(Editor's note: The following is reprinted from the Premier Sports Management website, www.premiersportsonline.com.)
It may be hard to remember, or even fathom, but for one
30-day period almost 20 years ago this summer, the U.S. was the focal point of
the world—not just sports…the world.
In 1994, nine U.S. cities hosted matches as part of World
Cup USA 1994, the most-watched sporting event in the world on a quadrennial
basis. Beginning with the opening in
Chicago on June 17 and culminating in the Brazil-Italy final a month later in
the Rose Bowl, American stadia hosted sellout crowds and boisterous fans from
across the globe. The U.S. squad even
pulled off a stunning upset, beating Colombia 2-1, in an early round match. Players like Tony Meola, Marcelo Balboa, Eric
Wynalda and John Harkes were stars of that U.S. roster and the grand plan, for the
U.S. Soccer Federation, was to use the success and visibility of the World Cup
to propel soccer to its rightful place as a major American sport. Major League Soccer was formed in 1993 and
the league used World Cup as the forum for reaching out to prospective sponsors
and key media.
It’s been a long 19 years since that heady time of ’94. MLS sputtered out of the gate in the
post-World Cup world of American soccer and only recently has found growth
given the construction of soccer-specific venues across the league, and the
success of franchises in markets like Seattle, Portland and…Kansas City.
“Kansas City” you
say!? Yes, here in the good ol’ Midwest,
none other a media outlet than The New York
Times has realized the success story of Sporting Kansas City and Major
League Soccer as the fourth professional franchise in town. (Kansas City boasts the NFL Kansas City
Chiefs, Major League Baseball Royals, and two NASCAR events each season at
Kansas Speedway.)
Yesterday’s article in the Times, written by Sam Borden,
correctly identified the key strategic move made by the owners of Sporting
Kansas City—define your target, i.e., the 18-35 young professional demographic,
and intentionally reach out to that technologically connected audience. It helped, of course, that this audience was
one who had experienced little to no postseason success via the Royals and the
Chiefs.
Sporting engaged with this connected audience via social
media to determine likes/dislikes and to help guide franchise decisions. That fan data helped influence the naming and
branding decisions of the club. And, the
local owners designed a venue, Sporting Park, that began to address the needs
of those attending live events today—strong WiFi, social media connectivity
during the match, and advanced camera systems for appealing videoboard
activity. It’s that sort of fan
experience that is so appealing to the young professional demographic that Sporting
covets.
Have there been missteps along the way? Of course, with the Livestrong naming rights
being one questionable move coupled with issues raised by some season
ticketholders about customer service.
Overall, though, the franchise has been a roaring success off of the
field coupled with the quality of play on the pitch over the past three
seasons. The success story has enough
across sports appeal that 200 different franchises have sent executives to
Kansas City to see Sporting Park and to talk to the team’s ownership and
management team.
Next week, Kansas City will host the MLS All-Star Game, a
fitting tribute to the work of this very successful local franchise and
ownership group. It will be a time to
acknowledge what’s been built here in Kansas City and also to reflect back on
that seminal worldwide event of 19 years ago and think “finally.”
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