Popularity of Seattle Sports Teams

[knownone]

MLS is eerily reminiscent of the dotcom bubble of the late '90s right now, albeit with different circumstances. I'm a little concerned with the increased expansion and the changing media landscape that the league might not even exist in 20 years. That's one of the issues with a single entirety league in a largely unsaturated market; Individual teams can go bankrupt and the league will be fine, but if the league goes bankrupt...

Assuming it keeps growing though, I don't see why they couldn't be a top 4 league in 20 years. Once they hit market saturation MLS would have a significant economic advantage over the other leagues.

 

[mrt144]

MLS is eerily reminiscent of the dotcom bubble of the late '90s right now, albeit with different circumstances. I'm a little concerned with the increased expansion and the changing media landscape that the league might not even exist in 20 years. That's one of the issues with a single entirety league in a largely unsaturated market; Individual teams can go bankrupt and the league will be fine, but if the league goes bankrupt...

Assuming it keeps growing though, I don't see why they couldn't be a top 4 league in 20 years. Once they hit market saturation MLS would have a significant economic advantage over the other leagues.

What were some of the downfalls of the NASL? Curious what lessons can be learned there.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

MLS is eerily reminiscent of the dotcom bubble of the late '90s right now, albeit with different circumstances. I'm a little concerned with the increased expansion and the changing media landscape that the league might not even exist in 20 years. That's one of the issues with a single entirety league in a largely unsaturated market; Individual teams can go bankrupt and the league will be fine, but if the league goes bankrupt...

Assuming it keeps growing though, I don't see why they couldn't be a top 4 league in 20 years. Once they hit market saturation MLS would have a significant economic advantage over the other leagues.

What were some of the downfalls of the NASL? Curious what lessons can be learned there.

Do you mean the old NASL, or the current NASL that folded in 2017?

The old NASL folded when they tried to rapidly expand without a solid financial model or cap, so many of the teams were hastily put together, and then the league tried to pass a salary cap and slash the roster sizes almost in half, which scared away the stars like Pele that were helping the league tread water as they figured things out.

The death blow was most of the stable solvent clubs leaving for the the MISL indoor soccer league in the 80's, which left only a couple franchises.

The good news is MLS learned from all the mistakes the NASL made..............hard cap, expand slowly at first, and trust the process of growing the sport through all the hotbed soccer communities in each city. Although IMO it took WAY too long for MLS to finally put resources and use their connections to develop the game by supporting the new USL league to develop and train their young players.

 

[knownone]

MLS is eerily reminiscent of the dotcom bubble of the late '90s right now, albeit with different circumstances. I'm a little concerned with the increased expansion and the changing media landscape that the league might not even exist in 20 years. That's one of the issues with a single entirety league in a largely unsaturated market; Individual teams can go bankrupt and the league will be fine, but if the league goes bankrupt...

Assuming it keeps growing though, I don't see why they couldn't be a top 4 league in 20 years. Once they hit market saturation MLS would have a significant economic advantage over the other leagues.

What were some of the downfalls of the NASL? Curious what lessons can be learned there.

New NASL? They spent way too much money expanding when they had very little if any market saturation outside of one or two markets. I don't know the intricacies of the league, but from afar, it seemed like a Ponzi scheme preying on investors who wanted to get rich quickly under the guise of potential growth.

As far as what MLS can learn from them? I don't know... MLS is doing a similar expansion strategy, but they actually have stability, and being a single entity with significant cap restrictions in place they can course correct should they start hemorrhaging money in the off chance their expansion investments fail to gain significant footholds in those markets.

My concern with MLS is the amount of expansion they've done during a time when their primary revenue source's long-term stability is wildly up in the air. As TV revenue shifts, and people have less exposure from mainstream outlets to MLS teams your ability to reach audiences outside of MLS cities could drop drastically. So, if your a local team driven league, and those new expansions cities fail to gain traction in those markets long-term, you've placed the burden of your league's viability on the successful teams financially supporting those failed teams.

 

[Uncle Si]

Modern MSLs concerns are far different than those of the NASL.

For one, the sport has never been more popular. Expansion is meant to take advantage of and promote further growth.

Small local markets like MN United or newly founded Nashville will subsist primarily on local investment. Its a risk, but one that is likely mitigated by the popularity of the sport in regions without other teams competing.

The tv revenue and growth potential are a concern in only determining the next phase.

Mls could continue to cap salaries and purchases without much further investment in tv revenue and remsin solid.

But the league clearly wants more than that.

 

[Sports Hernia]

I’m not trying to make a case for them, because the Mariners are a pathetic franchise, but people casually follow them, even when they suck, which is basically every season.

Fair enough.

I guess we're splitting hairs on what the word popular means. I think you nailed it above.........I'm talking more about passion and insane fans, and you're talking about general interest.

btw, I disagree a little on the radio play. I think both sports stations are run by old antiquated sports dinosaurs that think old formats of football, college and baseball is what people want to hear.

You also have to take into account that most programming is host based now, and other than the Gasman who only guests hosts from time to time, there are no hardcore soccer or Sounders fans that host shows on either station. So of course they're not going to bend over backwards to talk soccer.

Even though I do think there's an audience for it.

I agree with your last line. While I’m not a soccer fan in general, I have mad respect for the Sounders fanbase.
Passionate, and loyal. I think the sportsradio stations in this town are missing out on a golden opportunity by not catering to the sounders fanbase more. They are too focused on “personality based” sportsradio than team or sports based sportsradio IMHO.

My favorite teams:

Hawks
Un-named Seattle NHL team

Mariners (I love the sport of baseball even though I’ve hated the M’s FO/ownership over the past couple of decades)

UW Football

 

[Sports Hernia]

I’m not trying to make a case for them, because the Mariners are a pathetic franchise, but people casually follow them, even when they suck, which is basically every season.

Fair enough.

I guess we're splitting hairs on what the word popular means. I think you nailed it above.........I'm talking more about passion and insane fans, and you're talking about general interest.

btw, I disagree a little on the radio play. I think both sports stations are run by old antiquated sports dinosaurs that think old formats of football, college and baseball is what people want to hear.

You also have to take into account that most programming is host based now, and other than the Gasman who only guests hosts from time to time, there are no hardcore soccer or Sounders fans that host shows on either station. So of course they're not going to bend over backwards to talk soccer.

Even though I do think there's an audience for it.

I agree with your last line. While I’m not a soccer fan in general, I have mad respect for the Sounders fanbase.
Passionate, and loyal. I think the sportsradio stations in this town are missing out on a golden opportunity by not catering to the sounders fanbase more. They are too focused on “personality based” sportsradio than team or sports based sportsradio IMHO.

My favorite teams:

Hawks
Un-named Seattle NHL team

Mariners (I love the sport of baseball even though I’ve hated the M’s FO/ownership over the past couple of decades)

UW Football

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Un-named Seattle NHL team

Now we're talkin'.

I have no doubt that once Seattle and the NW catches hockey fever with the insane resources and hockey passion and savvy of our ownership group, that hockey will begin to rival even the Hawks for popularity, buzz and excitement.

 

[DomeHawk]

Un-named Seattle NHL team

Seattle Serial Killers

 

[mrt144]

I was referring to the old NASL which predated me by quite a few years.

 

[mrt144]

Un-named Seattle NHL team

Now we're talkin'.

I have no doubt that once Seattle and the NW catches hockey fever with the insane resources and hockey passion and savvy of our ownership group, that hockey will begin to rival even the Hawks for popularity, buzz and excitement.

I'm getting season tix sight unseen. Key Arena is just a short ride or nice walk down the hill from me and in person hockey is the best in person spectator sport IMHO.

 

[Sports Hernia]

Un-named Seattle NHL team

Now we're talkin'.

I have no doubt that once Seattle and the NW catches hockey fever with the insane resources and hockey passion and savvy of our ownership group, that hockey will begin to rival even the Hawks for popularity, buzz and excitement.

It can’t get here fast enough for me. As soon as they name the team, come out with the jerseys, I’m buying gear.
Just take my money! 8)

 

[Sports Hernia]

Un-named Seattle NHL team

Seattle Serial Killers

Or the family version:
Cereal Killers

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Un-named Seattle NHL team

Now we're talkin'.

I have no doubt that once Seattle and the NW catches hockey fever with the insane resources and hockey passion and savvy of our ownership group, that hockey will begin to rival even the Hawks for popularity, buzz and excitement.

I'm getting season tix sight unseen. Key Arena is just a short ride or nice walk down the hill from me and in person hockey is the best in person spectator sport IMHO.

As much as I hate to admit being the soccer fan that I am, I agree with you..........hockey in person is a sublime fan experience.

I grew up with Tacoma Rockets season tickets, so we went to every match before the left for Kelowna, and before my kids were born me and my buddies used to go up to Vancouver at least 2-3 times a season to catch a Canucks match.

 

[DomeHawk]

Un-named Seattle NHL team

Seattle Serial Killers

Or the family version:
Cereal Killers

Lol, that's good.