Although some accuse me of being on my high horse, I can say one thing- I put my money where my mouth is. Well at least my signature.
If there is one sign of apathy of soccer in Miami it’s that only 2,752 people as of Tuesday have logged on to GoUSABid.org. That is crap. I don’t necessarily blame the fans. You can’t really galvanize and rally the troops towards a cause no one knows about. This is the primary problem with this World Cup bid petition. People cannot sign or be made aware of this if they aren’t informed or if the people spearheading this operation got out and inform them.
I think I have my talking points memorized to a tee. Soccer is a poor man’s sport. Soccer is an inclusionary sport, not exclusionary. Some want to strangle me when I say it, but when they get it through their heads they’ll understand. You have to get to the people in order to get a message. In marketing, the mountain doesn’t come to Mohammad; that’s why Mohammed must got to the mountain. I have no scientific evidence, but around 90% of the soccer community here in Miami does not know that Miami FC even existed last year. It wasn’t because they refused to know about it, it was mostly because no one told them the club was around- after four years of existence.
Who is being aimed at this? Who is being talked to? Is it the the same heads involved in this that have been involved in soccer in South Florida for the past 30 years? If that is the case, then there is no way that we are going to get a bid because they have limited themselves to a core of fans that maybe are 2% of the South Florida demographic. You can market to Biff Wall Street or Joe Tourist all you want, but José from Homestead, Jean-Jacques from Liberty City or Carlton from North Dade are the ones that make the difference. This goes from a franchise perspective as well as a World Cup venue perspective as well.
If I am misinformed, then so be it. Please educate me because I am in the dark as well as 98% of the soccer people down here.