Looking far too deep into a NYCFC video

Let’s get this done shall we?  This past week Manchester City’s ownership group decided to make a splash by taking some of their more popular players and using them to hype up the new NYC team.  What I’m surprised with is how it might be bigger news in England than it is for typical New Yorkers.  Two of my friends who are die hard soccer fans don’t really care about the upcoming team even if it moved into Yankee Stadium this Christmas.  So without further ado, let’s look deeper at City’s Pride in Advertising the Battle of New York!!

0:00 – 0:20 Hey kids in Brooklyn! Do you like these Manchester City stars?  Great, because they won’t play for New York City anytime soon! Well, maybe Joe Hart will in five years, but the rest of the squad will be too busy playing in Europe in their best days and for better money.  It’s a little ironic to me that there might be more interest about NYCFC in England than New York itself.  Brand new soccer fans in the States might know about Manchester City itself, but players?  Vincent Kompany who?

:20 – :40 The Highline in Manhattan is a great place on a Saturday afternoon … but not to play soccer.  It’s too crowded and the ball will get lost and maybe bounce into a nearby Thai restaurant.  The Highline idea was great civil move to reorganize abandoned train tracks, but now you’re just going to get stepped on by thousands of other people crowding in your space and slowing you down.  This video doesn’t show the crowds, the car traffic, the ongoing movement of a trendy area in a crowded urban center.  Believe it or not the Highline leads north into the Chelsea area, which is New York’s main spot for men who will really enjoy Manchester City players (if you get what I’m saying).  Also it’s great that Joe Hart (MCFC’s goal keeper) was featured in this; because at the moment the team might cut him and City fans would just rather he be over and done with.  The Premiere League hasn’t been that nice to Manchester City this year.  But at least the Highline idea was a good move.

:40 – :53 I have no clue who the mystery business man is but there’s a good chance he’s a player and an inside joke.  But why not try to attract New York City business by having an anonymous man in an expensive suit kick a ball into the Bronx! Because all of them can do that with a two second notice, when did Gordon Gecko go Pele on the walk to Wall Street?

:53 – 1:02 Yankee stadium does look pretty nice in the video right?  It’s a newish venue, a great symbol for New York sports and there’s a very high chance it will be half empty when the shine of NYCFC starts to fade off.  It holds 50,000 people and MLS is hoping beyond hope that a Seattle phenomenon starts to appear, but the catch is that the Sounders had been playing for decades to build up their following.  I can’t help but doubt that NYCFC will be happy with 30,000 people for a Wednesday night game against some of the worse MLS teams. AAAAND, did all of you readers notice that viewers flipped watching Sounders and Houston games played on grid-iron lines? Well I expect Yankee stadium to have every single game in some sort of diamond/square baseball hybrid that will lessen the experience a bit. Attention all of international MCFC supporting suckyball fans: NYCFC playing in a baseball field will look very odd when you’re used to regular footie pitches and designs that make sense for the sport.

But, hey, this is a nice video and the Manhattan High Line was pretty cool wasn’t it?

1:02 -1:14 A nice attempt by City to connect with Harlem’s famed basketball community and make a connection with potential fans.  Because soccer players and basketball players in Harlem get along so great right? When is the last time you saw soccer players dribble around point guards in the middle of a competitive basketball game?

So far we’ve seen featured areas of Brooklyn, Manhattan, Upper Manhattan (Harlem) but no mention of Queens? I don’t feel slighted because I live in Queens, I feel slighted because Garber made such a big mess about them wanting a stadium here and how important soccer is to the Queens community. Soccer fans here kept hearing about the latino population, the international 1st generation immigrants and so on.  But fiiine, big mister Manchester City just needs fans from a Manhattan basketball game and the Chelsea area.  Don’t mind the city that has fans flooding into Citifield to watch Argentina vs Ecuador and the like.

There’s no Staten Island feature either, but most New Yorkers would also want a world with no Staten Island.  I haven’t been there but people tell me to avoid it, so I will.

1:15 – 1:48 Hey kid in Brooklyn, here’s a soccer ball with our autographs. Now don’t go getting crazy ideas about visiting Red Bull arena even though it’s a little closer to you and has more history to it (and a wonder shield).  You need to travel maybe an hour and a half to a half-filled stadium featuring players that won’t be us.  And don’t worry, NYCFC is just like MCFC, it won’t get demoted!

All in all I’d say this is a successful video and wouldn’t mind seeing more.  But NYCFC just had their spotlight taken a bit away from Orlando, and Miami (AND possibly Atlanta or San Antonio).  Will their team be big enough to create the rivalry MLS is dreaming of? Or will Yankee stadium provide a half-empty crowd for most of the season?