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Why aren't we doing a Manchester City?


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Reading about City's franchise plans of buying into the American Soccer League has me thinking why are we not investing in this way. Even Lowe was on the verge of investing into China.

At least the States is an ever expanding economy whereas Cortesé seems more interesting in fallen economies like Italy, Spain, Africa and maybe even South America. Are we missing out or will Cortese's way bring in big dividends/

 

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/article/165/8726448/city-clinch-new-york-franchise-deal

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It sounds like something pompy would do... Or something ripped out of fm13...

 

I have no idea what the point of throwing money down the drain on another club in a pretty poor league is. To raise our profile in the USA we need to get good in the league, buy one of their few good players and waltz over there for a couple of preseason game. New Mexico saints sounds more like a gospel choir than a football team....

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Reading about City's franchise plans of buying into the American Soccer League has me thinking why are we not investing in this way. Even Lowe was on the verge of investing into China.

At least the States is an ever expanding economy whereas Cortesé seems more interesting in fallen economies like Italy, Spain, Africa and maybe even South America. Are we missing out or will Cortese's way bring in big dividends/

 

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/article/165/8726448/city-clinch-new-york-franchise-deal

 

Oh you old joker you ... ;)

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America is a pointless country where football is concerned.

 

Not from a business perspective - big crowds. I think I read that the 2011 Champions League final got more US viewers than the Superbowl!

 

We don't know anything about these sorts of deals, let's be honest. Maybe they are planning something, maybe not. Who cares?

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I was very shocked by this news, I thought it was April 1st.

 

That said, I can understand why City did this but to be honest a club of our size this would be a waste of time.

 

If we can somehow get into the top 4 (& that's a very big IF) then it might make more sense to grow the brand.

 

MLS is still a bit of a joke imo, the standard is league one at best but at least the catering is amazing!

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We're not missing out. Pretty much everything City do is splashing cash for the sake of having money.

 

I should think they'll be able to add the income from NYCFC merchandise to the pile o' cash they can still spend under FFP.

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Not from a business perspective - big crowds. I think I read that the 2011 Champions League final got more US viewers than the Superbowl!

 

We don't know anything about these sorts of deals, let's be honest. Maybe they are planning something, maybe not. Who cares?

 

Oh from a business perspective Im sure its massive I was meaning from an appreciation of the game.

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Didn't moan u team up with Boston Red Sox a few years back? I thought that was a strange gimmick. At least this link is the same sport (roughly speaking) but still has very little going for it.

 

Man U teamed up with the Yankees before City did. Red Sox are owned by the same group as Liverpool (who played preseason in Boston last season).

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I'd take issue with MLS being "League One at best", I'd say the standard straddles the Championship and League One, but some of the defending this season has been utterly woeful.

 

It's tough to catagorise I guess because it is so different. The ball is on the deck more with less hoof ball than you see in England (they wouldnt want to get hurt now would they). The players are often more "athletic".

 

 

It's like watching a preseason friendly most of the time because there is little to play for, but make no mistake the quality is very poor especially the team I follow!

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Why the accent on the "e"?

 

To annoy w a n k ers like you and seek attention from one or two who've nothing better to say in a discussion. Been around 12 years, more than 90,000 posts, so if you don't know me by now, you never will.

Edited by ART
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Not from a business perspective - big crowds. I think I read that the 2011 Champions League final got more US viewers than the Superbowl!

 

You what? You need to take the word 'US' out of that for it to be true. No way did more people in the US watch 'some soccer game' than the Superbowl. Trust me - that didn't happen.

 

http://www.soccerbyives.net/2013/03/ratings-qualifier-records.html - 7.65 million for a record viewing of USA v Mexico WCQ (the majority watching on Spanish speaking TV - ie they were Mexican)

 

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/04/sports/la-sp-sn-super-bowl-ratings-20130204 - last years SB had 108 million watching.

 

Soccer in the USA is like American Football in the UK. It has fans who are really into it but it is definitely a minority sport. The TV companies obviously feel there is some sort of market for it (ie next season they are showing every Prem game LIVE on US TV) but it will never become mainstream...

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I think the US is changing. Migration from South America is changing the view of 'soccer' ( god I hate that word).

We were over in April & lots of kids & adults were playing. My lads joined in & enjoyed it. Most of the guys were from South America & loved football. They even knew about Saints.

As for us taking advantage - not sure.

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To annoy w a n k ers like you and seek attention from one or two who've nothing better to say in a discussion. Been around 12 years, more than 90,000 posts, so if you don't know me by now, you never will.

 

 

:facepalm:

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To annoy w a n k ers like you and seek attention from one or two who've nothing better to say in a discussion. Been around 12 years, more than 90,000 posts, so if you don't know me by now, you never will.

 

all together now....

 

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Honestly, I'm not sure what Man City are doing with this move. It makes sense from some perspectives but not so much from others.

 

I think the Saints should definitely be trying to grow their brand stateside - there is a lot of potential in those kinds of strategies. Americans love the little guy and the underdog, so if SFC markets themselves that way they could get a ton of new fans on board. The growing economy here means more money for SFC, which means more money for big time players, which means better players and more wins. This is a good strategy.

 

What Man City are doing... is a little more difficult to comprehend. MLS is a successful league with decent crowds, but it's not operated in the same way that European clubs and leagues are operated. I'm not sure of the potential for massive profit (some profit - yes) nor am I sure of the potential for new Man City fans with this purchase. I mean, ManU are owned by the people who own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers - there's almost no one who thought "hey I'm a fan of one, so I should be a fan of the other." Even my Cleveland Browns were owned by Randy Lerner until October, and never did I think that I should root for Aston Villa in that time. Ownership of teams across continents seems to have little resonance in the USA. While maybe there are some TV monies to be split up, I cannot really see Man City's financial incentive in this venture.

 

Personally, I think Man City's owners just like owning football clubs.

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I think there's a lot of money to be made from merchandising in the US, NYC is one of the biggest markets, there's no great club affiliation so the Red Bulls probably won't have an effect on their popularity, and they can sell both NYC FC merch in Manchester, and City now have a foothold in the NYC market as well (where Arsenal and Man U seem to be the most popular from my most recent visit to the city).

 

Even if it's not likely to topple NFL/MLB/NBA or even NHL, the soccer market is the US is growing hugely, and it's a bloody big place with a lot of potential sales.

 

Plus, again, it's a source of income that raises their allowable wage spend under FFP.

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Honestly, I'm not sure what Man City are doing with this move. It makes sense from some perspectives but not so much from others.

 

I think the Saints should definitely be trying to grow their brand stateside - there is a lot of potential in those kinds of strategies. Americans love the little guy and the underdog, so if SFC markets themselves that way they could get a ton of new fans on board. The growing economy here means more money for SFC, which means more money for big time players, which means better players and more wins. This is a good strategy.

 

What Man City are doing... is a little more difficult to comprehend. MLS is a successful league with decent crowds, but it's not operated in the same way that European clubs and leagues are operated. I'm not sure of the potential for massive profit (some profit - yes) nor am I sure of the potential for new Man City fans with this purchase. I mean, ManU are owned by the people who own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers - there's almost no one who thought "hey I'm a fan of one, so I should be a fan of the other." Even my Cleveland Browns were owned by Randy Lerner until October, and never did I think that I should root for Aston Villa in that time. Ownership of teams across continents seems to have little resonance in the USA. While maybe there are some TV monies to be split up, I cannot really see Man City's financial incentive in this venture.

 

Personally, I think Man City's owners just like owning football clubs.

Thats an interesting perspective, especially from a New Yorker. Cheers Dan, keep us posted from that side of the pond. :)

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Even if it's not likely to topple NFL/MLB/NBA or even NHL, the soccer market is the US is growing hugely, and it's a bloody big place with a lot of potential sales.

 

Chelsea v Man City had a 48,000 sell-out in St Louis last night. The tickets sold out in 15 mins. For some pointless friendly. Played at a baseball park in a Midwest city with no MLS team.

 

I just know that the average 'bloke down the pub' has no interest in it - but obviously there are a lot of people out there who do. It really is a strange one....

 

MCCFC_1733727a.jpg

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The NYC market definitely has room for two MLS teams - that's never been in question. Especially if one team is in Jersey (as the RedBulls are) and the other is in Queens (as NYCFC is likely to be). Think the difference between...I don't know...West Ham and Fulham maybe? So that is fine. But the Man City interest is a bit more questionable other than simply having a legit football owner involved the MLS.

 

What are Man City doing from their perspective, though? They will come to NYC probably annually and that will help them to get a few new fans as it makes a difference to be able to see your favorite players in person (see that sold out image Rut posted above). But most people here who are interested have already been cheering for a specific team (sadly, it's usually ManU, Arsenal, and Chelsea) so trying to get someone to switch over to City isn't likely, right? They will sell some merchandise in the Yankees team store, and sell some NYCFC (and maybe NY Yankees) merch in Manchester, but those profits are pennies compared to TV rights monies.

 

Anyway, I still have no idea "what Man City are doing" other than simply owning a team in the States.

 

From a personal perspective I do think that it's exciting that there's going to be another MLS team in NYC and that MLS will finally get to their stated goal of 20 teams. The quality of play here will never be as good as England/Spain/Germany/Italy/France, but perhaps we can be a 2nd tier nation. If MLS do want to get to that top level, they have to change their ownership rules, so it'd be a significant paradigm shift rather than just "growing their league." It would also help if they adopted a promotion/relegation system to encourage team owners to actually continue investment. But regardless, the new team will be fun for me...especially since I live much closer to wherever the new team will play than to the RedBulls stadium.

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Oh from a business perspective Im sure its massive I was meaning from an appreciation of the game.

 

Not sure that's true. I have many American colleagues who watch live games at the week-end and see a lot of the PL - they do appreciate what's going on.

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Is it the angle of the camera which seems to show that the 'left side' (looking at the photo) is somewhat narrower than that closer to us? The distance from the 18 yard box to the touch line certainly looks shorter on the far side!

 

I'd be gambling on it being perspective and a bit of camera lens warping as the near "half" looks much bigger than the far half as well, my question is why they haven't taken the (obviously narrow nevertheless) pitch an extra yard on each side when there is clearly room for it.

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