Spin

Agreed. Those are all part of the college football experience.

Let's just load up on Wal Mart jerseys and wear them to the game. When they see the sea of (cheapo) jerseys in the stands, maybe they'll see the error of their ways. I know that's giving them a lot of credit, but ya never know...

We had a franchise in Cleveland that was very successful and could have moved up that ladder. But the USL moved them up too quick, they lost key players, and went down the tubes. There are people interested in obtaining a USL Second Division (the old D3) franchise. But that set us behind several years.

Funny cause when Bosch signed with Miami, he said he didn't want to play in Cleveland.

I thought so too but can't find anything concrete. We also play four Big Ten programs this year, so we should be on BTN at least once. Fox Soccer might pick up the UNC game at least.

Well if you don't understand the perception of the level of college soccer by now, if you can't grasp the numbers other college programs in soccer hot beds are drawing, then I can't help you. And if you don't know why Bert Wolstein didn't bring the MLS to NE Ohio, I'm not sure anyone can. I'm glad the Aeros management didn't factor in the Zips baseball attendance when deciding whether or not there were baseball fans here...

How can I explain? I look at that number, with a realistic expectation of college soccer, at a not-so-famous school, and think that's great. There are people on here predicting we hit the top ten in the country in attendance this year. And looking at the demand for tickets last year, and all the expansion, it wouldn't surprise me that much. Looking at the top programs in attendance, no surprise you see a lot of the soccer "hot beds". California, Connecticut, Maryland/Virginia, St Louis, Raleigh/Durham. That number, 400, doesn't include students. They don't need to buy tickets. And if you don't think there are soccer fans among the students, you need to be around the Student Union during the World Cup. We disrupted an engineering convention when Donovan did his thing. Fact is, this has always been a strong soccer market. It shows in demographic studies, in the success of pro teams, in the fact a developer wanted to build a stadium and a team by himself because he believed in the fan base, by every indication. You agree, but you want to pick apart one small part of my argument. In my eyes, you have unreasonable expectations for a program playing at a level considered below minor league, in a school with a "minor league" stigma compared to other DI schools. That's like saying Cleveland isn't a baseball town because the Lake Erie Crushers don't draw as many fans as the Yankees. You have to compare apples to apples. 1,800 fans puts you in the top ten in NCAA attendance. The PDSL, playing at the same relative level on the soccer food chain, averages just over 500. Like Einstein said, it's all relative...

So if you're acknowledging there are a lot more soccer fans like us, then what's to debate? The thread is "Is Akron a soccer city". I say it is. You say it is. But you want to beat up the fact that the season tickets are selling better and faster than ever before. That a college soccer program sells 400 season tickets is not proof. Don't get caught up in comparing a college soccer program with a major league team with a major league marketing budget and major league merchandising. If you want to compare them to the City Stars, or the Caps, that still might be a reach, but at least then you're comparing it to franchises whose marketing budget basically consisted of hoping to get press releases used in newspapers, and a few stories on TV. A team with a more comparable perception to college. Ohio State was 5th in the country last year in attendance, and drew 1500. And that's a hot spot city where the Crew draws 13,000. So it's all relative. Keep that perception in perspective when we talk about a college team or a minor league team. 400 season tickets, for a college soccer program, in July? To me, it's one of several things to point to that says this area has a lot of soccer fans.

Now you know the fans there are not just alumni. You're avoiding the obvious fact. Along with the fans of AU and the alumni and any other stinking group you can come up with, there are also S O C C E R fans there. Give it up. No more of this crap "well, you know, the janitor from Kolbe Hall goes and he's not a soccer fan." Weak. You got nothing.

My sons want an Anthony Schrock replica jersey. He was a teammate of theirs. If only he had gone to the College of Wooster...

And the AK Rowdies go because they have to, blah blah blah... The simple fact everyone is ignoring, if you look at the fans who go, you can tell they are a lot of SOCCER fans. You can see it in the clothes they wear, the teams they talk about, the strategies they discuss. If you want to debate that somehow, I'll continue this dead horse beating.

The heck with the merchandise, how much is one of them girls? For about 3 minutes?

That explains a lot

What's 1350's "range"? 1 mile? 106.9 was finally a chance to really pick up a Zips game that actually somewhat came in anywhere outside of downtown/campus in Akron. I can get 1350 in Cleveland, almost all the way to Lorain, out past Ravenna, But I can't get it at all in Wadsworth...

Soccer is very VERY polarizing, as we have seen here. A big precentage of sports fans are NOT going to go watch soccer even if it's a national contender. As many have said, they would rather watch paint dry. The bandwagon jumpers may go to see the MAC Tourney, and the NCAA tourney. They may go to see us play Ohio State. But they're not going to be buying season tickets to sit and watch soccer for hours and hours in all kinds of weather. You have to like or love soccer to do that. The jump in season ticket sales, as much as anything else, answers this whole thread.

Either

The "savior" monicker came from him coming/going to the Cavs, and saving NBA basketball in Cleveland. Attendance was very bad (the worst in 15 years), the team was worse, and there were other cities calling on the Gunds to sell or move. In his first year attendance went from 11,000 to 18,000 and the Cavs stayed in town. I'll give him that much, he kept Cleveland from being a minor league hockey town in the winter.

Yeah soccer. There are some new soccer fans from the WC on another forum and I was hoping to keep the momentum going with them, and get UA some new fans. Nothing on the sched yet (unless I'm missing it) but I swore they already announced at least two games on the tube.

Yes. What phone? I have a BB at the moment, but getting a new one next month. I hope to find something better. I know I can get I heart radio, if my BB was working right, just didn't know if the Zips were on a station that is on that service.

I'm not going to lie, I'm on the fence on this one. I'm all for supporting the home boys, like hoping Sonnanstine does well, even against the Indians. And I understand these kids are this way, and they're immature. But Bron really pushed the envelope on being likable or watchable.

Does anyone know when the first Zips game will be televised? I've been waiting for the schedule to be updated.

Any way to get Zips games on phones? Something like I heart radio?

Awesome!!!! Working on the road in C-town, it's not always easy to get 1350. And these young kids, don't get AM radio. The first hint of static and they're throwing a holy fit. Very nice...

The thread is "Is Akron a soccer city?". Marketing studies found hot spots around the country, St Louis, Seattle, NE Ohio, Milwaukee, LA, parts of the south, Baltimore (not as much)... And lo and behold, that's where the most successful franchises have been located. Minor league, indoor, and in Seattle's case, MLS as well. If we built a stadium (like Columbus did) we'd be right there. Akron is a soccer city. If you don't like soccer, you don't like soccer. That doesn't mean it's a bad market. I can't stand golf, Watching men walk around in yutzie clothes, wacking a ball that's not moving, and everyone acting like they're doing brain surgery and the slightest fart will ruin the entire tournament, I played it once, tried to watch it, I don't get it. Pro miniature golf would be more entertaining to me. So by your logic, that means because some people don't get it, they shouldn't have the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron. That would be a pretty self-centered myopic view, doncha think?... Now, just because the area is a hotbed, doesn't mean you can put 22 players out there and throw them a ball and everyone will come watch. First they have to know about it. That takes MARKETING, a recurrent theme here. Last year was the first time many people realized there was a soccer program, and that it was doing so well. (And that we played tOSU). They found out by stories on the front page of the sports section, being on all the local TV news. Once they found out, it was on. Even students were shut out of going to the games. So I guess you can say you don't NEED an aggressive marketing program, you just need the #1 ranked team in the nation. There you go Keith and Rob, you know what to do now. Can they outdraw bad football? I've been to Zips games in some pretty bad years... I'd put a brew on that bet. Hopefully the football team will be much improved and we'll never find out. If so I'll still buy you a beer.

To be honest, many hardcore soccer fans HATED indoor soccer as a gimick, as a bastardation of the sport, on and on. And there were a lot of bandwagon jumper at those games. But you have to look at the fan base. Did we see fans wearing Euro jerseys and National Team jerseys> Did we see several youth teams? Were they talking about the latest gossip on Maradonna? Well, we sustained indoor soccer for decades. Bert Wolstein was trying very hard to get an MLS team for the region. Problem there I'm sure you know, is you need a stadium with natural turf with decent seating. He had to build that himself as well as build the team. Unfortunately he didn't live long enough to see it through. You'd think we'd see a lot of people at high school baseball games. And college baseball games. We have six different levels of pro teams in Ohio, there are obviously baseball fans (and people looking for entertainment). But they don't go to high school games. Where's your proof it didn't happen? With the team talked about on the news and in the papers, on the radio, why wouldn't they draw half as many as the "gimick" team did years ago? Especially considering the growth of the sport at the lower levels since then. Good discussion. I already said a good portion would be bandwagon jumpers. A good portion would love soccer.