Defending MLS’ Actual Fans
By Max J. Rosenthal • Aug 20th, 2007 • Category: American soccer • one responseJamie Trecker, guest blogging for Luis Arroyave at chicagosports.com, has some comments on MLS’ marketing failures:
In fact, the only two groups that MLS hasn’t tried to attract are the ones that actually have showed up to see the games from day one: the hardcore fan, so to speak and those of us out here who actually follow and enjoy sports. You know us; we’re called sports fans.
And, this being Chicago, he has some words for the Fire’s notoriously awful treatment of Section 8:
Apparently, all these loud, happy folks are bad for business because they might scare off the tremulous whites in the suburbs and their towheaded young. Oddly enough, this has not hurt the Cubs’ bottom line, but I’m just repeating what people wearing suits who work for MLS have told me.
This isn’t anything we haven’t heard or covered here before, but more commentary of this kind is always good to see.
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It’s an excellent piece by Trecker, though I would point out the Fire have not treated Section 8 as badly as some other MLS teams and their supporters’ groups (the Red Bulls spring to mind right now), and of course, before the last couple of years the relationship between the front office and the fans was very good. Even now, GM John Guppy says the right things often, but AEG as an entity does not seem to get it (particularly Toyota Park management). Hopefully a change in ownership will help.