Did the Quakes woo-ed any fans yesterday?

By: Melissa | March 3rd, 2008

I think my favorite part about yesterday’s game was an incident at the Coliseum bart station. It was packed with fans and subsequently loong lines to buy bart tickets. One extremely out of place looking guy was in line and on the phone. When I walked past him, I overheard his conversation: he was going to be late because of a soccer game. The incredulous manner at which he announced this made me laugh because of the sheer number of soccer fans surrounding him. He had no idea there were so many people in the Bay Area ready and eager to come out and support the game.

So the questions continue but this time our local media is getting involved. Ann Killion of the Merc wants to know, how are the Quakes going to tap into this fan base? Luckily, she asks the right people that question. As it turns out, Soccer Silicon Valley have been tackling this topic for years and are slowly but surely implementing some pretty cool plans to make it happen. As Killion points out, wooing Latino fans takes more than just signing Latino players – the total product on the pitch must be good and there must be strong ties to the local communities. While Yallop/Doyle seem to be taking care of the product, folks like SSV and David Alioto are sewing the seeds of community outreach. Killion writes:

Now the new Earthquakes team, with new ownership, is starting over. And a top priority is courting Latino fans. “We want to make them feel the Earthquakes are their team,” said David Alioto, the team’s executive vice president.

That intention was obvious Sunday. Fans streamed through the gates under a San Jose Earthquakes banner. Earthquakes tickets were on sale. And the Earthquakes had a suite filled with key members of the Hispanic community, in an effort to make connections and create marketing opportunities.

SSV was also in attendance at that suite and are already charging ahead with their kidzone outreach project, to allow underprivileged kids the ability to attend live games. They’ve got a whole slew of other ideas too boot. A list of their current grassroots-style programs is here.

All good stuff. But now my question is, who in the crap got waived today and did we pick any of them up?