Why College Football Is Studying Major League Soccer

[simville02]

http://online.wsj.com/articles/why-...dying-major-league-soccer-1405556573?mod=e2tw


Interesting stuff. Very good news for Sporting KC! Leading the way.

 

[CascadeClone]

Saw that. Kind of reminded me of what JP is doing with "game experience". Sort of making the game an event where winning/losing is less important to ticket demand. Trying to make demand more inelastic.

I think baseball kind of pioneered this with the newer stadiums - smaller, more intimate experiences rather than just bigger stadiums holding more butts. It's evolved from there and is still evolving.

Luckily for ISU, the football game experience includes the huge, on-campus, tailgate extravaganza with 60,000 of your closest friends.

 

[pulse]

Wow in the entire article they failed to mention the most glaring difference... The sell beer at soccer games. The demographic is different too, it's young professionals.

 

[JD720]

Wow in the entire article they failed to mention the most glaring difference... The sell beer at soccer games. The demographic is different too, it's young professionals.

While the beer sales are a nice revenue stream, I don't think it is what brings many people into the stadium. You're not going to pay $50 for a ticket and subject yourself to $8 beers unless you want to be there in the first place. Otherwise you are just spending $75 for 3 Coors Lights.

The point of the article is how Sporting KC has created an atmosphere that people (especially young people) want to be a part of. Too many colleges rely on their tradition to bring people to the stadium. That's not going to work forever so it makes sense to look at what clubs like KC are doing and see if you can apply any of it to college football.

 

[Clonefan94]

Umm, make major league soccer fans donate at least $1000/year for a chance to get any kind of decent seat, charge them $100/ticket to get into games, and make them buy season tickets at those prices for decent seats as well and we'll see how well it goes for MLS. I know it's going to grow, it's inevitable, but I can tell you from first hand experience, that the big excuse why people I know in the Chicago area, have gone to the games, is because their kids want to go and it's a cheap night out. I truly believe that if MLS ticket prices were similar to that of college football, that the attendance boom would drop off quite a bit. It's obviously still going to grow, but part of the appeal is the cheap prices. At least in the Chicago area.

 

[HFCS]

Umm, make major league soccer fans donate at least $1000/year for a chance to get any kind of decent seat, charge them $100/ticket to get into games, and make them buy season tickets at those prices for decent seats as well and we'll see how well it goes for MLS. I know it's going to grow, it's inevitable, but I can tell you from first hand experience, that the big excuse why people I know in the Chicago area, have gone to the games, is because their kids want to go and it's a cheap night out. I truly believe that if MLS ticket prices were similar to that of college football, that the attendance boom would drop off quite a bit. It's obviously still going to grow, but part of the appeal is the cheap prices. At least in the Chicago area.

When I compare college football to soccer it's to national team. I can say with full honesty that I "am" a Cyclone as someone in Italy can cheer for the Italian national team saying they "are" Italian. But at the same time both competitions feature players and coaches who are household names of the region, unlike the Olympics where we barely know them one every four years.

the only people who really 'are' Man U, New England Patriots or Seattle Sounders are the players and coaches. College football and to some extent basketball are most like the World Cup and euro tournaments.

The only comparison to spending formative years in a campus and becoming an alumni is being a citizen, it doesn't compare to pro sports. It's obvious on the board I'm a Bulls fan, it's the only pro team I'm passionate about but it's a completely different thing than ISU.

 

[boone7247]

Umm, make major league soccer fans donate at least $1000/year for a chance to get any kind of decent seat, charge them $100/ticket to get into games, and make them buy season tickets at those prices for decent seats as well and we'll see how well it goes for MLS. I know it's going to grow, it's inevitable, but I can tell you from first hand experience, that the big excuse why people I know in the Chicago area, have gone to the games, is because their kids want to go and it's a cheap night out. I truly believe that if MLS ticket prices were similar to that of college football, that the attendance boom would drop off quite a bit. It's obviously still going to grow, but part of the appeal is the cheap prices. At least in the Chicago area.

I think comparing the Fire with Sporting KC is like comparing apples and oranges. The fire are located in a suburb no one wants to go to and with nothing else around it. Sporting built a stadium in a vibrant area with things to do other than go to a game. So while I don't disagree if colleges were looking at the Fire, Sporting is unique They have been able to carve out a market in a very midwestern city where football and baseball rule. It is funny that you pick on the ticket prices, looks like the resale value of decent seats is between $80 and $110. Also you have to remember that there are more than double the home games.

 

[HFCS]

I think comparing the Fire with Sporting KC is like comparing apples and oranges. The fire are located in a suburb no one wants to go to and with nothing else around it. Sporting built a stadium in a vibrant area with things to do other than go to a game. So while I don't disagree if colleges were looking at the Fire, Sporting is unique They have been able to carve out a market in a very midwestern city where football and baseball rule. It is funny that you pick on the ticket prices, looks like the resale value of decent seats is between $80 and $110. Also you have to remember that there are more than double the home games.

DePaul basketball is the local Chicago team here that should be studying the KC/Portland MLS model. Northwestern football doesn't really need to because it's just Big Ten transplants of the week selling out the joint. DePaul hoops could build a small arena somewhere near Lincoln Park campus or downtown and be a hot ticket playing in the Big East, they certainly should be able to recruit better than they do. I think their plans have stalled or failed by trying to go too big with too much city/events support.

I've gone to Fire games, it's a decent deal but you're right that the neighborhood of the park limits the appeal. Even if it had been in some other suburbs could have been a better choice.

 

[RunDMCyclone]

When I compare college football to soccer it's to national team. I can say with full honesty that I "am" a Cyclone as someone in Italy can cheer for the Italian national team saying they "are" Italian. But at the same time both competitions feature players and coaches who are household names of the region, unlike the Olympics where we barely know them one every four years.

the only people who really 'are' Man U, New England Patriots or Seattle Sounders are the players and coaches. College football and to some extent basketball are most like the World Cup and euro tournaments.

The only comparison to spending formative years in a campus and becoming an alumni is being a citizen, it doesn't compare to pro sports. It's obvious on the board I'm a Bulls fan, it's the only pro team I'm passionate about but it's a completely different thing than ISU.

Maybe in America. In Europe, they are more diehard for their club teams than you are giving them credit for. And if college teams are the only teams that Americans feel a part of, then why is attendance in college football struggling?

 

[Clonefan94]

I think comparing the Fire with Sporting KC is like comparing apples and oranges. The fire are located in a suburb no one wants to go to and with nothing else around it. Sporting built a stadium in a vibrant area with things to do other than go to a game. So while I don't disagree if colleges were looking at the Fire, Sporting is unique They have been able to carve out a market in a very midwestern city where football and baseball rule. It is funny that you pick on the ticket prices, looks like the resale value of decent seats is between $80 and $110. Also you have to remember that there are more than double the home games.

What's the hispanic population in the area? Usually that's the driving force with a solid MLS following.

 

[HFCS]

Maybe in America. In Europe, they are more diehard for their club teams than you are giving them credit for. And if college teams are the only teams that Americans feel a part of, then why is attendance in college football struggling?

Struggling compared to what? Look up the biggest stadiums in the world and Western Hemisphere, supports that it's national team soccer and college football. From what I saw living and traveling in Europe I think college football is more like national team passion and nfl is more like club teams. Not saying the nfl isn't a larger overall creature, but the passion fails, a Chivas fan cares more about the Mexico national team exactly like an ISU alumni cares more about the clones than the Vikings or bears.

 

[FDWxMan]

The fact that the entire article didn't compare prices seems like ignoring probably one of the biggest factors (particularly regarding the fb attendance decline).

Also, comparing student attendance (CFB) to general attendance at MLS also seems like it isn't apples to apples.