With the MLS offseason in full swing, we thought we would take a quick look at the state of
expansion and stadiums around the league. In New Jersey, Red Bull Arena continues to edge towards
completion. Click here for a look at the lastest interior and exterior webcams. As we reported
recently, Red Bulls have already renewed in excess of 85% of their season ticket sales for
2010.
It is "Cyber Monday" and in honor of that online shopping holiday, we thought we would bring you
an interview with Simon Kuper, co-author of the acclaimed book, Soccernomics, a must read
for any fan of the business of soccer, and a great gift for the holidays. The book combines
economics and soccer to provide an interesting look into the use of data in sports and takes direct
aim at some of the longest held beliefs of fans and soccer managers about the evaluation of
players.
The Houston Business Journal is reporting that Dynamo President Oliver Luck remains committed to
a downtown stadium. The project remains held up by the use of a tax increment reinvestment zone
in the Houston area. By way of brief refresher, according to the City of Houston website, Tax
Increment Reinvestment Zones are:
special districts created by City Council to attract new investment to an area.
A great weekend for games in MLS as Los Angeles and RSL went through to the MLS cup final with
thrilling wins over Houston and Chicago respectively. In Los Angeles, just over 25k turned out to
see the Galaxy's 2-0 victory over Houston. Though just shy of a sell-out, the crowd was lively
despite two power outages during the game.
Tripp Mickle of the Sports Business Journal is out with a hard look at MLS season
ticket renewals for 2010. Although three teams (Dallas, Kansas City and San Jose), didn't provide
numbers, the rest of the franchises did report their rates of renewal for 2010. Not surprisingly,
Seattle and TFC lead the pack with more than 90% renewal rates.
With Seattle set to cap its impressive inaugural season as an MLS City by hosting MLS Cup 2009
at Qwest Field, we thought we would check in with Seattle soccer guru David Falk, the man behind
the comprehensive Seattle soccer website, www.GoalSeattle.com about marketing efforts, media
coverage and ticket sales for MLS Cup in Seattle.
Kudos to RSL for arranging a $300 non-stop flight for RSL fans from Salt Lake City to Seattle
for the big game. The best part? The flight will be on the RSL branded plane. Other one-stop
flights are available at $99 per flight.
ESPN has announced its broadcast plans for the game and lead-up to to the match.
Before we get into it today, note that we will "business blog" the Final providing discussion of
the broadcast, advertisements and other business aspects of the game on Monday morning. Please
check back for that.
Next week we will also have a chat with Soccernomics author Simon Kuper, but today we
post a link to a Seattle Times article about the perceived economic benefits of the
Sounders to downtown Seattle.
As we have for a number of other soccer broadcasts this year, particularly USMNT games, we will
"business blog" the ESPN broadcast of MLS Cup 2009. Before we start, a quick word about ESPN
coverage leading up to the game. The ESPN Classic broadcast of MLS Cup history was outstanding
and definitely worth a watch.
Some quick hits on MLS Cup before we officially move to the off season.
MLS Cup overnight ratings are out. Overnights are tricky, because the final rating can change,
but according to the presented figures, the broadcast reached 30% more viewers than the 2008 final
on ABC.
The coverage of the match was outstanding in Salt Lake City and we think that the result was
ultimately the best one for MLS.
Just some quick hits on this big travel day and holiday. Check back on Friday for a special
shopping version of Footiebusiness.com. We will chronicle one brand's efforts to penetrate the U.S.
soccer shoe market. For now:
Grant Wahl does a nice job addressing the MLS Players' Union's efforts to involve FIFA in the
CBA negotiations.
With Black Friday upon us, we thought we would take a quick look at the marketing of soccer
products in the United States. Dave Frederick of Concave Sports was kind enough to chat with us
about his product and what is involved in marketing a new soccer shoe in the United States. Mr.
Frederick is an attorney who has been involved in sales and corporate development for a number of
years.
