Menu
Franchises

MLS Sporting K.C. Enjoying Newfound Success On And Off The Pitch

While MLS Sporting K.C. CEO Robb Heineman has “made it clear that winning championships is the club’s goal,” team COO & General Counsel Greg Cotton said that continuing “its remarkable surge in popularity depends on the leadership being ‘agnostic’ of wins and losses,” according to Joel Petterson of the N.Y. TIMES. The team’s 7-1 record this season “is not the only improvement,” as season-ticket sales “have increased from 600 to over 10,000 in the past five years.” Merchandise sales this year “have already topped $1 million -- a far cry from 2006.” Cotton said that in ’06 the team earned “only $30,000 in merchandise sales for the whole year.” Sporting K.C. D Matt Besler, who grew up in the city, said, “I think it’s night and day, just the buzz we’ve created among the city. You can’t drive down the highway without seeing an SKC magnet on a car and SKC hats all around town.” The training center was “one of the first things the new ownership group renovated after taking over.” They wanted to “send a message that they were serious about changing the atmosphere and perception of the team.” Cotton: “We may not be brilliant sports guys, but we’re pretty good at our jobs in different niches, and we all like to think a little bit differently. So if we’re going to do this, and if we’re going to risk our fledgling young careers here, let’s go try and do something really big.” Petterson wrote for “both fans and players, it transformed the team from the very first practice held on the field.” Team MF Roger Espinoza said, “From that moment, you knew everything was going to change” (NYTIMES.com, 4/23).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2012/04/24/Franchises/Sporting-KC.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2012/04/24/Franchises/Sporting-KC.aspx

CLOSE