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How do you figure $1m revenue per game with 3,000 attendance? Are tickets $333 each?
I was tossing out loose stats at first, being GENERAL and probably exaggerated for effect...but since no one has anything to say on the topic but nitpick the #'s...Cosmos avg attendance in 2015 was 4984 per game, not 3k.. Try not to listen to cherry picked stats from alt-facters on LICD!
I don't recall but tix were $15 to $50 or so (VIP w/ bar access, etc). So figure a safe bet is $150k for tix alone. Then concessions, merchandise, TV/radio rights, Hofstra's take of parking, lease, local advertising, feeder restaurants. So I'll humbly retract the million number and make it $500,000 (way low but whatever). Still wondering how that "doesn't matter," other than "well it's soccer, no one cares." I'm a taxpayer and like sports. I care.
One of the shrinking group of businesses NOT getting PILOT tax breaks from us, either.
How do we think Borellis and the other sports bars/restaurants in the area feel about losing the Islanders first, and now the Cosmos?! Money lost, jobs gone. Taxes up. A trifecta of stupid.
You are looking at this the wrong way. The problem is there is not enough demand to see their games to make the team profitable on LI. New arena wouldn't have changed anything. Team cut players because it couldnt meet payroll. They could not succeed on LI.
No guarantee they will succeed in Brooklyn either.
You are looking at this the wrong way. The problem is there is not enough demand to see their games to make the team profitable on LI. New arena wouldn't have changed anything. Team cut players because it couldnt meet payroll. They could not succeed on LI.
No guarantee they will succeed in Brooklyn either.
They won't last there either. It's a struggling B league barely getting by with just an handful of teams. Although I'm sure some people like monstermagnet enjoyed them, most didn't even know they existed. Although yes we lose some revenue from their loss, chances of them surviving here regardless for the long term was very slim.
So it's good we lose the taxes from a $1m plus revenue per game plus the feeder jobs? How do you figure? I don't go to the Ducks often but I don't want to see them go and it would certainly "matter" whether you like baseball or not. It's the kind of thing that makes a community worth living in and contributing to...that overtaxed families can actually afford to go to. I'm amazed at how shortsighted people are when it's their own interests at stake...cause they don't "love soccer." Who does love soccer? 5000+ in Nassau with cash to spend right here on Long Island. Not anymore. That "matters."
You are looking at this the wrong way. The problem is there is not enough demand to see their games to make the team profitable on LI. New arena wouldn't have changed anything. Team cut players because it couldnt meet payroll. They could not succeed on LI.
No guarantee they will succeed in Brooklyn either.
That was never my point. As I said it is the trend (symbolism) of high (or medium) profile, NATIONAL businesses leaving. The Cosmos wasn't the fault of LI pols but it is a victim of apathy and lack of will to make anything happen here. A new Coliseum and a 10k seat soccer stadium is not much to ask for in Kansas. On LI it should already be here.
Team had buyers (easy) and could have met payroll. They folded because the NASL was going to lose Div. 2 status and THAT would have killed the league immediately. Now that it has status restored, the teams are coming back. The new owner is an intelligent, realistic guy and long time soccer icon, he doesn't expect it to make money. He expects it to be great for the community. Columbia Univ. or Coney Island. Those communites, not ours.
It's funny how no one noticed I compared the Cosmos to the Ducks, not the Mets or Islanders. Ducks avg 5k per game, too. I didn't set a very high bar. We can't keep a pro team, we can't keep a minor league team either. Like someone else said, they'll be devastated to lose the Ducks. They should be. That's my point.
That was never my point. As I said it is the trend (symbolism) of high (or medium) profile, NATIONAL businesses leaving. The Cosmos wasn't the fault of LI pols but it is a victim of apathy and lack of will to make anything happen here. A new Coliseum and a 10k seat soccer stadium is not much to ask for in Kansas. On LI it should already be here.
Team had buyers (easy) and could have met payroll. They folded because the NASL was going to lose Div. 2 status and THAT would have killed the league immediately. Now that it has status restored, the teams are coming back. The new owner is an intelligent, realistic guy and long time soccer icon, he doesn't expect it to make money. He expects it to be great for the community. Columbia Univ. or Coney Island. Those communites, not ours.
It's funny how no one noticed I compared the Cosmos to the Ducks, not the Mets or Islanders. Ducks avg 5k per game, too. I didn't set a very high bar. We can't keep a pro team, we can't keep a minor league team either. Like someone else said, they'll be devastated to lose the Ducks. They should be. That's my point.
I think you are oversimplifying things. Wang made out like a bandit due to Barclay's contract. He got 200 million more for the team with that contract than the team was worth on LI with a new arena or not. It was thought that Brooklyn would be a money maker for the new owners. Now we know it isn't true.
We have the 10K soccer stadium already. Hofstra. And they couldn't fill more than half of it due to lack of demand.
Ducks average 5K in a stadium that fits 5K, in a developmental league that makes 5K attendance profitable.
So yes, Cosmos leaving was apathy towards the SPORT. Just like lacrosse, everyone's kid plays it, but no one goes to see the professional games. The community didn't care for the Cosmos so they left.
We have the 10K soccer stadium already. Hofstra. And they couldn't fill more than half of it due to lack of demand.
And now it's empty.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NSHL10
Ducks average 5K in a stadium that fits 5K, in a developmental league that makes 5K attendance profitable.
So yes, Cosmos leaving was apathy towards the SPORT. Just like lacrosse, everyone's kid plays it, but no one goes to see the professional games. The community didn't care for the Cosmos so they left.
All totally true...except Lacrosse and Soccer are profitable all over the country, including NY/NJ (see Red Bulls). It's not the sport, it's management and lack of will. Cosmos and Islanders are not the ONLY businesses leaving LI. It's a bigger problem than the Cosmos only drawing 5k (now zero k). Someone PLEASE tell me why Brooklyn is welcoming them with open arms and promotions and we're just "who care, let 'em go, soccer sucks." Has anyone heard me talk up soccer in these rooms b4? I'm a hockey guy. This is a 5k ticket event gone from a tax starved municipality with a $100m deficit. That's all I'm saying. I'll leave it there. We should really be focused on keeping things like this rather than letting it walk without a care and then giving 10 year tax abatements for a mall to add 3 jobs and a variance for the bodega turned vape store. Well, we added a charity case slot casino in a failed hotel. Whooppee!
But what can we offer them? You want taxpayers to ensure profits for a private company? They lost money here, they moved on.
I understand. The league ended badly...then reformed...without a Long Island team. They could have stayed. No place to play. It's symbolic. We have to want to grow and push for creative development and entertainment wherever we can find it...especially when it's private or public/private and doesn't hurt the taxpayer, environment, etc. The apathetic "oh well, let them go" has COST US DEARLY across all industries.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NSHL10
But what can we offer them? You want taxpayers to ensure profits for a private company?
That is exactly what we are doing with PILOT programs and abatements. Ponzi profits on the back of the taxpayers. What people don't know might change their mind. It's completely hypothetical, but I'd be first in line to give the Cosmos a tax break before Green Acres mall. Fairly certain if the Islanders are lured back, we'll be giving them the candy store in taxpayer backed incentives to get them here...and we will all lap it up and be thrilled to do it!
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