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Victoria Times-Colonist

Highlanders a success on the field, not off

Victoria Highlanders owner Alex Campbell Jr., whose United Soccer League Premier Development League club experienced its most dynamic season on the pitch, felt confident enough to inform the Vancouver Whitecaps of the MLS they should have a look at Highlanders midfielder Jamar Dixon.
Off the field, however, it’s another matter.

“We have significant attendance issues,” admitted Campbell. “Financially, we are not doing well. We can’t absorb any more losses. I’m actively looking for operating partners.”

The men’s USL-PDL Highlanders are committed to playing next season at Royal Athletic Park, while Campbell could not guarantee any seasons beyond that or say much at this point about the women’s Highlanders who play in the USL W-League — the second-highest level in North America.

PDL women’s games attracted about 300 fans to Bear Mountain Stadium this season, while the men’s matches hovered around the 800 level in attendance at the Langford facility. Things improved when the men switched venues midseason to Royal Athletic Park with highs of 1,500 for a key league match against Kitsap and 1,300 for a game against touring English pro side Port Vale.

Campbell said the team needs between 1,500 to 2,000 fans per game to break even.
“If you look at the size of the soccer community in Victoria, we’re not getting into people’s heads as a priority,” he said. “We need to find ways to connect with the community.”
Campbell is left wondering if the development label hurts the PDL product.

As the Victoria Seals and Capitals showed in baseball and Salmon Kings in hockey, put the word “pro” in front of it and people show up. Those teams are now gone, but for a variety of reasons not necessarily related to attendance.

“We finished higher in the tables than the development teams in our league for [MLS organizations] the Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers,” noted Campbell. “Our kids need to get a break.”
Most of all from fans in their hometown.
“On the field, we had our most entertaining product in three seasons of existence [as the Highlanders reached the Sweet 16 stage of the 64-team USL PDL],” said Campbell, member of a well-known Victoria business family.

Meanwhile, the Highlanders suffered a blow when GM Drew Finerty stepped down this week citing health issues.
“That affects us profoundly,” said Campbell.
“Drew was the architect of what this club has become. It’s a very big hole to fill and creates a challenge. Others will take on more responsibilities. Our business manager is currently drafting a budget for next season. We have to sharply control costs.”

Highlanders men’s coach Ian Bridge, a former Seattle Sounders pro and World Cup player for Canada, has completed his two year-contract and Campbell said he is planning to sit down with Bridge soon.

“Ian has done a fabulous job for us and we want him back but there could be new opportunities for him in the soccer world. We’ll meet and talk things over,” said Campbell.

A full season @ RAP and a hopefully more balanced schedule will make a huge difference next year. If we moved up a league (or two) the results would be even better.

Yikes. As Ted says, I think a full season at RAP will yield better results, if.. the big if.. it's promoted. This year all the focus was on the women, and I heard nothing about the men anywhere. Add the confusion surrounding the mid-season switch to RAP, and it's not good. One thing that surprises me is they say they need 1500-2000 to break-even? That's a high expectation, we're already getting near highest in PDL attendances, at least in the western conference. Now is that number just for the men's side to break even, or is that subsidizing the women's team flying all over the continent while getting almost no attendance for their games. If so, the solution seems simple. Go with the team that people are supporting.

As much as I love having a higher level of soccer in Victoria - 1500-2000 to break even is not going to happen here, especially at $20 per ticket while Whitecaps have a ticket for $22 for MLS games...ticket price should be at least $10 adult and $5 for kids....I think that maybe the 1500 per game could be achieved...just maybe..

Alex should realize that soccer in North America is a hobby and not a money making adventure (business). If you can't sell players you have no meaningful income.

I have to agree with arsenalian.....the women's team flying all over the continent while getting almost no attendance for their games............solution is simple. Women soccer is not going to draw anything significant.

I just hope that Alex is able to get another big spender to keep the team going if not then 2012 may be the last season..unless they can cut down on salaries of the 20 staff coaches

I don't think the bog-standard adult ticket at $15 is out of line when compared to major junior hockey and similar, especially as we play so few games and have such a short season. We do have players coming from overseas and all that. Ought to be able to make that 1500+ average at RAP if the games are spaced out properly. And has been noted elsewhere, have the women's games on the alternate weekends. But given the leagues involved (and travel leading to those ridiculous two-games-in-two-days roadtrips) fixtures are almost bound to bunch up.

I'm a big supporter of the women's game (World Cup was marvelous entertainment and showed a remarkable increase in skill and power) and believe they could draw 800-1000 at RAP (on family-friendly weekend afternoons) but even at that it's a complete money-suck. I'm not sure how a businessman could look at the W-League and figure a way to make it viable on its' own. Wednesday nights in Langford were a non-starter for me (and evidently for a lot of other people).

We're not a huge MLS-driven "sports club" with deep pockets...but when the Highlanders started, that was clearly the model they were looking at...various age ranges and genders, academies. Now the belt-tightening begins. I really don't want to go back to being one of the die-hards watching the tumbleweed roll and listening to the wind whistling through a barren RAP watching PCSL...

Are we never going to be able to sell players? I thought being in the USL system or NASL meant that individual clubs could still hold player contracts unlike MLS where the league owns the contracts?

There are a bunch of things that can be done to improve attendances, and strengthen the club and soccer on Vancouver Island.

1. Recognise that the mens team is your flagship attraction and your money maker, and accept that female sports leagues will never rival mens sports leagues in attendance. The mens team must be the advertising and scheduling priority. The womens team will probably have to be moved back to the PCSL, and that's not likely to affect the attendances they get, or the development the players get compared to W-League.

2. Eliminate "double-header" weekends at home. This is amateur. People will not pay, or schedule their lives, to watch something that is an amateur entertainment product, and perceived to be see by the use of double-header weekends; and they will not spend their whole weekend watching the same sports team. They will attend one game, or the other, but not both.

3. Set the home games at the same time, every week. No mid-week games, no double-headers. Just a mens or womens game, every Saturday night at 7:00, for three months, so that people know what they are doing, and when, weeks and even months in advance. This has to be insisted upon by this club, and every other club in the PDL that actually wants to create a fan-base. If PDL will not do this, then the Highlanders men cannot increase their attendances above the 1500 mark. Neither the men nor women will draw well on week nights. Having the womens team is necessary to create a game every week, which is vital given how short the season is.

4. The internet and media presence has to be increased. The news content on this site is often skimpy and usually slow to be posted. Is enough being done to make it easy for the TC, Chek, and local radio stations to report on this team? Today you HAVE to provide information to these organisations, all of whom are understaffed; and you have to engage people via the internet, Twitter, and Facebook. The Whitecaps are doing this. The Highlanders need to. Interview one player per week on the web site. Have a link to the Lake Side Buoys Facebook site. Give people a reason to go to the web site every week.

I disagree with the claim that the ticket prices are too high. I think they are in line with the product and competition from other options in Victoria. One of the biggest problems with soccer in Canada is too many people who say they want it being too cheap to pay for it. I just took my family to Vancouver for the weekend to watch the Lions and Whitecaps. Now THAT'S expensive. And the Whitecaps tickets aren't just $20 after you pay the pirates at TicketBastard their ridiculous fee.

This club is doing a LOT of things right. RAP is the best choice of venue. The calibre of play is good. The game day experience is good. The youth development programme, in both Victoria and Nanaimo, is ambitious. Having a womens team is necessary to create a schedule with a game every week, and it's also the right thing to do from a fan and development perspective.

I will do my bit, buy a season ticket, bring my pipes, chant and sing, as I have so far. I will make some flags and banners for the Lake Side Buoys end next year, which I haven't done yet. I will join Nathan in meeting with the club before the season, and seeing if the club will consider kilting us in a common tartan, etc, and perhaps have us play at the gate, or play the teams on the field every game, to increase the "presentation value" of the games. I will also invite a few new people to games with me next year. But this team can't rely on people like me who live in Duncan. It has to energise fans in Victoria.

I agree with Crewe Alexandra that I will not return to watching the PCSL with 30 friends and relatives of the players of Victoria United. I got to watch Josh Simpson, a future Canada international, play for Victoria United, but I'm not driving from Duncan to sit with 30 people in an empty stadium.

I believe that the 1,000 to 1,300 we saw for the last games at RAP this year would turn into 3,000 if Victoria were to move to the NASL, or if the CSA were to create a solid Canadian league with a western division that also included Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg. Unfortunately, that requires a lot of people moving in the same direction at the same time. Would 3,000 be enough, in 2011, to succeed financially? I think it would. The Vistas failed, but they were drawing 2,000 or less, and only at the end of 1990. This club is already at Vista-like numbers - in the lowly PDL. Times have changed. More people are willing to pay now to watch local soccer. It can be done.

Perfect summation. Couldn't agree more, you've hit every point on the head. Especially the internet social media presence. I mean the Bravehearts/Lakeside Buoys have more of a presence than the club. We shouldn't be relying on Twitters from the Southsiders fans to find out what's going on with our team on the road. I didn't even realize the club had a Twitter feed until the Fresno game. That was the one time I've used Twitter to follow anything...lol. Anyway, the marketing definitely needs to improve and having the games at a set time each week and eliminating double-headers would go far towards that end. Only problem is, the PDL holds all the cards there, so I don't think the club has much say in the matter. Just putting the women back in the original league, and focussing on marketing the men at RAP, would go far towards improving the club. As you say, it's not going to hurt the women's development. I'm all for the women's league, and would go to games if they're at RAP on the weekend. Wednesday nights in Langford is just not on for me though. Focus on the flagship mens team and the rest will grow naturally along with it.

The PDL may have the last say, but they will change if the clubs are adamant about this. Double-header weekends MUST go. The clubs can make it happen if they want to, just like the PCSL could get rid of them if they wanted to be a spectator league. If leagues want to raise revenue from ticket sales, then they need to cater to fans first and players second. If they won't, then they shouldn't act surprised by low attendance numbers that decrease, rather than increase, over time. I stopped driving to Victoria for PCSL games when it became apparent that there was never going to be any attempt to create a fan-focussed schedule. This is Canada, not the UK or Brazil: you have to build a proper league BEFORE people will support it, not the other way around.