Speaker 1: Football is all about the fans, There's no question about it.
Speaker 1: The crackle of electricity in the stadium, the noise when
Speaker 1: the players step out onto the pitch, the flags, the drums,
Speaker 1: the smoke, and the chanting. Chanting for their heroes, chanting
Speaker 1: for their team, chanting for their city. Fans can change games.
Speaker 1: It's why they're referred to as the twelfth man. Around
Speaker 1: the world, there are those stadiums whose fans have become infamous.
Speaker 1: The atmosphere fear, where away teams absolutely dread even stepping
Speaker 1: onto the pitch Elasteca, San seedo Anfield. The list goes on.
Speaker 1: But even here in the US, where soccer is still growing,
Speaker 1: there are fans that bring the noise. This is the
Speaker 1: sound of Portland's Timber Army. This is what it sounds
Speaker 1: like when they sing the national anthem. And this is
Speaker 1: what it sounds like when they score in the dying
Speaker 1: seconds of an MLS Cup final. This stupid time, Where
Speaker 1: did I expect to take a brisk game? It was
Speaker 1: at a Portland game back in twenty eleven, actually, when
Speaker 1: a young basketball pundit and budding sports executive Tom Penn
Speaker 1: first caught the bug for the beautiful game.
Speaker 2: What I like to say is I'm an example of
Speaker 2: the enlightened American fan because I went to a Portland
Speaker 2: Timbers game with my kids in twenty eleven and they
Speaker 2: looked up at me, they looked over at the Timbers
Speaker 2: Army and they were just roaring in the corner and
Speaker 2: They're like.
Speaker 1: Daddy, this is awesome. And I'm like, this is awesome.
Speaker 2: I had no idea that was happening in America. And
Speaker 2: the Timbers Army is like this outstanding expression of a
Speaker 2: supporters group, you know, five thousand strong, just singing the
Speaker 2: whole time, and I had never experienced that.
Speaker 1: So I was just like, WHOA. Well, now Tom hopes
Speaker 1: to build something similar in San Diego. Who knows, maybe
Speaker 1: something even better. The only problem is Providence Park in Portland,
Speaker 1: Oregon has twenty five thousand seats and it's taken over
Speaker 1: two decades to create that atmosphere. San Diego FC's new
Speaker 1: home is thirty five thousand seats and they only have
Speaker 1: a few months. In February twenty twenty five, San Diego
Speaker 1: FC became the thirtieth team to enter Major League Soccer,
Speaker 1: now the largest professional league on the planet. But this
Speaker 1: is more than just another football club. At least that's
Speaker 1: the hope of the club's co owners under the leadership
Speaker 1: of Sir Mohammed Montsour, Right to Dream is an organization
Speaker 1: promising to rock American soccer to its foundations with a
Speaker 1: revolutionary approach to coaching and youth development. Anchoring the project
Speaker 1: in the local community is the Sequan Band of the
Speaker 1: Kumiga Nation, the first ever Native American owners in men's
Speaker 1: professional sports, and as the only MLS club officially sanctioned
Speaker 1: to recruit out of Mexico. I mean, this thing could
Speaker 1: really fly, that is, if everything goes to plan. In
Speaker 1: this episode, we go back to October twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: with the club working hard to bring together a fragmented
Speaker 1: group of fans. But can seven different supporter groups overcome
Speaker 1: their differences in time for San Diego e f c's
Speaker 1: home opener. Captured in the final months before the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five season kicks off, this series follows sdfc's race
Speaker 1: to field their first ever team. I'm Adrian Garcia, markis
Speaker 1: and this is behind the Flow, the origin story of
Speaker 1: San Diego FC. Luckily, for San Diego Football Club, this
Speaker 1: isn't Tom Penn's first rodeo. His success in launching LAFC
Speaker 1: is now legendary or perhaps infamous, depending on your point
Speaker 1: of view. LAFC has a great stadium, just twenty two
Speaker 1: thousand seats, but its whole north stand is run by
Speaker 1: the fans, a group called the thirty two to fifty two,
Speaker 1: and to be fair, they really bring it. But San
Speaker 1: Diego FC has the opportunity to drown out their noisy
Speaker 1: neighbors to the north. At thirty five thousand seats, Snapdragon
Speaker 1: Stadium could be something really special if they can fill it. Well,
Speaker 1: we have a.
Speaker 2: Big challenge to fill up the biggest building in MLS
Speaker 2: outside of the NFL buildings in Atlanta, Charlotte and Seattle
Speaker 2: were the highest capacity, so we have a much bigger opportunity,
Speaker 2: which it's a bigger challenge too. Right there's three point
Speaker 2: three million people here before we get anybody from Mexico
Speaker 2: across the border, so there's.
Speaker 1: A lot of people.
Speaker 2: I love the belief that once this thing is alive
Speaker 2: and established, it's going to just take off like wildfire,
Speaker 2: because it's going to be a level sports entertainment with
Speaker 2: San Diego on our chest, and people love San Diego.
Speaker 2: The Padres when they're in a playoff run are just electric.
Speaker 2: The whole place goes bonkers.
Speaker 1: He's not wrong. Petco Park has never looked or sounded
Speaker 1: so good. But in terms of the San Diego sports market,
Speaker 1: the Padres are the only Major league competition, leaving MLS
Speaker 1: with a golden opportunity. A point that's not lost on
Speaker 1: head coach mikey Badis.
Speaker 3: San Diego coming to MLS is going to be a
Speaker 3: game changer because this region is been hungry for a
Speaker 3: men's professional soccer team football team, right, you know. I
Speaker 3: think the first amazing step was the women's team, the
Speaker 3: Wave coming in and you could see that the support
Speaker 3: for them has been amazing and they've done a great
Speaker 3: job at really setting the bar. And when you look
Speaker 3: at San Diego, whenever there's a major tournament, the viewership
Speaker 3: TV viewership in San Diego is always amongst the highest
Speaker 3: in the country. Whenever an international club or national team
Speaker 3: comes and plays in San Diego, it's a sellout and
Speaker 3: it's rocking.
Speaker 1: Sporting Director Tyler Heaps is in agreement. In fact, the
Speaker 1: whole organization is aligned on this. Their first priority, perhaps
Speaker 1: their top priority, is to fill the snap Dragon stands
Speaker 1: with passionate local support.
Speaker 4: We need to embrace this community because those fans are
Speaker 4: extremely passionate about their sport, and so we need to
Speaker 4: make sure that we lean into that and we are
Speaker 4: a product on the field that makes them proud and
Speaker 4: it's something that looks like the community here, because that
Speaker 4: is extremely important. The football clubs belong to the community,
Speaker 4: and that's no different here, especially a new one. Right
Speaker 4: we don't have this historical pedigree of being able to
Speaker 4: say we can lean on all of this and all
Speaker 4: these pillars. So we need to create that. And the
Speaker 4: only way you create that is by embracing it.
Speaker 1: The question is how do you build a loyal, vocal,
Speaker 1: passionate fan base in such a short space of time.
Speaker 2: This is Ray Weber.
Speaker 5: I'm a longtime Mission Valley resident here in San Diego,
Speaker 5: and we're at snap Dragon Stadium, home of the San
Speaker 5: Diego State Aztecs, home of the San Diego Wave and
Speaker 5: soon to be home of SDFC, our new MLS franchise
Speaker 5: here in San Diego.
Speaker 1: On a beautiful September day in twenty twenty four, we
Speaker 1: find seventy year old football fan Ray Weber beaming with
Speaker 1: pride as he gazes up at San Diego State University's
Speaker 1: three hundred million snap Dragons Stadium. He stands in the
Speaker 1: shadow of towering banks of seating, the floodlights arching high
Speaker 1: overhead like the proverbial dragon's clause. There are some great
Speaker 1: MLS stadiums already, no doubt, but the biggest are shared
Speaker 1: with NFL teams and don't tend to sell out. This
Speaker 1: beauty will be the largest soccer specific stadium in the league,
Speaker 1: and Ray knows as well as anyone what it will
Speaker 1: take for MLS and SDFC to fill it.
Speaker 5: Number One, you have to get fans in the building,
Speaker 5: So you have to make the games accessible and affordable
Speaker 5: for fans. You just can't play in front of empty stadium,
Speaker 5: So they've got to get people in, and then once
Speaker 5: they're in, they just have to have a great experience.
Speaker 6: Right.
Speaker 5: So we're still very very early on. I like to
Speaker 5: think that all of my soccer tribe will come to games,
Speaker 5: some more than others. Some will come and check out
Speaker 5: a few games. I think most will. Whether they'll commit
Speaker 5: to being ticket holders, that's kind of up to them.
Speaker 5: I think that all soccer fans are going to come
Speaker 5: to games here.
Speaker 1: One thing San Diego FC can be sure of is
Speaker 1: the love of the sport here. Snap Dragon is already
Speaker 1: home to the Wave, the city's women's team. They broke
Speaker 1: the NWSL attendance record on their first ever game and
Speaker 1: never look back. But if SDFC are going to fill
Speaker 1: it week in and week out, they'll need an army
Speaker 1: of diehard fans.
Speaker 5: But I will say this that the fanatics, they'll be
Speaker 5: up to speed very quickly. So I expect a good core,
Speaker 5: maybe a lot of younger fans in particular, They're going
Speaker 5: to rock this place and they'll be up to speed. No,
Speaker 5: I think the passion will grow from there.
Speaker 1: Ray is happy to leave that to younger men, but
Speaker 1: he has faith in San Diego's next generation to come
Speaker 1: out in force.
Speaker 5: That's one thing I like about the younger fans. They
Speaker 5: really get the singing, the drinking of beverages, the scarves,
Speaker 5: the travel. It's the culture and once you're in, it's
Speaker 5: hard to get out.
Speaker 1: Back at SDFC headquarters on Kettner Boulevard, CEO Tumpen has
Speaker 1: a plan to make sure Snapdragon is rocking from the start.
Speaker 1: He never forgot the effect of the Timber Army, which
Speaker 1: is why when he built LAFC he copied the Portland model.
Speaker 1: The Army and the thirty two fifty two aren't just
Speaker 1: ramshackle groups of loyalists. These are official, well structured organizations.
Speaker 1: They are unions, an alliance of different supporter groups, each
Speaker 1: with their own styling culture, unified united under one banner.
Speaker 1: Now he's hoping to repeat the trick here in San Diego.
Speaker 2: So they're force at our matches because they drive the atmosphere,
Speaker 2: because they sing their songs and play their drums and
Speaker 2: throw off their smoke and check their beers in the
Speaker 2: air when we score goals, and it's just super fun.
Speaker 2: But then they become a force in the community too,
Speaker 2: because the way a union works, they can take dues,
Speaker 2: they can raise money, and then they deploy it in
Speaker 2: their own way in the community, and then we.
Speaker 1: Can partner with them on that.
Speaker 2: So they become a real force for good and all that,
Speaker 2: and the fabric of how that comes together and then
Speaker 2: expresses itself at all those.
Speaker 1: Levels is yet to be determined. And that's the fun part.
Speaker 1: It's also the scary part. The reason it's scary is
Speaker 1: because they are creating something powerful, a political entity with
Speaker 1: leverage over the club. Football fans aren't exactly known for
Speaker 1: their diplomacy, but then that's kind of the point, isn't it.
Speaker 1: The men Tom put in charge of uniting San Diego's
Speaker 1: largest supporter groups into a union is Seb Morua, Senior
Speaker 1: Vice President A Brand, Marketing and Community. Luckily, Seb's been
Speaker 1: around the bloc A tenure Right to Dream veterans work
Speaker 1: with grassroots supporters across every continent on Earth.
Speaker 7: The right to dream mindst when it comes to football
Speaker 7: and a community is first and foremost recognizing the unique
Speaker 7: local context of that community and its relationship to the game.
Speaker 7: I can tell you that the passion in San Diego,
Speaker 7: the passion for the game in San Diego is unparalleled
Speaker 7: to anywhere I have been in the US. As a
Speaker 7: Latin American. It really reminds me of the same passion
Speaker 7: that we feel in Costa Rica in other Latin American
Speaker 7: countries that I have worked in.
Speaker 1: Seb knows fan culture and he knows what a force
Speaker 1: it could be for San Diego. FC.
Speaker 7: Supporters are the driver of that movement within the stadium,
Speaker 7: and they're the ones setting the tone and when the
Speaker 7: team concedes or when the team is losing, the supporters
Speaker 7: get louder, and it's a factor that influences visiting teams
Speaker 7: one hundred. So it's it's a competitive advantage for teams
Speaker 7: that do it well. That's a huge component of the match,
Speaker 7: the experience, and more than the match, the experience, that's
Speaker 7: just a huge factor of football culture.
Speaker 1: Since day one, SEB has been attending fan rallies and
Speaker 1: holding focused groups trying to understand the opinions and priorities
Speaker 1: of San Diego sports fans. These are the supporter groups
Speaker 1: that fly the flag at Padres Games, Aztec Games, Wave games,
Speaker 1: and since way back, the soccers groups with names like
Speaker 1: Dago Boys, the Chapels, Frontea, Ultrust, the Riptides, and the
Speaker 1: locals groups that SEB hosts will fill the three one
Speaker 1: thousand seat home section behind the goal in Snapdragon's North
Speaker 1: stand come match day one.
Speaker 7: We've identified a group of leaders that are partnering with
Speaker 7: us to build that section and they're pouring their lives
Speaker 7: into it. And you know, these are volunteers. They don't
Speaker 7: do it as a job. They do it because they
Speaker 7: love the game. They do it because they love their
Speaker 7: community and our job is that they end up truly
Speaker 7: falling in love with the club that represents the game
Speaker 7: in their community.
Speaker 1: The reception SEB received from these groups has been mostly positive,
Speaker 1: but some have reservations about partnering with an MLS club,
Speaker 1: especially a club who's a rival. Coincided with the folding
Speaker 1: of San Diego's very popular second division team as Deloyal
Speaker 1: that this.
Speaker 8: Will be the last season for San Diego Loyal, and
Speaker 8: a very emotional and heartfelt statement Loyal chairman Andrew Vassiliadas
Speaker 8: announcing that year number four of the San Diego Loyal
Speaker 8: will sadly be the franchise's last.
Speaker 4: You know, it's absolutely crushing, you know what you're talking about,
Speaker 4: The Loyal, a team that's poured its heart and its
Speaker 4: money into the community.
Speaker 2: This is kind of a different way of saying, well,
Speaker 2: MLS came into this market with different owners, they got
Speaker 2: the stadium solution that they needed.
Speaker 1: There was no room for USL That's another way to
Speaker 1: look at this. The Loyal, once helmed by local USA
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer London Donovan, had always hoped it'd be
Speaker 1: them who'd get a shot at representing their city in
Speaker 1: Major League Soccer, but it wasn't to be.
Speaker 7: I have always looked at what Loyal did as amazing.
Speaker 7: I know there were conversations with the club owners to
Speaker 7: consider an opportunity to be part of our ownership group,
Speaker 7: and that ended up not happening. But I think from
Speaker 7: a public opinion perspective, and particularly Loyal support, because they
Speaker 7: poured so much into the development of the fan base
Speaker 7: and the club, I think, of course, there were a
Speaker 7: lot of people that were hurt and naturally right we
Speaker 7: one hundred percent understand.
Speaker 1: That the Loyal went out of business shortly after sdfc's arrival,
Speaker 1: but most accept the change. The Locals was one San
Speaker 1: Diego Loyal supporter group that has officially made the switch,
Speaker 1: but it was a hard decision.
Speaker 9: My name is Andrew dyerd formerly was a big supporter
Speaker 9: of San Diego Loyal. I drummed in the stands and
Speaker 9: I was on leadership in one of the supporter groups
Speaker 9: for San Diego Loyal. Then around the time that STFC
Speaker 9: announced themselves, shortly thereafter, Loyal announced they would be folding,
Speaker 9: and yeah, we all kind of had to make a decision,
Speaker 9: and that for us, you know, has been an ongoing
Speaker 9: I think challenge. I started out as like a never
Speaker 9: sdfcer and then at some point transitions to like, let's
Speaker 9: give it a go.
Speaker 1: But disagreements about how to progress, both amongst the supporter
Speaker 1: groups and with the club soon made Andrew feel like
Speaker 1: maybe it wasn't for him after all.
Speaker 9: Just because of all the infighting and drama you get
Speaker 9: with any anything like this, Right, you're always going to
Speaker 9: have that. But because the stakes were so high, I
Speaker 9: mean that's the way I thought this was a high stakes.
Speaker 1: Thing we're doing.
Speaker 9: It became incredibly frustrating to run up against challenges that
Speaker 9: you know, I was just spending way too much mental
Speaker 9: energy on dealing with and at some point, you know,
Speaker 9: you just have to call it in and step away.
Speaker 1: Seven. The folks at SDFC also had doubts about whether
Speaker 1: they could get San Diego's fan groups to work together,
Speaker 1: that is until the unveiling of their first star player.
Speaker 5: San Diego f C formerly introduced the Mexican Soccer Star
Speaker 5: urbing Chucky Losana.
Speaker 10: Yeah, I've already seen the billboard, ZEPSI, says Jay Garrianni,
Speaker 10: joining us now with more on Chuky Mania.
Speaker 6: From North Keunty to the South Soccer enthusiast united to
Speaker 6: welcome living and Chucky Losano to San Diego.
Speaker 1: Mexican national team forward and World Cup hero irbin Chucky Losano,
Speaker 1: a player who has won silverware wherever he's played. And
Speaker 1: trust me, I was there that night man. In fact,
Speaker 1: I was on stage next to Chuky doing the announcing,
Speaker 1: and I gotta tell you, looking out at the stands,
Speaker 1: looking out at the fans, everybody gathered together, united in
Speaker 1: one voice, singing hell Chucky Losano. It was a moment
Speaker 1: that said, Wow. I think everyone as DFC new right
Speaker 1: then and there. If they could get these fans all
Speaker 1: on the same page, they'd have some really special on
Speaker 1: their hands.
Speaker 11: My name is John Cross, and I'm the president of
Speaker 11: the San Diego Independent Supporters Union.
Speaker 1: Today the Supporters Union is known by another name, FRONTETA SD.
Speaker 1: But remember this is back in October twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: before there was even a team to cheer for. John
Speaker 1: is another hardcore loyal fan who's been making the switch
Speaker 1: to SDFC, and despite suffering the effects of long COVID,
Speaker 1: he's thrown himself into trying to build on what they
Speaker 1: had at Torrero Stadium. But this is the big leagues,
Speaker 1: this is MLS. They're going to need a much bigger
Speaker 1: core of fanatics to get snap Dragon bouncing, and they
Speaker 1: need to build it fast.
Speaker 11: A lot of times they you know, what we think
Speaker 11: of supporters around the world is built up over decades
Speaker 11: and generations and family can and this is both the
Speaker 11: burden and the excitement about a brand new team. The
Speaker 11: excitement is you get to kind of start setting the
Speaker 11: tone for what that culture is going to be from
Speaker 11: the very beginning. You can help shape it. The burden
Speaker 11: is all the work that goes into trying to actually
Speaker 11: make that happen.
Speaker 1: Having so many former sd loyal folks come over to
Speaker 1: SDFC certainly helps. Some are even now working for the
Speaker 1: club as employees. But right from the off there were problems.
Speaker 1: Different supporter groups had different priorities. Things moved slowly, and
Speaker 1: the club was in a rush to make progress. With
Speaker 1: tensions mounting, factions formed, But John and the other union
Speaker 1: leaders always felt it would be worth it in the end.
Speaker 11: I think we all understood also in the back of
Speaker 11: our minds, it doesn't work unless we all come together
Speaker 11: somehow and choose to work together. If we really want
Speaker 11: to stand shoulder to shoulder with one voice. Three thousand
Speaker 11: plus people in that section is not going to work
Speaker 11: with various independent groups doing their own thing.
Speaker 1: After months of work, one of the biggest remaining issues
Speaker 1: is the involvement of one of San Diego's most prominent
Speaker 1: fan groups, Dago Boys, a traditional Latin American style supporter group.
Speaker 1: The club desperately wants them involved, but they have been
Speaker 1: delaying joining the union, partly because they disagree with the
Speaker 1: pricing structure and ticket allocations, partly because of tensions with
Speaker 1: other groups, and partly because well, paperwork isn't their thing.
Speaker 1: I think.
Speaker 11: I mean, all the groups have their own culture and
Speaker 11: have contributed to the union in some way. Some are
Speaker 11: more on the organizational side, some are on the leadership side.
Speaker 11: If you look at a group like Daego Boys, they
Speaker 11: are by far just visually watching when we talk about
Speaker 11: what we want to create on match days, that is encapsulated,
Speaker 11: especially in what Daego Boys do. I think the disconnect
Speaker 11: happened when we started opening up memberships and then Dago
Speaker 11: Boys had some concerns about some of the decisions that
Speaker 11: had been made in their absence, and my position as
Speaker 11: presidents of the union was like, if you want to
Speaker 11: come in and help influence the decisions. You need to
Speaker 11: become members of the union, because that's who makes the decisions.
Speaker 1: Things all came to a head at an event held
Speaker 1: in early October twenty twenty four. Remember that opening scene
Speaker 1: of episode one where fangroups nearly came to blows in
Speaker 1: the street. This was that moment, for there it is,
Speaker 1: and that's John who just heard the first of a
Speaker 1: barrage of fireworks announcing the arrival of the Dago Boys
Speaker 1: Daego Boys, who are not officially part of the union
Speaker 1: yet and who are in the process of breaking a
Speaker 1: number of the Union's rules in regular relations, as well
Speaker 1: as several public coordinances. By the time Dago Boys arrived,
Speaker 1: a dozen cop cars had circled, supporter groups were squaring off,
Speaker 1: insults were flying, and the venue owner had barred the
Speaker 1: Dago Boys from entry.
Speaker 11: Thankfully, the SDPD kept their distance and didn't antagonize the
Speaker 11: situation at all, and cooler heads eventually prevailed and everything
Speaker 11: settled down. But that was that was on a cusp
Speaker 11: of going sideways really fast. If someone had lost their
Speaker 11: temper and thrown a punch pushed too hard, who knows
Speaker 11: how the police would have reacted, I mean, could have
Speaker 11: been an ugly situation all the way around.
Speaker 1: That was October fourth. It's now less than four months
Speaker 1: until their home opener, and the union is in chaos
Speaker 1: and that risk of collapse. Over the next couple weeks,
Speaker 1: Tentative messages are exchanged. Seven john were to bring all
Speaker 1: sides back to the table, but social media posts have
Speaker 1: emerged revealing there's still a lot of bad blood. On
Speaker 1: October fifteenth, all seven supporter groups reconvene for a major
Speaker 1: meeting of the union at SDFC headquarters at twenty one
Speaker 1: hundred Kettner in Little Italy. This gathering was scheduled to
Speaker 1: be a formal confirmation that all the paperwork is in
Speaker 1: order and the requirements have been met to officially partner
Speaker 1: with the club. Anthony Ernandez, president of Dago Boys, shares
Speaker 1: his thoughts just before heading in.
Speaker 12: We're working on the union for seven groups. As of
Speaker 12: right now, we have six groups that are pretty part
Speaker 12: of the union and we're still waiting to become one
Speaker 12: of them. Yeah, it's going to be kind of hard
Speaker 12: right now. Why because there's some things going on between
Speaker 12: the union and us, So it's going to be a
Speaker 12: pretty tight meeting, but hopefully we could work with them
Speaker 12: or get to an agreement that works for the outcome
Speaker 12: that we all want. If not, we're just going to
Speaker 12: keep pushing and fighting for it so we get something
Speaker 12: that we deserve.
Speaker 1: As for what happened at the fen em It, Anthony
Speaker 1: can't see the problem. It's just what they do well.
Speaker 12: We normally just whenever we show up to an event,
Speaker 12: we show up in Caravana, we gather up like a
Speaker 12: couple of blocks back from the event, and we always
Speaker 12: march down that day. We were I think we were
Speaker 12: doing perfectly. We had our little show going on. I
Speaker 12: think the union kind of got upset the way they
Speaker 12: came out and reached to us. I don't think it
Speaker 12: was the right way, so everything kind of got heated up.
Speaker 12: We're all here for the same reason, you know. I've
Speaker 12: been in soccer my whole life since my dad. I
Speaker 12: belong to a supporters group in Mexico. I have a
Speaker 12: lot of experience. I've been through a lot. Like it's
Speaker 12: just way different out there than here, Like I've been
Speaker 12: to a lot. I've been through a lot of things
Speaker 12: out there, like crazy that people don't imagine here. So yeah,
Speaker 12: hopefully we could work out things out and then just
Speaker 12: going from right there.
Speaker 1: John interim president of the Union, will be leading the presentation.
Speaker 1: Aside from dealing with the tensions within the group, he's
Speaker 1: also desperate to get the club to officially sign off
Speaker 1: so they can all move forward. Adjusting this COVID mask.
Speaker 1: Up on the human top floor of San Diego vs's
Speaker 1: downtown headquarters, he's feeling the heat and the strength of
Speaker 1: these past few weeks and months. He's also uncertain of
Speaker 1: what he's walking into.
Speaker 11: Well, obviously, our hope is to be officially recognized. That's
Speaker 11: the whole point of this meeting, as from our perspective.
Speaker 11: The club gave us some documentation over the summer of
Speaker 11: what was going to be required to be officially recognized.
Speaker 11: We think we've gone above and beyond those recognition requirements,
Speaker 11: but yeah, it seems to have changed over time of
Speaker 11: what this event is actually going to be.
Speaker 1: We'll see the large open plan room is packed out
Speaker 1: with dozens of supporters. Up here on the seventh floor,
Speaker 1: a wall of glass panels offers a dazzling view of
Speaker 1: the lights of downtown San Diego, like a blanket of
Speaker 1: stars rolling all the way out to the Pacific Ocean.
Speaker 1: And if the setting doesn't fully convey the sense of awe,
Speaker 1: then the assembled panel of SDFC executives does. Sitting up
Speaker 1: front is CEO Tom Penn, co owner in Sequon Tribal
Speaker 1: Chairman Cody Martinez, and head coach Mikey Badas. Clearly it's
Speaker 1: business time. Tom Penn kicks things off with some good news.
Speaker 1: They've agreed to drop ticket prices for union members.
Speaker 11: In no way, shape or formed it via at dollar
Speaker 11: tickets in our plan.
Speaker 2: But I remember, well, you know everything you all said,
Speaker 2: and I told you I had to go through a process,
Speaker 2: and so.
Speaker 1: You know, it's taken longer than inspected. A part has
Speaker 1: coming together. It's taken a while.
Speaker 2: Too, but you know, officially, more or less, you know,
Speaker 2: it's eighteen dollars days.
Speaker 1: Next up is coach Bias, who gives a presentation on
Speaker 1: his footballing ideas and how he wants to set up
Speaker 1: the team, But he soon flips into the supporters. He
Speaker 1: starts a conversation about team culture that extends into the stands.
Speaker 6: So what I'll say is, I think all of us
Speaker 6: are after the trophies because of those kind of goals
Speaker 6: when we when we go to the elite level, So
Speaker 6: one hundred percent of respect that that's that's where.
Speaker 13: It would be.
Speaker 1: But the fact of the matters.
Speaker 6: We start a project. First game on the twenty second
Speaker 6: away to Galaxy.
Speaker 4: We're gonna on the thirteen.
Speaker 1: As you can probably tell, Mikey wasn't supposed to share
Speaker 1: that piece of information, but it goes down pretty well
Speaker 1: the secrets out game one, we go to La I
Speaker 1: almost told you.
Speaker 7: I'm thinking about telling you later.
Speaker 1: Phone of silence please.
Speaker 2: On Monday we're announced away.
Speaker 14: First match out.
Speaker 13: There, we go kick their.
Speaker 1: Next. Mikey asks the room to name some non negotiables
Speaker 1: for the team. Characteristics that win, loser, draw. They swear
Speaker 1: to live by it. Heart, passion, and unity are the
Speaker 1: first three answers that come up. He's building momentum and
Speaker 1: his message is landing. It's a team effort all the
Speaker 1: way around.
Speaker 6: Our history starts now, doesn't start when the first game
Speaker 6: House it has already started.
Speaker 14: We get to write it. I'll love your reader. We
Speaker 14: get to be on the ground floor of what's going
Speaker 14: to be the most amazing.
Speaker 6: And inspirational projects in all of MLS and in North America.
Speaker 14: So all I hope is that whatever we do, we
Speaker 14: all do with that vision.
Speaker 1: That next up is junk, followed by various group representatives
Speaker 1: who go up one by one and deliver their presentation.
Speaker 1: They nail it. Tom Penn and the other SDSC staff
Speaker 1: are completely blown away. In fact, the whole meeting is
Speaker 1: going perfectly, that is, until the subject of internal politics
Speaker 1: comes up. It's time to address the elephant in the room.
Speaker 14: But really, ultimately it comes down to be able to
Speaker 14: start code of conduct and members saving and this really
Speaker 14: was reinforced at the event the Friday before E Live.
Speaker 14: You could have had arrests, people in the hospital and
Speaker 14: a major news story that was huge. And when you
Speaker 14: have a group that starts lighting off fireworks and marches
Speaker 14: down on Curial Avenue block in both lanes of traffic
Speaker 14: and has two patrol cars unseen before they're even at
Speaker 14: the door of the venue, that's a problem. That's a
Speaker 14: problem for us, frankly, it's a problem for you.
Speaker 1: The room descends into chaos. Some Dago Boys feel like
Speaker 1: they're being ganged up on, Others think the Dago Boys
Speaker 1: are being obstructed. It's getting tense and at risk of
Speaker 1: falling apart when seb steps into media.
Speaker 13: You read our comedian to the fresh start that we're
Speaker 13: talking about.
Speaker 1: You got owned that individually.
Speaker 13: So when you leave these field, if somebody makes the comments,
Speaker 13: you gotta.
Speaker 6: Call them out.
Speaker 7: And it's the same on your side.
Speaker 13: The social media bullshit that's going on, that's gotta stop.
Speaker 1: That doesn't any but that just a noise. Those in
Speaker 1: the room who fill the club shouldn't be interfering with
Speaker 1: an independent supporters union at all.
Speaker 2: Is the mom and pop?
Speaker 6: I'm gonna stop that.
Speaker 1: What the mom and popping gonna stop? All right?
Speaker 13: So why have we been in the middle of this
Speaker 13: because you guys, you guys can't do it.
Speaker 4: On your own.
Speaker 15: Clue right, So was the moment bucks up?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would love for that.
Speaker 13: I will have to Actually, I would get my weekends
Speaker 13: back him spending.
Speaker 1: Him with John on the phone yelling at me.
Speaker 13: So, yeah, we want that to stop or you guys
Speaker 13: got a word to get it.
Speaker 1: But arguments break out once again.
Speaker 7: What you're saying this?
Speaker 1: At this point, Tom Penn tries to step in before
Speaker 1: it gets out of hand.
Speaker 3: Let me tell you, Bray, please.
Speaker 1: The temperature in the room is sky high. These are
Speaker 1: passionate people who at the end of the day all
Speaker 1: want the same thing. Eventually, one supporter steps up and
Speaker 1: says something they can all agree on. Maybe some people
Speaker 1: put bone lighting each other. You're right, you probably are right,
Speaker 1: one hundred percent right.
Speaker 4: But so well, man, let's just put that to the
Speaker 4: sighting and work together.
Speaker 1: Because you guys bring that.
Speaker 13: Flavor that other people don't ring.
Speaker 1: But other people bring that.
Speaker 13: Flavor that you guys don't ring.
Speaker 3: You know what I mean?
Speaker 2: They we get all work together, man, trusting night, you
Speaker 2: know what.
Speaker 1: I mean, all are in agreement. They need to put
Speaker 1: the pass behind them, though precisely how they're going to
Speaker 1: do that is unclear. The office doors are opened up,
Speaker 1: allowing the tensions to disperse. As the supporter groups all
Speaker 1: file out of the building, they laugh and joke. Only
Speaker 1: time will tell if this piece will hold. As the
Speaker 1: last members leave, Seb stops to share his thoughts.
Speaker 13: Yeah. So, I think the main problem tonight is about
Speaker 13: the groups not being able to compromise and to put
Speaker 13: their differences aside to work together. At the root of
Speaker 13: the problem, that's what's happening. We had Tom penn Our
Speaker 13: CEO and Cody Martinez our chairman and owner. So I
Speaker 13: also did know how that was going to go and
Speaker 13: if he was really good to have Mikey's participation because
Speaker 13: that brought a different voice that they all respect and
Speaker 13: look up to. And you know, the relationship between the
Speaker 13: coach and the supporters is always an important one.
Speaker 1: Seb actually thinks the meeting could have gone a lot worse.
Speaker 13: Because I know a lot of these guys. I can
Speaker 13: stand up and raise my voice and also call them out,
Speaker 13: and the good thing is that they're all receptive to it.
Speaker 13: They're all open to it. None of them walked out.
Speaker 13: You know, We've had people walk out before. None of
Speaker 13: them walked out, and they work through their frustrations and
Speaker 13: that's something that for sure we have to recognize.
Speaker 1: Tom Penn gets it too. He's seen it all before.
Speaker 2: I was a little nervous about it, and we're in
Speaker 2: a real time pressure situation now where we needed to
Speaker 2: bring everybody together so that we can move this forward.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: But I've always known of all these guys major passion
Speaker 2: guys and gals, right, I mean, the group is just
Speaker 2: they're so passionate, which is what you want, and so
Speaker 2: with that comes passionate about differences and you know, so
Speaker 2: we'll see it all comes together.
Speaker 1: They won't have long to wait. At the weekend, the
Speaker 1: club is holding a big fan rally for San Diego's
Speaker 1: Hispanic and Latino community, a rally where the Union is
Speaker 1: supposed to be out in force. It's early evening on
Speaker 1: the eighteenth of October and the party is getting started.
Speaker 1: We're back in downtown San Diego at an open air
Speaker 1: events space. Throngs of people are laughing and smiling, eating
Speaker 1: free tackles and watching their kids play games and waiting
Speaker 1: for the bands and dj to start. Amongst the SDFC
Speaker 1: faces here is Seb Morua, who keeps glancing towards the
Speaker 1: street entrance waiting to see which, if any of the
Speaker 1: Union supporter groups shows up.
Speaker 13: Tonight, we are throwing our first Carnasala Consan Diego barbecue,
Speaker 13: essentially a community barbecue. We sponsored a bunch of different
Speaker 13: things to just create a little bit of a neighborhood
Speaker 13: festival vibe for the predominantly Mexican community, and also as
Speaker 13: an opportunity again for our supporter groups to come together
Speaker 13: and show what they're about.
Speaker 1: SAB is ensure what to expect this kind of event
Speaker 1: is a golden opportunity for everyone, both for the club
Speaker 1: in terms of community outreach and for the supporter groups.
Speaker 1: This is a great chance to recruit new members.
Speaker 13: You know, I think particularly in soccer, the Hispanic Mexican
Speaker 13: Latino communities love the game.
Speaker 1: For us, it's religion.
Speaker 13: And so we're gonna have the Banda, which is Northern
Speaker 13: Mexican music play and you're gonna see everybody line dancing
Speaker 13: and so so yeah, I think it's important because number one,
Speaker 13: we're doing it for the first.
Speaker 1: Time, and we're sending a message.
Speaker 13: To the Hispanic Mexican Latino community.
Speaker 1: At now we see them and.
Speaker 13: They feel like this is a club for them. But
Speaker 13: this event tonight is taking in a step further and deeper,
Speaker 13: which we want to continue to do.
Speaker 1: Then it happens quiet at first, then loud singing, drums
Speaker 1: and chanty. They're here. People rush outside to see the
Speaker 1: wall of color and sound. Marching down Imperial Avenue. One
Speaker 1: hundred or more supporters are blocking four lanes of traffic.
Speaker 1: They're smoke, streamers, flags and banners, banners emblazon with the
Speaker 1: group's names, all seven of them. They are united as
Speaker 1: they parade into the courtyard. It descends into a mush
Speaker 1: pack jumping and cheering and singing for SDFC. This is
Speaker 1: Matthew Boose, president of the Rip Titans, one of seven
Speaker 1: supporter groups. He's confident the Union is starting a new chapter.
Speaker 13: As the Union us as individual supporter groups. We decided
Speaker 13: that that.
Speaker 1: Is obviously something we needed to be at.
Speaker 13: So we decided to show up.
Speaker 4: A lot was said on Tuesday evening, but it's something
Speaker 4: that needs to happen because we're all family and at
Speaker 4: the end.
Speaker 14: Of the day, we all love each other and we
Speaker 14: come together and we march down the street as a as.
Speaker 1: A huge family, making a lot of fun noise.
Speaker 7: There's smoke, there's chanting, marching, jumping up and down.
Speaker 1: Is just such a great energy.
Speaker 6: That's the passion, that's the energy that.
Speaker 11: We're gonna show ten old come you know, game day
Speaker 11: one twenty five.
Speaker 1: Another member, Vanessa, couldn't agree more.
Speaker 10: It's an amazing feeling to see that while we all
Speaker 10: have differences because we you know, each individual group got
Speaker 10: together to create something. But the fact that all of
Speaker 10: us took the time, we heard everyone out and we said,
Speaker 10: you know what, we're doing this for the love of
Speaker 10: a sport that we have, so we're gonna band together
Speaker 10: and we're gonna do this. So to have everyone here
Speaker 10: and really enjoying themselves and really having that family feel,
Speaker 10: it's absolutely amazing. I'm just really glad that we got here.
Speaker 10: We came as a union, we came as one, and
Speaker 10: it shows and it is a great vibe.
Speaker 1: Seb emerges, smiling and soaking wet with the mix of
Speaker 1: sweat and beer.
Speaker 13: The supporter groups just entered about thirty minutes ago, and
Speaker 13: thankfully they came in together and they sang together. So yeah,
Speaker 13: I think we're all very happy. I just spoke to
Speaker 13: a few of them and they they're happy as well.
Speaker 13: They enjoyed it and now they just enjoying the night.
Speaker 1: As the bunda strikes up and people start to dance,
Speaker 1: Seb is thankful for what he hopes is the beginning
Speaker 1: of something special. You can't argue with the show the
Speaker 1: supporters just put on. People are going up to them
Speaker 1: to congratulate them and ask them how they join wait
Speaker 1: till they hear about the eighteen dollars tickets. We spoke
Speaker 1: to one pair of fans who recently signed up to
Speaker 1: join DAEGO Boys. Juan fell at home straight away.
Speaker 15: My name is Juan Cano and I'm part of the
Speaker 15: Diego Boys. I love the family atmosphere they have. I
Speaker 15: like the how welcome I was the day I showed
Speaker 15: up here and with the guys.
Speaker 1: I didn't know. One hasn't had a chance to speak
Speaker 1: to the leadership about the latest union updates. But the
Speaker 1: news is Dago Boys is now a full member and
Speaker 1: it's full steam ahead.
Speaker 15: Our leaders, Burly and Ford was that they worked something
Speaker 15: else with them, so they haven't They haven't told us
Speaker 15: what the agreement was. But I mean, we're just excited
Speaker 15: to be part offs SDFCRE. I mean we can't wait
Speaker 15: to support them.
Speaker 1: And Juan didn't join up on his own, He also
Speaker 1: registered his three year old son. Seems to me like
Speaker 1: the club's future is in good hands.
Speaker 15: He's my son, he's youngest, he's the youngest a member
Speaker 15: and Diego Boys, you knows all the cheers just up
Speaker 15: last week. The teacher called me telling me that then uh,
Speaker 15: he started doing a cheer during naptime. He did sc
Speaker 15: sc Let's see.
Speaker 1: You know, it might not happen all at once, but
Speaker 1: if these guys do feel those three thousand seats in
Speaker 1: the North stand. If their energy and passion catches on man,
Speaker 1: imagine a thirty five thousand sellout crowd feeding off of them.
Speaker 1: La and Portland better watch out next time. On Behind
Speaker 1: the Flow, Mikey and Tyler take time to remind themselves
Speaker 1: of what it is they're building and why. They jet
Speaker 1: off on a whirlwind world tour of the Rank to
Speaker 1: Dream Network, visiting Ghana, Egypt, and Denmark as they figure
Speaker 1: out how to adapt the model to MLS. Behind the
Speaker 1: Flow is a message heard production. I'm your host. Adrian
Speaker 1: garciamaricis the series producer, is McAllister Beckson. Mark Kendrick is
Speaker 1: the assistant producer, and Rebecca Ware is the field producer.
Speaker 1: Jake Warren and Sandra Ferrari are the executive producers. James
Speaker 1: Cox and dagl Diz are the production coordinators. The sound
Speaker 1: editor is Lizzie Andrews and music composition is by Tom Biddle.