22 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY april 27-may 3, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com region invested in the team and out to the stadium. Speaking to the Weekly a few weeks later, Beshoff insists that he leaves all matters of playing style and strategy to Monterey Bay’s veteran head coach and sporting director, Frank Yallop. He is very much focused, however, on the winning part—as he knows it is integral to ensuring that, now that he’s built the club, the people will follow. “We can only survive if we get the fans—we can’t survive without them,” Beshoff says. “When we win a game and I see those fans there cheering and throwing [up] the towels, it’s an exhilarating feeling. And you walk out of there thinking, ‘They’re gonna come back.’” • A year into the Monterey Bay F.C. experiment, Beshoff says he’s mostly pleased with how things have gone thus far: The roster, under Yallop’s leadership, has established continuity; the stadium is finally complete; and the club has developed a strong base of local sponsors including Taylor Farms, Montage Health, Cardinale Automotive and the Pebble Beach Company. Beshoff is comfortable with the fact that, at this level, you don’t own a pro soccer team to make lots of money. In fact, “you know you’re going to lose money,” he notes. “I don’t think it’s ever going to be profitable; I think breaking even would be a goal.” (He adds that owners like him have to hope that in the long term, their franchise’s appreciating value “keeps pace with the money that you lose…so maybe you can recuperate [losses] if you sell the team in 10 years’ time.”) “I think my only disappointment,” Beshoff caveats, “is we’re not selling out every game.” The club has only broken 4,000 spectators at Cardinale Stadium on three occasions to date, with its highest turnout being the 5,705 who watched the 2022 home finale versus Tampa Bay last October. That disappointment is compounded by the fact that tickets are inexpensive by pro sports standards; the cheapest seats start at $20 per game, with season tickets costing as low as $272. One week after the thrilling 2023 season opener versus Hartford, MBFC hosts defending Eastern Conference champions Louisville City. Once again, it is an unseasonably cold early spring night, and just over 3,000 people are officially in attendance to see the team fall to a 0-1 defeat. (A Monterey Bay F.C. spokesperson did not specify whether the club’s reported attendance accounts for the number of tickets sold or the actual number of spectators in the stadium. Some fans observed that the attendance for the Louisville City game felt lower than the 3,019 reported.) But as the weather improves, the following home games see better showings. On April Fools’ Day, nearly 3,900 turn out for a heartbreaking, late 2-1 defeat to defending USL champions San Antonio. A passionate, engaged crowd provides the best atmosphere of the season so far, chanting their support for the team and voicing their displeasure with the opposition and referees alike when things don’t go Monterey Bay’s way. A week later, more than 3,500 are reported in the house for a 4-2 romp over New Mexico United. With an eye toward increasing its local exposure, Monterey Bay F.C. announced a deal in early March with KION-TV that will see the local broadcaster air all of the team’s home games live on its family of stations. Games also air on the ESPN+ streaming service under the USL’s league-wide broadcast deal with the sports media giant. “It was one of our goals all along to have a local linear broadcast partner,” according to team president Mike DiGiulio, a longtime business partner of Beshoff’s who now leads Monterey Bay F.C.’s front office. While Beshoff admits his own reservations that local TV airings may dissuade some fans from coming to the live matches, the club hopes they will help spread awareness of the team throughout the region. And Monterey Bay does consider itself a regional concern; DiGiulio says the club defines its fan catchment area as stretching north into Santa Cruz County and east into San Benito County. Against San Antonio, MBFC debuts a new alternate “Light Fighter” jersey featuring a black design and a yellow crest—U.S. Army colors that it dubs a tribute to the 7th Infantry Division that once called Fort Ord home. Before the game, a black flag that reads “Defend the 831” in bold yellow print is raised up the stadium flagpole, and many fans are already adorning the new jerseys as well as black-and-yellow scarves bearing the slogan. The club’s look, branded by British designer Christopher Payne, has proven a hit with fans. DiGiulio says merchandise sales have “matched our Left: Colorfully dressed, Dan Devlin aka “Superfan Dan” has taken it upon himself to boost the atmosphere at Cardinale Stadium and “indoctrinate” more fans to the team’s cause. Right: MBFC supporter Oz Lucero, seen here waving a flag with the team’s colors, believes the club can “unify” Monterey County’s disparate communities under one banner. “I never had a hometown team, which is why this one is so important to me.” Celia Jiménez Celia Jiménez
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