With FC Edmonton about to enter its third NASL season, the team appears to be facing what Steven Sandor has astutely called a "make-or-break" year.
The Eddies have, in their short existence, played in three different facilities (all unsatisfactory in their own ways), and the push is now on for a soccer-specific stadium that would help fully entrench the team in the civic consciousness.
First, though, it must be shown that the demand is there -- so the team, as well as the FC Edmonton Supporters Group -- have begun their own push: To sell out as many games as possible at the team's current home, the recently-expanded-to-5,000-seat Clarke Stadium.
For a team with an average attendance of 1,525 in 2012, that seems like a mighty big ask. So, can they do it? Does the demand exist in Edmonton? And what needs to be done to transform the team from a novelty into a fully accepted part of the local landscape? For some insight, I spoke to Greg Baker and Tobi Oliva of the FCESG about those questions and more.
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The push is on from the team and the supporters to sell out as many games as possible this year, to send a message to the city that a stadium is worth building. But what do you think the chances are of seeing most of FC Edmonton's home games sold out in 2013?
GB: I think we're cautiously optimistic, that's my take on it. The biggest reason that we had such small crowds last year was this whole fiasco with the seating. ... We moved from Foote Field at the University of Alberta to Clarke Stadium. They did the unveiling, showed us all the temporary seating that would be installed to expand it and all this, and everybody was quite excited about it. And then it was one story after another about why it wasn't up yet. They didn't want to get a liquor license for the games until the stands were in, because they'd have to reapply or something like that.
So it was one thing after another that dragged on and on. The offshoot of that was that they basically did zero marketing of the actual games, because when you've only got 1,200 seats and most of that is standing room, you really don't want to have to start a big marketing blitz and then turn people away. It sounds kind of funny, because people talk about building a demand, but I think that's a bit of an artificial demand. You're not going to get those people clamouring to get in like you would have in the early days of TFC.
TO: Basically in my conversations with the club over the last 12 months, seeing what happened, their marketing budget was also cut back, I think, because of that reason. They didn't really have the leeway to try and market, especially if people were going to show up and be turned away.
You mention last year's two big issues, in terms of the stadium and the marketing. Do you feel those issues have been adequately addressed going into 2013?
GB: We'll see. They said they are. I think the real test is whether those stands get up as soon as they can clear the snow off. That's the first thing that people are going to be looking to, in order to see whether this is real.
What (the stadium issue last year) basically came down to is, they bought some fancy stands from the States and didn't think they would have issues getting permits putting them up in Alberta. ... They couldn't get architects to sign off on it, who would let them put it up. It wasn't so simple as getting the city to sign off on something, they had to start almost from scratch in terms of a full architectural assessment -- which, in some people's minds, was a real faux pas, in terms of making those assumptions.
Tom Fath, being the owner of the club and having made his money in the construction business, people thought these guys should be more on the ball, in terms of knowing that just because something is approved elsewhere, it might not meet specific provincial building codes. So they had to start that whole process before they could even apply for a permit.
People may say it's overly ambitious to think you can fill a 5,000-seat stadium for this season, given last year's attendance. But from the way you're describing it, it's more about the logistical issues in the past, rather than some inherent lack of interest or lack of demand. So if these issues are dealt with, as you hope, do you think there is that organic demand within the city of Edmonton?
TO: I would say yes...
GB: I think so too.
TO: ... if you consider the fact that they really only could fit 1,500, 1,300, depending on who you ask, per game. That was basically full standing room. So I guess their hands are tied in that respect. Now that the playing field is set for that, the circumstances are a lot more encouraging now than it was a year ago.
GB: I've been following the team since day one -- in fact, I went to the very first press conference that Tom Fath had to announce the existence of the team, which is almost exactly three years ago now. Since that time we've watched them play at Foote Field, which was the U of A campus, which was terrible: small field, and for Canadian university football, with bright yellow and green end zones and white lines all over the place. It was a multi-purpose field. I said it was the place old fake Christmas trees went to die, they just stapled them down.
The other thing is that the general admission seating, which is where a lot of the fans were congregating, was up a hill and away, so it didn't feel very intimate. We had a pretty good season, the first real season (2011); we had fun in the exhibition season before that. But last year, we were terrible, we lost almost every game, but I think by and large people had a much better time at Clarke. I know the supporters certainly did. But I think generally the feeling is that this was a lot better.
So I anticipate that if they actually start marketing the thing -- (now) they've got control over their own destiny, which they didn't have when they shared (a facility) with the U of A, in terms of scheduling; I think every home game is a Sunday afternoon now, (which isn't) perfect, but it's probably the best option for most people -- I don't see any reason why they can't get 5,000 people out.
At the end of the day, the onus for marketing a team falls upon the team itself. But sometimes -- as you mentioned earlier, with the early days of TFC -- the supporters themselves and the culture can be as much of a marketing tool as anything. So I'm wondering, what sorts of things has the FCESG been doing to try to help the team reach that attendance goal?
TO: First off, we're about to launch our website; it will provide the fan perspective of things in Edmonton. We're trying our best on Twitter (@FCESG); we came up with the #FCEd5k hashtag. Just little things like that, trying to get more people involved, trying to reach out to more people. We're offering a beer to people who stand with us for the first time at a game.
We're trying to get into bigger things too, being more visible -- for example, we filmed a commercial with FC Edmonton where we're basically chanting in mundane situations throughout the winter, things you wouldn't normally chant for, like parking a car or waiting for a printout to come out. That's coming up pretty soon, with the season tickets about to be sold on the 4th. We're expecting a commercial to be done there.
We also have a rivalry with Minnesota. I think both clubs are approaching both sets of supporters to talk about the Flyover Cup, which is the cup that we play for every year with Minnesota.
GB: Both Edmonton and Minnesota are places you'd fly over while going somewhere else.
TO: We're trying to be more visible, obviously. If you consider two years ago, we really only have five to 10 people show up to games, sometimes we only had three people show up to games...
GB: Supporters, not total.
TO: I would say last year we got it up to a good dozen, sometimes 20.
GB: Twenty, 24, maybe.
TO: Yeah. Especially that last game -- if you look at the last game, we were probably the most vocal we've ever been. So it was encouraging, to get more people to join us. And also, I think, trying to break down the perception of soccer in this city, always trying to bring it to the conversation, in little ways and big ways. Social media is part of that; at the same time, I walk around the city with this FC Edmonton scarf almost every day. It's like part of my body now. I get people talking, and it's really interesting, the kind of conversations you get.
For the most part, it's "oh, yeah, I'm really interested, I hear we have a pro soccer team in the city" -- and it's like, "well, OK, when are you going to show up and bring your kids around?" I say the same thing almost every time I get into this conversation: "Come out for a beer. I'll buy you one beer." Just see pro soccer for what it's worth, for what it is, in Edmonton, and what it means to people here.
GB: One thing I wanted to mention, as Tobi mentioned, we use social media quite a bit. ... We do stuff, especially when games are on, we live-tweet during games, we try to get people out. One thing that I noticed worked quite well was using it to make connections with the small pockets of fans who basically are cold and afraid and alone, and let them know there are other people out here who are interested in this team and are supporting it. And I think we have some really good success stories about bringing people into the supporters group through that.
We follow anybody who says anything about FC Edmonton on Twitter, we retweet them, we try and engage them in some kind of conversation and then slowly invite them to come to the forum to discuss it, those kinds of things. So I think we have done a pretty concentrated and strategic social media plan, from our side, as supporters.
Check back tomorrow for Part 2, in which we talk about the challenges of building a supporters culture in Edmonton and entrenching the team in the city's consciousness, getting help from the country's other supporters groups, and whether or not a name change is in the cards for the FCESG.
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