Sporting KC Mellinger: Sporting is a microcosm of what Major League Soccer wants to be.

|Zach| · 05-07-2013, 09:43 PM

By SAM MELLINGER
The Kansas City Star

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/07...m-of-what.html

Don Garber is sitting at the head of a long table in a big conference room talking about the future of his league. The commissioner of Major League Soccer could be here all day, really. This is his passion. His life. What he’ll be remembered for.

Growing soccer in America is a tricky proposition, of course. For most of the last 30 years, soccer has always been The Next Big Thing, but always next, not yet now. There are signs that this is changing. Slowly. Subtly. Without the major party-crashing of our country’s so-called established major pro sports — football, baseball, basketball and hockey — and even if that label needs updating, it’s a bit irrelevant to Garber’s vision of a bigger MLS.

Stop comparing his league to the NBA, NHL or major-league baseball. In terms of what Garber is trying to do, you might as well be talking about the movies or Angry Birds. Garber’s league is focused on converting non-MLS soccer fans, not nonsoccer sports fans.

“One-hundred percent focus is converting global soccer fans to MLS fans,” Garber says. “When that happens, and the market is bigger, then we can go after the (nonsoccer) sports fan.”

Garber cites World Cup television ratings among the factors that say America has enough soccer fans already to grow MLS into a much more popular league. And actually, Garber has a good model for what he’s talking about.

You can see it here Wednesday night, when Sporting Kansas City plays Seattle in front of another sellout crowd at Sporting Park.

This long-term growth strategy for the league is awfully similar to what Sporting has done and continues to work on: grow a passionate fan base through those who already like soccer, then let that energy bring in fans of other sports who will get behind the local team.

In this way, MLS’s model is already working in Kansas City.

“Oh, yes,” says Howard Handler, chief marketing officer for MLS. “Definitely.”

Sporting’s ascension from circus sideshow playing awkward games crammed into a minor-league baseball stadium to a worthy member of the major local sports scene packing a gorgeous new stadium may have started when European power Manchester United played the then-Wizards at Arrowhead Stadium three years ago.

It was a preseason game for Man U, which wasn’t playing its best roster, but it was still a monumental day for the local soccer team. Many of the 55,000 or so fans were wearing Man U red, but once the game got going and the Wizards took the lead, you could feel the energy shift.

Those were non-MLS soccer fans switching sides, and there are always more factors involved than the obvious, but Kansas City’s MLS team took a big step forward that day.

In the three years since, Sporting has essentially lived a microcosm of the growth strategy Garber describes for the entire league — a process he says might take a decade or more.

Through a wicked combination of rebranding, surgically targeted marketing, a beautiful new stadium and — most importantly — a winning team, Sporting has crashed the local sports scene and become what Garber has repeatedly called the league’s greatest success story.

The club took momentum from the Man U game and continued to convert non-MLS soccer fans with World Cup watch parties and other events. Boulevard and Grinders are on the in-stadium menu; pregames often include live music outside. That’s part of specific marketing toward a young and hip demographic, hopefully convincing them that Sporting is a local team worth their time and money.

Nearly 20,000 fans are at every game, and it’s hard not to wonder how many of them even know this team used to be called the Wizards? That it played games at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, and before that Arrowhead Stadium?

Sporting doesn’t have empirical data on this, but there’s overwhelming circumstantial and anecdotal evidence to suggest the long-term MLS model is playing out here already. You can find a lot of global soccer fans in the Cauldron, and other twenty-somethings at Sporting Park.

That makes for a live atmosphere, and has helped attract more casual fans to the scene. This includes — Garber’s end-goal here — sports fans who haven’t been interested in soccer but want to be at the party and cheer on the local team. The team used to print off lyrics for chants. Now they’re all done by the fans. Sporting has invested in bringing those fans back, with an oversized video board and powerful sound system that makes the stadium feel bigger than it actually is.

Toronto was the first MLS team to target this younger demographic in this way; Sporting has been among the most successful. Every game this season is expected to be sold out. The club has a season-ticket waiting list. There has been talk of expanding the stadium in the next four or five years. Sporting debuted a black and argyle kit during their last home game and sold more jerseys at halftime than they did in entire seasons back in the day.

This is the outcome Garber wants to see in every MLS market, and in so many ways, Sporting has written the playbook. The hopeful future of the MLS plays out in real time here in Kansas City.

Titty Meat · 05-07-2013, 09:49 PM

Soccer sucks

Deberg_1990 · 05-07-2013, 09:55 PM

Royals and Chiefs have sucked for years....Sporting is good. It was like a perfect storm of circumstances for them.

|Zach| · 05-07-2013, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Royals and Chiefs have sucked for years....Sporting is good. It was like a perfect storm of circumstances for them.

Possibly. Obviously Sporting Park is filled with a lot of Royals and Chiefs fans because this is Kansas City but it is interesting how many soccer fans it has brought out that give zero ****s about either of those teams whether they are good or bad. Surprising at times.

|Zach| · 05-07-2013, 09:57 PM

All Star game is in KC this year...July 31st.

FloridaMan88 · 05-07-2013, 10:31 PM

Figures that KC is the gold standard in a sports league that 5 people actually care about.

|Zach| · 05-07-2013, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88

Figures that KC is the gold standard in a sports league that 5 people actually care about.

More people at the Sporting game on Sunday than Royals game. Just say'n.

**Baby Lee** · 05-07-2013, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by |Zach|

More people at the Sporting game on Sunday than Royals game. Just say'n.

And WAY more than at Arrowhead last Sunday.

BlackHelicopters · 05-08-2013, 06:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88

Figures that KC is the gold standard in a sports league that 5 people actually care about.

That many?

Agent V · 05-08-2013, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88

Figures that KC is the gold standard in a sports league that 5 people actually care about.

Are you delusional?

tredadda · 05-08-2013, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agent V

Are you delusional?

That's the norm here. Anything positive about SKC ends up with a few having to talk about how soccer sucks, no one cares etc......

**J Diddy** · 05-08-2013, 06:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88

Figures that KC is the gold standard in a sports league that 5 people actually care about.

This is the part where I would normally call you stupid, however, that is too harsh. I'm going to say illiterate because printed in the article above was this:

Quote:

Sporting has been among the most successful. Every game this season is expected to be sold out. The club has a season-ticket waiting list.

**DaFace** · 05-07-2013, 10:43 PM

I wish the MLS well. I've been to a handful of Rapids games and had a good time. I just have a terrible time with watching it on TV at home. I keep hoping there will be enough momentum around it with people I know to really get into it.

|Zach| · 05-07-2013, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaFace

I wish the MLS well. I've been to a handful of Rapids games and had a good time. I just have a terrible time with watching it on TV at home. I keep hoping there will be enough momentum around it with people I know to really get into it.

I wish the Rapids had a better ownership group.

**DaFace** · 05-07-2013, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by |Zach|

I wish the Rapids had a better ownership group.

Heh...I'm an Avs fan. I know.

05-07-2013, 09:43 PM	Topic Starter
\|Zach\| For The Glory Of The City Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Kansas City Casino cash: $5266768	Mellinger: Sporting is a microcosm of what Major League Soccer wants to be. By SAM MELLINGER The Kansas City Star http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/07...m-of-what.html Don Garber is sitting at the head of a long table in a big conference room talking about the future of his league. The commissioner of Major League Soccer could be here all day, really. This is his passion. His life. What he’ll be remembered for. Growing soccer in America is a tricky proposition, of course. For most of the last 30 years, soccer has always been The Next Big Thing, but always next, not yet now. There are signs that this is changing. Slowly. Subtly. Without the major party-crashing of our country’s so-called established major pro sports — football, baseball, basketball and hockey — and even if that label needs updating, it’s a bit irrelevant to Garber’s vision of a bigger MLS. Stop comparing his league to the NBA, NHL or major-league baseball. In terms of what Garber is trying to do, you might as well be talking about the movies or Angry Birds. Garber’s league is focused on converting non-MLS soccer fans, not nonsoccer sports fans. “One-hundred percent focus is converting global soccer fans to MLS fans,” Garber says. “When that happens, and the market is bigger, then we can go after the (nonsoccer) sports fan.” Garber cites World Cup television ratings among the factors that say America has enough soccer fans already to grow MLS into a much more popular league. And actually, Garber has a good model for what he’s talking about. You can see it here Wednesday night, when Sporting Kansas City plays Seattle in front of another sellout crowd at Sporting Park. This long-term growth strategy for the league is awfully similar to what Sporting has done and continues to work on: grow a passionate fan base through those who already like soccer, then let that energy bring in fans of other sports who will get behind the local team. In this way, MLS’s model is already working in Kansas City. “Oh, yes,” says Howard Handler, chief marketing officer for MLS. “Definitely.” Sporting’s ascension from circus sideshow playing awkward games crammed into a minor-league baseball stadium to a worthy member of the major local sports scene packing a gorgeous new stadium may have started when European power Manchester United played the then-Wizards at Arrowhead Stadium three years ago. It was a preseason game for Man U, which wasn’t playing its best roster, but it was still a monumental day for the local soccer team. Many of the 55,000 or so fans were wearing Man U red, but once the game got going and the Wizards took the lead, you could feel the energy shift. Those were non-MLS soccer fans switching sides, and there are always more factors involved than the obvious, but Kansas City’s MLS team took a big step forward that day. In the three years since, Sporting has essentially lived a microcosm of the growth strategy Garber describes for the entire league — a process he says might take a decade or more. Through a wicked combination of rebranding, surgically targeted marketing, a beautiful new stadium and — most importantly — a winning team, Sporting has crashed the local sports scene and become what Garber has repeatedly called the league’s greatest success story. The club took momentum from the Man U game and continued to convert non-MLS soccer fans with World Cup watch parties and other events. Boulevard and Grinders are on the in-stadium menu; pregames often include live music outside. That’s part of specific marketing toward a young and hip demographic, hopefully convincing them that Sporting is a local team worth their time and money. Nearly 20,000 fans are at every game, and it’s hard not to wonder how many of them even know this team used to be called the Wizards? That it played games at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, and before that Arrowhead Stadium? Sporting doesn’t have empirical data on this, but there’s overwhelming circumstantial and anecdotal evidence to suggest the long-term MLS model is playing out here already. You can find a lot of global soccer fans in the Cauldron, and other twenty-somethings at Sporting Park. That makes for a live atmosphere, and has helped attract more casual fans to the scene. This includes — Garber’s end-goal here — sports fans who haven’t been interested in soccer but want to be at the party and cheer on the local team. The team used to print off lyrics for chants. Now they’re all done by the fans. Sporting has invested in bringing those fans back, with an oversized video board and powerful sound system that makes the stadium feel bigger than it actually is. Toronto was the first MLS team to target this younger demographic in this way; Sporting has been among the most successful. Every game this season is expected to be sold out. The club has a season-ticket waiting list. There has been talk of expanding the stadium in the next four or five years. Sporting debuted a black and argyle kit during their last home game and sold more jerseys at halftime than they did in entire seasons back in the day. This is the outcome Garber wants to see in every MLS market, and in so many ways, Sporting has written the playbook. The hopeful future of the MLS plays out in real time here in Kansas City.
Posts: 53,446

05-07-2013, 09:49 PM	#2
Titty Meat Inmem 2.0 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: My house Casino cash: $2137558	Soccer sucks
Posts: 75,288

05-07-2013, 09:55 PM	#3
Deberg_1990 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Antonio Tx. Casino cash: $3874454	Royals and Chiefs have sucked for years....Sporting is good. It was like a perfect storm of circumstances for them. __________________ Originally Posted by Cassel's Reckoning: Matt once made a very nice play in Seattle where he spun away from a pass rusher and hit Bowe off his back foot for a first down. One of the best plays Matt has ever made.
Posts: 66,914

05-07-2013, 09:57 PM	#5
\|Zach\| For The Glory Of The City Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Kansas City Casino cash: $5266768	All Star game is in KC this year...July 31st.
Posts: 53,446

05-07-2013, 10:31 PM	#6
FloridaMan88 Mahomes: We Are All Witnesses Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Miami, FL Casino cash: $3022906	Figures that KC is the gold standard in a sports league that 5 people actually care about.
Posts: 38,438

05-07-2013, 10:43 PM	#13
DaFace Kind of a mod Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Donkey Land Casino cash: $1886899	I wish the MLS well. I've been to a handful of Rapids games and had a good time. I just have a terrible time with watching it on TV at home. I keep hoping there will be enough momentum around it with people I know to really get into it.
Posts: 51,870