Selling out
Maybe it’s the commie in my coming out. Maybe there’s more to it than that. I don’t know what it is, but Red Bull New York simply leaves a bad taste in my mouth (much like the product Red Bull itself.)
Don’t get me wrong, this is no knee-jerk reaction. I’ve thought long and hard about it. The money coming into the league is good, no doubt about it. Another large company with a stake in the league is good, no doubt about it. Funding for the SSS is good, no doubt about it.
However.
I don’t think it’s hard to see that a matchup between Red Bull New York and Pepsi San Jose isn’t going to sound like a major league sport. It’s going to sound like company sides facing off in extramurals.
One of the things that I’ve come to accept, even if I dislike it is the naming of stadia after sponsors. I like the old names. Metrodome. Astrodome. Old Trafford. Anfield. Highbury. What’ve we got now? Emirates Stadium, Monster Park, Xcel Center. No history; no pride; simply a way to advertise. It’s something that I can live with.
In Europe, having a sponsor on the front of your shirt is commonplace. MLS hasn’t done that. For a while, they had some shirt sponors on the back, but I don’t believe that they’ve even had much of that recently. The reason is largely because of the team names being plastered on the front. I don’t really have an issue with that, but with Red Bull New York, this brings an interesting question. Will other companies suddenly realize that they can get their logo on the front of the shirt if they buy the whole team outright? Will this spark a number of these types of deals?
And if it does will these companies be more or less likely to pull their money when it becomes apparent that they’re not going to start making a ton of money really quickly. Despite what Giorgio Chinaglia says, simply spending a wad of cash on getting a few top-quality players isn’t going to bring back the “glory-days” of the NASL.
We’ll see, but I’ll be watching very carefully to see how Red Bull New York handles its relationship with the Metrostars faithful. In Austria, they’ve banned people from wearing the old jerseys as they’ve tried to brand the club as entirely new. Supposedly, that’s what they’re doing here. Are they going to kick people out for wearing red and black stripes? I can only imagine that this will be ejecting they’re most loyal fan base—the one that Eric Wynalda harangued them for ignoring two years ago. That would not be good for the league no matter how you look at it. But maybe they’ll do it better here since they’ll no doubt be aware of the difference in demographics in New York vs. Salzburg.
Well, forward the future, towards a league of company sides.
Don’t get me wrong, this is no knee-jerk reaction. I’ve thought long and hard about it. The money coming into the league is good, no doubt about it. Another large company with a stake in the league is good, no doubt about it. Funding for the SSS is good, no doubt about it.
However.
I don’t think it’s hard to see that a matchup between Red Bull New York and Pepsi San Jose isn’t going to sound like a major league sport. It’s going to sound like company sides facing off in extramurals.
One of the things that I’ve come to accept, even if I dislike it is the naming of stadia after sponsors. I like the old names. Metrodome. Astrodome. Old Trafford. Anfield. Highbury. What’ve we got now? Emirates Stadium, Monster Park, Xcel Center. No history; no pride; simply a way to advertise. It’s something that I can live with.
In Europe, having a sponsor on the front of your shirt is commonplace. MLS hasn’t done that. For a while, they had some shirt sponors on the back, but I don’t believe that they’ve even had much of that recently. The reason is largely because of the team names being plastered on the front. I don’t really have an issue with that, but with Red Bull New York, this brings an interesting question. Will other companies suddenly realize that they can get their logo on the front of the shirt if they buy the whole team outright? Will this spark a number of these types of deals?
And if it does will these companies be more or less likely to pull their money when it becomes apparent that they’re not going to start making a ton of money really quickly. Despite what Giorgio Chinaglia says, simply spending a wad of cash on getting a few top-quality players isn’t going to bring back the “glory-days” of the NASL.
We’ll see, but I’ll be watching very carefully to see how Red Bull New York handles its relationship with the Metrostars faithful. In Austria, they’ve banned people from wearing the old jerseys as they’ve tried to brand the club as entirely new. Supposedly, that’s what they’re doing here. Are they going to kick people out for wearing red and black stripes? I can only imagine that this will be ejecting they’re most loyal fan base—the one that Eric Wynalda harangued them for ignoring two years ago. That would not be good for the league no matter how you look at it. But maybe they’ll do it better here since they’ll no doubt be aware of the difference in demographics in New York vs. Salzburg.
Well, forward the future, towards a league of company sides.
posted by Zathras at 9:23 AM
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