SUM Puts $2 Million into Fan ‘Development’

Soccer United Marketing, the marketing arm of Major League Soccer, is putting $2 million behind its fan development department in an attempt to attract more Hispanic and youth soccer fans to MLS. According to research from Jay Gladden, an associate professor of sport management at UMass, Hispanic and youth soccer players only “lightly consume” MLS. Gladden adds that an “increase in resources can promote awareness and encourage kids to talk about MLS as something really cool.”

Is that so? Ian Plenderleith asks in a column for USSoccerPlayers.com. “Next these indispensable academics will be trying to tell us that Ronaldinho would attract more fans to MLS than Carey Talley,” he says. As for promotional resources, he says youngsters would likely be more interested in free handouts from adidas than DVDs of MLS games.

He says the big positive in SUM’s latest move is the appointment of former Colombia international Wilmer Cabrera as fan development manager. His first task is to meet with “50 key members” of the Hispanic community to discuss a league promotion strategy.