8,475 People Turn Their Lonely Eyes To You.....

March 9 was clearly the most pivotal day in the area's MLS soccer history since the club's inception in 1996. The purchase of the MetroStars by Red Bull created hope and dissension amongst even the most committed fans. Slowly but surely, Red Bull won many of the skeptics and fence-sitters over. They said all the right things, poured money into marketing, reached out to the fans through bus trips and created a spectacle at the home opener. The new ownership talked openly of bringing superstar players back to Giants Stadium and of building a team worthy of the dedicated fans. Yet, less then a month removed from the season opener, Red Bull has failed to build open its initial zeal with any type of follow up marketing or advertising. Two months into life under a new ownership, and already, it is more of the same. No marketing. No advertising. Little press interest. A poor and struggling team. A franchise, by any other name, is still, the MetroStars.

Red Bull's acquisition of the club formerly known as the MetroStars was promised to introduce area soccer fans to a new perspective on ownership of a soccer franchise in this country. Not since the Cosmos of the 1970's has an ownership shown as much interest in bringing a truly wonderful experience to the field. Following on the heels of the penny-pinching AEG (a notion AEG honcho Tim Leiweke recognized), Red Bull initially started promisingly by catering to fans and recognizing the history of soccer in this area, all the while re-branding the club in an effort to wash away the underachieving association of the MetroStars. As much as many loved the MetroStars name, perhaps it was time to start anew and fresh. Yet, this is a market that tried to embrace MLS before, and feels jaded and will not be easily won over.

The home debut of the MetroStars in 1996 drew over 46,000 fans to Giants Stadium to watching a disappointing loss on an own goal from Nicola Caricola. The initial foray of Red Bull at the Meadowlands a month ago drew 35,000 fans; this number topped the MLS attendance for that week, but is still more then 10,000 fewer spectators then the 1996 numbers. In spite of all the glitz and glamour of flying in Pele and Beckenbauer in addition to the half-time gyrations of Shakira and Wyclef Jean, ten years of ineptitude and suffering can not be covered up and coated with some flash. Despite the attempt to lure fans back with a spectacle, the fact remains that what the organization is and should be about- the piecing together of a winning soccer team- is far from complete. The 35,000 in attendance on April 10 can attest to the fact that the Red Bull team on the field was putrid. Bringing in pop sensations and Cosmos greats does nothing more then whitewash a tomb of death and decay.

Two weeks after the disappointing home opener and the less then expected attendance at the match, Red Bull failed to market a nationally televised game, featuring perhaps the league's largest drawing card in Freddy Adu and the attendance numbers prove the point. The total paid attendance of less then 9,000 (most likely a fourth of that number appeared) braved the elements to watch the hapless Red Bulls "play" versus D.C. While the poor weather kept away many fans, paid attendance of under 9,000 against a team that over the past several seasons has typically brought in the season's largest crowds, is a major disappointment. The D.C. debacle underscores the fact that Red Bull can not satisfy itself with merely pushing a product, MLS in this market has to be sold and sold again to the local fans. To expect that the gestures of a free concert or bus trip would result in the tri-state community embracing the team is a severe miscalculation on the part of the team. This team needs more then a flash of glitter and star power; the entire organization needs a shock and jolt the likes of which mere gimmicks and sideshow attractions can not achieve.