Timing, as we all know, is essential to success in sport. A millisecond layer and a home run becomes a pop up, a blink too soon and a NASCAR driver ends up being entangled with a rival just in front of him, a small flinch and an birdie ends up being just par. So it also is in “The Beautiful Game,” where a perfectly timed pass can become the difference between score and shutout.
This week that timing was on full display off the pitch, as Manchester City, Major League Soccer and the New York Yankees announced a long rumored deal to bring the 20th MLS franchise to New York City. The deal pushed soccer to the front pages of every newspaper and broadcast outlet, created buzz and excitement in the New York City area that hasn’t been seen for soccer really since the original Cosmos…the ones that played games vs. the brand out there now as a marketing machine to start play in the lower tier NASL later this summer…last took the turf at Giants Stadium.
Part of the excitement was that interesting mix of timing…the announcement fell miraculously at a point on the sports calendar where hoops was finished with the Knicks exit from the playoffs over the weekend, the Jets and Giants in a lull before offseason workouts begin, the Yankees on the road, two of the three NHL teams done and the Rangers coming close to ending the season, and no extraordinary other sports events, not even wrestling this week in Grand Central Station or a mega WWE show to contend with. The Red Bulls were even quiet, having played a marquee matchup with the LA Galaxy over the weekend, and even fans of global soccer were waiting for this weekend’s Champions League matchup. It was a rare spot where crickets could be heard through the usual noise of a spring sports week in Gotham, and fit well with Man City’s exhibition which is to be played Saturday against rival Chelsea at Yankee Stadium already on the calendar. A better stage could not have been set from a timing perspective.
So what does all this mean for brand soccer and for sport both in America and in New York? Lots potentially. First, unless someone has a few billion and yet another new ballpark, New York City Football Club will probably be the last major sports franchise startup in new York, the world’s biggest marketplace. With nine professional teams already, it would be hard to see where a new one will come from, unless a sport like cricket or rugby rise up in the future.
NYCFC will also benefit from the pluses and minuses of several of the most successful sports startups in recent years, all of whom have occurred in Major League Soccer. Borrowing a bit from Seattle and Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto, the New York franchise from a business perspective can build a support base, a technology strategy, a sales platform, and a community and education initiative that could raise awareness and make the club a part of the community well before the first ball is struck on the pitch. Brands limited in their exposure to soccer in the tri-state can get a chance to engage with a growing soccer audience, and perhaps the influence of a club associated with Man City can even bring in a few new global brands looking to engage in American sport as well.
The club will also benefit from the insiders of New York sport business, from the Yankees led by Randy Levine, and partner Legends Hospitality, led by Dave Checketts, on what buttons to push, what hands to shake, what backs to slap and what protocol to be followed when navigating the treacherous waters of both politics and Madison Avenue. They also will have the support and focus of Manchester City, a club which has expanded their brand well beyond where the club was founded over 100 years ago and is now continuing to raise as one of the elite global sports properties. The brand extensions Barclays Premier League clubs are now outing into a soccer-savvy North American market go way beyond TV rights and kit sales. They include training events, regular tours, social media experiments, and in the case of Manchester City, the opening of schools in select cities which combine soccer with education and life skills to not only form a young fan base, but solid community citizens as well. The combination of insiders who know the market and outsiders who know enough to work with insiders, all with deep pockets, and a long term global vision, make the matchup pretty intriguing.
Are there going to be challenges? You bet. The buzz that was generated this week was a great blessing, but also ratcheted up expectations way beyond what was probably originally planned, at least at the start. Manchester City plays in the world’s most elite league, MLS, even with all its growth, is by the admission of Commissioner Don Garber, still on a plan to make the league one of the most elite sometimes in the next 10 years. In a world where fans and brands want ROI in 10 minutes and expect the best on and off the pitch, that is a challenge, but one that MLS has managed well to this point in their history.
The marketplace itself has great opportunity, but also great risk. There are thousands of young people playing the game, especially east of Manhattan, whose exposure to professional soccer is still only on television. The Red Bulls, even with a gleaming facility and the deep pockets of their owners, have built a solid core fan base mostly in New Jersey but still have not embraced the casual fan across the Hudson or even further away. They also have not solved the issue of bringing global fans to their Harrison home on a consistent basis. That grassroots outreach on a daily basis from the schools to the pubs, will be essential for NYCFC to score before they get started playing matches, and even with that core embraced, they will have to compete in the most crowded and most expensive marketplace for sport on the planet. Battle the Red Bulls and maybe the Cosmos a bit for fans and media attention? Sure. But try battling the Knicks and the Mets and the Yankees and the Nets and the Rangers etc etc…in the spring, and then the Jets and the Giants in the fall. It won’t be easy, but by seeding the market continually with looks behind the scenes, and keeping buzz surrounding the building of the club and the community, NYCFC has a chance to embrace and create momentum regardless of on field results. Ironically two examples of sport clubs doing just that in the area are not that far away. The Cosmos, who have yet to play a game, stole lots of marketing thunder from the established Red Bulls by constantly creating business noise this past year, while the Nets, in their move from New Jersey to Brooklyn, used a barrage of communications to always keep the franchise top of mind with the media. Those two, along with best practices of their MLS startup bretheran and some to be planned specific publicity stunts, would be essential for bringing the brand into the limelight as launch date approaches.
Then where to play? Having the blessing of an outgoing Mayor and the support of the Yankees business team and others on the inside of New York will be a big help, but funding the right spot to draw young people as well as a melting pot of fans who love the game, and doing it at an affordable price, will be very intriguing, and one of the biggest battles to fight.
Even with those mountains to climb, the idea of a New York startup with a global entity…several in Man City and the Yankees…is really interesting for all involved in sport and sport business. City made a few nice first steps this week, hiring a local soccer hero who has seen success on both sides of the pond in Claudio Reyna. They showed their commitment to youth by doing the announcement at the Harlem school they have embraced. They put forth a multi-ethnic front by doing interviews in the English and Spanish, they sent players far and wide for interviews, and even dropped in on the regular tenants of Yankee Stadium for their game Tuesday night for a first pitch and another round of media interviews. By the way the Yankees opponent that night? The Toronto Blue Jays, another fortuitous bounce in the international sports world, to have the only non-American team in MLB also in the house at a time when such a mega-international announcement was being made.
This is surely not the first intercontinental marriage between U.S, brands and soccer. It’s not even the first for the Yankees, who had a short-lived partnership with Manchester United several years ago. From the Glazers to Fenway Sports Group to others, American business has invested in global soccer of the highest quality. It is however, the first time the investment has really come back across the pond.
The first match also will not be played tomorrow, it is still a few years off, and that amount of time will also play in the favor of a successful launch for the brand now that the announcement is done. However the clock is now ticking, and to be the elite brand launch, the happening, the spectacle that this needs to be, every second will be needed.
It is fun to think of the possibilities and where this could lead in global sports. There was even the story of the Yankees taking baseball to England, although that type of brand expansion is more of a sidebar than the focus of expanding the soccer audience in the States, which becomes more passionate every day.
Yes there are lots of details to be worked out, but timing in sport is everything, and if this week was an example, then the newest addition to the sports landscape in America, and maybe the last in the New York area, has hit a first pitch homer, or scored an early first half goal, like few before it. Welcome NYCFC, we will be watching more for the success to be innovative as a business at first than for wins, draws and losses on the field .
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