Like the Million Dollar Arm, another example of .unique idea riding a wave of popularity is the people's soccer club, the UK's Ebbsfleet United. Almost a year ago, the idea was pushed forth in Portfolio and other places by an entrepreur to have a soccer team where fans could buy in and make the day to day decisions o.the club. As chronicled in the New York Times this week, the Ebbsfleet idea has worked wonderfully in the first year, with th.club achieving onfield success never seen before while garnering over 30,000 “owners” who have a say in the business.The idea worked this time because of a perfect storm of situations prior to the recent financial crisis…growing popularity of smaller clubs in Europe, a dearth of opportunities for fans to activate with larger clubs, fans frustration wih management, the emergence of fantasy play and a price point that made sense for people to try the idea with little downside.Can the “owners” not try and get overly involve.? Most importantly can the process be replicated successfully in minor league sports in the US like baseballBut the fact that it did work well once, with all the pieces falling into place in year one, shows that the effort, if managed properly, can be a successful run for thos.who take the time to find a property and grow with it.
Some other good reads…George Solomon in the Washington Post has a look at the election through the eyes of Hall of Fame coach John Thompson…the LA Times has an excerpt from Mark Heisler's new book about the LA Lakers…Fox Sports’ Mark Kriegel has a good column on Joe Paterno's continued run at Penn State…the Boston Globe's Bob Ryan also had a good column worth reading this week on the value and issues Allen Iverson brings to Detroit…?
