Location strategy: anchor metros vs. community cities
Within a region, choose whether clubs prioritize maximum accessibility and attention (e.g. dense metro / transit hubs) or mid-size communities with weaker pro identity but real population — avoiding “nowhere” markets while staying honest about draw radius.
The Options
Anchor metros and high-accessibility first
Prioritize places with transit, media attention, and existing soccer event behavior (e.g. Greater Boston core, strong corridors).
Pros
- +Easier away-day and sponsor logistics
- +Larger addressable casual audience
- +Fits “underserved pocket inside a big market” (e.g. neighborhood inside metro)
Trade-offs
- −Higher costs and competition for venues
- −MLS/NWSL adjacency can strengthen (see geographic research updates)
Community cities with real scale, not “middle of nowhere”
Target secondary cities/towns with population + youth/immigrant soccer depth but no entrenched pro club identity (Worcester-style, not remote exurbs).
Pros
- +Matches community-regional thesis
- +Lower venue cost ceiling
- +Different from USL Premier metro/stadium story
Trade-offs
- −Smaller casual pull; harder media
- −Research flags prior failures in similar tiers
Hybrid corridor: one anchor + intentional satellites
Explicitly pair a strong metro anchor with nearby regional clubs to share attention and travel.
Pros
- +Balances attention economy with regional density
- +One strong media story can lift neighbors
Trade-offs
- −Risk one club starves the others
- −Revenue sharing questions
Data-first ranking regardless of “anchor” label
Score all candidates on youth density, immigrant communities, venue path, travel time — pick top 8 without a prior anchor rule.
Pros
- +Reduces ideology fights
- +Forces transparent spreadsheet politics
Trade-offs
- −May still smuggle weights that favor preconceptions
- −Underweights intangible culture
General Discussion
1 comment
- Community· Community
Choose the location that anyone in the city can get to in maximum 40 minutes. This allows the whole city to go rather than just a sub urb. This doesn't mean putting it in the middle of the city of course.