An MLS quandry: Trophies v Attendance

By: Robert | July 12th, 2007

I’ll be honest I’m stealing the basis of this argument from the FC Dallas interwebs but it’s an interesting quandary and I believe it merits discussion. In a recent interview, in the Dallas Morning News, general manager Michael Hitchcock intimated that FC Dallas would not sign a Mexican player in a designated player slot just to help boost stadium attendance. The question that has been asked since then is should FC Dallas be focused on lifting trophies or filling Pizza Hut Park. What makes this question interesting to ponder and difficult to understand is that the while the two options are separate they are not mutually exclusive.

At 14,947 per game FC Dallas currently sits slightly below the league average in attendance (15,089) and contrary to popular belief they have actually struggled somewhat in drawing fans since the 2005 move to Pizza Hut Park (although the average attendance in that time is growing yearly, its still lower than you’d expect.) The attendance bump envisioned by opening a new stadium which has been aided by fielding a competitive team hasn’t happened. And while FC Dallas has been one of two MLS teams to continually turn a profit (the LA Galaxy are the other) any business man will tell you there is a difference between turning a profit and making some money.

It’s under these conditions that the question of silverware vs. attendance becomes thought-provoking. Astute fans will be quick to point out that FC Dallas only has one trophy in its case (1997 US Open Cup.) They may say that it’s not a fair argument to make since there hasn’t been enough of a sample size to base facts upon (1997 was MLS second year in existence and was FC Dallas’ (then Dallas Burn) lowest attendance total in a playoff year.) And while there may be a fair point somewhere in there, forget about it for a minute and just debate the question at hand.

Anyone who saw English Premier League side Chelsea play this past season knows that the Blues played some very boring football. Many times seemingly okay with grinding out 1-0 victories (I don’t have any stats to back this up, just the games that I remember off-hand) but the league table suggests that that style worked. Prior to this year they won the past two league titles and this season they added two more trophies to their case. Chelsea is a model for football success. But could that style of play work here in our ESPN-America? Would fans line up to see a team win game after game after game but rarely do anything exciting? Could you turn a profit that way? Has anyone ever seen the soccer scene in the Simpsons’ episode “The Cartridge Family”?

The American soccer fan wants to see goals and goal scoring opportunities, even those American fans well-groomed in the intricacies of the beautiful game. It’s in our nature as a microwave, “get-it-now” society. Be honest with yourselves when was the last time you stood up, cheered and sang a song about a man after playing good defense on a 35 yard free kick. It just doesn’t happen, and that’s fine. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing that we are culturally different from other soccer nations, I’m just saying we are. I’m not meeting up with other FC Dallas fans to fight those Houston Dreamsicle clowns in the middle of Cedar Springs Road, I got things to do. And I never heard of any soccer moms grabbing a couple of their friends and showing up at GM Hitchcock’s house to demand tickets and that he trades Alex Yi, because no one is going to jail for the Hoops. It’s okay to be yourself and that American soccer fans aren’t crazy, is fine by me. But to appease them you need to be exciting. The game has to be free-flowing and wide open, stars can help sell the game, but a team that can routinely but balls in the back of the net may not always win but would be one that Americans of all ages would want to see.

I’m going to write more on this topic next week; on the other idea in GM Hitchcock’s statement, signing a person(s) from an ethnic group to draw support from the local community. But until then this is Dallas, where Juan Toja says the FC stands for “fun and creative.”

HOOPS PRIDE!

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