While the Mexican Soccer Federation (FMF) wants the tricolor fans back in their home games, the United States National Team (USMNT) fights them in the World Cup qualifying matches. In the next match between both teams at the TQL Stadium in Cincinnati there will be a full house, but contrary to what happens during friendlies, in which the fans turn to the Mexican team, this time the venue and access were selected for that locality was a factor in favor of the stars and stripes.
While the US seeks to avoid the tricolor fans, the matches of the Mexican National Team within the Mexican Republic are struggling to attract it. Despite the fact that in Mexico there are fewer matches of the National Team than in the United States, in the last match that was played at the Azteca Stadium on September 7 against Canada, there were problems to fill the 75% of allowed capacity, finishing the 2×1 tickets, a strategy that was replicated in the match against Honduras three days later.
“The best call is the results and interest in playing with teams of greater weight. We know that we have to play eliminatory teams with zone teams, the most representative being the EU, which occupies 13th place in the FIFA rankings. In three years, it is the team with which we have played the most official and friendly matches, which dilutes the level of impact and call in people at the local level, only that we play a key final or eliminatory ”, explained to this newspaper, Luis Rico , founder of the sports marketing company, Jump SMS.
According to data provided by the specialist, in 45 matches that the Mexican National Team has held in the last three years, 42% have been against CONCACAF teams and 62% of the games have been played in the United States. In addition, 44% have been friendlies, mostly with teams outside of the top 20 in FIFA.
In addition to this situation, the Mexican fans were already banned from the match against Jamaica in the September qualifiers as a FIFA sanction for the discriminatory shout and could suffer another veto if the sanction that they received at the beginning of November is specified.
Do you consider that it is a good positioning strategy to decentralize the matches of the Mexican National Team of the Azteca Stadium and take them to other states of the Republic?
“I do not see bad diversifying the impact of the national team playing in other stadiums, but I believe that it is not the way, it would be to cover the lack of interest of their main home (Azteca Stadium). Given this, why not detonate alternative strategies such as tourism from Tri al Azteca; There is all the muscle to organize experiences at the logistical level, transportation and accommodation to generate special visits from our countrymen or other regions of the country to the Azteca Stadium and to look for more relevant matches at a friendly level with teams other than those of the qualifiers. In the end it all comes down to results and value performance ”, said Luis Rico.
The sports marketing expert points out that in the North American market the Mexican National Team is “a vehicle to reflect nostalgia, passion and feeling towards our country on a playing field.” And while it represents an interesting market to generate income, in playoff games US Soccer avoids Hispanic and Mexican fans to gain an advantage on its own soil.
Bringing the party to Cincinnati represents a strategic decision, as only 4% of the population in Ohio is Hispanic and Latino, according to the US Census Bureau. In addition, it is a new stadium, with a capacity for 26,000 spectators and for the third consecutive time the United States national team will have a full house at home in this knockout season, as the previous ones were against Costa Rica at Lower.com Field Columbus and Jamaica at Q2 Stadium in Texas.
On this occasion, the tickets were distributed more selectively, seeking to reach the majority of the population that supports the Stars and Stripes team. According to Yahoo Sports, the general sale was never open, but they raffled between fan groups affiliated to US Soccer “insiders”, privileging those who paid annual memberships of $ 500. Another group of tickets was available to recognized American fan groups, such as the American Outlaws, and to FC Cincinnati MLS season ticket holders.
Ticket costs were also a topic of conversation for this match, as US Soccer launched them at prices that rose from $ 125 to $ 1,000, while in the secondary market (resale) the value reached up to $ 70,000. on Seat Geek.
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Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx