Walt Disney World Resort agrees multi-year sponsorship deal with new MLS team Orlando City Soccer

[Mickey_777]

Those Jason Sudeikis videos are genius...so funny I had to share 'em. I've never seen the full versions just the commercials.

 

[wdwtopten]

I have never quite understood the names of MLS teams anyway and actually know VERY LITTLE ABOUT soccer, why not Orlando Lions since they use a lion as a mascot anyway? Publix inked a deal to be a founding sponsor as well, second largest company to do so behind WDW

When a lot of the MLS teams first began, they had names like that.

For example, Kansas City's team was called the "Wizards".

The team was not terribly successful. Some of that it due to the quality of the players themselves, but a lot of it was marketing.

You see, the people who most want to go see a soccer team play are...soccer fans. And soccer fans understand what FC and UNITED and CITY and SPORTING mean. These are common to European soccer team names.

So, Kansas City changed it's name to Sporting KC.

Since then, the team has been far more successful. Not just because of the name change (they also have better players and a nice, new stadium) but putting the word SPORTING in the team's name makes the team seem as though it has more tradition, is more interested in tradition, is more legit, is closer to the customs of the older, better international soccer leagues.

In short, it gives soccer fans the Warm Fuzzies.

And those fans who have the Warm Fuzzies like to support their team, both financially and by preaching to others.

They bring friends to games. They bring their kids to games. Etc.

This expands the fan base.

And then the team makes more money, invests more money, and everyone is happy.

Or, at least, happy-ish, depending on the win/loss record!

 

[wdwtopten]

The way MLS has been building is pure genius. By way of background, I am a former college player who grew up watching the Tampa Bay Rowdies when they would get 60,000 fans for that July 4th tilt against the Cosmos, Soccer Made in Germany (love FC Cologne for no logical reason, hate Bayern for obvious reasons) lived through the dark days of no soccer on TV, was delighted when I could watch the Premier League (picked Tottenham and my son picked Assenole), and attended a Chicago Fire game 5 years ago. First, I loved the soccer specific stadium. These 18,000 - 27,000 seat stadiums are great. I know people gripe about the location of the one in Chicago, but it is really nice. Second, the fostering of relations with the supporters groups/fans. KC doesn't have Blue Hell if they don't let the fans help design the stadium and even have input into things like where bars are going to be located and where the crazy supporters will be seated. Third, the slow advent of academies for each of the teams. Most of the teams have reserve teams now. They are building infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure. Even the way the teams are organized. About half the 30 man roster is subject to the salary cap and earns 200K +/- 100K. 10 players are not subject to the salary cap and earn the league minimum of 60K. Three or 4 (depending on how the roster is set up, do you have a homegrown designated player) earn millions You've got stars, guying just starting out, and solid pros. Each team has the same ratio so the fact the Chicago Fire are completely sucktastic is the result of mismanagement and not some inherent inequality, like Man U having 80 billion more dollars.

We're going to easily pass the 20,000 average per game attendance figure this year without Chivas, San Jose moving into their own joint, and O-town and NYCFC drawing fans.

Great post.

I've been the the Chicago Fire's stadium. It *is* very nice.

And Sporting KC's stadium is nice and has a GREAT supporters group.

Sporting KC even opens up the stadium's pub area (concessions area, if you prefer) so supporters can comes watch the away games there!

 

[Mickey_777]

I don't have actual figures, but I believe Soccer may well be the #3 sport in this country when you take all things into account. When you consider what jersey sales for MLS and International Clubs, TV ratings for MLS and European/Spanish language games, money invested in advertising during MLS/World Cup/Champions league/Spanish language games, the amount of kids playing in leagues, money invested in developing young players, money spent on renting soccer fields/indoor facilities for leagues and recreation (always full), what NBC paid to televise the Premier league etc...

It's gotta surpass hockey/NHL at least...if it hasn't past Baseball yet, it's on it's way soon.

 

[psherman42]

I wouldn't say I like it better than the outdoor game, but I do enjoy indoor. Since the early 80's with the MISL when (at least here in Baltimore) they could draw over 10,000 per game. The other big difference is that we can actually afford to go to indoor games at $20 a ticket for a pretty decent view, as opposed to cheapest pretty poor view at MSL being close to $40. You know you can watch MASL games online?

That's pretty much the same as in Milwaukee. When my family first started going to games in the 90s-early 2000s, the Wave would regulary get 7-8,000 at their games. The league finals in 2000 and I believe 2002 were nearly sellouts with 15,000+ people. It was amazing. I know they're all online but I typically work nights and weekends when they're playing so it's not really an option for me.

 

[zjer]

I never thought to align a WDW trip with RSL vs Orlando City. Since we are in a different conference it will be a rare occurrence but I might have to look into that in the future.

 

[doctornick]

Mileage varies from fan to fan, but the MLS became good enough to entertain me roughly 4 or 5 years ago. Quality of play is improving and some of the game day atmospheres are fantastic.

This. No one is going to mistake MLS for the EPL or La Liga or Bundesliga for quality of play at this point. But it has improved so much over the past decade or so that complaints about it being poor quality or boring seem hopelessly out of date. There are plenty of domestic leagues around the world with worse quality that get good local support; I don't understand the American snobbery that would cause folks to only want to watch/support some foreign league over the domestic product. It's not like watching EPL games on Sat or Sunday morning prevents a person from attending an MLS game later that evening.