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From: Viking

Subject: Soccer and the Ticket, KTCK, AM 1310

To: Bruce Gilbert 

Mr. Bruce Gilbert
Program Director
KTCK 1310 The Ticket
Dallas, TX

Via Electronic Mail

Dear Mr. Gilbert:

It has been a very long time since I've written to you.  I want to ask you to expand and improve the coverage of MLS and the Dallas Burn on the Ticket.  The Stars will soon finish their season, and the "summer lag" will be upon us, when the Ticket could do a credible job of starting to work in Dallas Burn sports talk into the different shows.  I should point out that I have been Ticket-free since New Years, since that was the end of college football, the other sport I follow.  Nothing else has interested me enough to listen to the Ticket, when I really want to hear about soccer. In the last ten days or so, I listened a few minutes, and found Tracy Rowlett very funny (Musers show).  I also heard a ticker with the Burn mentioned. So, progress is there, but it's still not enough. 

The Burn played the Galaxy last week (May 13, 2000), and drew 20,000 (twenty thousand) fans the same night the Stars were on TV, and the Byron Nelson was in town.  This was for a regular season game.  This demonstrates substantial interest in the sport, and the team.  Overall, this is the trend.  The league-wide average for attendance in MLS and the NHL is about 2,000 fans in favor of the NHL, for now.  When school is out and MLS signs several new prospects in the next two weeks, MLS could surpass the mighty NHL.  What implication does that have for the Ticket?  

The U.S. National Team will begin qualifying for World Cup 2002 in July, and will play off-and-on for the next year and a half to qualify for Korea/Japan.  They are hosting a tournament, US Cup, to prepare for World Cup qualifying. One game, South Africa v. Mexico, will be at the Cotton Bowl.  The Burn will likely have a starter, home town hero Chad Deering, on the US team for US Cup and the WC qualifying games.  Star forward Jason Kreis may also be a reserve member of the team.  What implication does that have for the Ticket? 

In just a month, ESPN2 will air an hour long, all-MLS, highlight and news show, on Monday evenings.  It will run until the end of the MLS season.  Burn away games are being telecast on a local broadcast station (i.e. non-cable), or Fox Sports.  As you can see, soccer and the Burn continue to gain ground.  I hope the Ticket sees this as their opportunity to begin a more accommodating dialog with soccer fans. 

I host a soccer roundtable weekly to discuss MLS, World, and Burn soccer. We meet over lunch on Fridays and talk soccer for about an hour.  It's an informal gathering to allow Burn and general soccer fans to meet and talk, exchange news and opinion about soccer.  Anyone from the Ticket is welcome to attend. Just provide their email address, and I will send them the weekly invitation notice to inform them where we will be meeting. We have met weekly since January, usually at a Taco Cabana. 

Is Mark Followill now doing the loud-speaker announcing at Burn games? If so, tell him he's doing a commendable job, and I hope he enjoys it. 

Thanks for your time and consideration, 

Matthew Witosky 
Inferno Charter Member