"Not selling drinks"

January 14, 2015 If you've been following social media in the wake of the Petke firing, you might have heard the name of Jason Ader. The businessman has been vocal in his support of the unjustly fired head coach, but his interest in the team lies beyond pure fandom. Ader is from the New York area; he went to NYU and lives in NYC. For the past three years, he has been going to Red Bull Arena. He and his family try to go to every game, unless he is traveling. At first, Ader took his daughter, and she loved it. The South Ward hooked her. By the end of the first game, she knew all the chants by heart, and as she grew older, she began to understand all of them. Ader's favorite player is Luis Robles; he calls him "loyal and articulate, someone who represents the club well, class of American soccer, humble, down-to-earth, with no attitude". We can't disagree. It was Ader's son that helped him forge a stronger connection to the team. On his seventh birthday, the boy received a special message from Petke. "It was an unbelievable thing to do," says Ader. His son now lives and breathes soccer, and Petke is the reason why. Ader calls his involvement "life-changing". Petke had lit a fire, ingnited a passion. (In case you needed some off-the-field reasons why he should have not been fired, here is one of them.) Ader's name first floated in relation to MLS earlier this year, in connection with a bid for an expansion club in Las Vegas. He has a background in casinos, and with Vegas lacking in major professional sports, it looked to be a perfect match. According to Ader, the city has a spectacular soccer culture. However, there is a competing bid, so Ader has stepped away so not to compete. If the bid fails against the likes of Minneapolis and Sacramento, he could be back in the running. Of course, we hope that his running would not be in the Nevada desert, but rather local. Recently, Ader inquired if our unfortunate club is for sale. He couldn't be more excited about the future of American soccer, and calls having a team in the New York area, "a trophy asset". Yes, even though the team is not based in New York City proper. Ader sees New Jersey and Southern Manhattan as a "very strong market", with a "very strong soccer community" in the area. He cited New Jersey as producing some of the best American players. According to Ader, more and more families are embracing the product. "I only see growth over the next 20 years," he says. Unfortunately for Ader (and us), he was blatantly told that the team is not for sale. The reasons are not clear, as Red Bull is a private company. He was quickly told "no", but suspects that if the Austrians changed their mind, there would be a line of bidders. So, yes, some out there see this club as a major asset, despite the struggles on and off the field. Ader mentioned the youth development program, which is unrivaled in the country. The major problem? Constant management turnover. And, yes, you can see the disconnect with fans, as evidenced on social media. Ader discussed Red Bull's recent withdrawal of funds away from the team. He cited a pretty high cost structure, the cost of running the stadium, not building up the area around it as once promised. "The revenue is not there," he says. "Losses are significant." All of that leads to the team slashing cost for the product on the field. Ader called the Galaxy model a great one, where a brand was built around the team. He also loves the models in Seattle and Portland, where it's all about the community around the club. It's not clear that would be possible in this area, with numerous other sporting and entertaining options. Yet Ader keeps coming back to Seattle's model, where "supporters have a voice in governing the club." He cites the best European clubs from Barcelona to Munich that do the same. "The business of a soccer club is about supporters, and they should have a voice." We couldn't agree more. "There should be a community built around the club," says Ader. "The ownership should have no motives, no confusing message. The business is not selling drinks." Amen.