BY ERIC GIACOMETTI
If you’re reading this post, chances are you’ve heard Commissioner Don Garber’s latest comments about NY2 … and I’d be willing to bet that you probably hated them.
While scouring my timeline during Garber’s press conference, I came across tweet after tweet bashing the commissioner and coming to the defense of our beloved Red Bulls. In one night, Garber managed to seem more enamored with a team that does not yet exist than he ever has with the Metro Bulls. As the quotes came pouring in, so too did the uproar. But I think the statement that put most Red Bull fans over the edge was the one that graces the front of MLS’ Facebook page today…
The nerve! The audacity!
And while I initially got on the Garber-hate train, his quote got me thinking….
As one of five RBNY fans to actually hail from New York, I feel as if I bring a bit of a different perspective to the ‘Great Debate.’ To all those who say there already is a team in New York, I simply ask …
“Is there?”
Perhaps the more important question here is “what makes a team a ‘New York team.” Is it simply the namesake of the team? The location of the stadium? Where the fan base resides? If we truly take a deeper look, it appears that the Red Bulls are New York in name only. It’s quite obvious that a large majority of Red Bulls fans are from New Jersey, and Harrison is … well … Harrison … so what New York ties do the Red Bulls have aside from their name? Unlike the Jets and Giants who currently play in New Jersey, the Red Bulls have never called New York home and have never truly connected with the New York fan base.
So maybe Garber is right. Maybe we do need a team in NYC for MLS to succeed. A league such as MLS that is still quite young could only benefit from placing a team in “the largest and most important city in the world.” Then again, one could argue that the NFL has no team in Los Angeles or New York City, and they seem to be doing just fine. Fair points, but hardly comparable situations. The NFL is an established powerhouse that brings in more money than any other sport. As the most popular sport in America, it doesn’t need to be bolstered by support from a market as large as L.A. As for a team in New York, the Giants and Jets franchises have both called NYC home and their fan bases are a loyal and strong bunch.
Change is scary, I get that. I was initially blinded by my hate for any and all things NY2. But it’s time to face the facts – NY2 IS happening. There’s nothing me, you, or anyone else can do to change that. Perhaps the time is now to embrace this change. If you ask me, Don Garber is an evil genius. He’s already made you hate NY2 more than you can imagine, and this new rivalry will only make both of these teams better and create a great atmosphere for soccer in the NY/NJ area.
Will the introduction of the Queens-based team relegate the Red Bulls to the chasms of oblivion? That depends on your view of the Red Bulls as it currently stands. The team already gets little to no coverage from major media outlets, and most fans get their news from fan-run sites and podcasts. Such is a problem that plagues not only RBNY, but MLS as a whole. Will NY2 usher Red Bulls fans away from Harrison? I’m not sure anyone knows the answer to that, but I tend to doubt it. The fans who have stayed despite 17 years of failure and heartbreak are some of the most loyal around.
Besides, for most Red Bull fans, Red Bull Arena will be a closer commute than crossing the bridge to get to Queens.
At the end of the day, Garber’s actions have made it clear that NY2 will become the poster child for MLS. What will that make of RBNY? I’m not sure anyone knows exactly what will transpire, good or bad, for this franchise. It’s best if we start accepting it now, because the times they are a changing.
A pretty rosy view. It’s the part at the end that has me concerned. Nobody really knows for sure how much an appetite there is in this market for 2 MLS teams, Hudson River separating them or not, It’s frightening to think about RBNY being even more ignored than they are now, but it may be coming. I don’t want to sound like a Cassandra, but I don’t see how this ends well for RBNY or its loyal fans.
@EmpireOfSoccer “As one of five RBNY fans to actually hail from NY…” Can we please stop pushing this idea? We all know % is far higher.
@TheVipersNest @EmpireOfSoccer *Raises hand* Born and raised in the boroughs no less.
@JJHargs @EmpireOfSoccer 6 of the 8 or so people who are TVN regulars (writers, video, etc.) over the past year live in NY, not Jersey.
Also, where are people getting this idea that nobody from NY goes to RBNY games? It’s likely somewhere between 30-40% of the fan base. In our little Viper’s Nest group, 5 of the seven main people involved with the site live in NY state, including Hudson Valley, Westchester, Brooklyn.
Sell this as a great idea if you like, but misrepresentations like this don’t help.
I think Garber is right…to have a SSS within NYC proper is important for the league. I wanted the Jets to move into Manhattan because I thought having a stadium in Manhattan would be awesome… I also thought a lot of soccer would end up getting played there too. The rest of the world probably looks at NYC and thinks “They don’t have a stadium?!” There’s a huge difference between being able to get on the subway and make one or two transfers and know exactly how long it’ll take, versus the Path, which can be great but also very hit or miss. And to be honest, for many New Yorkers, travelling from Brooklyn, Queens, or the Bronx to Harrison is much more daunting.
@ticoruddy123 http://t.co/3DHrXGvq
As a soccer fan who lives out in Nassau County, I completely agree. I know I may be in the minority, but I don’t think a lot of the Jersey-based fans get how much of a hassle it is to get to New Jersey from the outer boroughs and especially Long Island. My commute to Manhattan takes 1.5 hours each way on good transit days. Just the thought of having to make all those additional transfers to get downtown and then taking the PATH (and back) is incredibly off-putting, no matter how much I want to go see the Red Bulls play.
I’m actually excited about NY2 and the upcoming NASL Cosmos season next year. I might actually be able to sit in a stadium and see an actual professional game. Hofstra isn’t so far off that it’s impossible to get there with Nassau’s terrible bus system, and I live close enough to the Nassau-Queens border that heading to Flushing is easy by bus or subway. And who knows? NY2 may be good for RBNY. New York teams tend to do much better when they have an in-town rival; probably because they know they have to fight for the hearts and minds of ever critical NYC sports fans. It may also invigorate more passive New York-based RBNY fans.
Since RBNY and the Cosmos are in different leagues — and MLS NY2 not existing quite yet — I can feel free to cheer for both. Yet I’ll have to make a tough decision though if NY2 does happen. I know I’ll get bashed for even considering jumping ship. But it’s hard to ignore the allure of a local team that you can get to see and really get to know. Maybe it’s because I’m a new fan and this was, in fact, my first full season as a RBNY/MLS fan that I feel this way. Before May last year, when a bored fit of channel surfing lead to me to a RBNY-Houston match on MSG, I didn’t even know that New York even HAD a professional soccer team, much less had one for over 15 years. Most RBNY events happen in New Jersey or, more rarely, Manhattan. RBNY is simply non-existent out in eastern Queens and Long Island, and it doesn’t seem like the front office is interested in reaching out to a largely untapped source of soccer supporters over here.
And, on a last note, I want to thank guys like Dave, Mark, Eric, Franco, Ives, and all the other RBNY beat writers for keeping those of us out in the wilderness up to date with news, analysis, history, fun tweets, and podcasts. I also want to thank the other RBNY fans for their unflagging support for the team because I admit there were times this season where your words and unflagging loyalty (and, I admit, your snarkiness) were invaluable to surviving all those ups and downs. I really appreciate it and I hope all of you forgive this way too-long comment.
I get how much of PITA it is to get to Harrison from LI. Almost as bad as it is for me to get to the Mets. I still haven’t made it out the CitiPark. I think long term, NY2 is a good thing. I think it’s a tad soon though. What burns my ass is Garbers comments. They are disrespectful to RBNY fans as well as to the rest of the league. Plus this comes barely a year after MLS billed their All-Star game as NYC-2011. As for marketing, maybe it will make RBNY concentrate their marketing towards NJ more. Honestly they seem to try to cater to Manhattan and even Brooklyn more than they do NJ. There is one NJ viewing party listed on their site and it’s basically a 10min train ride from Manhattan. If NY can learn to draw from NJ and the boroughs close to mass transit maybe this is how it will work for both teams. People really need to stop bitching about the driving situation. As long as game times aren’t at crap times, it’s really not THAT bad. I have just as bad a time getting into and out of a crowded game at the Meadowlands and I get to drain my wallet for the privilege.
I think most of the RBNY outreach goes to NJ. Which makes sense, huge population of youth players and families in the area. Most of their player appearances happen in NJ. They do some things in Manhattan, but those are usually based around Titi.The media blitz was pretty great right before the opening of RBA. The MLS and Red Bulls need to spend more money on media buys in the Metro area. Why isn’t there a video or videos on the Red Bulls site showing how “easy” it is to get to RBA. The Metro “HUB” tool looks lame. Also, it it really easier to take a train from uptown to Penn Station NJ Transit>Newark>Path/Trolley?
That in and of itself seems like a hassle. The WTC Path is much easier.
ICYMI: @EricRBNY gives his ‘Bull’s Eye View:’ Maybe Garber is right (on #NY2 at least) http://t.co/Yuq3KveA #MLS #RBNY
Enjoyed your article. I’m not really interested in the “Harrison is in New Jersey” vs. “Harrison is in the NY metro area” debate. But I do think that the proposed location, with the iconic world’s fair unisphere in the background, and the adjacent (within walking distance) densely populated immigrant neighborhoods, will be a more “New York” experience than Harrison.
Beyond that, I think the various supporters clubs have plenty to complain about when it comes to the league front office, and we ought to be working together on an agenda to influence MLS to be more supportive and more responsive to its hardest core fans.
@EmpireOfSoccer Great post.
Bull’s Eye View: Maybe Garber is right (on NY2 at least) http://t.co/6ddFow43
The Far West (NJ) stays with Bulls;
The Big East (Queens and LI) go for NY 2.
And The Middle Kingdom is up for grabs!
Beware COSMOS!!!
My take on #NY2 (now #NYCFC) from a few months back FWIW http://t.co/ZprEOCIg2r #RBNY