Is Akron a soccer city?

[mes102]

Last year we saw the Men's Soccer team go to the National Championship. We saw the Women's Soccer team win the MAC East and host a MAC playoff game for the first time.

We have all heard that Caleb Porter has said that this is his deepest team YET. And now, I just saw a comment on facebook regarding someone saying about how they are excited for this fall(actually said Aug. 13th scrimmage), and then UA's women's soccer GK made a comment on there:

" yay! you and and the whole lot of you better be there... oh and just a little side note.. we're winning the MAC this year..im just saying"

We could have the women's program in the NCAA tourney, and also the men's program in the College Cup this year...would that start making it more of a basketball/soccer city than a football/basketball city...

The more I think of it, Mack did a great job making sure that the women's athletics were startign to be relevant again to this university...

All I have to say is... AND

[GP1]

Is Akron a soccer city? No

Are there enough people who like soccer to fill a small stadium? Yes

[ZachTheZip]

Akron is a football city. Akron has always been a football city since the days of the NFL champion Akron Pros and the days of the John Heisman-led Zips.

But if you field a soccer team that's good enough, people will come out to watch it enough to maybe break even or turn a slight profit. Even if we won three consecutive national titles and averaged 8k in attendance per game, which is more than what the best attendance is in NCAA soccer at UCSB, it's still only half of what the football team averages in a bad year.

If a MLS team wanted to have attendance enough to justify being in Akron, they would likely have to make the playoffs every year and challenge for the title. I think it could happen. Their stadium would have to be located downtown if they wanted press coverage.

[Z.I.P.]

Akron is a football city. Akron has always been a football city since the days of the NFL champion Akron Pros and the days of the John Heisman-led Zips.

But if you field a soccer team that's good enough, people will come out to watch it enough to maybe break even or turn a slight profit. Even if we won three consecutive national titles and averaged 8k in attendance per game, which is more than what the best attendance is in NCAA soccer at UCSB, it's still only half of what the football team averages in a bad year.

If a MLS team wanted to have attendance enough to justify being in Akron, they would likely have to make the playoffs every year and challenge for the title. I think it could happen. Their stadium would have to be located downtown if they wanted press coverage.

Akron is a football city. Are there enough people who like football to fill a small stadium? Yes -- once a season...maybe.

[Zipmeister]

Last year we saw the Men's Soccer team go to the National Championship. We saw the Women's Soccer team win the MAC East and host a MAC playoff game for the first time.

We have all heard that Caleb Porter has said that this is his deepest team YET. And now, I just saw a comment on facebook regarding someone saying about how they are excited for this fall(actually said Aug. 13th scrimmage), and then UA's women's soccer GK made a comment on there:

" yay! you and and the whole lot of you better be there... oh and just a little side note.. we're winning the MAC this year..im just saying"

We could have the women's program in the NCAA tourney, and also the men's program in the College Cup this year...would that start making it more of a basketball/soccer city than a football/basketball city...

The more I think of it, Mack did a great job making sure that the women's athletics were startign to be relevant again to this university...

All I have to say is... AND

When was women's athletics relevant before?

[skip-zip]

Is Akron a soccer city? No

Are there enough people who like soccer to fill a small stadium? Yes

That pretty much sums it up. And an emphasis on the word "small".

Sorry, but that's just the way it is. And I don't see that ever changing.

[scottditzen]

Is Akron a soccer city? No

Are there enough people who like soccer to fill a small stadium? Yes

That pretty much sums it up. And an emphasis on the word "small".

Sorry, but that's just the way it is. And I don't see that ever changing.

You guys are getting way off base with the football vs. soccer question.

The REAL question is will the people in and around Akron support local COLLEGE ATHLETICS?

[Zipmeister]

Is Akron a soccer city? No

Are there enough people who like soccer to fill a small stadium? Yes

That pretty much sums it up. And an emphasis on the word "small".

Sorry, but that's just the way it is. And I don't see that ever changing.

You guys are getting way off base with the football vs. soccer question.

The REAL question is will the people in and around Akron support local COLLEGE ATHLETICS?

Skip must have missed the REAL question in the opening post, but he did address one of the main questions in the opening post, AND he didn't use a baseball-related phrase to make a comment about the football/soccer issue like you did.

[skip-zip]

Is Akron a soccer city? No

Are there enough people who like soccer to fill a small stadium? Yes

That pretty much sums it up. And an emphasis on the word "small".

Sorry, but that's just the way it is. And I don't see that ever changing.

You guys are getting way off base with the football vs. soccer question.

The REAL question is will the people in and around Akron support local COLLEGE ATHLETICS?

Skip must have missed the REAL question in the opening post, but he did address one of the main questions in the opening post, AND he didn't use a baseball-related phrase to make a comment about the football/soccer issue like you did.

Scott,

If I go back to the original question from mes102, I see that the question seems to be whether the soccer/basketball combination will be more of an attraction than the football/basketball combination. And the answer would be a resounding NO !!

In regards to other sports, lets take a look at some of them:

Unless women's basketball somehow gains some national attention, I think their attendance will always be in the hundreds. Women's soccer?...forget about it. Men's soccer?...if they maintain high national ranking, they could continue to compete with men's basketball for game-to-game attendance. But, if they were to drop to a point where they were not wearing that "national powerhouse" label anymore, I'm afraid to say that you'd be counting their attendance in the hundreds once again.

If were talking about the potential for "thousands" of new local people jumping on board to support an Akron Zips sport, it's only ever going to happen with football and men's basketball.

[Spin]

Akron is in a hotbed of football, from the high school level all the way to the Browns (and that other team to the southeast). There's no denying if there were a perfect place to build a popular college football program, it would be right here. 150 miles away from the nearest BCS school, in football heaven.

That said.

There is also a strong soccer contigent in this area. I said before we had the only profitable indoor soccer team, probably in history, in Richfield. Canton's indoor soccer team wasn't exactly destitute before they lost their good players to the new Buffalo franchise. The Cleveland Caps broke attendance records, the City Stars also drew well. The Force played outdoor games at the Rubber Bowl and drew well.

And we saw last year, several Zips Saturday night games sold out on Tuesday morning.

There are a LOT of soccer fans in the immediate area, waiting for a team to get behind.

[InTheZone]

It really doesn't matter how good a soccer team is, you'll never be able to draw more than a few thousand people to watch it. Awful football beats "great" soccer any day of the week in America.

[skip-zip]

Akron is in a hotbed of football, from the high school level all the way to the Browns (and that other team to the southeast). There's no denying if there were a perfect place to build a popular college football program, it would be right here. 150 miles away from the nearest BCS school, in football heaven.

That said.

There is also a strong soccer contigent in this area. I said before we had the only profitable indoor soccer team, probably in history, in Richfield. Canton's indoor soccer team wasn't exactly destitute before they lost their good players to the new Buffalo franchise. The Cleveland Caps broke attendance records, the City Stars also drew well. The Force played outdoor games at the Rubber Bowl and drew well.

And we saw last year, several Zips Saturday night games sold out on Tuesday morning.

There are a LOT of soccer fans in the immediate area, waiting for a team to get behind.

Not to belittle our soccer program in any way, but please put all of this into perspective.

Think about how many people were at our soccer games last year because they wanted to see an undefeated, nationally-ranked Zips athletic squad on their way to possibly winning a national championship? I think you would be way off the mark to conclude that they were just "soccer fans waiting for a team to get behind".

What attendance record did the Cleveland Caps break? What was their attendance? I have to be honest. I have never heard of the Cleveland Caps.

[RootforRoo44]

It really doesn't matter how good a soccer team is, you'll never be able to draw more than a few thousand people to watch it. Awful football beats "great" soccer any day of the week in America.

+1

[Spin]

Not to belittle our soccer program in any way, but please put all of this into perspective.

Think about how many people were at our soccer games last year because they wanted to see an undefeated, nationally-ranked Zips athletic squad on their way to possibly winning a national championship? I think you would be way off the mark to conclude that they were just "soccer fans waiting for a team to get behind".

What attendance record did the Cleveland Caps break? What was their attendance? I have to be honest. I have never heard of the Cleveland Caps.

There were a lot of bandwagon jumpers there, for sure. Just looking for a winner. But judging by what a lot of fans were wearing to the games, what they were talking about there, their demographic, I have to disagree. I was there (a common theme when we talk about soccer here, if you haven't figured out yet).

The Caps (short for Whitecaps) were owned by retired pro player Mike Sweeney. They played in 1997 and 98 in what was then "D3", now the USL's Second Division. In 1997 they played at Byers Field. The led D3 in attendance, breaking single game and season attendance records. They played an exhibition against the Columbus Crew and packed the place. I had season tickets. (See, there it is again).

In 1998 the league threw down a rule that teams could not play on artificial turf. Mike tried to find a natural turf stadium to play in, the team bounced around the county, and attendance plummeted. Unable to secure a suitable venue for 1999, Mike decided not to field a team.

This was the first D3 team in Cleveland the league screwed up.

Awful football beats "great" soccer any day of the week

So if the soccer program wasn't limited in the number of tickets it sold last year, you don't think they could have gotten 10,000 people for the NCAA Tournament and outdrew the E Mich game? The Force use to draw 20,000 for INDOOR soccer. They drew that many to the RB for an EXHIBITION game.

Been there, saw that, still got the T-shirt. I've been watching soccer for 30 years, at the local level and world wide. You better bring more than chest pounding to get something like that past me...

[InTheZone]

Not to belittle our soccer program in any way, but please put all of this into perspective.

Think about how many people were at our soccer games last year because they wanted to see an undefeated, nationally-ranked Zips athletic squad on their way to possibly winning a national championship? I think you would be way off the mark to conclude that they were just "soccer fans waiting for a team to get behind".

What attendance record did the Cleveland Caps break? What was their attendance? I have to be honest. I have never heard of the Cleveland Caps.

There were a lot of bandwagon jumpers there, for sure. Just looking for a winner. But judging by what a lot of fans were wearing to the games, what they were talking about there, their demographic, I have to disagree. I was there (a common theme when we talk about soccer here, if you haven't figured out yet).

The Caps (short for Whitecaps) were owned by retired pro player Mike Sweeney. They played in 1997 and 98 in what was then "D3", now the USL's Second Division. In 1997 they played at Byers Field. The led D3 in attendance, breaking single game and season attendance records. They played an exhibition against the Columbus Crew and packed the place. I had season tickets. (See, there it is again).

In 1998 the league threw down a rule that teams could not play on artificial turf. Mike tried to find a natural turf stadium to play in, the team bounced around the county, and attendance plummeted. Unable to secure a suitable venue for 1999, Mike decided not to field a team.

This was the first D3 team in Cleveland the league screwed up.

Awful football beats "great" soccer any day of the week

So if the soccer program wasn't limited in the number of tickets it sold last year, you don't think they could have gotten 10,000 people for the NCAA Tournament and outdrew the E Mich game? The Force use to draw 20,000 for INDOOR soccer. They drew that many to the RB for an EXHIBITION game.

Been there, saw that, still got the T-shirt. I've been watching soccer for 30 years, at the local level and world wide. You better bring more than chest pounding to get something like that past me...

LOL

[Spin]

LOL

I expected as much.

[scottditzen]

Let's say I was using "off base" as a military, and not a baseball reference!

My point about the "real" question was my unsuccessful attempt to defray another football vs. soccer reaction from the Zips faithful. And, I honestly believe it to be a valid question.

[Spin]

Let's say I was using "off base" as a military, and not a baseball reference!

My point about the "real" question was my unsuccessful attempt to defray another football vs. soccer reaction from the Zips faithful. And, I honestly believe it to be a valid question.

To reply to your "real" question, I say yes. There are a lot of sports fans in the area, and they're looking for something worth supporting.

There are fans who want to see a quality team, there are a zillion football fans, there are basketball fans, soccer fans, baseball fans. With football and basketball and baseball there are a lot of other teams out there and you gotta GOTTA have a good entertaining program. Going 3-9 or 3-24 isn't going to sell many tickets...

For soccer, the market is wide open. But for any of these sports, if it's a good team and marketed well, they will beat a path to the U.

[Zipmeister]

Let's say I was using "off base" as a military, and not a baseball reference!

My point about the "real" question was my unsuccessful attempt to defray another football vs. soccer reaction from the Zips faithful. And, I honestly believe it to be a valid question.

To reply to your "real" question, I say yes. There are a lot of sports fans in the area, and they're looking for something worth supporting.

There are fans who want to see a quality team, there are a zillion football fans, there are basketball fans, soccer fans, baseball fans. With football and basketball and baseball there are a lot of other teams out there and you gotta GOTTA have a good entertaining program. Going 3-9 or 3-24 isn't going to sell many tickets...

For soccer, the market is wide open. But for any of these sports, if it's a good team and marketed well, they will beat a path to the U.

I have been saying the same thing for weeks now about gun shooting and club baseball.

[InTheZone]

Let's say I was using "off base" as a military, and not a baseball reference!

My point about the "real" question was my unsuccessful attempt to defray another football vs. soccer reaction from the Zips faithful. And, I honestly believe it to be a valid question.

To reply to your "real" question, I say yes. There are a lot of sports fans in the area, and they're looking for something worth supporting.

There are fans who want to see a quality team, there are a zillion football fans, there are basketball fans, soccer fans, baseball fans. With football and basketball and baseball there are a lot of other teams out there and you gotta GOTTA have a good entertaining program. Going 3-9 or 3-24 isn't going to sell many tickets...

For soccer, the market is wide open. But for any of these sports, if it's a good team and marketed well, they will beat a path to the U.

I have been saying the same thing for weeks now about gun shooting and club baseball.

[Spin]

Did club baseball do better than 3-24?

[mes102]

What I meant was the fact of not attendance, but the "buzz" of the city of Akron...I have to admit, i set myself up for a No answer because it will be always bad football before great soccer for attendance numbers...

I just can't get going with bad football...If I had a choice to work on a day of a football game, or a soccer game, I'll work on the day that the game will be less entertaining, and what i mean by entertaining, is by which game will we have the best shot to win...

Why should I watch 2 hours of bad football like I did last year when I could of been working?

[Zipmeister]

What I meant was the fact of not attendance, but the "buzz" of the city of Akron...I have to admit, i set myself up for a No answer because it will be always bad football before great soccer for attendance numbers...

I just can't get going with bad football...If I had a choice to work on a day of a football game, or a soccer game, I'll work on the day that the game will be less entertaining, and what i mean by entertaining, is by which game will we have the best shot to win...

Why should I watch 2 hours of bad football like I did last year when I could of been working?

Is this a subliminal post to build up the buzz for the gun shooting team?

[Spin]

I'm not showing up anywhere there are other ZN posters who have firearms...

[skip-zip]

Not to belittle our soccer program in any way, but please put all of this into perspective.

Think about how many people were at our soccer games last year because they wanted to see an undefeated, nationally-ranked Zips athletic squad on their way to possibly winning a national championship? I think you would be way off the mark to conclude that they were just "soccer fans waiting for a team to get behind".

What attendance record did the Cleveland Caps break? What was their attendance? I have to be honest. I have never heard of the Cleveland Caps.

There were a lot of bandwagon jumpers there, for sure. Just looking for a winner. But judging by what a lot of fans were wearing to the games, what they were talking about there, their demographic, I have to disagree. I was there (a common theme when we talk about soccer here, if you haven't figured out yet).

The Caps (short for Whitecaps) were owned by retired pro player Mike Sweeney. They played in 1997 and 98 in what was then "D3", now the USL's Second Division. In 1997 they played at Byers Field. The led D3 in attendance, breaking single game and season attendance records. They played an exhibition against the Columbus Crew and packed the place. I had season tickets. (See, there it is again).

In 1998 the league threw down a rule that teams could not play on artificial turf. Mike tried to find a natural turf stadium to play in, the team bounced around the county, and attendance plummeted. Unable to secure a suitable venue for 1999, Mike decided not to field a team.

This was the first D3 team in Cleveland the league screwed up.

Awful football beats "great" soccer any day of the week

So if the soccer program wasn't limited in the number of tickets it sold last year, you don't think they could have gotten 10,000 people for the NCAA Tournament and outdrew the E Mich game? The Force use to draw 20,000 for INDOOR soccer. They drew that many to the RB for an EXHIBITION game.

Been there, saw that, still got the T-shirt. I've been watching soccer for 30 years, at the local level and world wide. You better bring more than chest pounding to get something like that past me...

I do remember Mike Sweeney. I just never heard of the Whitecaps, or ever heard anyone talk about them, so thanks for hte info. You say that they broke attendance records. But seriously, how many fans were they drawing?

The Cleveland Force was definitely a rarity that I don't think anyone can explain, other than the fact that every other Cleveland sports team stunk at the time, and they were winning. And there sure is a lot more action in indoor soccer, which could have been what attracted people.

I disagree that the Zips could have drawn 10,000 for a soccer game. And I was at some of those highly-attended games last year myself. If thousands of people were standing at the gate getting turned away, I missed it.