Establishing a positive relationship with the surrounding community and fanbase of your team is essential to the team’s brand. Fan loyalty and support increase when a positive brand identity is established.
As I mentioned earlier, I’m from St. Louis. Our newest professional team is in their inaugural season with Major League Soccer (MLS), St. Louis City SC. When promoting the club, the marketing and PR teams created an ad campaign where they mentioned North, South and West County along with St. Louis City
Part of the history behind St. Louis is that there are technically two St. Louises. One is the city of St. Louis, while the other is St. Louis County. Citizens of either city or county separate themselves from the other, creating a division.
St. Louis City has made it their mission to connect with the city and county, and bring them as one community. One way they’re working to bring St. Louis as one is through the community corner. The club works with Enterprise to provide 150 free tickets to a selected local community organization every home game. The entire goal behind this program is to strengthen the communities Enterprise and St. Louis SC support and serve.
St. Louis has a long, deep, and rich history with soccer. In the 1920s, soccer was introduced by Italian, English, and German immigrants. The first professional soccer team in St. Louis started in 1907, and played until the 1939 season. Soccer was seen as a rite of passage for children to begin learning as soon as possible. While it’s a rite of passage, and a typical sport to play as a child growing up in St. Louis, not everyone has that opportunity. St. Louis has one of the worst wealth inequalities in the country. Specifically, white households make almost double what Black/Latinx households bring in.
St. Louis SC’s CITY Futures program works to “promote soccer in the region, make soccer accessible to everyone in St. Louis, and help invest in the community through soccer.” In this program, CITY SC provides free youth training programs that are accessible for all children in the St. Louis community.
An example of CITY Futures program offerings is Soccer 101. These are free clinics that introduce kids aged 5-12 to soccer. City SC community coaches work to teach fundamental soccer skills in a “fun and educational setting.”
The Way to Play program is designed for children aged 7-12 at five locations throughout the region. Kids of all skill levels are welcome to participate in the program. Not only does this program offer fundamental principles of soccer, but it offers social and emotional learning as well. After the Way to Play season ends, participants are welcome to play in the CITY Cup tournament. The CITY Cup tournament is supposed to be an inclusive and fun tournament that is hosted three times a year. The unique aspect of the tournament is that participants are placed on teams with kids from all regions, you’re expected to go out of your comfort zone, and meet new people.
This community outreach that St. Louis CITY SC practices is meant to bring the St. Louis community together, and disband the previous separation and division that previously existed in the city and county.
