Kansas City to San Antonio?

[Aerick]

Originally Posted by Rover

Remembering what happened in Miami makes me even more thankful that Mr. Checketts is on our side.

All Hail Uncle Checketts!!!!

[StarsOnSunday]

How is it that the heads of MLS, who have the resources to do lots of research (and who have millions of dollars at stake), can reach an educated colclusion that San Antonio would thrive, while this writer reads off a few numbers, looks out his office window and claims that soccer will fail in San Antonio?
If this guy is so brilliant, MLS should hire him as a consultant!
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have found in San Antonio, a man who can predict the future of all things MLS! All hail America's new soccer psychic!" 😲

[SoccerPrime]

Originally Posted by Rover

Don't hate me for this Prime, because I do agree with your analysis of the situation, but the issue of attendance has to be looked at in context because by most arbitrary measures Miami did not draw well.

I think the perception that you're fighting (and I'll concede that the perception may be quite wrong) comes from the fact that the Fusion still hold some dubious MLS attendance records:

Lowest ever season average attendance: 7,460 (2000)
Lowest lifetime attendance: 9,345

Miami also holds the lows for season and overall median attendance. The one positive is that they had the biggest jump in attendance, nearly 50%, from 2000 to 2001--when they folded.

To put these numbers in persepective, no other MLS team has a lifetime average of less than 11,000. Yes, that includes Tampa Bay, San Jose, and Kansas City. FYI, the best team is LA, with a lifetime average of 21,382.

I think the key with all this is that although attendance wasn't great, the owner bailed at exactly the wrong moment. The Fusion set their attendance record, fielded a Supporters Shield winning team, and had a very entertaining and talented squad. But the team folded.

The takeaway for me is that teams with good ownership have a chance in most markets with some soccer interest. If San Antonio has a good investor-operator, MLS can be successful there.

Remembering what happened in Miami makes me even more thankful that Mr. Checketts is on our side.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the attendance of San Jose, Kansas City, Colorado and the current MLS leading New England Revolution...
oh thats right, they are all about the same or LESS than TB and Miami were...

[Scilaci]

Okay, so... beyond the fact that apparently every person outside of Florida is the physical representation of the last five hurricanes, combined.....

I think that if somebody moves to San Antonio, what matters is that their CEO and FO are up to speed with how to run a proper MLS organization. So far so good in Salt Lake, but what about the rest of the year? What about if we don't make the playoffs? What if we keep averaging less than one goal a game? Then the proof is in the pudding as to how management respond. I think they're up to it. Management didn't respond well for the Fusion? Oh well, could have happened.. oh wait... did happen somewhere else.

[Jose Luis Luviano]

As I understand it, not only did the Fusion not have a Dave Checketts, they also did not have a Steve Pastorino.

I vaguely remember Fusion general managers lasting about as long as a cold Bud lasts in Clint's fridge.

[bordelais7]

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the attendance of San Jose, Kansas City, Colorado and the current MLS leading New England Revolution...

You know, SP, I can sense that you feel pretty strongly about your side of the argument, but when you're trying to counter, perhaps using statistics from SJ and KC isn't the best way to go when trying to point out the attendance of successful organizations 😉

Not to mention that you're using the stats from 2 or 3 games as compared to an entire franchise's existence.