebrand is silly on the one hand because the Fire have a decent brand as it is now, including one of the best logos in MLS. But on the other hand, the brand penetration is very low so there is little risk and a new brand would play better to the kind of Euro fetishists that (we assume) would make up the new fanbase of a team playing in Chicago proper.

And of course, sharing a name with a TV show that is much more popular than your team is a headache they could probably do without.

 

[oknazevad]

Yeah, getting away from sharing a name with the TV series is probably a good idea from a branding standpoint (even if they had the name 14 years earlier!), but "Chicago City" is a piss poor choice in a league that already has two "City" teams.

As for the new stadium, there was apparently a bunch of Nimbyism that probably killed the idea. I don't think it was an easy sell when it was supposed to be a USL team.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

Wasn't there a plan last year to build a stadium in Streeterville or another part of the near-north side?

Chicago is one of the last problem spots for the league, one of the last "why is this team that should obviously be incredibly popular not?" teams along with New England. So many college educated people cycle into Chicago from the surrounding states in their 20s and 30s and become totally enamored with the city (including me next year!), these are prime soccer demo folks. Get even a fraction of the "wtf I love the Cubs now" crowd to start going to games plus add in the ones who are too loyal to Detroit, KC, St. Louis, Cleveland, Cincy, Milwaukee, and Minnesota teams to ever become enraptured with Wrigleyville and you've got a potent mix.

There was a plan for Ricketts to build a ~20k stadium in what is being called Lincoln Yards, just west of the Chicago River in the area essentially between Bucktown and Lincoln Park, but that has been rejected due to potential traffic issues.

 

[Coinneach]

Last week I spent several days in Boston and the number of people with Revolution gear was ZERO. It was all about Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins and Celtics. It is incredible how irrelevant is Boston's soccer club in its home market.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

Last week I spent several days in Boston and the number of people with Revolution gear was ZERO. It was all about Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins and Celtics. It is incredible how irrelevant is Boston's soccer club in its home market.

Its easy to be a popular team in Foxborough when you have a hall of fame Star and Coach like the Patriots, the revs do not have that luxury.

 

[Brodie]

Last week I spent several days in Boston and the number of people with Revolution gear was ZERO. It was all about Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins and Celtics. It is incredible how irrelevant is Boston's soccer club in its home market.

To be fair, the Revolution are an absolute nightmare on every level. Everything about them is stuck in a version of MLS that didn't even exist in 2005 let alone 2019... like they aren't even to the tinkertoy stadium in a rando suburb stage of MLS evolution yet.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

The Revs could have been one of the league's premier franchises if Kraft gave a shit about them. Being an also-ran franchise in that market is a recipe for sustained irrelevance.

They're stuck in MLS 1.0 while the rest of the league is onto 3.1.