Future MLS team seeing fan interest soar

An opportunity for a historic home-opening match awaits Minnesota United FC on Saturday.

A rare sellout crowd at the 8,500-seat National Sports Center Stadium in Blaine is expected for a 7 p.m. match against defending North American Soccer League champion San Antonio.

The match comes one month since the March 25 news conference at which team owner Bill McGuire and his partners were granted a Major League Soccer franchise.

The announcement triggered rapid ticket sales and increased visibility with sponsors, making Saturday's match a critical checkpoint for a franchise reinvigorated by more than two years of investing under McGuire, a former UnitedHealth Group chief executive.

Signs point to a successful opener even as the team, coming off a successful 2014, limps in without a victory or a goal in the first two games of the season.

Earlier this week, the team's senior director of ticket sales, Sean Sittnick, said overall ticket sales numbers for the match were approaching the 8,059 at last July's match with the Mexico U-21 team. The game also could rival the 9,064 at the match against English Premier League team Swansea City last July, he said.

"Saturday's match is a really good opportunity for the community to show MLS why this is a soccer market," McGuire said. "It's also a chance for us to demonstrate the momentum behind soccer in this community. Nothing would be more pleasing than to have that place filled to the brim."

The MLS effect

Business in the United FC front office in Golden Valley since the MLS announcement has been anything but usual — and that's a good thing, said Todd Abramson, chief operating officer.

"The publicity and reception we've received have been phenomenal," Abramson said. "For us, how do we harness that and amplify that?"

Season-ticket sales have surged. More than 3,500 season tickets have been sold, Sittnick said, surpassing goals his team initially projected to reach by season's end. Sittnick said he anticipates selling 5,000 season tickets by midseason.

The club announced that the first 10,000 season-ticket holders receive a priority seat number in the forthcoming MLS stadium.

"The MLS [announcement] fast-forwarded a lot of conversations," Sittnick said. "It just makes the job a little easier in every sense of the word."

The team sold a record 350 to 400 season tickets on the day of the announcement, Sittnick said, then topped that two days later by selling 400 to 450 tickets. Season tickets sold every 90 seconds for the first week after the MLS announcement, Sittnick said, estimating the current pace at a half-hour between sales.

The move to the MLS, which could happen as early as 2017, has improved the club's ability to attract and strengthen relationships with sponsors, said Andrea Yoch, vice president of business development.

Before the announcement, McGuire's closely guarded MLS plans were "always part of the conversation" in the business community, said Yoch, who now relishes the chance "to call these companies and say, 'The waiting is over. The time is now.' "

While not disclosing specific dollar amounts, Yoch said when she presents to sponsors, the club is "closer to five-figure and six-figure deals." While previous local soccer owners often took what they could get, United FC's growing brand allows more for more selectivity.

Companies have made offers in the $3,000 to $4,000 range "and we just say, 'No thank you,' " Yoch said. "We're much more in line with the other pro teams in town."

More work ahead

The last big piece, Yoch said, is finding a sponsor for the front of United FC's jerseys. The New York Cosmos landed Emirates Airline. FC Edmonton is sponsored by The Fath Group. The Carolina RailHawks have Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Yoch said she hopes Saturday attracts "a loud, passionate crowd so that the sponsors who are there feel really good about their decision. What I've been telling them in the office needs to match up with what they see in Blaine."

The team announced the matches against Mexico U-21 and Swansea City as sellouts but determining what size crowd constitutes a sellout is tricky.

Official seating capacity at the National Sports Center Stadium is 8,500 but "significantly more can be accommodated with standing room," said Barclay Kruse, the sports center's chief communications officer.

The stadium record attendance of 15,615 was set in 2001 for a women's soccer game between the USA and Canadian national teams. "Significant temporary seating was installed," Kruse said.

United FC's best regular-season North American Soccer League match attendance of 7,287 was set last July against Carolina. The match was played during Schwan's USA Cup tournament, an event that draws 15,000 soccer players from throughout the country and world.

The team has nurtured relationships with fans with events such as watch parties for road matches to community events such as a potluck dinner for season-ticket holders with players earlier this week. Abramson said fans will benefit from myriad game day improvements. A midfield cabana with a deck now sits between the bleachers on the stadium's east side. Seat backs were added to portions of the bleachers.

Additional food trucks and places to purchase beer — along with waiter service in premium areas — will minimize wait while enhancing the experience, Abramson said.

"The testament to whether all those things matter or not is how many people show up," McGuire said.

Players are also feeling the pressure, said midfielder Miguel Ibarra, voted most valuable player in the NASL last season. A tie, a loss and zero goals was not the way players wanted to start the season. A better effort must be on display Saturday.

"Once the MLS announcement was made, my first thought was, 'We will probably have way more fans come out now,' " Ibarra said. "Hopefully we can get a result for them so they keep coming out."

David La Vaque • 612-673-7574