So says the USL, operators of a new indoor league set to launch in the United States next year. We already know a team from Rochester will play in it, probably called the Lancers after the old NASL team. And that’s about all we know.

I’m not aware of any great pent-up demand for new indoor soccer teams, or another indoor soccer league, in Rochester or just about anywhere else in the United States at this stage.  Crowds for a handful of indoor games held in Rochester in 1997 weren’t particularly impressive, and since then, indoor soccer’s star has only fallen relative to the outdoor game nationwide.

The landscape for indoor soccer has changed quickly. As recently as 2001, in their excellent academic study Soccer and American Exceptionalism, Markovits and Hellerman wrote that “in the United States, this version of soccer undermines the still precarious culture of the “game proper” itself by offering an alternative and competitive threat.”

That’s just not really the case any longer, with handfuls of teams left and dwindling numbers of fans attending indoor games.

It might still be possible to sell indoor soccer if you’re Peter Wilt. And some teams still can boast of a longer existence than their MLS counterparts: in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), the Milwaukee Wave date back to 1984, the Baltimore Blast to 1992 and the Philadelphia Kixx to 1995.

But even those who love indoor soccer, like our friend Kenn Tomasch, worry for its future with declining attendances (from a post a few months ago):

I love indoor soccer – have for some 30 years. But it’s hard to ignore the sad landscape of this sport right now. With three games to play (all this weekend), this latest MISL (there have been three, give or take) is on pace to have an overall average attendance of somewhere around 3,700 fans per game. Except for last season’s Xtreme Soccer League (which averaged 3,435 for its mere four teams), a [indoor] league hasn’t gone under the 4,000 mark in average attendance since the NPSL of 1991-92.

The MISL ended up with an average attendance in the 2009-10 season of 3,934. Attendances in the MISL are nearly half those of indoor soccer at its peak in the late 1980s, when it was not merely competitive with outdoor soccer, but outstripping it: indeed, this was the launchpad for the USL organisation, which began as an indoor league in the southwest in 1986.

All that said, there’s no particular reason indoor soccer can’t survive at that level of attendance if costs are kept in check, and as Peter Wilt’s pointed out here before, actual revenue can go up even when attendance goes down, if one is selling more tickets (and giving less away) while also raising sponsorship income. So it’s perhaps not as bleak a picture as it appears, at least in Milwaukee’s case. The Wave’s attendance dipped from 4,247 in 2008-9 to 3,934 in 2009-10, but ticket revenue was up 30% and sponsorship revenue up 35%. Still, that’s a far cry from the late 1980s, when under Wilt’s previous stewardship two decades ago, the Wave averaged over 7,000 fans a game. Selling indoor soccer is, it seems, is an awful lot harder now.

Then there’s the question — what does the USL’s reference to the new I-League mean by saying it “features an economically viable model for team owners”? It would seem from the limited information we have that this refers to its plan for “regionalized divisions” that would substantially reduce travel costs. In the MISL, there’s a fair old distance in a six team league that spans two countries, from Baltimore in the northeastern United States to Monterrey in Mexico. So that makes sense, as we’ve seen discussed in relation to second division outdoor soccer in the vast space that is North America as well.

But whether we really need more competing indoor leagues in North America is another question entirely. If we look at this sentence from the USL’s statement — “The launch of the I-League is the initial phase of USL’s efforts to build the soccer pyramid to meet the growing demands of the indoor game.” — and replace “demands” with “challenges”, we might be closer to the reality of the I-League’s apparent impending appearance on the scene, and is existence might just muddy the waters of a form of the sport that has an unclear future here as it is.

The off season is hardly an extended vacation in professional soccer. That is when the important work is done to prepare for the following season.

It surprises me how many people think that working for a professional sports team is like being a teacher and allows for a months-long vacation in the off season.  While the season is certainly hectic and requires many hours each week, ideally the season is merely the execution of all the planning, selling and promoting that went into the off season.  It’s that off season work that will actually determine success or failure of the following year.

The close of the Milwaukee Wave’s 2009-10 professional indoor soccer season last week means we’ve now transitioned into the advance work for 2010-11.  That work actually started a couple months ago with the creation of the organization’s business plan.  Last month, while the season was winding down, we made important decisions on pricing of individual, season and group tickets for next year and put season tickets on sale - the earliest in team history.

Last week we put together the following outline of our off season activities over the next eight months – and in some cases, 12 months – to prepare the Milwaukee Wave for an improved 2010-11:

I.  General

A.  Business plan review – April

B.  Budget finalization – April/May

C.  Staff Retreat – May

i.   Business plan review

ii.  Marketing Plan

iii. Sales plan

a. Tickets

b.  Sponsorship

c.  Camps

iv. Promotions

v. In Game Entertainment

vi. Other topics listed below

a.  Media

b.  Merchandise

c.  Schedule

d.  World Cup

e.  Special Events

f.  Team

II.  Staff

A.  Organizational structure review – April

B.  Employee reviews – April

C.  Personnel Changes – April/May

III.  Ticket sales

A.  Season tickets – April through December

i.  Renewal of Season Tickets

a.  Through April 30 early bird: Kory

b.  May 1st to October 31st:  Divide with players and ticket sales staff

c.  November 1st to December 1st:  Jim and peter

ii.  New Season Tickets

a.  Individual seasons to data base

b.  Bulk to sponsors and youth soccer clubs

c.  Referrals from existing season ticket holders

B.  Group tickets – April through March

i.  Youth soccer

ii.  District meetings – April/May

iii.  Club meetings – April through August all clubs

iv.  Bars and Restaurants – August through March

v.  Scouts, Indian Guides, YMCAs, Chambers, Service Clubs and other organizations – June – March

C.  Promotions – Discuss at retreat and implement afterwards.

i.  Giveaways

ii.  Concerts

iii.  Charitable tie-ins

iv. Creative/fun: Beach Nights, retro celebrities etc.

IV.  Sponsorship sales plan

A.  Renewal

i.  Proof of performance – April

ii.  Negotiate renewal terms – April through June

B.  New  – April through March

i.  Team Marketing Report Sponsor Report fact Book

ii.  Other local sports teams

iii.  Other local events

iv.  Leverage relationships

a.  Keith, Jim, Peter, staff and players

b.  Season ticket holders, existing sponsors and partners

V.  Game Schedule

A.  Secure Dates From WCD – May/June

B.  Secure local sports team schedules – May/June

C.  Cross reference holidays and other major events – May/June

D.  Plug in key dates firmly (Home opener, Scout Day, Parade of Champions) – May/June

E.  Plug in rest of dates tentatively – June/July

F.  Finalize schedule with MISL – June/July

VI.  Camps

A.  Follow through on existing plan – April through August

B.  Finalize Dance Camps – April

VII.  Merchandise – May through November

A.  Renew with current vendor and suppliers

B.  In arena selection

C.  Soccer retailers

D.  Mass retailers

E.  Online shop

VIII.  Marketing Plan

A.  Agency review – May

B.  Social media – May through March

i.  Increased player, coach and staff blogs

ii. Improved Twitter, FaceBook and YouTube usage

iii. Review/renewal of MKE Live and Shoutlet partnerships

iv. Website review and upgrades

v.  Database and contact management system improvements

C.  Advertising plan – August through October

D.  Design & printing of collateral (ticket brochure, program, posters, schedules, promotional materials etc.) – April through November

IX.  Media

A.  Webcasts – August

i.  Company selection

ii. Determine fee schedule

B.  Television – July/August

C.  News release schedule – April through March

D.  Soccer Saturday Presented by the Milwaukee Wave – April through March

X.  In Game Entertainment – Discuss at retreat and implement afterwards

A.  Lobby

B.  Concourse

C.  VIP Room

D.  Lower Concourse (Interactive area)

E.  On field

i.   Pre-game

ii.  During game

iii. Halftime

iv. Breaks

v.  Post-game

XI.  Player/Mascot Appearances

A.  Summerfest – June/July

B.  State Fair – August

C.  Soccer tournaments – May through March

D.  Youth club picnics/events – May through March

E.  Parades – May through August

F.  Schools – April/May and September through March

G.  Charity events – April through March

H.  Ethnic festivals – June through August

I.  Street festivals – June through August

J.  Other – April through March

XII.  World Cup

A.  Viewing Parties – April through July

B.  Expert analysis for local media – May/July

C.  Web site blogs – June/July

D.  Fan Contest/Pool

XIII.  Special Events

A.  School Day Games – April through March

B.  Beach Games (2) – April through July

C.  Summer Games (2) – April through July

D.  Madison exhibition – June

XIV.  Team

A.  Roster decisions

B.   Re-sign out of contract players – April through September

C.   Sign new players – August through November

D.   Tryouts – November

The outline above leaves out the detail behind it as much of the information is proprietary, but it should give you an idea of the scope and importance of the work that’s required in the off season to prepare a team for the season itself.  In the MISL, the off season is twice as long (eight months) as the season (four months).  This past year the Wave was challenged by a transition of Leagues, ownership and leadership.  The Wave’s previous League, the XSL, folded following the 2008-09 season, the Wave’s owner announced he was not returning regardless of League after the season, the staff was released in the off season and turmoil and doubt followed the organization for almost half of the off season.

New owners Jim and Nancy Lindenberg took over in mid-summer as the team joined the MISL, then I was hired in mid-October, just six weeks prior to opening day.  The shortened and difficult off season made preparation challenging, but thanks in large part to a successful Save the Wave season ticket campaign and relationship sponsor sales, the Wave managed to increase ticket revenue 30% and sponsor revenue 35% this season over the previous year.

We expect that the relative stability of this off season, along with the game plan above will allow us to have another year of significant revenue growth.  Though it will require eight months of diligent work and not an eight month vacation.

I’m sad for our fans.  5,000+ showed up on Easter Sunday, cheered loudly throughout the game and supported us in increased numbers throughout the season.

I’m sad for our owners Jim and Nancy Lindenberg.  They saved the Wave last summer from extinction and actively supported and promoted the team like no other owners I’ve ever worked with.

I’m sad for our Head Coach Keith Tozer.  He earned his 8th Coach of the Year honor by leading an injury and illness depleted team to the Wave’s 8th regular season title.  Keith hoped to celebrate his birthday on Sunday with another championship, but his positive attitude serves as a lesson to me and the team.

I’m sad for the Wave players.  They worked their butts off all year both on and off the field often without the recognition and public admiration that they richly deserve.  Their good works and community service is unparalleled among teams I have worked with and equal to the success they achieved on the field this year.

I’m sad for the Wave staff.  They worked long hours to create a professional atmosphere for the organization and entertaining and inspiring environment at home games that helped the team succeed.

And I’m sad for myself.  Idealistically, I shouldn’t feel sad for myself. I’ve been rewarded many times over for any efforts I’ve made, but instinctively I always want more and it’s frustrating and emotionally difficult to know that it will be another year until we have a chance to win another title.  I’m extremely competitive and I really don’t like to lose. It was the 12th time my team has been in a championship game.  My teams only lost four times previously – three times at the hands of Tony Meola, twice on the road and twice on neutral sites, but never before at home.  Seeing a team hoist the trophy in front of our own fans was painful.

THE PROMOTION OF THE GAME:  We were a little afraid that due to the holiday conflict, we may have been hosting a somewhat private event.  There were many people who understandably thought that playing on Easter Sunday was a big mistake.  While selling tickets on a holiday is challenging we thought it was our best choice considering the options.

The game began at 5 pm CT, which gave families time for church and Easter brunch prior to heading to the game late in the afternoon. There were no perfect options. The League insisted on April 2nd, 3rd or 4th.  Delaying another week would result in added payroll for both teams and three weeks without a game for the Wave.

Friday would be Good Friday and go against a Brewers home exhibition game at Miller Park (and an Admirals game at the Bradley Center). It’s also a work day for many people.  Saturday had four major conflicts (Brewers exhibition at 1 pm, NCAA Final Four Semi-Finals at 5:10 pm and 7:40 pm and Bucks vs. Suns at the Bradley Center at 7:30 pm….plus there was youth soccer on Saturday afternoon).

We embraced the holiday date and made the game a family event with Easter eggs and a visit from the Easter Bunny for kids who donated books to the Milwaukee Wave of Hope charitable foundation. There were no other professional sporting events in Milwaukee that day, so we had the day and the local media to ourselves.  Easter obviously wasn’t ideal, but there was historic precedence for great sports moments in Milwaukee.  On Easter Sunday, 1987 more than 29,000 fans turned out at Milwaukee County Stadium for an afternoon game and watched Milwaukee Brewers infielder Dale Sveum famously hit a walk off home run to give the Brew Crew its 12th straight victory – and free hamburgers for all of Milwaukee - to start the season.  We even brought Sveum in to the Wave game Sunday to try to bring the Wave some of his Easter charm.  It seemed to work for awhile as the Wave scored two goals to build its lead to 6-0 just minutes after Sveum addressed the crowd at halftime.

The Wave staff overcame the substantial challenge of an Easter Sunday date, however, to attract 5,402 fans, one of our largest crowds of the season.  The sales didn’t come easily.  We didn’t include the playoffs in our season ticket package, so the normal base of about 1,000 was reduced to zero when we began selling the game three weeks prior.   Group sales, the other major mover of the indoor soccer ticket dial, proved hopeless when youth soccer club after youth soccer club tried and failed to assemble groups due to the holiday.  Even the old reliable pre-games and halftime games went unclaimed.

Instead we developed a plan to sell individual tickets by offering an attractive food and ticket package and promoting the game virally via social media and emails.  We also called in favors by asking for email blasts from all the organizations we donated tickets to or made appearances for over the course of the season.   Our ad budget was small, but we leveraged some of it and a presenting sponsorship of the game with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel for six full color 1/4 page ads, two full color ads on the front page of sports and significant online promotion in the week leading up to the match.

The ad campaign, “What’s Your Championship Moment” found its way to many most Milwaukeeans via the newspaper ads, electronic billboards, hundreds of thousands of emails, posters, flyers, 60 second spots on five radio stations, on-air ticket giveaways, a series of blog posts on the popular OnMilwaukee.com website and even on Craigslist.

The following outline of some of our promotional efforts may be of interest to those who don’t often think about the behind the scenes efforts needed to promote and sell a sporting event.  A more detailed, though incomplete outline was posted here to explain to fans who were concerned about our decision to play the game on Easter Sunday exactly how we planned to sell the game.

A) Contact all Wisconsin Soccer Clubs for email blasts and group, individual and family four pack sales.

B) Posters and Flyers at Indoor Centers

C) Posters and Flyers at Soccer Retailers

D) Email Blasts

E) Promotions, Poster and Flyer Distribution

F) Social Media

G) Public Marketing

H) Media Appearances

I) Advertising

J) Other Sales Efforts

The League allows the home team to retain all the gate receipts and the visiting team is responsible for its own travel and accommodations.  We were also able to sell title sponsorship for the game, which we did to Associated Bank, and we did well with broadcast rights as well.

We worked with Fox Sports Wisconsin to televise the game live.  The Wave webcasts all games home and away live and broadcasts regular season home games on delay on Time Warner Cable’s sports channel, but this was the first game in at least the last couple years we televised live.  While that decision may have cost us a couple hundred fans who decided to stay home to watch on television, it allowed us to showcase our team and sport to a wide audience that otherwise wouldn’t see the game.  Unlike the late owner of the Chicago Blackhawks, Bill Wirtz, I’ve always believed that home games should be televised, because it serves as an advertisement for your team in the best possible context – your own fans, your own game day atmosphere and you’re more likely to be showing a win at home than on the road!

We actually made a little money on the broadcast by selling a few advertising packages, including one to the game’s title sponsor, Associated Bank, and by selling the broadcast rights to two different television networks in Mexico.  So, when factoring in gate receipts, game sponsorship, merchandise sales, broadcast rights and advertising fees, from a business standpoint, we did very well on this game…who says we lost?

THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: The Milwaukee Wave won the trophy that was earned through 20 games over four months.  The trophy that really counted however, the MISL Championship, and the Champagne that went with it was taken by Monterrey La Raza in a one game, winner take all on Easter Sunday on our home field.  We led 6-0 in the third quarter on three two-point goals before La RaZa’s Chile Farias took over.  His hat trick quickly evaporated the Wave’s lead and  Monterrey went on to a 12-6 victory and the 2010 MISL Championship.

July of 1967, in Los Angeles. A crowd of just under 18,000 looks on as the first FIFA-sanctioned, nation-wide soccer championship in the United States is contested at the LA Memorial Coliseum. It’s a historic event, in the technical sense, but in the sweep of US sporting history, the match, and its participants, have been more or less forgotten. This is the birth of the professional game in the US and Canada. The league, the United Soccer Association, represents the first attempt at building a truly coast-to-coast, major soccer league. And they did it with borrowed teams.

On the day, the Los Angeles Wolves beat the Washington (DC) Whips 6-5, after extra time. The two teams had emerged as champions of their divisions, Western and Eastern respectively; outplaying teams in 10 other major US and Canadian cities. They truly were the best in America, and yet there was nothing American about them. The entire roster of the LA Wolves was identical to that of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Washington’s the same as that of Aberdeen FC of the Scottish First Division. To a man.

The 1967 Washington Whips. Courtesy of www.nasljerseys.com.

As a matter of fact, the entire league was composed of imported European and South American clubs. All twelve USA franchises were wholesale imports, picking up extra playing time and paychecks during the traditional summer off-season. In addition to Wolves and Aberdeen, the others were

Shamrock Rovers (Ireland): Boston Rovers
Cagliari Calcio (Italy): Chicago Mustangs
Stoke City (England): Cleveland Stokers
Dundee Utd (Scotland): Dallas Tornado
Glentoran FC (N. Ireland): Detroit Cougars
Bangu AC (Brazil): Houston Stars
C.A. Cerro (Uruguay): NY Skyliners
ADO Den Haag (Netherlands): San Francisco Golden Gate Gales
Hibernian FC (Scotland): Toronto City
Sunderland AFC (England): Vancouver Royal Canadians

The league only contested one season before merging with rival National Professional Soccer League to form the NASL in 1968. But it seems an oddly (perhaps cynically) appropriate beginning for the Great American Soccer Experiment, this importing of whole teams from European and South American leagues, considering what became of the NASL, and the Dark Ages induced by its collapse.

Most fans of soccer in the US are familiar with the roots of the collapse of the NASL, but if you’re not, this 1984 Sports Illustrated article by Clive Gammon saw the writing on the wall as the league began what would be its last season. And yet, he must have been a lover of the game, for he closed on an optimistic, and prescient, note: “Soccer is too great a sport to be lost because of the antics of sports-illiterate owners and fast-buck seekers. Even if the NASL goes gurgling down tubes of its own making, soccer will surely come back for another life.” It did, of course, in the form of the (hopefully) more stable MLS, but it was a long dark winter for the sport between 1984 and now.

Among the Ashes

The collapse of the NASL didn’t mean a sudden disappearance of fans or players, of course, or even many of the clubs. Most of the game moved indoors, though, and not a few clubs simply vanished in the implosion. Those dedicated to the outdoor game were reduced to semi-pro status at best, and dozens of leagues sprang up across the country, changed names, and collapsed over the twelve years between the end of the NASL and the birth of MLS.

In the Pacific Northwest, for example, a handful of teams created what was originally called the Western Alliance Challenge Series in 1985, the year after the collapse of the NASL – a sort of mini-league composed of four independent regional teams: FC Portland, FC Seattle, Victoria (British Columbia) Riptides, and what remained of the post-NASL San Jose Earthquakes.

This was the state of outdoor soccer across the country immediately after the NASL: small regional groups of small-budget teams competing for nothing more than pride.  Chief among them seem to have been the Lone Star Soccer Alliance in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas (featuring the worst club name I came across during this research: San Antonio XLR8), the Southwest Independent Soccer League, and on the East Coast, the third league in the history of the country to call itself the American Soccer League.

These leagues were not particularly stable, however, fluctuating constantly in membership and name, and none of them as wildly as the Southwest Independent Soccer League. Between 1986 when it was established as an indoor league and 1997, it went through 8 different names. While it was composed of multiple divisions, over 40 of its listed member teams only existed for one season (including worst name runner-up, Ohio Xoggz). Most of those single-season teams played only in 1994, the year the United States hosted with World Cup, apparently hoping for a groundswell of interest in the club sport. Still, by the time its own dust had settled, the SISL had transformed from a small regional league into the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues, or USISL, and had constructed the divisional pyramid of semi-pro and developmental leagues that still operates today as the basis of lower-league soccer in the United States and Canada.

Meanwhile, the Western Soccer Challenge Series had become the Western Soccer League in 1989 and fielded teams from Arizona to Edmonton. It’s opposite, the ASL, managed the miraculous: two full seasons without losing a franchise. In 1990, the two merged, forming the first nation-wide outdoor league since the NASL: the American Professional Soccer League. Indeed, come 1994, the league would present itself to the USSF as a candidate for the Division 1 professional league the Federation had promised to FIFA in exchange for hosting the World Cup. Despite being the only functioning league put forward, the APSL lost out to what would become MLS.

The league rebranded itself again, this time as the A-League, but it was in steep decline and in 1996, when most of the league’s best had jumped ship to MLS, it was practically dead in the water. Enter here the ascendant USISL to absorb the A-League, which was merged with the USISL Select division. The new joint venture retained the name A-League and operated as the 2^nd Division in the US and Canada for many years after, eventually being rebranded again as USL I – still here today, if barely. But none of these leagues could ever really lay claim to being truly Professional in the way the NASL had been, or that MLS would become. That honor laid elsewhere, in hockey arenas.

Bringing the Torch Inside

“Indoor soccer will be the game of the Eighties. Bet your cherries on it.”

- Charley Eckman

There’s a certain ironic truth to that quote, taken from a 1983 Sports Illustrated article on the Major Indoor Soccer League by Frank Deford.  I say ironic because indoor soccer was, certainly, a sport of the Eighties, but not since. Charley Eckman was a former NCAA and NBA referee and had coached the Fort Wayne Pistons of the nascent NBA in the mid-1950s. By the mid-Eighties, though, he was the color radio commentator for the MISL’s Baltimore Blast, and had become a vocal proponent of the indoor game.

And well he should have been, for the game seemed well positioned to move in on its competition indoor winter sports hockey and basketball, neither of which had hit its peak. Consider this – searches of the Sports Illustrated electronic archive returned 10 articles dedicated to the MISL throughout the 1980s. Not a lot, to be sure, but a search for articles related to the predominate interim outdoor leagues discussed above returns only a suggestion to search for something else. It’s telling not only as an excuse for the sparse information presented here regarding outdoor soccer in the 1980s, but as a reading of public sentiment regarding the sport altogether.

After the collapse of the NASL, SI saw nothing worthy of coverage in the domestic outdoor game. When youth teams were taken on group trips to see a pro match, it was likely the MISL they saw (there may even be a St. Louis Steamers pennant lost among the collected memorabilia of my childhood somewhere). The outdoor game had failed – that was a fact. Nevermind that that was due more to poor oversight than cultural disinterest, indoor soccer was in its ascendency and no one was looking back.

In 1975, the NASL had undertaken its first-ever indoor tournament. Divided into regional groups, 16 of the 20 teams participated in the group-to-elimination competition. The San Jose Earthquakes defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies 8 to 5.  The tournament was staged again the following year, but with only 12 teams competing (the flagship New York Cosmos notably one of the abstaining teams). Tampa Bay was vindicated in the final, but the tournament was put on hiatus.

There were tentative plans to launch a full-on indoor NASL league as a supplement to the regular season, but the NASL was beaten to the punch when, in December of 1978, the Major Indoor Soccer League opened its inaugural season. Pete Rose, baseball legend and part owner of the Cincinnati Kids franchise, kicked out the first ball, and the first professional indoor soccer league in the United States was underway – six-a-side, with hockey-style boards and all. Although there were only six teams that first year, the venture was a success, and the NASL quickly followed suit, fast tracking its own plans for an indoor league that began the following winter, though many of its stars – and some entire teams – declined to participate.

The NASL-Indoor may have featured incarnations of America’s topflight clubs, but it was really a doomed enterprise, formed as it was at the beginning of the end of the NASL. Teams began dropping out of the competition almost immediately, and as more and more teams folded completely, the NASL-Indoor dwindled to a paltry 7 teams in the winter of ’83-’84 – the last NASL competition, indoor or out, to be played. It didn’t help that, during its dying days, a few teams even jumped ship to MISL. Indeed, what had been the start-up rival league grew from it’s original 6 to 14 teams in the same time span, including former NASLers like Chicago Sting and Minnesota Kickers and even one season of the New York Cosmos in 84/85. Without the outdoor NASL, MISL was now the premier soccer league in the nation.

Over the next several years, attendances climbed to dizzy heights near 10,000 – more in places like St. Louis. ESPN broadcast as many as 18 games a season, and the league even had bonafide star players in Croat/Yugoslavian Steve Zungul and the Brazilian Tatu. And, in a pattern unsurprising in retrospect, soccer-ignorant businessmen clamored for the chance to throw their millions into the show.  Many a pundit (and hopeful investor) truly believed indoor soccer would be the version of the sport to capture the American market. Sports Illustrated writer JD Reed wrote 1980, “Magic or human pinball, the craze may be around for a while.” In many markets, the indoor teams were drawing far better crowds than their deceased and dying outdoor predecessors could.

Purists, of course, were mortified. This was not soccer, what with its hockey boards, multiple-point goal ranges, and penalty boxes. Ben Kerner, owner of the best-selling St. Louis Steamers told SI’s Drank DeFord, “All right, it’s not soccer. Call it something else. So what does it matter what you call it if the people enjoy it, heh? It’s better than being out on the street.” Former NASL goalkeeper Bob Rigby, playing in MISL in 1980 said, “Some crazy must have invented this sport. It’s a zoo, a circus. I can’t believe anybody takes it seriously, but they do.”

Many were stumped as to why, exactly, MISL seemed off to such a good start. If was, after all, a mere bastardization of a sport that was barely keeping its head above water. But it was, due in part perhaps to its own hype – which shouldn’t be under-estimated. Teams were introduced to a dazzling light show, emerging from clouds of theater fog to rousing disco tunes. Outrageous mascots (the Philadelphia Fever’s 8-foot-tall, electric-light-infused Socceroo, for example) threw trinkets and toys to the crowd. The players themselves were paraded and posterized in their leg-revealing short shorts. The spectacle was most certainly Of The Eighties, and it seemed to be working.

So much so, that in 1985 MISL got a rival start-up of its own, the American Indoor Soccer Association. The salary war that resulted saw the MISL shrink back to 7 (only after folding and re-establishing the Tacoma Stars franchise). By 1990, a certain equilibrium between the leagues seems to have emerged, as each competed with eight teams a piece.

In 1991 both teams rebranded, becoming the Major Soccer League and National Professional League, each having dropped the “indoor” qualifier from the name – perhaps an indicator of the primacy of the indoor version of the sport at the time. But, alas – and befitting the Sport of the Eighties – it was too late. MSL collapsed the following year as attendances drooped into the 6,000s. In 1993, however, the Continental Indoor Soccer League was born, which would stage its games in summer, and would come to include Mexican teams.

Since they played on opposite schedules, the CISL and NPSL were both able to grow in the run up to and immediately following USA ’94. The CISL folded two years on, though, unable to compete with the summer-schedule outdoor MLS. And while the NPSL carried on for several more years – and other leagues have since come and gone in an endless cycle – the birth of MLS was the writing on the wall for indoor soccer. All the predictions that indoor would be the version to sweep America proved hopelessly hopeful.

Sports writers, and the public in general, have displayed an amazing ability to forget the long and complex history of association football in the United States. And yet it seems they still sting from the lessons learned from the NASL and indoor soccer, hesitant to embrace the sport that has failed them so many times before. The future of soccer here is not guaranteed, of course, but as MLS nears its 15^th season, the current top-flight organization has learned its own valuable lessons, and continues cautiously apace. It leaves one hopeful that the future will prove more steady than the past, especially since I have never heard anyone call soccer the Game of Nineties, 2000s, or Teens.

There was a Wave of nostalgia in the air at the US Cellular Arena in Milwaukee last Saturday.  The Milwaukee Wave game reminded me of the old days, and not just because it was “Wave Homecoming Day“.  It was by far the best day since my return to indoor soccer last October.  It was the biggest crowd of the season (5,789), the highest ticket revenue in three years and Marco Terminesi scored two goals to lead the Wave to the win, which moved us (temporarily) back into first place in the MISL.  There was a buzz in the air…and not just with the Highbury Pub crowd.

It was a great day and it didn’t happen by accident.

The first place Baltimore Blast were the opponents and Wave legends Pete Knezic, Michael King, Art Kramer, Pat White and Greg Howes were among the two dozen Wave alumni on hand to welcome former Goalkeeper Tony Pierce and First Fan Louise Au into the Wave Hall of Fame.

The Wave staff worked hard organizing many groups and events.

More than 1,500 tickets were sold as part of the Wave's "Parade of Champions" promotion.

There was the Parade of Champions(1500 tickets) that allowed teams that had won….well, we weren’t picky…anything (and bought tickets) to be honored on the field before the game.  They all received medals from Milwaukee Wave Hall of Famer Michael King and other Wave Champions.

And we had the Now Newspapers Senior High-School All-Star Soccer Game (250 tickets) after the game.  The sides were a bit uneven as the west was missing four of its top players due to a high school dance.  The dance helped the east team clobber their western rivals 24-2.

And we had a Wave Camper All-Star group outing (350 tickets).  The Wave hosts more than 50 camps each summer and on average, more than 50 kids per camp sign up for a week of soccer lessons from Milwaukee Wave professional players and coaches.  We invite them to watch their camp coaches a couple times each year for a discounted price.

And we had the Waukesha County Chamber (85 tickets) bring out a group of west suburban business leaders and family members for the Wave game as well as a pregame event in the Wave VIP lounge.

And we had an outing for NEWaukee (80 tickets), a social and business networking group for young people.  They bought both party areason the north end and packed the field-side bar.  Several NEWaukeeans heckled the opposing goalie who became a bit unnerved and ended up losing the game…thank you NEWaukee!

And we had youth soccer teams playing pregames (300 tickets) and forming the human tunnel (100 tickets) for the player introductions.  You want to get your kid on the field? No problem, buy a group package.

And it was one of the Wave’s four Family4 Pack Days: 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs and 4 sodas for $59 (300 tickets).  Happily, Levy Restaurants’ concessions staff was prepared and minimized the lines in the 60 year old building.

And we had other ticket sales programs, too: A youth dance team (75 tickets), the national anthem singer (25 tickets, four birthday parties (75 tickets), color guard (50 tickets) and additional miscellaneous groups (750).

And most importantly, to me anyway, we honored Wave alumni with “Wave Homecoming”.  I don’t know how many tickets this sold, but I do know that it warmed my heart and thousands of others to see the old timers take another run out of the tunnel and onto the field at halftime.  We honored the ten year anniversary of the Wave’s 2000 NPSL Championship team and the five year anniversary of the Wave’s MISL Championship team.  Wave Hall of Famers attending the game, Michael King, Art Kramer and Pete Knezic were introduced.

Milwaukee Wave's "First Fan", Louise Au, being inducted into the team's Hall of Fame

We then inducted the class of 2010 into the Hall of Fame: the Wave’s first fan, 26 year season ticket holder and team mom Louise Au.  Louise co-founded the Wave Booster Club, befriended players throughout the league, cooked them dinners and opened her home to them.  After being denied the opportunity to similarly honor two worthy Chicago Fire fans in 2008, it made me feel good to be with an organization that recognizes the importance of fans to the team and is willing to extend this honor.

Also inducted was Tony Pierce who won 71 games for the Wave while also serving as the team’s Director of Community relations for six seasons.  Tony was one of a generation of American soccer players forced to earn their keep indoors when outdoor soccer began its 12 year hiatus in 1985.  The missed opportunity outdoors was a real shame for Tony who went to the NCAA Final Four with the UConn Huskies three times including his freshman year when he won an NCAA Championship.  But on Saturday, he received his rightful recognition in the spotlight where he starred 25 years earlier.

I had a big smile for the crowd size and a bigger smile for the ticket revenue which eclipsed last year’s top games, including two crowds of 7,000+.  The bodies were fewer, but the dollars were higher, because we are being more disciplined with discounts, which maintains a higher average ticket price.

My biggest smile was afterwards while thanking fans for coming on the way out, many were thanking me and telling me they couldn’t wait to return!

We’ve come a long way in a short amount of time, but there’s more to do…like giving fans a chance to race their own car on the WORLD’S LONGEST PINEWOOD DERBY TRACK on February 21st!  Get your tickets now!!!

After serving three years as President and CEO of WPS’ Chicago Red Stars, one of the country’s newest pro soccer franchises, today I accepted the same position with the oldest professional soccer team in the United States, the National Indoor Soccer League’s Milwaukee Wave.

I’d like to share my thought process that went into the decision to take the new position and offer a look at the behind the scenes issues and dynamics that led to this decision, one made in the context of considering where to go next in American soccer.

Pretty much all the jobs I’ve held in my life are listed on my LinkedIn site, with the notable exceptions of the three years I spent as a sports writer for the wire service United Press International’s Milwaukee bureau while in college, and two single day jobs where I was a bit “actor”:  one as an extra in the Brian DePalma thriller “Fury” and another as Santa Claus at Milwaukee’s downtown Woolworth’s store!

This job change decision is really two decisions — one to leave my day-to-day role with the Chicago Red Stars and the other to take on a similar role with the team that gave me my start in the soccer business 22 years ago, the Milwaukee Wave.

DECISION #1 – DEPART THE RED STARS DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS: The decision to leave the Red Stars (though I will remain as an investor and continue to serve on the boards of the team, league and team charitable foundation) actually began to be made when I accepted the position in the first place three and a half years ago. I always try to think in broad terms about future career opportunities prior to beginning a new position.  Similarly, I’m thinking now about where I may go next once certain goals with the Wave are fulfilled.  In the Red Stars case, the plan from the beginning was to spend a year or two leading the team through the launch phase and then overseeing the first operational year or two, while developing and guiding a general manager to take my place.  My contract was structured to accommodate the flexibility for a future move once we all felt comfortable that everything was in place operationally for the new team.

The decision to make the move at this point came down to three areas:

1. Successor: As a manager, I always have a mental succession file for the key people on my staff.  I call it my “hit by a bus” file: meaning a list of candidates to replace key people on the staff if they were to suddenly depart the organization for any reason. . .including getting hit by a bus.  I succeeded in identifying the right person to serve as the Red Stars General Manager and my backup two years ago when Joe Cummings recommended Marcia McDermott to me.  Prior to meeting Marcia, the original plan was to have myself serve as general manager and a second person start as assistant general manager until he or she was ready for the GM position.  The first time I spoke to Marcia, I realized she was ready for the GM position and the process of grooming my successor would eventually be fast tracked.  Marcia has learned plenty over the last two years and is more than ready to lead the Red Stars.
2. My role and compensation: My main role with the team was to assemble an ownership group, build a front office staff, create the team’s brand and guide the organization through its first season.  That role has generally been completed.  As this year has gone on, my day to day responsibilities have diminished along with the justification for much of my salary.  The Red Stars and WPS’ sustainability is based on a cost containment model that I helped develop and implement.  It would be disingenuous if I were to continue on in a diminished role and continue to take a relatively high salary when I can continue to provide the Red Stars much of my value as an investor and representative on the team, league and foundation
3. My job satisfaction: With the major exception of the Fire position, most of my jobs have held my interest for three years.  The first year is always new, challenging and provides a great variety of daily challenges.  The second year usually involves corrective measures based on first year experience and improvements in all business areas.  I have often found the third year to be one where the major challenges have been addressed and the job tends to become a bit routine: it’s time for a new challenge.

DECISION #2 – ACCEPT THE MILWAUKEE WAVE OFFER: As the WPS season played out, I began to talk to a few people in soccer about potential employment. Several opportunities arose over the last few months, but the following factors loomed large in my decision to accept the Wave’s offer:

1. A New Challenge: While the Red Stars position is far from routine at this point, I find the opportunity to relaunch the Milwaukee Wave under new, aggressive ownership, while moving into a new league, challenging. The fact that it’s the oldest professional soccer team in the United States, the team that gave me my start in soccer and is in the city I have lived for the past 31 years is also personally attractive.  The Wave has progressed in many ways since I left 19 years ago and I also get to work with two indoor soccer legends:  the Wave’s trainer and my old friend Larry Sayles.  Larry was hired as the Wave’s first employee hired in 1984.  He also served as the Harlem Globetrotters trainer during the Curly Neal and Meadowlark Lemon era.  And Keith Tozer, the winningest coach in indoor soccer history, Head Coach of the US National Futsal Team and master soccer camp director. There simply aren’t many chances in one’s career to…

2. 

   The Wave's logo when Wilt joined the team the first time in March, 1987.

   Return to the Former Team: Those who know me know than I can be sentimental to a fault and I have a soft spot for the Wave.  I had been working in a support function in sales, marketing and PR for almost four years with ice hockey’s minor league Milwaukee Admirals when the Wave gave me the opportunity to lead their efforts in the same areas. With a small yet dedicated staff, we grew the Wave’s attendance from about 2,300 fans a game in 1986-87 season to more than 8,000 fans a game when I left the team in the middle of the 1990-91 season to become GM of the rival Chicago Power. That departure, while beneficial careerwise, prevented me from…

3. Working and Living in the Same Place: For most of the last 19 years, I have commuted. . .commuted a great distance.  Except for 2006, when I worked unsuccessfully to bring an MLS team to Milwaukee, I’ve been commuting from Milwaukee to Chicago (14 years), Los Angeles (one year) and Minneapolis-St. Paul (three years).  My wife has patiently allowed me to pursue my career around the country, while she held down the homefront and worked full time.  I expect that working in the city I actually live in will be of great benefit both personally and professionally.  It will help me sleep well as will the. . .
4. Strong New Ownership: The Wave was on the brink of collapse earlier this summer when a “Save the Wave” campaign resulted in more than 1,000 season ticket pledges (triple last year’s number) and a new owner.  Jim Lindenberg is young, committed, strong in sales and marketing, well connected locally and provides the team with the capital needed to succeed.   The other potential job opportunities all had. . .
5. Uncertainty and Imperfection: The Red Bulls said I was on their short list, but did not want to discuss the role with me until the end of the season.  There were a couple of other opportunities that fitted in the same category of uncertainty.  The Wave on the other hand offered security, a firm offer and all the other benefits listed above.  Though the Red Bulls and other opportunities may have been higher profile or more in the mainstream of American soccer, no position is without drawbacks, including New York’s.  The Wave and indoor soccer’s relevance is relatively low on the national stage, but in Wisconsin, it’s the highest level of soccer they’ve ever had (with an arguable exception to the A-League Rampage in the late 1990s).  After the Wave’s glory years in the 90′s and early ’00s, attendance has lagged in the 4,000 range since moving from the Bradley Center to the US Cellular Arena.  And of course, I see that as another positive as it shows the Wave has. . .
6. Room to Grow: I’ve always avoided taking jobs that can only go down.  One of the things that interested me with the prospect of working with the New York Red Bulls was my confidence that I could lead them to significant improvement on and off the field.  I believe strongly that the Wave can grow its fan and corporate bases and become much more relevant in Milwaukee again and I like the idea of leading those efforts.  The move, importantly, will also allow me to. . .
7. Have More Fun: As many of you know, I worship at the altar of baseball maverick Bill Veeck.  When I worked in minor league hockey and indoor soccer early in my career, we were able to brainstorm some creative and fun promotions that added positively to the entertainment and the sport.  I always believed that trying similar promotions with outdoor soccer, however, would have distracted from the game and taken away from the organic atmosphere created by a diverse crowd, passionate fans and attractive and dramatic soccer.  Now that I’m back indoors  though, maybe we’ll have a return of The Night of a Thousand Eddies!

As a followup to this space’s previous column on my soccer management philosophy and as a tie-in to this column on career decisions, I’d recommend this blog post by the perceptive Magda Walczak that promotes the importance of hiring for office culture fit over skills.

The current Major Indoor Soccer League is a national professional venture, and one of the nine teams is the Chicago Storm, who play in the suburbs. Over at Chicago Sports Weekly, I look at the experience of the game, consider the impressive surroundings, and wonder if they couldn’t do away with the dry ice and let the game’s beauty shine instead.

All in all, it was a fun experience, but I’d rather see more focus on the style of the soccer than of the cheerleaders, bless ‘em. I’d be interested in any thoughts on the column and on what indoor soccer is like, wherever you are.

Photo credit: soumit on Flickr