KCRag Forum

Enzo Di Pede has more to do with soccer popularity in Kansas City than the P&L District.

Dcole, we all know about the world cup and super bowl watch parties. Most all of us have been to most of them in the crowd. You don't have to sell us on it, save your fingers!

KCPowercat wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 2:31 pm Dcole, we all know about the world cup and super bowl watch parties. Most all of us have been to most of them in the crowd. You don't have to sell us on it, save your fingers!

I'm only telling the story from the perspective of being involved in some capacity over the years, including working with the B12 and FIFA. I just had to correct the narrative that we got the world cup because of our stadium.

This is all to try and help people understand why the Royals would want to be as close as possible to PNL. This is why the difference on a map between between EV and EC may appear small, but in the reality of things, it's very large.

beautyfromashes wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 2:29 pm Enzo Di Pede has more to do with soccer popularity in Kansas City than the P&L District.

Listen, as someone who was involved in the process starting many years ago, I know what mattered to FIFA. That's what we're talking about here in the thread, not the overall popularity of soccer in this city.

DColeKC wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 2:57 pm

beautyfromashes wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 2:29 pm Enzo Di Pede has more to do with soccer popularity in Kansas City than the P&L District.

Listen, as someone who was involved in the process starting many years ago, I know what mattered to FIFA. That's what we're talking about here in the thread, not the overall popularity of soccer in this city.

You can't do it without the fans showing up & understanding the culture. Don't disparage the folks who worked at the grassroots level to even get to the point where the suits saw the potential for games here. If it were the way you stated, soccer fans in this city would go to No Other Pub rather than ignoring it.

I just get passionate about that subject because I've worked with so many people too in this stuff. It's been a long road.

TheSmokinPun wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 3:09 pm

DColeKC wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 2:57 pm

beautyfromashes wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 2:29 pm Enzo Di Pede has more to do with soccer popularity in Kansas City than the P&L District.

Listen, as someone who was involved in the process starting many years ago, I know what mattered to FIFA. That's what we're talking about here in the thread, not the overall popularity of soccer in this city.

You can't do it without the fans showing up & understanding the culture. Don't disparage the folks who worked at the grassroots level to even get to the point where the suits saw the potential for games here. If it were the way you stated, soccer fans in this city would go to No Other Pub rather than ignoring it.

I just get passionate about that subject because I've worked with so many people too in this stuff. It's been a long road.

We are talking about development and the location of the stadium as it relates to a well-known and recognized entertainment center. Of course fans are crucial, they're the people who fill up the stands and create the culture. I don't feel the need to gush about them in this particular format. This entire topic of "new stadium discussion" wouldn't exist and I wouldn't have a career if it weren't for fans. I'm certainly not disparaging fans in this conversation.

And soccer fans don't go to No Other Pub for every match because they wouldn't offer specials to cauldron members. It was quit the ordeal watching cauldron leaders argue they deserve steep discounts. Once offered, they still didn't support so the business shifted and now makes most of it's money off private events. I love fans, the watch parties attract such a diverse mix of fans, the extreme majority of which are not members of certain fan clubs. Those groups tend to stick with the bars in town that offer the discounts.

DColeKC wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 3:28 pm

TheSmokinPun wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 3:09 pm

DColeKC wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 2:57 pm

Listen, as someone who was involved in the process starting many years ago, I know what mattered to FIFA. That's what we're talking about here in the thread, not the overall popularity of soccer in this city.

You can't do it without the fans showing up & understanding the culture. Don't disparage the folks who worked at the grassroots level to even get to the point where the suits saw the potential for games here. If it were the way you stated, soccer fans in this city would go to No Other Pub rather than ignoring it.

I just get passionate about that subject because I've worked with so many people too in this stuff. It's been a long road.

We are talking about development and the location of the stadium as it relates to a well-known and recognized entertainment center. Of course fans are crucial, they're the people who fill up the stands and create the culture. I don't feel the need to gush about them in this particular format. This entire topic of "new stadium discussion" wouldn't exist and I wouldn't have a career if it weren't for fans. I'm certainly not disparaging fans in this conversation.

And soccer fans don't go to No Other Pub for every match because they wouldn't offer specials to cauldron members. It was quit the ordeal watching cauldron leaders argue they deserve steep discounts. Once offered, they still didn't support so the business shifted and now makes most of it's money off private events. I love fans, the watch parties attract such a diverse mix of fans, the extreme majority of which are not members of certain fan clubs. Those groups tend to stick with the bars in town that offer the discounts.

Nah, it really boiled down to them not wanting to ever have game audio on for games & straight up not showing games at times & requesting that people watch elsewhere. We were tricked with a promise of a soccer pub with games always on that turned out to be a nightclub themed to said team. Everyone was fine with the prices as long as it was an actual place to watch games, I was there.

I know this is off topic so I'll take it elsewhere if need be.

TheSmokinPun wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 3:38 pm

DColeKC wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 3:28 pm

TheSmokinPun wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 3:09 pm

You can't do it without the fans showing up & understanding the culture. Don't disparage the folks who worked at the grassroots level to even get to the point where the suits saw the potential for games here. If it were the way you stated, soccer fans in this city would go to No Other Pub rather than ignoring it.

I just get passionate about that subject because I've worked with so many people too in this stuff. It's been a long road.

We are talking about development and the location of the stadium as it relates to a well-known and recognized entertainment center. Of course fans are crucial, they're the people who fill up the stands and create the culture. I don't feel the need to gush about them in this particular format. This entire topic of "new stadium discussion" wouldn't exist and I wouldn't have a career if it weren't for fans. I'm certainly not disparaging fans in this conversation.

And soccer fans don't go to No Other Pub for every match because they wouldn't offer specials to cauldron members. It was quit the ordeal watching cauldron leaders argue they deserve steep discounts. Once offered, they still didn't support so the business shifted and now makes most of it's money off private events. I love fans, the watch parties attract such a diverse mix of fans, the extreme majority of which are not members of certain fan clubs. Those groups tend to stick with the bars in town that offer the discounts.

Nah, it really boiled down to them not wanting to ever have game audio on for games & straight up not showing games at times & requesting that people watch elsewhere. We were tricked with a promise of a soccer pub with games always on that turned out to be a nightclub themed to said team. Everyone was fine with the prices as long as it was an actual place to watch games, I was there.

I know this is off topic so I'll take it elsewhere if need be.

You were there, I was an executive working for one of the involved owners. Of course this is your take and it's not even 1/10th of the story. You all wouldn't show up, a 20,000 square foot venue can't survive with 15 people showing up to watch the games at discounted food and beverage prices. You all threw a fit the first time the entire venue was bought out for a private event on a match day, that was the final straw. Your group actually expected the business to turn down several thousand dollars of business to accommodate at most 25 fans. The writing was on the wall, it wasn't going to work as the match day home base for fan groups. That sadly wasn't a financial position which would ensure the doors remain open.



It is off topic, but you brought it up.

There is more to life than making a buck. We were shown plans about it being a true soccer pub and it turned out to be a nightclub/entertainment venue, Sporting KC in name only at the time but now current ownership thinks they can get that crowd to come to the Legends, ha. And who knows, maybe that private party displacing the fans that would have watched there took away from people going there for every away game for decades.

I'm just telling you my take on it, I'm not some exec who is live or die about an entertainment district. I'm just the consumer that was marketed to & had the rug pulled out from underneath me. I'm sorry I brought it up at all because I didn't know it'd derail the topic of this thread.

TheSmokinPun wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 3:57 pm There is more to life than making a buck. We were shown plans about it being a true soccer pub and it turned out to be a nightclub/entertainment venue, Sporting KC in name only at the time but now current ownership thinks they can get that crowd to come to the Legends, ha. And who knows, maybe that private party displacing the fans that would have watched there took away from people going there for every away game for decades.

I'm just telling you my take on it, I'm not some exec who is live or die about an entertainment district. I'm just the consumer that was marketed to & had the rug pulled out from underneath me. I'm sorry I brought it up at all because I didn't know it'd derail the topic of this thread.

It's not derailing the topic but it sounds like you've not had the full story or any explanation provided to you. The concept was to provide a home away from the stadium for away matches but the support wasn't there to pay the bills. It wasn't even about making a profit, it was about breaking even. That wasn't going to happen with the amount of fans that were showing up, even with all the tricks offered including discounts, ticket giveaways, free gear and on and on. The business had to shift to survive. By the time the private event I'm speaking about came around, it was already a struggle with us strategizing on how to shift gears to keep people employed.

There is certainly more to life than making money, but this is American and anything most people invest in is expected to turn some kind of profit. We can't pay the bills with good vibes alone.

I'm no longer directly affiliated with that project or PNL in general. I do know it's not a nightclub by any means but does millions a year in private events while also still doing a lot of events related to soccer, just not dedicated to game watch per say.

Dumbest name for a pub ever.

So are the Royals favored to go to the Crossroads or EV now

Interesting, it sounds like being in or near the entertainment center of the universe doesn't automatically produce the assumed success that some executives in a board room planned and the professionals, that do this for a living, aren't infallible. Maybe that should show you that using one variable (proximity to P&L) shouldn't actually be the sole criteria for where a stadium should be built.

JaxCo "accepted" the LOI on the Community Benefits Agreement from the Chiefs/Royals yesterday. https://jacksonco.legistar.com/Legislat ... s=&Search=

TheUrbanRoo wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 5:02 pm So are the Royals favored to go to the Crossroads or EV now

I’ve been informed Crossroads. Final renderings were completed yesterday with a reported “modern but bad ass design”. I did not see these renderings, so I’m going off of someone who has. I expect to see them released soon. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the campaign to get people to vote “yes” starts as a local Super Bowl commercial.

Chris Stritzel wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 5:58 pm

TheUrbanRoo wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 5:02 pm So are the Royals favored to go to the Crossroads or EV now

I’ve been informed Crossroads. Final renderings were completed yesterday with a reported “modern but bad ass design”. I did not see these renderings, so I’m going off of someone who has. I expect to see them released soon. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the campaign to get people to vote “yes” starts as a local Super Bowl commercial.

I hope EV doesn't remain a wasteland.

beautyfromashes wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 5:01 pm Dumbest name for a pub ever.

You're such a positive person.

Chris Stritzel wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 5:58 pm I also wouldn’t be surprised if the campaign to get people to vote “yes” starts as a local Super Bowl commercial.

This is an absolute no-brainer if there's ever been one...holy moly

Chris Stritzel wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 5:58 pm

TheUrbanRoo wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 5:02 pm So are the Royals favored to go to the Crossroads or EV now

I’ve been informed Crossroads. Final renderings were completed yesterday with a reported “modern but bad ass design”. I did not see these renderings, so I’m going off of someone who has. I expect to see them released soon. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the campaign to get people to vote “yes” starts as a local Super Bowl commercial.

It's been Crossroads since late 2023 but the endless debates have been fun. I wouldn't personally describe the design as ultra modern, but yes to the bad ass.

TheBigChuckbowski wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 5:08 pm Interesting, it sounds like being in or near the entertainment center of the universe doesn't automatically produce the assumed success that some executives in a board room planned and the professionals, that do this for a living, aren't infallible. Maybe that should show you that using one variable (proximity to P&L) shouldn't actually be the sole criteria for where a stadium should be built.

LOL! I can't even begin to breakdown the absurdity of this take. Sure, SKC thought they'd have a much better turn out for away matches, so much so it would prop up the business and be the bread and butter. They also thought European league fans would show up at all hours to watch specific games but that didn't pan out either. However, the same people who made these decisions have made other decisions that have resulted in billions of dollars worth of success. These same people are the bedrock people who started something that helped get us a World Cup.

It's not the sole criteria, but it's a major factor. So much so that the Royals are willing to take on a more complex project in order to be closer to it.