What started as threatening storms turned around into a very pleasant evening to watch the Stars fight on wet turf. It was great to see Christiano Diaz get his first goal this season!

Considering the menacing weather and drizzling rain all day, we had a good turn-out in the stands. Those attending brought sound and energy to the match; especially Brian Little, who won this week’s Fan of the Match contest and helped carry the championship NSAL Soccer Bowl.

—Don’t forget our Facebook page and the chance to enter the Caption Contest to win tickets!

Decibel - Folks brought the noise to this game, especially as the Stars fought through the 2nd half.

Scarves - We had a decent show of scarves on Saturday, but by all means our numbers could be improved.  Though the scarves may have been lacking, the fans more than made up for it by cheering loudly for our traditional rally at the start of the 2nd half.

Hot Dogs - Well, we had some hungry, hungry fans out there; you guys ate almost as much as last week when attendance was even higher!  Great result here.

Beer - Wow!  Did we mention thirsty?  This week’s numbers makes for the best sales-to-attendance ratio in any category yet this season!  Looks like $2 Buds deal are a winner.

Attendance - Down slightly from the week before although with the threatening weather and dour forecasts this isn’t beyond the pale, the important thing is to get everyone we can to support the team next Saturday against the first-place-Scorpions!

Insert algorithm calculating sound here-

The results are tabulated!  The score for this weeks Fan Challenge Blast-O-Meter is 3.8, which is slightly down from the previous game and reflects the lower attendance from last Saturday compared to our recent past.  But the Blast-O-Meter stayed relatively high this week thanks to the outstanding amount of hot dogs and $2 Buds consumed.  Keep in mind that we want to get attendance to over 3000 per game; so we’re going to need all hands on deck for this Saturday’s match!

PS – Our popular championship soccer team is still looking for an owner.

Saturday’s cool weather was perfect for watching the champion Stars push hard against the first place Scorpions.

Engaged Minnesota soccer fans were treated to the second annual history night; featuring players from our soccer history. A special tribute was made to former goalie, Joe Warren, who contributed much to last year’s championship season.

Our “Fan of the Match” this week was Jim Oliver, Dark Clouds supporters club-member and staunch Stars’ fan. Going to games is “…my favorite thing,” Jim said. For him, supporting Minnesota professional soccer is “critical!” We couldn’t agree more, which is why we’re giving you the chance to win match tickets by entering the Caption Contest on our Facebook page!

Decibel – Audience participation encouraged dynamic plays by the Stars. Loyal to their team, our fans condemned bad calls and let the officials hear their disapproval. That said, the Stars received a fantastic standing ovation at the end of the 1-0 loss to acknowledge a game well played.

Hot Dogs – Well, hot dog! Seems as though these tasty snacks correspond to actual crowd attendance of games— we’ll call this a win!

Scarves – This was emcee Jake Schultz’s last game leading the crowd to raise their scarves (or arms for those sans-scarf) for the traditional, home-game “Raise your Scarves” rally at the beginning of the second half. We wish him luck and hope he’s inspired you to come with scarves in hand at the next home game!

Beer – With an almost 2-to1 ratio our $2.00 Buds go well with our hot dogs, keeping in line with the numbers from the rest of the season! Beer sales holding steady is always a good sign!

Attendance – There was a great many fans in the crowd at Saturday’s match; a welcome sight after our Stars played the last 3 games away. This year, we’re shooting for an average attendance of 3000 fans per game and the last two home games have put us right on target! Let’s keep it up and help the Stars get back on top!

Insert algorithm calculating sound here-

And the results are in! The score for this week’s Fan Challenge Blast-O-Meter is 4.6—Outstanding! Our attendance and fan engagement is proving how important our Stars are to Minnesota! While Schwan’s USA Cup gave us a big boost that’s not the only reason to expect these kinds of numbers—our fan-base is growing.  If we kick our average attendance up to three thousand fans per game consistently, Saturday’s match is a great look at the future of Minnesota professional soccer!

In other news: Popular championship soccer team looking for an owner!

The sweet cool air on this unforgettable summer night would have had you guessing the Stars would be going home with a win. The weather was on our side Wednesday night against the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers but neither luck nor the referee’s calls were. The Stars came out fighting with everything they had but could not get an equalizing goal in the second half. But they kept the pressure on and with nearly double the attendance over last week there was a lot of Fan support. With this game, the Stars will start their three consecutive away games against Carolina Railhawks, Puerto Rico Islanders, and FC Edmonton. As a result we will be starting our caption contest, so keep your eyes open for more information!

Our winner of the Fan of the Match contest was Sarah Seitz. She was pumped up about winning because as her entry stated she never gets picked to win anything. She couldn’t believe she got picked as the Fan of the Match as well as being selected for the LA fitness challenge at the July 4th game. Sarah stated she hoped the Stars would be around for a long time as she loves coming to the Stars games and watching her favorite player Devin Del Do!

Decibel - The stadium continued to showcase it’s noise making ability with both the increased attendance and the tenacity of the Stars. With every shot on goal and with their overall dominate control of the ball the crowd surged with support and vocally stayed with the Stars right up to the end.

Hot Dogs - A significant increase in hot dogs follows nicely in step with the increased size of the crowd.  That said it’s nice to see these numbers holding so solidly with the changing size of the crowds.

Scarves - This continues to impress!  With the continued help from both emcee Jake Schultz and the Dark Clouds “Nessie” we saw a mass of arms and scarves go up for the Raise your Scarves rally (every home gave just after the beginning of the second half)!

Beer - Much like the hot dog situation the number of beers poured stayed even with the attendance increase which is to say good.  Although the fact that the Bud’s at the Budweiser Beer Garden are only $2 probably helps too.

Attendance - And here’s where things get really interesting – we just about doubled attendance numbers over our last game on the 12th (against the Rowdies) and that increased energy and volume from the crowd made for a singularly enjoyable match and did much to keep the Stars on the offensive even though they would not be able to overcome their scoring deficit it wasn’t for lack of trying or fan participation both of which were at season highs!

Insert algorithm calculating sound here-

The results are tabulated!  The score for this weeks Fan Challenge Blast-O-Meter is 4.6 (Outstanding!) and we continue to show through our attendance numbers and fan engagement how important the Stars are to everyone!  I know we got a big boost from the Schwan’s USA Cup going on but there’s no reason not to expect these kinds of numbers in the future.  Remember we’re trying to kick our average attendance up to 3K people per game and this is a great look at what that can be like!

PS – Popular championship soccer team looking for owner

Minnesota Stars came out with their eyes on the ball and determination on their faces as they fought through the heat for a win Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Rowdies. With their 2-1 victory against the Rowdies, Stars player Nunez showed everyone he is a force not to be trifled with and he has proven to be a key player on this Stars team. The atmosphere was filled with joy after this match and you could see it on every fans face!

Speaking of being filled with joy our winner of the Fan of the Match, Alex Vanyo, was ecstatic to hear that he had won the contest. He has a smile on his face as he carried the trophy out to the middle of field for opening ceremonies. He stated how much he wanted to win the Fan of the Match contest and still couldn’t believe he was picked. As for all of you other Stars fans out there it’s never too late to enter the Fan of the Match contest and snag some sweet Stars swag!

Decibel – This was a noisy game thanks to the uptick in attendance over the previous week as well as the fans response to the Stars strong first half which carried them onto the win.  You could tell how much fun everyone was having with your ears alone!

Hot Dogs – Up a bit over last week although with our increased attendance we should have seen more of these move out of the kitchen and into your bellies!  Better work on that for next time.

Scarves – WOW -just wow!  Great show of enthusiasm from the stands during our 2nd half Raise Your Scarves rally.  Watched as what looked like everybody in the stands put their arms up with scarves in hand or just in support!  A great fan rally for the guys on the field!

Beer – Now here’s the spirit!  We did good service in getting folks to chill out with an icy Bud form the beer garden!  Looks like things have really changed over there since the beginning of the season.  If you haven’t been check it out next home game.

Attendance – Up over last week and last year this was a good crowd that was engaged and let the players know it.  The enthusiasm and numbers must have helped as the Stars went on to win this one 2-1 and although we are still reaching for that 3k at the game we keep getting closer.

Insert algorithm calculating sound here -

The results are in and tabulated!  The score for this weeks Fan Challenge Blast-O-Meter is 4.3  so we are getting higher as the weather continues to get hotter!  Thanks to everyone who attended and lets continue to grow those numbers for next week!

PS – Hard playing championship team looking for owner!

Coming off an amazing win just three days earlier beating the Islanders 4-0, the Stars fell short of keeping up their two game winning streak against the Atlanta Silverbacks. The Silverbacks looked like they had a revamped team with the help of their new head coach Eric Wynalda. Our Stars just could not connect well and the Silverbacks looked strong, played strong and defiantly brought their “A” game Saturday.

Though the team had a trying night, Travis Baxter one of our very own Dark Cloud members won the Fan of the Match contest! He was very enthusiastic about winning and surprised as well because he thought there were many good entries in this weeks contest. Travis also let us in on what it means to him to be a Dark Cloud by stating, “It really means supporting the team even through the ups and downs, trying to support them when they are on the road, and just being there for them whenever you can!” We here at the MN Stars FC love to hear we have such support and loyalty from our fans! So make sure you come join the fun and enter the Fan of the Match contest!

Decibel – The crowd was game and kept up a steady enthusiasm despite the heat but we had a hard time matching the intensity of the noise from the previous game against the Islanders – that said an optimistic note was kept up for the length of the match with the help of the Dark Clouds.

Hot Dogs – Well, our dogs were barking this week with slightly fewer eaten but relative to this game’s slightly decreased attendance over the match on the 4th (just 3 days earlier) we kept a per-capita average with a less than 1% drop is sales by attendance.

Scarves – Lets just first acknowledge that’s it’s hot out there. That said we had scarves in hand during the game but with a spotty mic and technical issues we were thwarted in our attempt to rally folks but we’re back at it next week with our Raise your Scarf rally during the 2nd dead ball in the second half!

Beer – $2 Buds had slightly fewer cups emptied but when compared to the attendance numbers actually saw a 3% increase over last time! People were beating the heat at the Budweiser Beer Garden!

Attendance – Although our match against the Silverbacks was down slightly over the match 3 days earlier we are still up over last year so that’s the good part -the better part is keeping it up! The number of folks we get in the stands makes a huge difference to the guys on the pitch.

Insert algorithm calculating sound here-

The results are in and tabulated! The score for the Fan Challenge Blast-O-Meter is 2.60 which gives us lots of room to grow on for the next game against the Rowdies on the 12th! Then remember there’s only that game and one other before we go on the road so lets get out there and make some noise!

PS We got a championship team with great fans, need owner

With the heat and humidity feeling like we were suddenly in Puerto Rico, the Stars showed the Islanders it wasn’t going to affect the outcome of the game. The boys put their game faces on and let the Islanders take the heat back home with them but not a win! The Stars showed their hunger for another win and did not disappoint with a 4-0 win making the largest margin of victory in the history of the club!

On top of all this talk of victory, Emma Greenfield won our Fan of the Match Facebook contest. Emma stated she was very excited about winning the contest and thought it was a “cool experience” to walk the NASL Soccer Bowl trophy at the beginning ceremonies. Attending the Stars games is important to her because she plays soccer and likes the atmosphere with all the fans when she comes. Remember anyone can enter this contest! Don’t be shy, just write your story of why you want to go to your first Stars game or your experience at a recent Stars game for your chance to win!

Decibel – Helped on by the amazing scoring run the noise started early and proceeded to increase with each successive goal. By the time Amani Walker scored the Stars fourth goal the cheering from the bleachers was added to by the Dark Clouds as they sang “Four Nil” to the tune of Amazing Grace. Overall impressive noise for an impressive game!

Hot Dogs – For an incredibly hot day we kept very close to the previous games numbers of hot dogs sold which is really saying something – perhaps it was the heat that made it feel like summer and folks just couldn’t resist.

Scarves – And here’s where things got impressive. With a heat index over 100 degrees we had many more scarves in the air this time and thanks to a great call to arms by emcee Jake Schiltz with some help from the Dark Clouds “Nessie” when the call went out even those without scarves held their arms aloft! So heavy participation even if some of the scarves were invisible. Remember this happens during the second dead-ball in the 2nd half of the game!

Beer – And with that heat we had $2.00 Buds pouring steadily and continued to be provided quickly by the attentive staff at the Budweiser Beer Garden.

Attendance – We had a good number of folks on hand to see this awesome win against the Islanders and watch the fireworks form the stands but we are still a ways away from our goal of averaging 3K people per game and we’ve seen what a difference the fans make. Through their presence and noise the fans play a big part in helping the Stars win and the more show up the more goals the Stars make so thanks to all you who have already come and lets get some more new fans out to the NSC!

Insert algorithm calculating sound here-

The results are in and tabulated! The score for the Fan Challenge Blast-O-Meter is 4. Now lets keep these numbers up as Minnesota heats up this July!
PS Awesomely high scoring championship team seeks owner with which to grow!

You could feel the anticipation or was it tension in the air that comes with a three game losing streak for our Stars. On yet another perfect night weather wise at the NSC, the boys came out with vigor and togetherness determined to regain their winning ways.

Speaking of winning ways, congratulations to Krista Schnell for being the first winner of our Fan of the Match Facebook contest. Krista, a Minneapolis resident, is a first year stars fan and was thrilled to be the official fan of the match and carry the trophy out to the pitch. Remember this contest runs through September and we’ll be selecting a fan of the match for every home game until then.

Now let’s analyze the data for this week’s Blast o Meter…

Decibel – The Dark Clouds were in full force, constant buzz. Seems like that side of the pitch is growing. Wonder how many official Dark Cloud members there are now that summer is in full force? The peak decibel reading for the night was slightly down from previous week, however the average decibel level was up thanks to the surging crowd support during every offensive possession.

Hot Dog’s – Cooked to plumpness and served to order. Our hot dog count was down, however thanks to the big halftime rush it wasn’t too costly to our BOM bottom line this week. Kudos to the NSC concessions staff for their great work on getting everyone back to their seats with food fuel for cheering. Rumor has it the Chicago hot dog style is awesome!

Scarves – Stars player Andy Lorei did a Brave job launching the first ever raise your scarf rally. With the exception of the two very attentive fans that participated, the rally kinda of fizzled – This is where we need your help. The Raise your Scarf rally is our version of the seventh inning stretch. This happens 10 minutes into the second half as a rallying cry for our team as we raise our scarves to celebrate the Star of the North.

Beer – Two dollar beers make a difference and thanks to Budweiser our count was up from previous week even with fewer fans.The beer lines were moving freely and it sounded a little rowdy down their in the beer garden for the opposing players.

Attendance – We had a little dip here this past week from the previous week. This is our sacred metric and the one we all have to do our best to get fans in the stands and show people how they can have a blast at a Stars game. Our goal is to average 3,000 fans a game this season. It’s a very realistic goal. Already, not including Metrodome game we are 220% up from last season. Let’s continue this trend during July’s upcoming home games. Thanks fans! you guys are true blue.

Insert algorithm calculating sound here -

The results are in and tabulated from Saturday’s game. The score for the Fan Challenge Blast-o -Meter is 2.75. Time to roll up the selves on our fandom and dig in for the dog days of July.

Remember,

Soccer matters and so do you!

PS – If you were one of the two brave people that raised your scarf last Saturday, contact us for a small token of our appreciation.

PSS – Have championship team, need owner!

Lovely Blaine, back home after a grueling month long road trip our Stars took to the pitch against one of the NASL originals the Tampa Bay Rowdies. On this beautiful summer night a late goal by the Rowdies wasn’t going to ruin the debut of the Blast o Meter’s fact finding mission. First you ask what is the BOM? It’s our very sophisticated sensory process created for the launch of the Fan Challenge. Summer in Minnesota is about having a blast and we’ve figured out how to track it during a Stars game. Our geek encoded algorithm has identified five main fan drivers that make up having a good time.

Attendance – Exciting stuff here fans, attendance for Saturday’s game was 2,908. That’s an increase of 150% over same game last year. This is even more impressive when you consider that day looked like ominous weather was approaching and we were going up against the Walker Art Center’s Rock the Garden. If we want to keep soccer here in Minnesota we need to continue this momentum.

Beer – Good news, bad news with this one. Good news, new beer patio is open! Bad news, we didn’t quite have our act together and beer lines were too long. Sorry for the wait, we are on it and we get it. Deliver more beer at faster rate! Beer sold for Saturday’s game 424 cups.

Decibels – Game range was between 78 db and 84db. The high point coming in the first half right before Tampa’s game tying goal coincidentally. Based on some of our fact findings this could be a heatedly contested race between the Dark Cloud supporters section and the main stadium. The Dark Clouds have drums and beer on their side, while the stadium has shear numbers. Let the cheering commence!

Hot Dogs – I know your thinking what does a hot dog have to do with having a blast. We don’t know, however the we are just the messenger here. The Blast o Meter knows all and we are ok with that. Oscar Meyer might not be ok with it though, we did him wrong and only sold 522 hot dogs Saturday night. Eat up fans, we need to improve here to keep having a blast.

Scarves – Due to the summer heat this will be a tough one to track, however we need you our fans to bring your scarves to the games and show your colors. For Saturday’s game we noticed only light coverage. So for next home game after the second half gets under way will have a PA announcement demanding that everyone show us your scarves. Your job is to get up and show it like you mean it.

Insert algorithm calculating sound here! The results are in and tabulated from Saturday’s game The score for the very first Fan Challenge Blast-O-Meter is 3.0. Way to go Stars fans, a great result and great way to start summer now that it’s in full swing.

Remember,
Soccer matters and so do you!
PS – Please feel free to contact us with feedback and ideas on how we can make your fan experience a perfect night out.
PSS – Have championship team, need owner!