Impressions of Sounders Alliance End of Year Business Meeting
by Dave Clark on Dec 4, 2010 11:45 AM PST
in Democracy in Sports
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Those who have attended a shareholders meeting for a company in their own past would have been comfortable at the Sounders meeting last night. While Real Madrid and Barcelona have memberships that do in fact own shares of the team, up until last night the Alliance was more a marketing tool. Last night, through the power of a live Q&A and the openness of leadership, the team created stakeholders.
A fan of this team that spends as little as 150$ has access in ways that no other team at top levels of American sports do. Most excitedly, the team continues to speak to increasing that access.
Matt Gaschk did a live blog during the event.
I'll break down things a little more, including impressions from the Q&A.
The intro by both Drew Carey and the new CEO of Vulcan Sports are fairly insignificant from a news standpoint. It is notable that though Peter McLoughlin is new to the city, new to the sport, he was at the US Open Cup Final.
"It is clear to me that Seattle is the soccer capital of the United States of America," McLaughlin says
Kasey Keller will clearly be back. He spoke at length, stayed throughout the Q&A and was the second-to-last man from stage to leave the event as he signed and glad-handed with fans.
"We are not a 2-year-old franchise. We are a more than 30-year-old franchise," proclaimed the Keeper.
Gary Wright pulled the curtain back on the team's guide to how they make decisions with their brand wheel. Every choice is evaluated as to how it relates to that brand wheel. Two announcements he made related to that were the addition of the WA Special Olympics as a 5th charity partner and that there will be a Cascadia Supporters Summit.
The summit is going to be on delicate ground. The balance between team organized and team participation is fragile in these things, but the presence of all three clubs is vital. What is also vital is getting the buy-in from ALL related Supporter Groups as well as a few average fans. It was tough to do on a league-wide scale, and considering the way the Cascadia teams are treating their SGs these days it will be even more difficult.
The transition from that was to marketing and ticket sales. The Sounders continue to win awards for this realm, even in spite of their admitted mistakes regarding having 3 friendlies (by the way one of them last year was supposed to be Real Madrid). Seattle hasn't just sold the most jerseys in 2010, they lapped the field, a few times.
Hanauer was next and we learned some news as it relates to the players and play on the field. He also broke down statistical data to show the importance of Nate Jaqua and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado. He was also excited to announce that while Steve Zakuani is winding up his time training with Everton (Zakuani mentioned on Facebook that he needs to take time off after 11 straight months of play since surgery last year), now Osvaldo Alonso is training with the Blues.
Sounders will be getting a 2nd Round Pick for FL10 (bye and don't let the MLS door hit you on way out) now having 11, 21, 25 and 29. Seattle is also working on a few signings. The mention of this after a few minutes of Academy talk leads me to believe that we will see a few HGPs either for Christmas or in January.
A big club is set to announce its first-ever trip to Seattle, perhaps as early as next week. This may or may not be the big club that is supposed to be here in mid-March.
Joe Roth ended the formal presentation by talking about pushing up against the rules of MLS, breaking them if necessary, all in order to keep improving the game here in America.
We haven't really had 32 consecutive sellouts. A sellout is when 65,000 people are watching soccer at Qwest
Then the Q&A started. For the most part the questions were not softballs. By far the two issues that kept coming up and dominated the conversation were concerning Away Support in Cascadia and is Democracy in Sports just a marketing term.
Drew Carey is adamant that the abilities of the Alliance and the Alliance Council will be improved. This will start with better technology for voting so that a ticket account can be split into sub-accounts for voting purposes, but it will continue as we develop this hybrid between the Barca model and the traditional American franchise model.
Away Support Issue
If you are looking for good news it looks like the number of tickets that will be guaranteed in a single block at any Cascadia Derby match will be 500 (over 3 times the current league minimum).
If you are looking for bad news, it is clear that EVERY part of the Sounders (Players, Coaches, Ticketing/Marketing) disagree with the desires of the supporters groups - as did at least 50% of the overall crowd.
The ECS, in members statements to me at the event, felt that they were being blown off and that Keller did not support them as expected. It was contentious, genuine and purely not an area on which the most die-hard fans will be agreeing with the team for some time.
And yet, tonight the ECS and the team will be working together and celebrating the season. Players, bands and a Charity partner (donate new winter coats/jackets for youth).
I did ask a question, in this case related to media partners that are actively antagonistic to the sport, specifically 710 ESPN who has bumped non-league matches to 770 KTTH or to the internet only. I asked why the team would have an "official place to talk about the Sounders" that refuses to talk about the Sounders.
The response from Wright was that they are proud of their media partners, but that we, the fans must take these comments to the station itself.
I stated that I have, and that the rare responses have been clearly anti-soccer.
Kasey mentioned that we all need to call the two sports stations and demand more talk about the sport.
I still don't think that's a partnership, but maybe things improve. It is notable that neither sports radio station covered the event (in fact only blogs and FSN did).
In the end there were at least 600 people there who were treated not as customers, but as stakeholders. The team admitted several mistakes. The honest conversation was rough at times, there was clear opposition, but overall it was an experience that no other team in America would have.
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I know people are disappointed by the 500 number
It’s a good starting place. Prove that away support can be special at those number and move them up from there. 500 is about what we’ve taken to Portland that last two years.
We took more than 500 to Portland for the Open Cup in the first year.
Not as sure about the second year (thanks vodka!). I think the issue is not that there will be only 500 Sounders supporters in PGE on gameday. The problem is with the safety of SSFC fans #500-1000 that won’t be in the Sounders section. Mix a lot of drunken opposing fans throughout the crowd and you can occasionally get bad (read: violent) results.
I think that's a pretty thin argument there
about #’s 500-1000 being scattered and their safety. This sort of thing happens in all other sports, and rarely does anything happen. I need to do some research to get concrete numbers, but I believe this has been widely disproven as an issue.
by chrisperry1983 on Dec 4, 2010 1:29 PM PST up reply actions
Not in my firsthad experience.
There have been several problems in the games between Portland and Seattle in the last couple of years. Nothing like the outright brawls that the press coverage would have you believe, but the potential for real problems is there. There is evidence from other sports actually sort of bears this out.
I think there's a difference
between:
- fans being spread throughout the stadium
- fans ending up next to or in opposing supporters’ sections
- opposing supporters group members being spread throughout a stadium, including next to or in home supporters’ sections
I’m not worried about myself when I go to PDX or VAN. I’m not going to sit with the TA or the Southsiders. I doubt that many of the home fans around me are going to care that much that I’m cheering for the Sounders, beyond good-natured ribbing.
At the USOC in PDX, there were Sounders fans everywhere, mixed with the Timbers fans. The only incident took place in the beer garden. I’m not hanging out in the beer garden, or even drinking beer.
For most fans, it’s not a big deal. As long as we don’t sit in the supporters section, we’ll be fine.
However, for supporters’ groups, which are also the most likely fans to travel to away games, this is an issue. They need a dedicated area for themselves. That’s just how they roll. Plus, that’s what I want to see when I’m traveling. There’s the ECS over there, being crazy.
In my experience...
… there’s always a risk in being a lone travelling supporter sitting with the home fans — it frequently goes beyond “good-natured ribbing”. When I went to LA for the away leg of the playoff series, we got harassed and spit on by some of the Galaxy fans around us despite being nowhere near the supporters’ sections.
Agreed. Most people aren't going to have a problem.
Part of the reason SSFC is so successful as a team is that they’ve been able to attract huge numbers of young people and particularly young male fans. Those are also the fans more likely to travel and be involved in an incident of some sort. The problem is that the actions of a few bad apples will wind up being a problem for everyone, including people like you or me who will probably never have any trouble on the road, because it’ll prompt responses from people in the various FOs.
i was very impressed by the meeting.
Dave’s right. It was as float to a stockholders meeting as you’ll get with an American sports team.
I’m a little disappointed with comments some have made about players and owners betraying them or now being on their shit list. We asked for a dialogue. That’s what we got. If they disagree with you who cares? That’s their right.
Joe Roth is great. He seems willing to fight the league for us and he is Frank and honest. Great owner.
by DarthGreedo on Dec 4, 2010 12:38 PM PST via mobile reply actions
Lol
Stupid Andriod keyboard auto correct nonsense!
I am very impressed and excited by the ownership group of the Sounders. Joe Roth’s straight-forward East Coast style, vision, and passion for success were refreshing. Adrian Hanauer’s attention to detail and statistics clearly balance Joe’s relentless push forward. And Drew Carey’s imagination seems to bring off-the-wall ideas to the table which are always needed if you’re striving to be the best, rather than merely copy the success of others.
The brand wheel was also very interesting. My wife and I were talking afterward that we’d love to see it again so we can take in the details that were hard to read from so far away.
Finally, I didn’t agree with everything that management said last night, but I definitely support them and their thought processes. They clearly care about the team, the city, and the fans. They own up to mistakes and work to fix them. That kind of self-reflection and awareness will only lead to greater things to come.
by Jeff Kusowski on Dec 4, 2010 1:43 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
what was the deal with the 20% petitioning for a vote?
I’m just wondering if you recall that, because I got the impression from a couple of other guys (council members) that they hadn’t heard of it… and I may be getting mixed up about what that was. At any rate it was mentioned by either Roth or Carey (I can’t remember who right now) that a petition of 20% of the [council or alliance?] can call for a vote [from the whole council or alliance?]
It just seems like if this is the case, then maybe we can test them on this. For instance I would really like to vote on the 3rd kit – that just seems like the perfect, sort of relatively innocuous in the overall scheme of things, management/ownership throwing a bone to the supporters, fan’s and STH’s kind of thing to vote on. It just strikes me that voting on the third kit – or forcing a vote on the third kit – might be the perfect way to “test” this system in a way that will actually have an affect on the club.
so am I daft here?!
...that's MISTER Keller to you!!!
20% petition is to fire the GM early
If 20% of all Alliance members bring forward a petition (no methodology mentioned).
But you are right, we (the Council) should put forward an issue on which the hardcore disagree with the mainstream and put it up for a vote.
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
thanks
for clarifying…
I may be guilty of harping on the issue, but I’ve been upset since the 3rd kit was revealed last April about this issue. My distaste for the kit is well known, but my desire for a vote actually has little to do with that, but more to do with the fact that I was always under the impression that if “Democracy in Sports” was real, then we (the Alliance) would have a vote in those kinds of decisions. The fact that we didn’t/don’t just demonstrates that “THEY” don’t “get it.” At some point, someone in that organization should have realized that “hey, a 3rd kit would be the Perfect thing to have the alliance vote on!”
anyway, its just my pet cause all of a sudden, mainly because it seems like the kind of decision you COULD actually leave up to the fans – as compared to Actual issues like signing players and scheduling ;-)
...that's MISTER Keller to you!!!
by malcontentjake on Dec 4, 2010 2:26 PM PST up reply actions
I was surprised they didn't cut off the questions earlier
I was surprised they didn’t cut off the questions earlier or at least start screening them a bit. Everyone got their turn no matter how repetetive the questions or longwinded the point. I was very impressed by the FO’s commitment to the Alliance mebers, to hearing everyone out, and giving everyone a chance to participate in the open dialogue.
The dude in the suit that was complaining for about 2 minutes about the ECS’s swearing was painful to listen to. I’m not an ECS member and honestly, I have no desier to ever sit in their section. That said, I don’t think they’re a problem in any way, shape, or form. If anything, they make my experience at the games that much more awesome. I love their tifos, their chants, their synchronized jumping, and their constant energy. After a game, I’ll often find myself quietly singing one of their songs as I go about the rest of my day. I take at least one of my 3 kids (10, 6, and 3) to every game and the swearing is not coming from the ECS, it’s coming from random spots throughout the crowd and from just about everyone whenever the opposing keeper takes a goal kick. My kids and I have fun trying to yell louder with “you suck goalkeeper” instead of swearing. I also regularly talk to them about how such an attitude towards your opponent is never acceptable at school, etc. This is a professional sporting event in the United States, and there will be some swearing (and the ECS is not the source). If you want to protect your kids from swearing, don’t take them to a Sounders FC game.
Good question about the radio situation Dave. It needs to get better. I will say though, the fact that we have a post game show with the coaches press conference after every game is a huge improvement over last season. Baby steps. I also remember reading about a regular Wednesday evening show hosted by Matt Johnson. I was never able to listen to it because it’s not available in podcast/RSS format.
For the record, ECS do have some profanity in some of their chants.
Although they are with you in trying to stamp out the “You suck, asshole” chant during goal kicks. Even then, their problem with it is that it’s unoriginal, not that it involves swearing.
Why not
change it to “you suck (insert keepers last name)”
It would obviously make it more personalized and would be great if it actually got in the head of a goal keeper and especially if it was a young keeper or a backup. Then if he did actually make a bad goal kick, we could all laugh at him.
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