The New York Yankees continue to march on into the ALCS, while the Philadelphia Phillies look to knock out the upstart San Francisco Giants, the New York Jets and New York Giants are coming off impressive weeks with winnable games this weekend.
All three area hockey teams are getting the season off the ground (not to mention the Trenton Devils), and the New York Knicks, even with harmony on the court, are garnering some attention and anticipation as the NBA season draws closer. The New Jersey Nets are on the other side of the world for a week battling Yao Ming and impressing their new owner in Russia, but they are even pulling in a headline or two from far away as they look to woo fans from distant lands to the Prudential Center in Newark for the next few years.
Also this weekend, a refreshingly fun Army team will battle Rutgers at the New Meadowlands Stadium, with countless other high school and lower level college games dotting the calendar.
Fall traditions of apple and pumpkin picking, leaf watching and Halloween preparation will also pull the casual and the diehard sports fan in different directions in the crowded fall landscape.
So what about the New York Red Bull. New stadium, new star, strong season, playoffs abound, World Cup afterglow still in the area. does anyone kno. Do many people car. As the MLS has continued to grow in most markets, the consistent presence in New York again seems lost in the fall season. Yes the team made some splashes this spring and summer and pulled new faces to Harrison with some exciting friendlies and the promise of new and exciting opportunities, but as the playoffs begin, much seems lost again.
The great irony remains that the area remains one of the most fruitful and passionate soccer areas anywhere in the United States, yet the disconnect from grassroots to the professional side still is very clear.
Major League Soccer did a phenomenal job of growing their fan base bottom up, engaging fans and families, as they became consumers and eventually ticket buyers. That never happened in the New York area, where the MetroStars went strong after the grassroots and fumbled on the field, while the Red Bulls have gone the other way, going more for the elite consumer and eschewing the grassroots pretty much entirely. In reality neither really works. Sports brands in this country need a mix of both glitz and substance. In many ways, the Red Bulls have now done what the New Jersey Devils did for years. Try and put a superior product on the field and that will bring fans, with little spent marketing the players to the core fans in season. The Devils learned that mix does not work, and have been one of the most progressive teams in terms of mixing smart marketing and social media with a solid on ice product the last three seasons. Will the Red Bulls learn as wel. That is to be determined.
Without that mix, a mix which cultivates long term supporters of a club and gives reason to root now, it will be very, very difficult for media to find reasons to pull away from traditional sports and follow the team consistently. Yes they can be successful in soccer-specific media, but sports-specific media only goes so far. Even in today's all access world, major media and regular coverage is essential for brand growth.
Now we need the Red Bulls to be successful for a number of reasons. Soccer needs to keep growing in the United States, and it needs to be successful in major markets to make an impact. This is not yet the NFL, which can have secondary markets like New Orleans and Indianapolis produce record numbers in viewership for a Super Bowl. This is still an emerging sport, albeit one with solid roots.
Will continued winning and another run to an MLS Cup like two seasons ago be enough for Red Bull and MLS growth in this are. We shall see, and hopefully thousands others will too.
