Footiebusiness

We have religiously followed the progress of Jen-Weld Field and the Timbers’ introduction to Major League Soccer.  Years of hard work came to a head tonight in Portland where the former PGE Park opened to rave reviews. Here is a great tour of the new stadium offered through the league website.

The stadium looked and sounded great on the ESPN2 broadcast.  The structure is unique in MLS and gave every appearance of being a great venue to watch a game.  The fan sung national anthem was something to behold.

Portland has done a lot of things right in gearing up for their first season in MLS.  On the sponsorship front, Alaska Airlines signed a multi-year deal to serve as the jersey sponsor of the team.  The airline will be the first domestic carrier to sponsor an MLS team.   The arrangement includes multi level digital advertising at the renovated PGE Park and a role in the Timbers’ youth set-up.  Alaska Airlines employs approximately 2,300  employees in the Portland area.

Oregon based Jeld-Wen, Inc. will having naming rights to the facility.  In addition to naming the park, the company will also be the official door and window provider to the team and will donate 25 tickets to each game to the Timbers’ Tix for Kids program.  The company started in Oregon more than 50 years ago and brings important local flavor to the relationship with the team.  The company employs approximately 2,500 people in the community.

On the marketing front, the Timbers embarked on an innovative marketing campaign.  The ads feature Timbers’ fans in a series of poses and prominently features the Timbers logo.  The ads are part of the “We are Timbers” campaign and represent an impressive effort to combine affordable marketing with a catchy slogan and fan involvement.

Yesterday we wrote about the league’s new deal with Four Points, but the league finally issued a press release with quotes from league and additional details regarding the deal.  In addition to signage around stadiums and during MLS events, three lucky members of Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG)  will be able to transform SPG points into VIP opportunities at Major League Soccer events as part of the SPG Moments program of once-in-a-lifetime experiences.  MLS fans will also gain access to special deals and Four Points hotel properties will become a focal point of MLS activities during MLS Cup.  In addition, Four Points will offer fans opportunities to win tickets and participate in special offers during the season.

In Philly, the Union have unveiled two new season ticket packages for the remainder of the season.  The team is now offering a prorated season ticket plan for $258 in the Supporters Section.  The team is also offering a nine game partial package.  the nine game plan allows fans to choose their nine games and provides the same discounted prices that are available to full season plan holders.  The team is indicating that less than 500 of these plans are available.  The nine game plans range from $290 to $1100.  Fans need to select the games at the time they make the purchase.

Finally, April 13 was an exciting day in MLS as both Portland and Houston announced the signing of Designated Players.  With the league transfer window coming to a close, these deals continue the MLS trend of “smaller” DP deals for less recognizable names at a cost below the Beckhams and Henrys of the world.  It will be interesting to see if this trend continues when the Summer window opens.

Back in November, we noted that Sheraton’s Four Points was the official hotel sponsor of the MLS Cup Playoffs.  The Four Points name was apparent on sign boards throughout the post season in 2010.  Other than that brief moment however, MLS has been without a league wide hotel sponsor for quite some time.  According to the Sports Business Journal, the league has now filled that gap by signing a multi year deal with Four Points.  Although terms of the deal have not been announced, this represents the Four Points brand’s first foray into sports sponsorship other than their brief MLS dalliance last year.   For MLS, this represents another important sponsorship relationship.  Just weeks after filling their insurance sponsorship hole with Allstate, MLS now fills another important category with Four Points.  The relatively new brand is Starwood’s 3rd largest brand and is found in over 24 different countries with around 149 properties worldwide.

As of mid-February, the league had no hotel sponsor, no insurance sponsor, no fast food sponsor, no shipping sponsor and no bank sponsor.  The league has now effectively filled two of those glaring holes.  These arrangements provide significant financial and commerical resources to sports leagues and provide a certain amount of credibility in the sports business world.  While there has not been a fast food sponsor since Burger King, the league is moving quickly to add revenue and ascend to a more prominent place in the sports pecking order.  The new relationship with Four Points also suggests that the chain found value in its playoff relationship and has elected to continue with MLS.

We are on the road tonight, so we thought we would re-post a 2010 interview with Davy Ratchford, RSL’s Director of Marketing.  The interview makes an interesting read, as Mr. Ratchford discusses the team’s efforts to sell Champions League Games last Summer.  Reading his response to the questions about selling for that event, it seems that RSL’s ability to sel  Champions League tickets far exceeded their expectations.

We should be back live tomorrow.

Last year, RSL surprised many in MLS  be winning the championship over the Galaxy.  Now firmly entrenched in Rio Tinto stadium while defending  its first championship, RSL is off to a great attendance start in 2010. RSL has consistently been one of the most innovative teams with respect to marketing and in-stadium programs and their attendance reflects those efforts.  As part of our ongoing series of interviews with MLS marketing personnel, RSL Director of Marketing Davy Ratchford was kind enough to chat with footiebusiness.  Thanks to Mr. Ratchford.  For our other 2010 interviews, click here.  For our 2009 interview with Mr. Ratchford, click here.

Footiebusiness.com: RSL is the defending MLS Cup Champions. How does the championship factor into your efforts to market the 2010 season? What types of opportunities does the Championship offer when trying to market to potential season ticket holders and group ticket purchasers? Have you seen an increase in season ticket and group sales as a result.

Davy Ratchford: As the Champions, our advertising feels more legitimate. In my mind, the result validates the messaging that we’ve been using. We are the smallest market place in the league, yet we have some of the best attended games. I think the market place has bought into what we’ve been positioning. That RSL is their team, that the team is the star and that coming to our games will be the most exciting thing you can do that weekend. Winning allows us to more confidently sell and renew our season tickets. People can’t deny the product value. We have seen increased sales to season tickets. As an organization, we have lofty goals. We will never sit back and be content until we have the stadium full of season ticket holders. I think we’ll see most of the “championship” effect in our single game ticket sales, where more fans are curious about us and willing to test us out.

FB: RSL has made a concerted effort to showcase its trophy around the state of Utah. In addition to public relations value, how does this effort function as a marketing tool? Can you correlate these efforts to ticket sales?

DR: The Championship Cup Tour was an idea that we had that would allow us to take the cup to areas of the state that would never usually get a chance to see it. We recognized very early on that the community is the 12th man. That they helped us as much as anyone win this Championship and that the state should feel proud of what we’ve accomplished. We had over 75,000 people take their picture with the cup during the month long cup tour. We visited 56 schools and 154 other locations. It was a massive undertaking. The benefits have already paid off, especially in group sales. We have some communities that have never been to a game showing up in the hundreds. I believe the Cup Tour was the best grassroots marketing program we’ve ever done. It was great for sales and ever better for our brand position.

FB: RSL will be participating in the CONCACAF Champions League for the first time. Historically, this is a competition that has failed to draw significant interest in MLS markets. What steps is RSL planning to promote these additional matches and the tournament itself?

DR: The first thing we did was give a specific budget for these games. These games are as important to team and the organization as any other regular season game. Anytime you play an international game it brings experience and awareness to new markets. We hope that we get our fans out to support us in these matches. Our specific marketing plans will be solidified once the games are announced, but we will focus on radio promotions to get the word out. They’ve always been a big driver for our walk up and single game ticket sales.

FB: Last year you told us about RSL’s presence on Facebook and twitter. Are you intending to continue/expand these online efforts? Does marketing through social networking translate into tangible brand awareness?

DR: We have increased our social media base to over 22,000 people. It has become one of our most dramatic communication tools. We only have one team in the league that is ahead of us (not bad for the smallest market). We need to stay relevant in our content and we need to do a better job in selling tickets through Facebook. You will see some changes taking place in the next few weeks to make that happen.

Thanks again to Mr. Ratchford.

Before we get to our weekly summary of MLS attendance figures, there are a couple of business stories from the weekend worth noting.  First, despite some stumbles in the off season, WPS has kicked off year number three.  Although the league has lost teams and struggled in other ways over the last few months, there is some reason for optimism in 2011  A new team is taking the field in Buffalo and the Atlanta franchise is starting its second season in its soccer specific stadium. Losing the defending champion in consecutive years is obviously a sign of a struggling league, and we have previously written about the business significance of this season. Nevertheless, all things are possible on opening day.

One other business note from the weekend.  Stan Kroenke, the owner of the Colorado Rapids, is reportedly seeking a full stake in English club Arsenal.  Kroenke already owns a portion of the team.

In Major League Soccer, the weekend got started in Dallas, where just over 12k were in attendance for the Friday night rematch of last year’s MLS Cup (a Wed. night matchup in Vancouver drew over 19k).  Qwest Field saw its usual 36k plus for the Sounders’s Saturday game against Chicago, while PPL Park saw a solid 19k plus for the Union/Red Bulls match on Saturday night.  DC saw a big crowd at RFK for the Galaxy’s sole visit to the nation’s capitol in 2011, with more than 26k in attendance.  The Revs saw a slight increase over last week, but still failed to crack 8k in hosting RSL.  San Jose saw just under 9k for their Saturday night match, while Chivas USA played to a 0-0 draw before just over 13k.  The weekend concluded with just over 12k in Houston.

Over the last couple of years we have posted about buying, selling and shopping for soccer apparel and equipment.  We have interviewed merchants about their marketing strategies and how they reach the soccer buying public.  We also conducted a substantive review of various online merchants, including league websites, to determine where fans can have the best shopping experiences.  For some of those posts, click here.

In reviewing some old posts, we became curious about where soccer fans actually do their shopping.  What are the best places for buying jerseys, cleats and scarves?  Do you favor your team’s site, a league sponsor or soccer focused websites?  Why? Drop us a line in the comments section are at footiebusiness@gmail.com

These are questions that are of significant importance to teams and leagues that try and shape their sales strategies.  As part of our review of the league sites, here is what we wrote in 2010: Merchandise sales are an enormous component of revenue for professional sports leagues.  At the same time, apparel provides an outstanding free source of league exposure and advertising.

We are now entering the fourth week of games in Major League Soccer and teams are now entering into the regular routine of selling tickets for the regular season.  As we do every few weeks, we take a look at the promotions and marketing efforts MLS teams are using to sell seats for the upcoming matches.  We’ll start in Dallas, where the team is cross promoting the team’s Friday night match against Colorado with the ever popular Dallas Cup.  Priced starting at $25, the package includes a ticket to the MLS match and adds a full day adult pass to the Dallas Cup.  Prices for the package increase as the seats to the match improve.

The Red Bulls are selling Family Packs up through July 23.  The packages include four discounted tickets to a particular match and a $20 concession statement.  The Red Bulls are like many teams that offer a season long opportunity to purchase discounted four packs targeted to families.  However, also like many teams, the Red Bulls do not aggressively market the package through the website and fans need to do a bit of exploring to find the opportunity.

Finally, the Rapids are continuing their”Lads Night Out” promotion that was so popular last year.  The 2011 version includes two tickets, two beers and two shirts for $44.  The offerings in this deal have evolved over time, but it remains a good bargain for fans looking to get something more than tickets as part of their game day experience.

This week FSC has continued its ongoing coverage of the CONCACAF Champions League. The network has provided live coverage of the entire tournament and the sold stadium in Costa Rica made for a great semi-final venue.   As we said in the Summer, FSC pours significant resources into televising an event that has yet to interest a significant portion of American Soccer Fans.  Games from Honduras, El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago do not grab the imaginations of fans focused on European soccer and the MLS regular season.  The stands are typically empty for these games (whether in the US or abroad) and field conditions are typically terrible   While ratings are tough to come by, it is almost certain that far less than 100k people (and likely less than 50k) tune in to watch the CONCACAF Champions League matches.

Despite these challenges, FSC has made a devoted and dedicated effort to broadcast these matches from all reaches of the region.  For fans of MLS and soccer in the Americas, FSC’s coverage is more than sufficient and is welcome beacon in the late Winter when the knockout stages of the tournament kick off.  FSC’s coverage may not be ideal, but it is important.  If the tournament wasn’t televised, it would fade into obscurity and importance.  Improved camera work and commentary are inexpensive enhancements that will come with time.  Until then, celebrate FSC’s broadcasts of the Champions League.

Goal.com provides this excellent piece about fan loyalty programs.  Written by Chris Savino, the piece looks at the loyalty outreach efforts offered by teams like the Philadelphia Union and Colorado Rapids.  The article touches on the Tottenham program that allows fans to earn reward points for purchases made with the club.  Fans and Philly can also earn rewards for their behavior (i.e. by showing up early, attending all the games, etc….  For our interviews with front office personell in Philly and Colorado from last year, click here and here.   We think these programs make great business sense for the teams.  Anything that increases the strength of the bond between teams and their fans is a great concept.

We’ve long identified Puma for its relationship with WPS as the league’s presenting and primary sponsor.  The company is also involved in the Total Club Concept which offers youth clubs in the US the opportunity to train with prominent clubs around the world.  Most recently, a youth team from South Carolina had the opportunity to train with Tottenham Hotspur of the EPL.  Puma provided a camera crew to follow the team.  The video is here.

Finally, we have long extolled the importance of video games as a mechanism to spread the popularity of MLS.  Soccer has long been one of the easier sports to translate into video games (along with hockey and football), and thus millions of American males will dutifully purchase the game regardless of whether they know anything about soccer.  Often the less the players know about soccer, the more likely they are to play with teams from Major League Soccer (many soccer fans migrate to the EPL). As a result, it is these fans that may embrace the teams and players from MLS. Unfortunately, the latest release of Pro Evolution Soccer does not include MLS teams.  The game is popular and the absence of the league is a loss for MLS.

Another weekend in the books for Major League Soccer and here is our weekly wrap of events.  We’ll start this week with attendance, where the big story was some disappointing attendance figures in the Eastern Conference.  In Foxboro, just over 7,100 were announced as in attendance for the Timbers/Revs 1-1 draw.  A few hours down I-95, the Red Bulls and Dynamo played before a crowd of less than 14k at Red Bull Arena.   Weather on Saturday was chilly but dry and both numbers are very disappointing.  The figure for New England is especially confounding because there are approximately 5,000 season ticket holders for the team.  Given that a lound contingent of Timbers fans were also at the stadium, the numbers suggest that less than 2k single game tickets were sold, a shockingly low number.  The Revs do typically struggle in April to draw and crowds typically grow as the season moves on.    In New York, the number is disappointing because of the big names on the Red Bulls’ roster, a stadium in only its second year and the reasonably good April weather.

Elsewhere around the league, Columbus reported more than 15k tickets distributed for its Friday night match, while San Jose had just over 10k at their match. Just under 19k were in Toronto for the TFC/Chivas tie.  Vancouver announced another crowd over 20k for their exciting 3-3 tie with KC.  25k was announced for the Galaxy victory over Philly in Los Angeles.

One final note.  Aron Winter, the new TFC manager, issued a letter to the media indicating that he would not open the locker room to credentialed press. This is a significant change from traditional  MLS policy (although standard around the world).  A copy of that letter is here.