Attendance in Dallas has grown this season under Andy Swift, who replaced Billy Hicks as the Burn’s president and general manager.

SOCCER AMERICA: What have you done to get the big crowds, including 20,417 vs. Los Angeles?

ANDY SWIFT: We’re following the plans we laid out years ago, putting emphasis on our grassroots marketing effort and our work in the Hispanic market. You don’t bear fruition overnight. Our attendance has grown, from ’97 to ’99, 25 percent, and is now 20 percent up this year over last year.

SA: Will MLS’s new Mexican players boost attendance in Dallas?

AS: The Mexican-American community responds in great numbers if a Carlos Hermosillo would come, or if a Jorge Campos would come. Now a large capacity of fans coming to games are Salvadoran. The absence of a Mexican player in Dallas has hurt the attendance of Mexican-American fans. When Hugo Sanchez left and Damian didn’t pan out as we hoped, lots of fans didn’t come back.

The Mexican-American fans still come out. They let me know they want a Mexican player someday, too.

The Mexican market is expensive. I eventually would like to see a Mexican international playing here in Dallas.

SA: You’ve risen through the ranks to become president and GM.

AS: MLS showed a lot of good faith in us to hire from within. I’ve really been in the marketing, sales, operation, PR, even player personnel side, since I was the international player liaison, and privy to some contract negotiation stuff. It’s a great feeling to be able to bring a little bit of insight in all the areas.

SA: You used to be the Burn’s director of Hispanic marketing and the director of Hispanic media. How much has it helped to be fluent in Spanish?

AS: Tremendously. I lived 12 years in Latin America, and have lived in eight different countries. What’s important is not just the fluency but understanding the cultures and each culture. My mom is Chilean. I’m half-Latin myself. I can go to the community and be a part of the community and speak as a Hispanic myself. They feel they have one of theirs working here.

by Soccer America associate editor Dean Caparaz