Houston Dynamo = orange. Just so everyone knows
by Steve Davis on Jul 28, 2010 7:54 PM EDT
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Coming into the game tonight I’m listening to the local ESPN sports radio station. They have a remote going from Reliant Stadium.
The fellow doing the remote did his little and dance about eating burritos or something. Then he noted curiously that there sure were a lot Red Devils shirts, and said there don’t appear to be any “MLS shirts here,” implying that everyone was here to see Manchester United. Well, certainly there are a lot of fans here to see Manchester United. It’s a global brand, of course.
But I was hoping someone around would walk up to the guy and say something like this: “Uh, yo, man. You see all these orange shirts around you? You are aware that the local team wears orange, right? You did that much home work, didn’t you? Because nobody out here is going to be wearing an ‘MLS shirt,’ whatever that is.”
Sigh.
I like when mainstream media jumps on the soccer bandwagon – but I know it’s going to be attached to a couple of eye rolls.
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Mainstream Media
I enjoyed the World Cup because people would come and ask me questions, and I was always more than willing to share. But, when I heard on the radio that the US made it further this year than any other World Cup, I just shook my head. Its like they try, but just a little.
Good times...
Not sure how many people were willing to shell out $ for that rather ugly MLS All-Star jersey if that’s what the guy was looking for…
Just a question about Dynamo's colors
Did they choose that color — which is also, obviously, Home Depot’s signature color — as part of the naming rights deal for the stadium? I assume they did, because it’s too much of a coincidence otherwise. But they seem to have a kit/uniform sponsor called “Amigo Energy”. Have they ever worn Home Depot on the jersey?
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
Houston Dynamo - Amigo Energy
The selection of Orange was intentional by Houston FO when they moved to Houston. While it’s possible they were thinking of Home Depot as a sponsor, at the time, no team had kit sponsors (other than some league wide leftovers that were being phased out) and few teams had Stadiums, let alone named stadiums. Oliver Luck the President, a former executive of the Houston Sports Authority was appointed to facilitate a Houston stadium, mentioned that they realized no pro-sports team had orange as a color, and they decided it would be unique. Home Depot has never sponsored the Dynamo other than the trickle down effect of their being a league sponsor. In 2007, Amigo Energy, a regional (Texas) Electricity Provider became only the fifth company to sponsor an MLS team jersey. Houston has broken ground on their stadium, but as of right now, it is unclear who will be the naming sponsor. There is precedent for an Energy company to sponsor a stadium since Philadelphia’s new stadium is sponsored by PPL.
by Everard Santamarina on Jul 29, 2010 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions
A couple thoughts
First, it is clear that there were four groups of people at the All Star Match, first were the fans of Man U and there were many, then there were fans of the Mexican National Team who were there to see Chicharito and there were a huge number of these people (indicated by the cheers he got when he entered the match), there were MLS/US/Houston Dynamo fans, you know the people who show up no matter who the US is playing, the ones who hang out at Robertson in the heat and cheer on their team, and those who are fans of the league and wanted to go to the All Star match, and finally there are the casual sports fans, those who just wanted to check it out, or were attracted to the event by the local coverage.
The first two groups are what the mainstream media covered, the problem with that is that neither of these groups are likely to generate a good number of fans for the Dynamo or MLS. The third group is already on board with the league and if they are local or don’t have a team to support hopefully they will find one.
It is that final group that is the target for the Dynamo and MLS, and I would love to see the Dynamo offer a bounce back discount to people to who attended, let them come out to a match for 10 bucks. Do whatever it takes to capture those casual sports fans while the iron is hot, it is what MLS has tried to do a bit from the World Cup, but really haven’t hit much more than a long single to the outfield (based on the fact that after the World Cup overall MLS attendance is up about 800 per match).
I have learned from the All Star last year, MLS Cup last year and overall coverage of the sport that the “mainstream” media is bad, but worse is the “mainstream sports” media. You would think ESPN, even a local station would know better.
Man U and Mexican fans
I’ve engaged in many a debate leaving RFK with fans of teams that aren’t from this country that they should give MLS a try, that they can support a TV team and a real team (though I don’t say it quite like that) Its very strange in a way that soccer fandom has developed in such a way that people turn their nose up at their local team (the Dynamo in this case) in favor of supporting teams they will in all likelihood only see once or twice in person.
I thought the Dynamo orange showed up really well. Wouldn’t be surprised if there were also some DCU, Seattle, Chicago etc. fans scattered in the crowd.
As to targeting the casual fan— one of the best ideas I’ve seen is a form of person-to-person evangelism. Free beer night. Invite a casual sports fan to a game with the promise that you’ll pay for their beers… Another great method is to link the casual fan onto the best blog following the local side. Part of the attraction of following any team is the stories. Teach them about the up and coming star on the team (Najar) the old master (Moreno) the up and down goal keeping saga (Perkins) the morality plays (Adu vs. Nowak) the dismal African scouting record (Kpene, Flo, Boyzz et. al) etc.
i was at the game and was actually surprised by the ratio of Man U to Dynamo jerseys
Sure there was probably more man u…but ithink It was pretty close. I also saw people wearing Seattle, RSL, red bulls, KC, and Columbus Jersey. I’m sure there were other MLS teams represented, by those were just the ones I saw personally.
When I read all the coverage I wondered what they were talking about. There was a ton of orange in the stands. Ching’z ovation was pretty damn loud too.
On that same note, watching sport center this morning, there was not one mention of the Dynamo vs red bulls. It was an entertaining, if Not a little sloppy, match with enthusiasm of Good story lines. There was some French guy, who is supposed to be pretty good, who made a big impact. A dramatic 90th minute goal by the dynamo. Still there was no coverage…I bought they would at least cover the story about the fans rushing the field and jumping on Henry (i did see some Irish in the crowd). You would think after the strong ratings from the world cup they would want to see what happened if they didn’t only cover the sport every four years. Its like they went on a diet for a month, lost a bunch of weight, but then went right back to McDonald’s
"Well, at least our players kept their helmets on, so that showed some intelligence"-Bob McNair
by papabear on Aug 1, 2010 9:41 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
