In the last few months there has been a lot of talk about expansion, most of it centered on San Jose (who got their wish granted this week), the Pacific Northwest, and to a lesser extent Philadelphia and the southwest.Arizona and Las Vegas have been particularly loud as of late about their intentions; just today this article came out of Tuscon about how people there seem to think that a soccer team would do just swell there, what with all the Hispanic people there and you know they just go crazy for that game and will shell out for any old product that you'd put on the field, right?
Wrong you sun burnt jackass. If that were true then last nights Copa Panamericana match wouldn't have only drawn a few hundred people? Maybe the good people of Arizona don't think Boca Juniors is up to their high standards. Oh well, screw 'em...that's what they get for not celebrating MLK day.
Vegas has had a bit of buzz around it as well and are poised to hold a match between two Mexican League sides tonight; they seem to be faring a bit better with 6K tickets sold in advance.
It is a shame though that the promoters of these events appear to ignore the non-Hispanic fan. With Spanish only websites and promotion you'd never know any of these events where going on unless you're tied in to the local Hispanic community which is a shame because there are alot of soccer fans who are going to miss some good futbol. And a few promoters who are going to miss out on some money.
2 comments:
I live in Phoenix and I am EMBARRASSED by that showing. Unfortunately I am out of town, so can't see the great soccer this weekend. I was at the US-Mexico game in Phoenix a few months ago and it was electric. Best atmosphere of any sporting event I've been to...
I live in the Phoenix area and all I can say is that the Copa Panamericana was a terrible representation of soccer support in the area.
This was disastrously conceived and poorly executed event. The promoter had no familiarily with the US, let alone Phoenix market.
In effect it was an exhibition season psuedo-tournament, with many of the big stars taking well needed rest periods, thereby reducing the squads to little more than practice squad teams.
Add to that the utter lack of publicity, ticket prices that were completely out of whack and game scheduling that included having Boca Jrs. kick off at 6pm. Imagine trying navigate any big city metropolis(yes, Phoenix is now the 4th largest city) at rush hour. Fuggetaboutit!
This topic was covered on a local PBS program, Horizonte, which can be viewed here. Dana Gagnon, the former MLS Finance Manager and President of PHX Soccer Development a company that is trying to secure the Phoenix franchise and Scott Sifferman, a member of MLS Phoenix Rising, the local fan support group, were the program's guests.
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