Carly Samp

Investing in Soccer: The Story of Kingston Stockade FC

It’s not that often that we find ourselves writing about the fourth-tier of soccer in the United States, but Kingston Stockade FC is a special case. What started as an idea from Dennis Crowley, the founder of tech giant Foursquare, back in June of 2015, turned into a reality this summer as the Hudson Valley-based club finished their first season in the NPSL’s North Atlantic Conference.

Just ahead of the season’s kickoff, Crowley wrote a fantastic manifesto which outlined his plans for the team in the 2016 season and for the growth of soccer in the United States. His thesis, is that the U.S. can win a World Cup through building, much like he did at Foursquare. It requires more kids playing, more teams for them to play for, and eventually promotion/relegation, in order to give smaller clubs something to strive for.

In the past, we’ve written about many aspects of the soccer business – brand partnerships, athlete endorsements, the types of American soccer fans, how teams market themselves through social media, etc – but we haven’t really touched on the ins-and-outs of actually running a soccer team.

“Dens” lays it all out for everyone in this “end of year one wrap-up” that is absolutely worthy of investing your time to read. He talks about the finances of starting a club – budgets, marketing, sponsorship, social media, attendance and much more – and is incredibly transparent in the entire process.

Kingston Stockade FC is more than “just another soccer club” to him. It truly is a club for the communities in the Hudson Valley and the people are the most important part of the club. For more, be sure to watch the great short documentary that the folks at KICK created down below.

We’re looking forward to seeing more from the club in year 2 and further exploring the lower levels of soccer which are so important to building up the sport here in the U.S.

 

Header image via Kingston Stockade FC; taken by FairPlay Magazine

Categories: Domestic, Editorial, Press, Soccer Marketing