DC United coverage questions

DC United played the Harrisburg City Islanders last night in a friendly match, winning 2-1. This match was held in Mechanicsburg, Penn. Freddy Adu played 59 minutes and Lucio actually scored a goal in this victory. For those of you who are wondering how I have all of this information, because I didn't attend the match, I picked it up from the DC United thread on Bigsoccer.com, not from dcunited.com. I haven't been able to find any mention of this match on Washingtonpost.com or the Washingtontimes.com websites.

Wouldn't it make sense to have something about this match on dcunited.com? One would think that the opening page would highlight a friendly match that United take part in, especially a victory. Instead, the main features for the website are as follows -

1. Watch United action on MLSLIVE.tv
2. Put United players into the All-Star Game
3. Bid on United items to help a good cause
4. Niko nixes point as United fall to Rapids
5. Access United: Olsen delivers vs. FCD

Besides those, if you check the news section, they have the following top five headlines -

1. Niko nixes tie as D.C. falls to Rapids
2. 'United Drives' collects soccer gear
3. Troubles in Colorado continue for D.C.
4. Super Cup finalists set
5. D.C.'s Olsen soaks in World Cup call

The friendly match against Harrisburg City Islanders wasn't even listed on the schedule, yet the friendly against the Richmond Kickers is on the schedule. They don't even have the friendly against the Charleston Battery on the schedule, but they do have a press release about it hyperlinked.

Why has DC United dropped the ball on providing coverage for a club event? This is a perfect example of the type of "bush league" actions that I still find surprising with MLS as a whole. They don't provide enough coverage of their clubs. Alot of United fans wonder why the DC area sports world doesn't provide enough coverage of United? The reason is probably because the club itself doesn't do enough self promotions to get the regular news any info or interest in providing coverage. It seems that they are fine with the regular coverage of a weekend match preview on Fridays in the Washington Post, the match on the Saturday and a post match review on Sunday. Maybe some mention due to the upcoming World Cup and the fact that United midfielder Ben Olsen in on the US squad, but not much else.

The United supporters who posted the press release about the Harrisburg City Islanders match on Big Soccer must have received it from somewhere. I am sure it is on the website, buried someplace that your average soccer fan or sports commentator could never find. That is the problem. The way to get more fans out to United events and/or matches is to get them quick and easy info that gives them a reason to go to the event. Who is running the marketing group over at United?

Hell, if they need people to provide more coverage for them, they should just ask any of the following -
- The DCenters
- Myself
- Quarter Volley
- A Little Less Conversation

It seems that even with the four of us having our lives and days jobs, we have been able to provide some pretty good coverage for the club. Just a thought....