Menu
Franchises

MLS Red Bulls Using Monetary Incentive In Effort To End Offensive Fan Chant

The Red Bulls are one of four MLS clubs working to eliminate the “tired but amazingly resilient ‘You Suck A------‘ goal kick chant" during games, and "have introduced a bit of carrot” to aid the team's effort, according to Brian Straus of SI.com. The Red Bulls have “notified its three fan groups -- the Empire Supporters Club, the Garden State Ultras and the Viking Army -- that $500 will be contributed to each for every home game during which 'YSA' isn't heard in Red Bull Arena's South Ward.” The money will be “doled out in $2,000 increments, meaning the stadium will have to be 'YSA' free for four games before the supporters are rewarded.” ESC yesterday in a message to its members wrote, "We can use this money for reimbursement for nearly anything we do, from buying batteries for the megaphone to offsetting costs for bus trips." The only other MLS club to “go public with its appeal to end 'YSA' is Real Salt Lake, which has no interest in paying for compliance.” The league “wants change to be a local exercise and has pushed its clubs to take the lead on the chant's eradication.” ESC board member Eric Rios said, "We meet together in the (Red Bull) front office every month or two months and this is one of the hot topics in every meeting." He added, “We didn't ask for the money. We sat down with them and they said, 'This is what we're going to offer you guys to get rid of it'" (SI.com, 7/9).

REACHING OUT: ADWEEK’s Noreen O’Leary noted the Red Bulls earlier this year hired ad firm R/GA, N.Y., to "boost recognition and ticket sales.” The team last year “advertised on soccer-specific sites” and had a “little outside media help but developed a strategy internally with a focus on existing fans.” R/GA “broadened its target to adjacent audiences familiar with soccer but not attending games.” To reach soccer moms, the agency “promoted the Red Bulls’ camps for kids.” Spectators are “being wooed with wild postings -- large numbers of ads posted in high-traffic areas -- near soccer bars and playing fields.” Red Bull Arena is near the PATH station, "so R/GA used outdoor ads and train takeovers.” The agency also “sought to increase Red Bulls’ fan targeting through Facebook and Twitter content and ensure Facebook content is consistent with overall messaging.” While search is “still the best channel for ticket sales, Facebook now follows it.” The Red Bulls using real-time optimization have been “able to learn from what isn’t working as well as seeing what generates results” (ADWEEK.com, 7/7).

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/2013/07/09/Franchises/Red-Bulls.aspx

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

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2013/07/09/Franchises/Red-Bulls.aspx

CLOSE