Q. The American Soccer League recently opened its inaugural season in New Britain with Connecticut United. How’s the season going? What is the team like?
A. The season is going quite well and we are delighted with the CUFC new team, which is very competitive for their first year.
Q. What made ASL want to come to Connecticut and specifically New Britain? Are there certain demographics that make it an appealing location?
A. The population is very conducive to the European supporter with having a very big Polish community getting behind the team. As you know New Britain is a very diverse population but a soccer fan is a soccer fan regardless of where they are from.
Q. What type of attendance do you expect in New Britain? What steps are you taking to market the team? How will this compare to the rest of the league?
A. The ASL does not do in-market marketing. It is up to each of the individual teams to market their team. The owner Greg Bajeck is Polish. He has marketed the team quite extensively and is doing good as far as expected numbers in attendance and is quite comparable with the rest of the teams.
Q. How does the league generate its revenues? What’s it going to cost a family of four, for example, to attend an ASL game in New Britain?
A. We do not discuss how the league generates its revenues but suffice to say we are proactively seeking sponsors through our many partners within the league. As far as ticks prices go I think they pay around $9 adult and $6 for a child.
Q. The team is going to play through late spring (if it makes the playoffs). It returns in the fall as ASL goes to a year-round format. How does the league plan to compete for spectators’ attention over an extended season? It seems like in the fall American football could be a competitor for attention.
A. Without sounding blasé, we do not compete with (American) football fans, not many of them are coming to soccer. Our fans are a very different demographic and we like to think that our fans are very loyal to the soccer and we do not lose that many to any other sport. You have to realize that we are in the market of developing American soccer players and the fans know this. So they have emotional ties to the players as they want them to push on and make it to the next level.
Q. Give us some perspective on the American Soccer League. How long has it been in existence? What is its goal as a league?
A. We are in our second full season. The American Soccer League is a development league that provides American soccer players with professional playing opportunities as well as a direct pathway into the major leagues.
ASL’s mission is to operate a financially viable, cost-effective regional/national soccer league that delivers investors a genuine, complete, and elite organization and structure at the minor-league level.
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