A new era begins at FC Dallas
by Steve Davis on Aug 5, 2010 11:08 AM EDT
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FC Dallas’ new president reported this week. Doug Quinn was hired in June but needed to finish up his business at S.U.M. (Soccer United Marketing), which is Major League Soccer’s marketing arm.
Or maybe he was just wasn't in a hurry to get here because he knows how much hard work lies ahead. Indeed, the man is inheriting a mess in Dallas.
Par of what he inherits: a club that just paid somewhere south of $900,000 to bring in European champion Inter Milan can’t sell out the building (at least as this morning, a few hours prior to tonight's 8 p.m. kickoff on FSC).
Nor can the people now working beneath him figure out that starting a match in August at 5 p.m., as they will Sunday, is the worst idea since credit default swaps. My weather report says it will be 103 degrees today at 5 p.m., and I would imagine it will be about the same at 5 p.m. in three days time. Word to you fans those sun-baked east stands: you may as well bring along your own personal dermatologist.
We could go on all day about particulars, why and wherefores of it all, but here is the bottom line: this club is lost and has been for some time, adrift at sea, suffering from years of poor decisions, poor leadership, one especially poor GM, poor customer oversight, debilitating (and telling) levels of front office churn and general market foolishness.
Quinn is a smart man who will definitely help in at least one area, stitching together the club’s sponsorship initiative, which is hemorrhaging badly at the moment. (click forward for more....)
He knows how to move in corporate circles, so he will surely be of assistance in that area. Otherwise, recovering from the cumulative effects of the years isn’t going to take weeks or even months. This, too, will take years.
On the other hand, … you can file this one under “Be careful what you ask for,” or under “It could be worse.” Many moons ago, many fans in
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they will let Van Den Bergh out of limbo now.
It could be indicative of the club’s poor management that they’ve held his rights, even though they dont want him to play for them. He had a great 2009 (3 goals and 11 assists) and before that was consistently one of NY’s better players. Its been a curious situation with him down there, I can’t beleive they couldnt get something for him from somebody…
How likely is it, really, that FC Dallas would fold?
I’ve been a fan since Dante Washington and Mark Dodd were all-stars for the Burn. Please tell me this is just an unlikely worst-case scenario.
fold?
Nah. I hope I didn’t leave that impression. HSG has a long-term investment in that stadium. That “profit” reported before was somewhat dubious, as stadium costs were never folded in. so, maybe there were some technical paper profits, but they were fleeting anyway. MLS is doing well and the stadium provides opportunity … so the team isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
wait...
wasn’t FCD one of the only profitable MLS franchises a couple year ago? A lot that was probably driven by concert and other fees for non-MLS events, but the organization is probably stable enough to weather mis-management on the soccer side.
Ironically, the players have risen above the mess to be the hottest team in MLS right now. Only 2 losses on the season.
Moving in the right direction...
…which is “up” and from the bottom unfortunately. There are still signs of incompetence (scheduling an afternoon game in Texas summer, running out of beer) but they are becoming more exception than the norm. As an FCD fan, you are forced to look at the positives.
As for the Inter match last night, I was at PHP and couldn’t tell if it was a sellout but it was damn close to being full and the atmosphere was above average even in stifling heat.
The most important factor in FCD’s recovery will be performance on the pitch and, as fennsk points out, the quality is starting to show. There are plenty of other factors in our favor – SSS, great playing surface, exciting young talent, strong DA…all we can do now is wait for the progress that will be slow (I agree that years is more likely than months) and support our boys in the meantime.
The Inter Event was a great idea
Even if it didn’t completely sell out, it got them national exposure and brought a bunch of new fans out to the stadium… some of whom I’m sure will be back for more.
Win or lose, we will always be here for you.
by johnjahafanclub on Aug 6, 2010 11:18 AM EDT up reply actions
...and you're surprised?
Steve,
I think the wheels fell off this bus when HSG dumped Andy Swift. No, wait….actually they fell off as soon as HSG bought the team. Soccer fans in DFW have endured how many marketing geniuses as our new GM? Elliot, Hitchcock and now another suit with marketing cred but little knowledge of Dallas soccer and an even smaller budget.
HSG could care less about the sport of soccer. It’s ALL about the venue.
Oh…..and what’s up with $20 parking last night. Great decision there Clark, what moron thought that one up?
Texas....making Mexico our bitch since 1836.
Embarassing showing this past weekend.
While their team looked good on the pitch against the Union, it was painful to look at the sea of empty seats. This stadium was built specifically for soccer? The Dallas area doesn’t deserve a team with that kind of showing.
the embarassment is in the start-time
5:00 in the afternoon during a Texas August was a big part of the issue on that day. That’s on club management (and slightly on FSC for demanding it). No human being should volunteer to sit outside in those conditions, let alone pay to do so.
Kudos to both clubs’ conditioning that all 22 players hadn’t collapsed by the 80th minute.
