As the San Jose Earthquakes prepare to launch for the second time in team history, they face a familiar challenge: to get the city’s considerable Latino population to rally around the local MLS team. But how big a potential fan base are we talking about? If Sunday’s friendly at Oakland Coliseum is any indication, it could be huge says San Jose Mercury News writer Ann Killion.
Almost 50,000 people showed up at Oakland Coliseum to see a friendly between the Mexican and Australian U-23 national teams. On hand was Freddy Adames, a member of the advocacy group Soccer Silicon Valley, who is working with the Quakes to try and forge greater ties to the Hispanic community. “How do they translate this experience to the Earthquakes?” is the question, which Killion characterizes as “the conundrum that has been both the promise and the curse of the franchise throughout its history.”
The Quakes’ management certainly gave it their all on Sunday. Fans poured into the Coliseum under Earthquake branded banners, posters and billboards. Tickets to local MLS games were also on sale. “We want to make [the Hispanic community] feel the Earthquakes are their team,” said David Alioto, the team’s executive vice president. As Killion says, this second-time around, the Quakes’ management team is much more marketing savvy. They’re using grassroots marketing tactics to galvanize the local community and they’ve even come out with a T-shirt that reads “Terremotos,” the Spanish word for Earthquakes.