The World Cup proved the influence of soccer is growing in the United States. It could not have happened at a better time for college football programs concerned about the state of the game as it relates to fans packing stadiums. While college football struggles to keep fans interested in attending games in person rather than the comfort of their cozy homes, Major League Soccer franchises are actually putting on display what it takes to keep fans engaged at a game.
The Wall Street Journal profiled what defending MLS champion Sporting Kansas City is doing that is catching the eyes of college football programs like Florida and representatives from the Pac-12. Both have sent representatives to check out Sporting KC in person, something the MLS franchise welcomes with open arms.
It helps that Sporting KC has taken advantage of all kinds of metrics to profile fans coming to games, giving the franchise a deeper look at who the fans are, what interests them and what keeps them coming back, or perhaps what keeps them from coming back. According to the Wall Street Journal, the soccer franchise has compiled data on over 250,000 fans. Information from that wealth of information helps Sporting KC come up with the best incentives for the fans, which in turn helps build a strong relationship between team and fan. That is what college football’s heavyweights want to learn more about, as stadiums continue to see dwindling ticket sales and smaller student section turnouts etc.
Not everything that works for soccer will translate to college football, but if tactics can be extrapolated from one sport to the other, then a trip to Sporting KC may need to be required by many of the nation’s large college football programs with massive stadiums to fill.