The MLS Galaxy's attendance drop this season "is
causing a lot of soul searching" within the organization,
according to Scott Reid of the ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, who
blamed the team's small crowds on L.A.'s Latino communities
that have been "ignoring" the Galaxy due to its "failure" to
reach out to them. But Galaxy GM Sergio del Prado has tried
to change that since joining the team last March and has
"began going into" the Latino soccer communities to generate
interest in the team. However, del Prado said that the
management of the Galaxy's previous controlling group has
left the team "still at ground zero" in terms of season-
ticket base, marketing and overall awareness." Del Prado:
"Building a solid base is what's important. And I don't
think the base was ever laid." Despite having won nine of
its last 11 games, the team has seen its attendance fall for
the third time in three seasons to 17,620, a 20% drop from
last year and a 35.3% falloff from '96. The Galaxy's
season-ticket count is around 3,000, down slightly from last
season. Reid noted that the Galaxy "has to make its sales
pitch" to fans with a marketing budget that del Prado says
is 15% of that of the Dodgers. L.A. sports analyst David
Carter: "The Galaxy are uniquely disadvantaged. They have
limited resources for marketing, and there are two markets
they have to embrace -- the Hispanic community and soccer
community. That creates a real problem." But team
officials "remain convinced they can bring both groups
together" in a 30,000-seat soccer-only stadium that Galaxy
Owner-Investor Philip Anschutz "hopes to build" for the team
by 2002 (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 8/21).
