Kenyon – Sounders are the Flagship of the MLS

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Peter Kenyon is a powerful man in world football. When Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took over at Chelsea, one of his first acts was to lure the chief executive from financial powerhouse Manchester United in an attempt to turn Chelsea Football Club into the global brand the northern English side had already become.

Kenyon - 'Seattle is the Flagship of the MLS'

Peter Kenyon Enjoys the Pre Match Atmosphere
Photo: GOAL.com

He officially joined Chelsea in February 2004, much to the chagrin of many at the Old Trafford club. With a salary reported to be around $3m a year, Peter Kenyon is the top dog in the world of football financing and marketing. In a bizarre, either repetition or reversal of history depending on your point of view, Kenyon is now reported to have been targeted by Manchester City, now the wealthiest club in the world following a takeover by oil sheikhs, that has already brought Carlos Tevez to the club.

So when Peter Kenyon talks about branding and football, the world listens. Yesterday he talked to Prost Amerika about Sounders FC, and how the achievements here so far placed the club in a global context.

“This is very special. We travel the world. We’ve been to the US last five years, and this is really what I think will excite everybody about soccer in the US.”

One of the aims of the Sounders ownership group was to become the “flagship” of the MLS. According to Kenyon, they have already hit that target.

“I think its already the flagship. I think what people are talking about is the Sounders, when you talk about soccer in America, this is what people will be talking about.”

At that point in our interview, something happened to underline that impression, which no amount of Kenyon’s words could possibly have articulated better. The Emerald City Supporters club were approaching us, as they marched in unison to the match. A clearly impressed Kenyon stood with Gary Wright and other officials of both clubs, watching as the procession went past. There was nothing else that anyone could say at that time that could have illustrated Kenyon’s point better.

After the match, we asked Adrian Hanauer, Sounders FC’s General Manager, for his reaction to Kenyon’s view.
“I think he’s right. I don’t think there’s any way to dispute that, in terms of attendance, in terms of the passion of our fans, the merchandise sales, some of our corporate partnerships, our TV partnerships, and certainly the product on the field is showing that that’s a big piece of the puzzle as well. I’m happy that we are the flagship franchise. That doesn’t mean I don’t want every team in MLS to take what we do well and emulate it. There are things we can do better and learn from other teams in MLS and other teams around the world.”

The question now for all in the leadership group is how far the flagship can sail, especially into foreign waters in the years to come, given the taste the club got of international competition on July 18th.

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vinocomitatus

07/19/2009 at 11:40 pm

Hattrick:

I think that is a couple of steps down the road.

The immediate step is thrashing Houston on Tuesday, and then a solid performance against Chicago on Sat, followed by a little smurf town destruction in San Jose (I think there are 200 to 300 supporters headed for San Jose) and then another solid showing against Barca. If we do that I think the momentum will have solidified to the point that there will be travelling fans for many of the rest f the matches. I already know of people talking about travelling to DC for the US Open Cup final, Knock on Wood.

If the product and play on the field keeps maturin and developing at the pace it currently is,the solid fan support at home, will start flowing outward. Also, we need some big away matches, but this probably wont come till next year!

#2879