Orlando City swept into the town in a wave of excitement and marketing genius six years ago. The sudden growth of soccer and the team within Orlando itself has been one of the more intriguing sports stories in the soccer world in the United States.
The Lions have no sense of slowing down. They had to expand their stadium plans because of the demand for tickets and the team is averaging more than 35,000 fans per game — a small sample size weighted by the 60,000-plus the team got in its opener, but still much more than the team’s stadium is expected to hold when it is completed.
In the push to make MLS and get the name out to as many people as possible in Orlando, the team passed out magnets for free at every opportunity. It is hard not to drive anywhere in Orlando and not see an Orlando City car magnet somewhere. It is a marketing strategy other teams are trying to copy.
No one though seems to have the same marketing power and energy that Orlando City has. Everything the team has done has seemingly struck gold and connected with its fan base — both the hardcore supporters and the general, casual fan.
The next phase for Orlando City is already well in works and is certainly unique.
Plenty of teams throughout the country use watch parties as a way to connect to fans. Considering how passionate and involved Orlando City fans have been, the team is reaching out directly to bars to create an unofficial official atmosphere.
Unlike Magic watch parties where the team sets up special deals and sends its promotional team to the event, Orlando City set up a “pub network,” guaranteeing the game is shown with the volume up and promoting the bar as an official pub on its Web site.
As Kyle Arnold of the Orlando Sentinel reports, for a pub to get listed on Orlando City’s official pub page, it only needs to buy a certain number of season tickets. But the advertisement helps pack fans in the buildings for road games. And fans have flocked to these official bars for games in large numbers.
Like everything with Orlando City, it has struck gold.
So much so that an independent party is planning on opening a soccer-themed bar on Church Street with lion theming, clearly referencing Orlando City’s crest.
The success story just seems to continue for Orlando City in every facet of marketing with no sign of slowing down — even as the team has some middling play on the pitch.
Perhaps the week-to-week nature of soccer lends itself better to this form of advertising than the Magic. The Magic play 41 road games all throughout the week whereas Orlando City plays 17 road games mostly on weekends. It is easier for fans to make arrangements to go to a restaurant for a game once per week on the weekend than five times in seven days while the Magic are on the West Coast.
It is also something very ingrained into soccer culture. Like college football, soccer has a drinking culture to it. That is internationally the way soccer is. Going to a pub to watch a game is a big part of soccer fandom around the world.
Orlando City is certainly tapping into this with its strategy of teaming up with local pubs throughout the city.
Big 12 thinking small with expansion
UCF’s dance with the Big 12 to join the conference continues on with UCF reportedly having made its case last month (more on that tomorrow). But it does look like the Big 12 is not ready to make such an ambitious expansion Eastward.
A big part of any expansion plan involving UCF would have to include the creation of a more full-scale Big 12 Network, likely taking the place of the Longhorn Network. The Big 12 right now does not appear interested in forming its own television network. That boat has sailed, according to Oklahoma president Dan Boren.
“Yes, TV markets are important. Yes, the financial aspect is important,” Boren told Jake Trotter of ESPN.com. “But … our fans want to see our teams play against great teams. They don’t want to see them play mediocre teams. We have to determine what that’s going to do to the longtime reputation of the brands at each of the schools and what quality of opponents we’re having.”
That would not bode well for UCF, especially coming off an 0-12 season. The Knights have to continue building up their program into one that can compete consistently to meet this criteria it would seem.
UCF is going to have to keep working on its end to make the program more attractive to the Big 12 with this potential avenue and advantage closed for now.
Copa America in U.S. may become permanent
Copa America will be back in action tonight at Camping World Stadium as Bolivia plays Panama. The game is scheduled to play despite the threat of Tropical Storm Colin.
It may not be the last time Copa America is in Orlando or the United States.
ESPN Deportes reports CONCACAF and CONMEBOL are negotiating a deal to make the Copa America tournament a permanent fixture on the United States sports calendar. There are reports the confederations are considering combining their continental tournaments and making it a tournament that occurs every four years.
This is really good news for the U.S. and soccer fans as it creates a major tournament featuring some major soccer stars taking place on American soil. Orlando was obviously considered for this one-off tournament as a host site and so could be part of the regular rotation for cities to host tournament games in the future.
Hopefully that means ticket prices go down, a major complaint of the Copa America games this tournament. But we will see.
Orlando could be seeing some less-than-impressive attendance numbers for this tournament with a lack of star players and now a tropical storm likely keeping casual fans away. The city has become a soccer hub and so surely will be given another chance in the rota if Copa America becomes a permanent fixture in the United States.
