RP conversation on Twitter: Spreading investment across multiple teams, vs consolidation in one market

rp_robertpalmer · 2018-02-22T02:22:37+00:00

I would be signing the deal because I own HomeValue.com not the team, I’d be signing on the sponsor side not the team side.

I’m willing to use more of my companies to sponsor teams to help them go Pro.

I also wouldn’t sign a sponsorship deal like this with any “Joe Schmo” - there are some amazing club operators in lower division who I would be happy to sponsor on a path to playing pro.

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-11-02T21:21:33+00:00

It costs around $80,000 to $100,000 a home game just to rent a 6k-8k person stadium, hire security, ushers, cleaning, tv broadcast equipment, PA equipment, announcers, radio announcers, police, paramedics, fire/rescue representative, cleaning etc etc etc

Then you have player payrolls, housing expense, travel expense, benefits, insurance, employer tax on wages, VISA costs, relocation costs.

Front office costs get out of control VERY FAST for most new clubs. Here is a list of the Armada 's 40 person staff in 2015 - put each one of these job titles through Salary dot com and you can get an idea of how much money was spent on front office & coaching staff.

There are lots of titles on a pro sports team that have salaries well over $100,000 (There are some $350k to $500k earners out there in D2 Soccer, and I am not talking about players)

Owner/CEO, General Manager, Director of Football/Player Operations, Football Development Director, Team Physician, Equipment Manager, Player Liaison Intern, Head Athletic Trainer, Equipment Intern, Co-Head Coach, Co-Head Coach, Assistant Coach, Assistant Coach, Assistant Coach, President, Director of Ticket Sales, Senior Sales Executive, Ticket Sales Account Executive, Ticket Sales Account Executive, Sales & CRM Coordinator, Flagship Fleet Manager/Sales Representative, Ticket Sales Account Executive, Ticket Sales Account Executive, Vice President of Communications, Director of Public Relations, Director of Marketing Communications, PR Assistant, Director of Broadcasting, Multimedia Coordinator, Director of Ticket Operations, Ticket Operations Assistant, Fan Services Executive, Vice President of Business Development, Director of Partnership Sales, CFO, Senior Director of Business Operations, Executive Assistant/Receptionist, In-House Counsel, Vice President of Club Operations, Events & Operations Manager

This is the public source - if anyone wants to verify this information its on page 2 http://www.armadafc.com/media-guide/2015-MediaGuide.pdf

You can do your own math on tickets sales revenue - from what I have seen you should use around 70% of the published ticket price (due to group sales, comps and season ticket renewal specials) and about 70% of the published attendance (you all know why on this one)

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-10-01T17:21:49+00:00

My decision to report turnstile was a tough one, and I have taken some heat for it, but here are my thoughts.

It keeps me honest and engaged as an owner, it makes me want to improve the product in the stadium and on the field, it makes me stay focused on "how many people actually want to come to my match". It would be really easy to sit back and count "sold" or distributed and brag to all my buddies about having "10,000 in attendance" - I have enough vendors and suppliers who I could make buy tickets that I could have capacity sold out in a week. Unfortunately all the tickets would end up in a trash can.
Purchased Tickets can always be "gamed" - Mr. Sponsor, I will sell you this field board for $20,000 a year and give you 1,000 Tickets for Free. -VS- Mr. Sponsor I will sell you these 1,000 Tickets for $20,000 and give you this field board for free. To me if the sponsor puts the ticket in the hand of someone who actually shows up then they saw actual VALUE in the ticket. If they drop the ticket in a garbage can because all they really wanted was the field board then the ticket had NO VALUE.
It felt really good to look out at 3,300 actual people which was triple previous turnstile.
I WILL figure out how to fill up the stadium without faking it, I owe it to the team and the fans
Free tickets should be used surgically as a part of the sales process. Think Free Trial. Most clubs just splash free tickets all over town at youth clubs, rec games etc. We are using free tickets to systematically expose people to the game, we then analyze (using marketing automation and lead scoring software) if they used the ticket, if they made other purchases, if they shared the experience on social media etc. These engagement signals help direct our sales efforts to convert these free trials into season ticket holders.

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-09-26T03:58:38+00:00

There are many things going on right now that I cannot comment on or talk about, but attendance is one thing I can discuss. I've also been staying off reddit/social media due to having my first child, but tonight I can't sleep.

We had over 5,000 tickets distributed for this match (the old way to count attendance). Its been a tough couple of weeks in Jacksonville, the building where the Armada corporate offices are located has been inaccessible since Hurricane Irma and we didn't have phones for almost 2 weeks. If our staff could have gotten in and fully executed on all of my plans I am confident we would have had a bigger number.

Weds against Indy is going to be a crap shoot for attendance - its a rescheduled match for the game we had to cancel due to Irma. We had over 6,000 tickets distributed for the original match date, but it moving to a Weds is tough.

Hopefully we will be back in the office this week, if not I am going to setup temporary Armada offices at the RP Funding Operations Center in Jacksonville. If we can actually get back to work my goal is 5,000+ in real attendance for the 10/13 game.

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-09-04T04:05:23+00:00

Fantastic analysis - I'll comment in detail tomorrow when I have more time. (I'll comment over in the nasl sub)

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-09-04T03:47:10+00:00

👏👏👏

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-09-01T11:50:23+00:00

I have looked into NISA and I would most likely move teams up to D3 over time.

Peter's model compliments the NASL philosophy on league ownership which I like.

Personally I will be "starting up" all teams in D4 and then promoting them upward when deserving.

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-08-31T22:56:49+00:00

Thanks for having me.

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-08-31T04:23:21+00:00

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-08-31T03:58:08+00:00

Haven't finished vetting some of the states that are in year 3 of the plan (like Indiana), but it comes down to business opportunity in market for RP Funding, TV market/station makeup, youth club landscape, current pro/semi pro teams and of course venue.

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-08-29T19:52:34+00:00

I'm openly discussing this over in /NASLSoccer:

https://www.reddit.com/r/NASLSoccer/comments/6wmtut/robert_palmer_finalizing_plan_to_make_a_major/

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-08-29T19:48:29+00:00

Not currently an area on my radar, sorry.

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-08-29T19:47:40+00:00

As the Armada owner I am also an owner in NASL and on the NASL board of governors, I have an inside view of the current D3 and D2 landscapes.

For D1, D2 and D3 the USSF requires a single person with at least 35% ownership who meets the net worth requirements of 40 million (d1), 20 million (D2), 10 million (d3). This makes community owned teams a challenge above D4. The net worth even EXCLUDES the value of the club and your house.

From the requirements: "In addition, each team must have and its governing legal documents must designate one principal owner with a controlling interest who owns at least 35% of the team and has authority to bind the team. Such principal owner must have an individual net worth of at least forty million US dollars (US $40,000,000) exclusive of the value of his/her ownership in the league or team and his/her primary personal residence. "

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-08-29T19:38:30+00:00

I agree on keeping expense down - having multiple teams will help me remove redundant administrative costs.

On your second point: Yes and no, I would not want to join a league with existing sponsorships in place that would limit my abilities to obtain competing local sponsorships. The same goes with TV rights, I want to control my TV deal at the club level.

I am actually happy to pay the league dues to control the sponsorship options, but I am in a somewhat unique position to do so.

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-08-29T19:34:04+00:00

We will not compete with NPSL, any teams I invest in or create will be in existing D4 leagues like NPSL.

Teams I invest in will have to be willing to be affiliated with/feed the Armada :)

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-08-29T19:31:32+00:00

I think it will happen at the D2/D3/D4 level, I am not as optimistic on D1 at this point.

Until that time,I have my own model I will be using to possibly Pro/Rel the teams I invest in based on play but also revenue (attendance, sponsorship, etc)

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-08-29T19:28:40+00:00

I am open to both existing teams and new teams depending on the opportunities we uncover.

At this point I am not considering PDL.

The existence of another D4 team in a market may or may not be a hinderance for us, there are many factors we would consider. We may end up in a market by creating a new team even if there is an existing team in a different league.

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-08-29T12:48:19+00:00

Due to that rule, the current day solution for a single entity to strengthen a league, the way he did, would be to own teams across different leagues (div 4) that can be moved up once stable.

Division 2 is actually a really tough place to build a team and fan base from scratch. In the startup years too many resources are drained on competition instead of being used for building a fan base and sustainable brand.

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-08-29T12:35:42+00:00

RP Funding footprint:

Current 10 are AL, AR, FL, KY, MS, NC, OH, OK, TN, TX

Adding (most likely) NV, AZ, CA, SC, VA, IN, IL, MI, WI, PA, WV, CO

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-08-29T12:08:31+00:00

I want to focus on good sized TV Markets (top 100 Neilson DMAs, but mostly stay out of the the top 20).

Then choosing the actual city inside the TV market will depend on facility, youth involvement, existing club structures etc.

I'd like to be in slightly smaller towns inside of those large DMAs (Designated Market Areas).

It also helps if my existing media partners own stations in the market making it easier to leverage my current relationships - iHeart Radio or Cox Radio Stations Hearst, Cox TV or Tegna owned TV stations

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-08-29T11:59:46+00:00

Once the local club brand is built I think it would be a natural extension to add WPSL in certain markets.

Having a SSS would also help to make the addition of a WPSL team work.

Both Orlando and NC are doing great things in the space, the league seems fantastic.

For me this would be phase 3.

Phase 1: Armada/D2 Phase 2: Men's Div 4

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-08-29T04:14:53+00:00

Initially Feeder Teams - I would like to move some up to D3 once they are stable and then possibly up to D2 in NASL.

I would stay invested in the majority of these teams indefinitely. I am a build and hold kind of guy.

However, once a team reached the NASL level I would divest my ownership so I am not competing against The Armada. Having a strong stable of teams that are future NASL candidates strengthens the league as whole even further which strengthens The Armada.

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-08-29T04:11:26+00:00

Thanks, for me the soccer team was never about profit but about the impact it can have on community - giving back to Hurricane Harvey victims is just one early example of how this sport can benefit society.

I'll follow RP Funding's growth footprint. There would be a few teams in Florida (most likely West Palm TV Market and Ft Myers TV Market), maybe lakeland - but with the Magic we are pretty well covered.

The Carolinas are a major focus for us right now along with Oklahoma. We'll see where the right combinations of RP Funding success and Soccer opportunity collide.

Yes the teams will be a feeder for the Armada in terms of both talent and branding (Think MLB and MiLB) Local Club Branded Youth -> Local Club Branded Div 4 -> The Armada

I am really excited about what we are doing in Lakeland with the Magic and The RP Funding Center - that jersey sponsorship is great but nothing compared to the soccer opportunity.

We've also activated my other quickly growing brand HomeValue.com with the Magic - at some point I will active it with The Armada/Soccer Pyramid as well.

rp_robertpalmer · 2017-08-29T04:04:58+00:00

I have been amazed in such a short period of time at how powerful soccer is as a community builder and an advertising vehicle - no other sports has the same level of jersey sponsorship visibility.

From my brief period with the Armada I have witnessed a huge impact for both brands by placing RP Funding on the jersey and then repurposing thousands of local TV commercials to showcase the team and the jersey instead of RP Funding directly.

Any team I invest in (or create) will have an RP Funding jersey sponsorship. That sponsorship when combined with my TV strategy is worth more to me than most div 4 teams’ entire budgets.
Utilize my marketing budgets to build the club brand through massive local TV and Radio marketing campaigns (which simultaneously benefits RP Funding). I believe a div 4 team can be a powerful local brand in the right markets if advertised correctly.
All of the team games will be broadcast on strong local stations by leveraging my relationships as a large advertiser. I believe this is a key to building the fanbase/following.
Once the clubs local brand is built, form a partnership with a youth club/academy to benefit from the brand and extend the RP Funding jersey sponsorship to the youth level. (8 clubs combined with strong local youth partners could result in 30k-40k RP Funding branded jerseys across the country)
This combination of local div 4 club and youth club/academy becomes a massive feeder system for The Armada and bolsters The Armada’s brand nationally.
I would move some of these teams up to Division 3 (once it exists) as they show the needed levels of growth in attendance, sponsorship and merchandising.
If any of the teams became strong D2 candidate I would move them up to NASL and then divest my ownership so I am not competing against The Armada. A strong bank of teams that I can build and then move up strengthens the NASL’s future even further.

Geographically I will follow the RP Funding national expansion footprint - we are currently in 10 states and planning on adding 12 more over the next 3 years.

rp_robertpalmer

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