Earlier this week, Colorado Rapids’ VP of soccer operations, Paul Bravo, confirmed that his club had in fact considered signing Uruguayan forward Diego Forlan, but ultimately chose not to pursue the famed goal scorer. In the same breath, he gave a politic response when questioned about Colorado’s interest in Wolverhampton striker Kevin Doyle. Bravo stated that he “can’t technically comment,” but that the club “can say that we are actively searching for a striker with experience.”
Yeah, that’s essentially the transfer speak equivalent to, “Well, I’m not not considering another beer.”
Many fans of MLS are torn when it comes to former European stars’ swan-song approach to their league. Who wouldn’t want to be in the stands to see Thierry Henry tuck home neatly from the six yard box, or witness David Beckham curl a free kick into the corner? And yet, mouth-watering as some of these talents are, neither do dyed-in-the-wool supporters want their league looked on as merely a last, half-interested gasp at the limelight with a concurrent chance to grab some cash as age begins to take its toll—The Price Is Right of international football.
“I know you don’t see it usually, but excuse me these Gucci Nike”
Still, beyond just scoring goals, signing a high-profile player of Forlan’s caliber (only recently surpassed by Luis Suarez as Uruguay’s top goal-scorer) can have a significant off-the-pitch impact. When David Beckham initially signed for LA Galaxy, he had a hefty base-salary of $5.5 million. However, it was reported that, in the aftermath of Beckham’s acquisition, the club made more than double Beckham’s salary in jersey sales, earning more than $13 million from his kit alone. All that before he stepped foot on the pitch.
Forlan has had a stunning career, including more than 100 international caps, and more than 200 goals in all competitions. However, it’s safe to say that, from a marketing perspective, he’s no David Beckham. But for that matter, who is? To use a simplistic but nonetheless illustrative metric, lets look to the harbinger of all things true and clear: Facebook. David Beckham’s official athlete page has nearly 52 million likes, more than twice as many as LeBron James, and nearly ten times the digital-friend support enjoyed by Forlan, who’s a bit shy of 6m. $13m in jersey sales? Not likely.
What’s especially problematic for the Rapids’ bottom line in all of this is that, with a fraction of Beckham’s star power (pick some other metric; the results are likely to be similar), Forlan’s salary expectations are neck-and-neck. Upon Forlan’s signing with Japanese side Cerezo Osaka last year, ESPN reported that Forlan was set to earn $5.8 million in Japan, even more than Beckham was paid his first year in MLS.
Wins, Draws, Losses, and Ticket Sales
But jerseys aren’t the only thing to consider when adding value, and revenue, to a club; big names can bolster ticket sales, too. However, unless you are yourself a fan in Colorado who has been to a fair share of games in 2014, bolstering attendance is probably not as high a priority for the Rapids as you might expect.
No one affiliated with the Rapids can be pleased with their performance last season. Finishing 8th in the Western Conference, the Rapids had the third-lowest point total in the entire MLS with 32, missing out on a playoff spot by 18 points. The team directly above them? Now defunct Chivas USA, edging the Rapids by a single point.
If you’re Paul Bravo, and you see your team being beaten out in the table by a franchise destined to be disbanded, you might want to reach for the panic button.
And yet, even if the club might be asking more from their players, there’s one group they could hardly wish more from—their fans. Despite the club’s dismal performance in the league, the Rapids’ fan base showed up in support, week in, week out. Colorado’s average attendance in 2014 was 15,082, almost 87% of their stadium’s capacity. Chivas USA? 7,063, or 38%. Although the Rapids’ attendance was down a bit from 2013, a bottom three finish—enough to get them relegated had the MLS such a system—didn’t deter their fans from supporting the club.
What’s more, having a world-class player at the end of his career is no guarantee of better attendance. Thierry Henry is one of the greatest strikers of all time—anyone who tells you different is probably either foolish, drunk, or a Spurs fan (or some combination thereof). And yet, in Henry’s final season, and in a year when his club secured a playoff berth, the New York Red Bulls were only able to keep their stadium at 77% capacity, a full 10% below Colorado.
Give The People What They Want
The bottom line—for the Rapids consideration of Forlan, and for all MLS clubs considering an aging superstar—is this: fan base is about more than the name on the back of the jersey; it’s about the crest on the front. The Rapids don’t need to rally fans to their banner in order to fill seats; they need to put together a squad, for the long term, that can satisfy those already loyal.
Speaking to the English Press this week, Robbie Keane claimed to have personally played up his Ireland teammate Kevin Doyle in a phone conversation with Rapids coach Pablo Mastroeni, himself a former teammate of Keane’s in LA. If Doyle does indeed head to Colorado at the end of his contract this season, he’ll be looking to follow in Keane’s footsteps; the reigning MLS MVP, Keane has scored more than fifty goals, and won three titles, since arriving in the MLS three years ago.
Diego Forlan is 35, soon to be 36. While Kevin Doyle is not exactly approaching his prime at 31, he’s at just about the same point in his career as Keane was when he came to LA, and it’s fair to say he’s likely to have more left in the tank than Forlan. Would the Uruguayan be exciting to see in MLS? Would he score some fantastic goals? Yes. Would, in the long run, the already loyal fan base in Colorado be better served by a less ritzy name, with more time left to give to their club? Yes.
There’s no guarantee that Doyle, or anyone, can be expected to provide the consistent goal-scoring that LA has enjoyed from Keane. Further, there’s not even a guarantee that Doyle arrives in Colorado; he could regain lost form and end up staying at Wolves; he could go elsewhere in MLS; he could make a move to another English side. Soccer transfers, and the news surrounding them, are notoriously fickle beasts—a skittish fox on amphetamines might be the best beastly comparison. But regardless of whether Doyle is plying his trade with the Rapids next season or not, the team’s loyal fans should be happy that their club isn’t simply snapping up the first big fish set before them.