Marketing the MLS: Rivalries

by Brian Floyd on Jul 1, 2010 2:14 PM PDT

Don Garber and the MLS are on the doorstep of an opportunity the league has never had. The recent success of the World Cup, due in no small part to ESPN pushing soccer in an effort to bolster their ratings, has increased the visibility of soccer in the United States. On the heels of such success, the MLS has a chance to piggyback on the ratings wave and carve out a larger niche in the American sports market.

The recent expansion success stories in both Seattle and Philadelphia have breathed new life into a league that seemed destined to flounder in mediocrity. The addition of Seattle, and the record attendance numbers that came with it, showed that soccer can be a success in new markets, if sold to the fans in the right way. Philadelphia followed by pledging its support and building a beautiful new stadium, generating plenty of interest for their new team.

The addition of Portland and Vancouver in 2011 gives the MLS the perfect storm. As we all saw during the US Open Cup game, the rivalries coming to the MLS create an exciting environment that can invigorate the fan bases while drawing in the casual observer. Seattle took busloads of fans to Portland, supporters groups chanted back and forth during the game, and the play on the field was spirited, albeit sloppy at times.

The rivalries between Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland should be marketed heavily by the MLS. It's one thing to have quality soccer in front of a listless crowd in Houston. It's another to play it in front of a large crowd of rowdy rival supporters. Seeing an environment where fans are singing, cheering, and supporting their team with all they have creates interest outside of the hardcore fan.

The MLS has a chance to market itself in many ways following the success of the World Cup on ESPN. One of these ways should be pushing the already developed rivalries between teams in their league. Rivalry games should be featured and promoted prominently to the national audience in an effort to show off the passionate fans and spirited play in the MLS. If Garber and the MLS want to capitalize on the growing soccer fan base, this should be one of the ways they do it.

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Comments

Since unbalanced schedules are the future of MLS

Would you want to see a hyper unbalancing that had even more rivalry/derby games?

ie playing Timbers and Whitecaps each four times?

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by Dave Clark on Jul 1, 2010 7:30 PM PDT reply actions

Yes

I’d rather protect the rivalries and make them more important with regards to league standings than play a meaningless (in comparison) game against an East coast team.

Doing a home and home series between each of the three NW teams would be great for the rivalries, for bragging rights, and for the league as a whole if publicized in the right way.

CougCenter

by Brian Floyd on Jul 1, 2010 7:48 PM PDT up reply actions

I guarantee that the there will be a home/home

What I’m asking is if you’d want to see Portland and Vancouver four times each.

I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart

by Dave Clark on Jul 2, 2010 9:04 AM PDT up reply actions

Ah, I got it now

My worry with that is that 4 times a piece would dilute the rivalry. It seems like it would get to the point where you overplay it and the rivalry starts to lose something.

Twice a piece would be good, but it seems like playing 8 games against those two might be overkill.

CougCenter

by Brian Floyd on Jul 2, 2010 9:14 AM PDT up reply actions

If you look MLS has several triads and a couple diads

did i really just say that?

SSFC-PDX-YVR
SJQ-CHVS-LAG
DCU-PU-RBNY

RSL-CR
HD-FCD
TFC-Cbus
RBNY-NER
TFC-Montreal

Some of those are listed as Rivalry Cups, but the ones above are all more intense than a few of the Rivalry Cups

If you start thinking that you don’t want to break up any home&home amongst the above you can start to figure out the maximum size of a league with two conferences where every team plays another at least once and within a 28-34 game schedule.

You can also start to play with 3 and 4 conference systems

I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart

by Dave Clark on Jul 2, 2010 9:23 AM PDT up reply actions

That's what I was trying to figure out in my head

Planning out the scheduling in the league started to get confusing when I was thinking out loud. The conference and playoff system mucks things up a bit.

I would like to see the conferences, possibly more than 2, align so the rivalries and cups listed above are kept in tact. For that to happen, the MLS would have to rethink how they set up their playoffs and bids.

CougCenter

by Brian Floyd on Jul 2, 2010 9:54 AM PDT up reply actions

Too much isn't good either

I remember in the USL days, it seemed like we got a lot of Vancouver and Portland each season. Saved on travel but I thought it took away from the urgency of each derby match.

by Alan Hudson on Jul 2, 2010 10:02 AM PDT up reply actions

I'd prefer...

For MLS to continue to expand the number of games played so that we play two games against every team in the league. Once we reach 20 teams, I’d suggest stopping expansion until a clear way forward is established.

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by Jeremiah Oshan on Jul 2, 2010 10:37 AM PDT up reply actions