Here’s just a little look at what is going around MLS in the words of those who know their teams best.  All articles are courtesy of MLS Media and Communications.

Trying to Stay Alive, Miami FC Launches Aggressive Ad Campaign

 
By Adam H. Beasley
Miami Herald - February 26, 2009
 
With a decision on Miami’s MLS bid expected as early as this week, United Soccer Leagues First Division’s Miami FC unveiled an aggressive ad campaign Thursday that targets the area’s historically apathetic soccer fans:
 
“For the Good of the game — For the Good of South Florida.”
 
With its very existence at stake, the organization offered this incentive to fans: $25 off any season ticket purchased this year will be applied to a 2010 ticket plan, regardless if that team is Miami FC or the MLS franchise.
 
”This is not a turf war. We live and breathe soccer,” said Miami FC president Aaron Davidson. “We will go out and try to generate unprecedented interest and support in Miami soccer, whether that team is in USL-1 or MLS.”
 
Davidson also acknowledged that the team might play some of its games in Fort Lauderdale’s Lockhart Stadium in 2009, in an effort to reach soccer fans in Broward. Up until now, Miami FC has played only in Miami-Dade.
 
Miami FC has been given a March 8 deadline to prove to its ownership group, Traffic Sports, that it has a viable business plan moving forward, with or without an MLS team in town.
 
If the Blues can’t, the Brazilian-based company will yank them out of South Florida, leaving Miami without professional soccer — possibly for good.
 
”We’ve got the most difficult market, but the market with the most potential,” Davidson said. “We’ve got to get the Miamians and South Floridans to have that pride in their city and region that is lacking. Sports is the one perfect vehicle to drive it.”
 
Civic pride is nice, but Miami FC needs to show Traffic Sports tangible results to play this year.
 
Miami FC’s goal is to sell 5,000 tickets, a high bar in even the best economic times. Which is why the franchise has offered to apply a portion of ticket costs to the following season — even if that money goes to another team that would potentially put them out of business.
 
Miami FC already has set relatively low season ticket prices — $200 for adults, $100 for students and kids 12 and under.
 
During its closed-door meeting with key members of the South Florida soccer community, the team made an overt effort to court the youth soccer leagues.
 
Any team that sells at least 20 season tickets earns a one-hour soccer clinic with Hall of Famer Fernando Clavijo, Traffic Sport’s director of soccer, or Miami FC coach Zinho.
 
Individuals who sell 100 tickets receive a trip to Traffic’s soccer academy in Brazil.
 
”We need to show our support as soon as possible,” said Barry Witlin, president of the South Florida United Youth Soccer Association.
 
”No matter what happens with MLS, Miami FC is the only game in town in 2009,” he added. “They know what they’re doing and have the best interests of the community at heart.”
 
Much of the team’s future relies on what MLS decides to do with Marcelo Claure’s bid for a team in Miami. Claure had planned to partner with Barcelona FC in the $40 million plan, but the Spanish club indicated last week it had reservations about going through with the deal.
 

Soccer’s New Seattle Sounders Outpace M’s in Season Ticket Sales

 
By Greg Lamm
Seattle Business Journal – February 27, 2009
 
The Seattle Sounders FC may be the upstarts on the local sports scene, but the new pro soccer team appears to be having little trouble attracting sponsors and ticket buyers.
 
That’s despite a recession and competition with the Seattle Mariners, who also are selling tickets and sponsorships leading up to their season start in April.
 
Seattle’s Major League Soccer expansion team has already landed more than 30 sponsors with only a few weeks to go before the season opener in March. That includes deals with Virginia Mason, QFC and a blockbuster deal with Microsoft worth a reported $20 million that will have the Sounders’ green jerseys emblazoned with the Xbox 360 logo.
 
The Sounders have sold about 20,000 season tickets, which eclipses the number sold by the 32-year-old Mariners team, which estimates it will sell about 14,000 by the start of the season.
 
Of course, the Mariners play more than four times as many games as the Sounders, and an M’s season ticket therefore costs much more. Plus, the recently announced return of future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. could give Mariners marketing a big bump.
 
Indeed, the Mariners and Sounders organizations deflect any talk that the teams, gearing up to play in neighboring Safeco Field and Qwest Field, are in competition for fans and corporate dollars this winter. But it’s clear that the Sounders have tapped into a segment of the market eager to be affiliated with something fresh after a disappointing 2008 local sports scene that included losing the NBA SuperSonics to Oklahoma City and watching other major teams flounder on the playing field.
 
“I feel pretty good where we are,” said Gary Wright, who heads up the Sounders’ business operations. “A year and half ago, I am not so sure I would have said that. But I knew there was great support for a team here.”
 
Wright said that the Sounders have some built-in advantages in selling tickets and landing corporate sponsors — namely their affiliation with the Seattle Seahawks. Seahawks owner Paul Allen also is a principal owner of the Sounders and the teams share staff, which allows the soccer team to tap into the NFL team’s front office expertise and connections. About half of the Sounders sponsors, including QFC and Virginia Mason, also have partnerships with the Seahawks.
 
“There may be some rationale in sponsoring the Sounders and getting in on the buzz of an MLS team entering in the market,” said sports sponsorship expert Liz Panich, a consulting director for The Marketing Arm brand-building agency in Chicago.
 
On a national level, Panich said pro teams are having a harder time renewing sponsorships and landing new ones because of the recession. Companies also are looking for better deals, and are negotiating harder with pro teams.
 
Major League Baseball remains a good sponsorship buy, she said, because the sport has seen an upswing in popularity in recent years.
 
But a Major League Soccer team like the Sounders might be a better buy for some companies that hope to reach more Hispanics and other groups that might be prone to follow soccer, Panich said.
 
The Sounders’ Wright said the team sees its core season-ticket audience as young, hip, tech-savvy adults.
 
The Sounders certainly are aware of the recession, Wright said. But so far the team has not altered its approach to selling tickets or sponsorships. Wright attributes that to the price points the team set early on. A season ticket for 18 home matches ranges from $288 to $1,350. By comparison, a Mariners season ticket ranges from $1,053 to $3,645 for 81 home games.
 
Single-game tickets will go on sale March 3. By then, the Sounders — who will seat fans only in the lower bowl of Qwest Field — expect to have only a few thousand of their 24,500 seats available for league matches. Given that, Wright said the Sounders expect to play before sold-out crowds the entire season.
 
“This shows how thirsty for a new pro team this town is and how buzzed about soccer this town is,” said Sam Hassan, executive director of All Nations Club, an annual local soccer tournament that draws thousands of fans who come to watch teams composed of immigrants from Romania, Mexico, Japan, Brazil and other countries.
 
Ron Jenkins, vice president of corporate sponsorships for both the Sounders and Seahawks, expects the team to wind up with about 50 sponsors this season.
 
As for competition between the Sounders and Mariners, both Jenkins and Wright said they don’t think of it that way.
 
“Our people seriously root for the Mariners, and I believe they root for us,” said Wright. He said that the Sounders coach has been invited to throw out a pitch at an M’s game this season, and the Sounders plan later this season to announce a similar game-day tradition involving the Mariners.
 
There are significant differences between the two teams, including the price of tickets.

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