Brad Sims Listening Tour

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In light of the quote below (and I think the lack of interaction that the new CEO of NYCFC has had with fans since he was brought on board), let this thread serve as the #BradSimsListeningTour for fans to voice positives and negatives about the front office and what they're doing (let's keep things for Claudio Reyna and the sporting department away).

https://www.nycfc.com/post/2019/01/15/brad-sims-qa-nycfc-s-new-ceo

It’s now less than two months until the new season begins – how do you plan to spend this time?


The two most important constituents that I have are our employees and our fans. For me, my priority is getting to know our team members and understanding what drives them and motivates them and why they love this Club.

On the other side, I want to spend time getting to know our City Members, our supporters, our supporter groups and our partners. And just learning.

I would say, borrowing a term that really stuck with me, “I’m on a listening tour” for the next few months. I’ll be meeting with all the people that I think are the most connected with our Club and listening and learning. That’s what I think is most important for me in the first few months on the job.

You're welcome, Intern!
 
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What does he plan to do to make being a Season Ticket Holder worth it? Selling ticket specials at better prices than an STH pays makes it seem not so worth it. I can't speak for myself since I've not used it yet, but the ticket resale mechanism(s) seem horrible to use. Is there going to be a better/easier way to resell tickets without having to find a goat from the Himalayas and then sacrifice it to the God of tits and wine?

I do like the small 3-4 game ticket packages at different levels depending on opponents and game day. It's a step in the right direction offering smaller STH packages. How do they plan to expand on that?
 
STHs: Check your emails for an invite to the NYCFC City Hall meeting with Sims, Reyna and Ring. A week from today at the Helen Mills Theater n W.26th Street. Space is limited, an RSVP does not guarantee admission, and I don't know how many invites were extended.
 
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My question was "what are some of the biggest things we've learnt about running a club in NYC so far, and how are we applying them going forward?"
 
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I don’t plan on going, so not submitting a question, but would be curious to hear about the following:

Has the yearly operational funding for the Front office staff, roster, facilities (office, training center, YS), but not including any allocated towards a stadium, remained even or increased/descreased for FY19 and beyond? If decreased, why and what variables were affected? If increased, which variable received them, and does the overall increase carry over to FY20 and beyond as similar yearly budgeting?
 
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I don’t plan on going, so not submitting a question, but would be curious to hear about the following:

Has the yearly operational funding for the Front office staff, roster, facilities (office, training center, YS), but not including any allocated towards a stadium, remained even or increased/descreased for FY19 and beyond? If decreased, why and what variables were affected? If increased, which variable received them, and does the overall increase carry over to FY20 and beyond as similar yearly budgeting?

Great question
 
1) How do they measure success internally? Wins? Attendance? Social media interactions? Pats on the butt from Ferran?

2) What is the cost to rent Yankee Stadium?

3) Are there discussions to change the delivery of games to viewers at home? (Steaming or new channel)

4) How will Dome be judged?

5) What will we do with all the kids we sign from the Academy?

6) How often do they interact with the mother ship? Who at the mother ship do they interact with?
 
1) How do they measure success internally? Wins? Attendance? Social media interactions? Pats on the butt from Ferran?

2) What is the cost to rent Yankee Stadium?

3) Are there discussions to change the delivery of games to viewers at home? (Steaming or new channel)

4) How will Dome be judged?

5) What will we do with all the kids we sign from the Academy?

6) How often do they interact with the mother ship? Who at the mother ship do they interact with?
Those are all good questions and I think all of them answerable outside of #2. I just don't think they would provide any answer to that with a response that holds any substance.
 
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This could be interesting event, as they are asking for the questions before hand. I have attended a Town Hall for the NY Giants. It was ownership, the general manager and some of the players. It was an open mic and fans were given a few minutes to ask questions. Most of the questions that were asked were soft ball questions. There was one complaint about the PSL, but most of the questions were lay ups. So I stopped attending the event as it seemed like a waste of time, but from the insightful questions posted on the forum, this event could be informative. It will be interesting to see what questions the organization chooses to answer. If the organizations chooses not to address any real questions, it will just reaffirm their apathy towards the fan base.
 
This could be interesting event, as they are asking for the questions before hand. I have attended a Town Hall for the NY Giants. It was ownership, the general manager and some of the players. It was an open mic and fans were given a few minutes to ask questions. Most of the questions that were asked were soft ball questions. There was one complaint about the PSL, but most of the questions were lay ups. So I stopped attending the event as it seemed like a waste of time, but from the insightful questions posted on the forum, this event could be informative. It will be interesting to see what questions the organization chooses to answer. If the organizations chooses not to address any real questions, it will just reaffirm their apathy towards the fan base.

Sure, there are insightful questions poised on the Forums which are crafted intelligently to get the best possible answer from the front office. But all the questions posed are not going to be from these Forums members. When I was at the small roundtable with Sims, there were some very non-smart questions asked.
 
Sure, there are insightful questions poised on the Forums which are crafted intelligently to get the best possible answer from the front office. But all the questions posed are not going to be from these Forums members. When I was at the small roundtable with Sims, there were some very non-smart questions asked.

My mole told me that the majority of the questions others ask at those things are what you would expect a high school girl to ask her favorite band member in New Directions.
 
My mole told me that the majority of the questions others ask at those things are what you would expect a high school girl to ask her favorite band member in New Directions.

They bring players to these things to deflect people from asking questions to the front office or sporting department. What's the most serious question you could ask a player that they'll honestly answer? You think Ring is going to answer, "Alex, why did the team fall apart after the loss of Patrick Vieira? Do you think that Dome tinkered too much with the lineup in 2018? Do you have a set lineup and philosophy for this season?" Or, "The team doesn't have a striker, and with the loss of David Villa, what are the expectations about scoring goals given the lack of goals scored in preseason." No, people are going to ask him something non-informative.

Yeah. It's funny at the event at the City House with Patrick Vieira I asked him, "What keeps you up at night?" He interpreted it as what things he enjoys doing in the city. I had to correct him as it meant, "What worries you about the team/game? What are you constantly thinking about about the team/game?" It's a simple question on the surface but with significant means to it.

But I bet someone asks Alex Ring a question about his favorite restaurant in the city. When I was in 4th grade, I was writing a letter to my City Council member about the appropriateness of government financing of the potential West Side Stadium and the implications for the Olympics in 2012. Why do people care about players and food?

I really want someone to pose a question to Sims about the neo-nazis that have been seen on away trips and inside the supporter section at Yankee Stadium and what the front office doing to combat those individuals from attending. The only reason I want that questioned asks over others is just to see the deer in headlights look on his face.

And what is New Directions? Do you mean One Direction? Not a fan since Zayn left in 2015. :p
 
They bring players to these things to deflect people from asking questions to the front office or sporting department. What's the most serious question you could ask a player that they'll honestly answer? You think Ring is going to answer, "Alex, why did the team fall apart after the loss of Patrick Vieira? Do you think that Dome tinkered too much with the lineup in 2018? Do you have a set lineup and philosophy for this season?" Or, "The team doesn't have a striker, and with the loss of David Villa, what are the expectations about scoring goals given the lack of goals scored in preseason." No, people are going to ask him something non-informative.

Yeah. It's funny at the event at the City House with Patrick Vieira I asked him, "What keeps you up at night?" He interpreted it as what things he enjoys doing in the city. I had to correct him as it meant, "What worries you about the team/game? What are you constantly thinking about about the team/game?" It's a simple question on the surface but with significant means to it.

But I bet someone asks Alex Ring a question about his favorite restaurant in the city. When I was in 4th grade, I was writing a letter to my City Council member about the appropriateness of government financing of the potential West Side Stadium and the implications for the Olympics in 2012. Why do people care about players and food?

I really want someone to pose a question to Sims about the neo-nazis that have been seen on away trips and inside the supporter section at Yankee Stadium and what the front office doing to combat those individuals from attending. The only reason I want that questioned asks over others is just to see the deer in headlights look on his face.

And what is New Directions? Do you mean One Direction? Not a fan since Zayn left in 2015. :p


The band with the British kids. The one kid was in Dunkirk?