What I learned from some Dragons at Kezar

Last Saturday afternoon I photograph a story for the Marin IJ about the ownership of the San Francisco Dragons, the Lacrosse team that shares Kezar Stadium with the California Victory. It was interesting to see the different experience between going to a Victory and a Dragons game there.

First off there are some similarities between the Vics and Dragons. Both were started by abstentee owners (Vics Piterman in Spain, Dragons owner in Baltimore). The saving grace for the Dragons is that it was actually bought out by local ownership.

A group of Marin Lacrosse dads who’s kids play the game went to the first game of the team last year and enjoyed it so much they wanted to invest in the team. After contacting the owner they were persuaded to take over the team completely. They agreeded and now own the team. The ownership is split up between 27 people and to be an owner of their group you had to be willing to invest at least 25,000 dollars. They also have a long term plan and look forward to the growth of Lacrosse in the USA and are committed for running the team for at least 5 years.

One can only hope the Victory can find a similar white night (Marin Soccer Dad’s anyone?) who can help save the team.

The Atmosphere is very different. For one the game is played in the afternoon, with a 1 pm start, and there are a lot of families at the game. Most of the marketing is aimed at lacrosse families who’s kids play in leagues around the bay area.

Saying that, the game on Sat. against the Chicago Machine had easily over 3000 fans in the stands. A great turnout. If the Victory could attract crowds like that for their games it would be electric in the stands.

They Dragons have a ton of staff there at the gate, and all around the stadium. It’s a first class operation. Getting my press pass was easy for the game and there were always people around with walkie-talkies if you had a question. The field was surrounded with sponsor boards from different local companies.

There was lot of security (recognized some of the same people that are at our games) but they were mellow. A big reason is because the crowd itself was rather mellow. With the familiy atmosphere there wasn’t any crazy chanting going on.

The Victory and especially the 1906 have a big up in atmosphere. Once again if we attract more people to the Vics game I think it would be an even more intense atmosphere.

A Quiet Section “Oi” at Kezar Stadium without the 1906!

The Dragons have taken advantage of some of the things Kezar Stadium has to offer. On the west end of the stadium they put up a “fun zone” staffed with volunteers for kids to have fun activities to do during the game and at half-time.

They also had a mascot (Scorch) to throw T-shirts and get the crowd excited. Of course the crowd was actually at its loudest when the t-shirts were thrown out even though the Dragons killed the Machine 21-10 in the game.

Like the Victory, the Dragons just use the North Grandstands for the crowds. I think it works out well and the 3000+ fans looked great. On the track on the South side, the team had set up a VIP area where season ticket holders received free food and tables and were able to be about twenty feet from the playing field and see the action up close.

They had a couple of food vendors as well on both sides of the stands, with traditional food offerings for a sporting game.

But the best idea the Dragon’s had was to be able to serve beer at Kezar! How? Simple, they created their own beer garden just outside the stadium!

The team closed off and area just outside the Arguello Gate (where we short cut to get to the Kezar Pub after the games) and fenced it off and created a little beer garden. You can only drink in the garden but it is easy to watch the games from there. It is also outside the stadium so no breaking the stadium rules. I thought that was a great idea! Hopefully next season its something the team could put into place.

So all in all it was interesting to check out the Dragons and see how they are taking advantage of Kezar. I think they do a great job puting on a professional atmosphere there. Even still the lead owner appearently doesn’t like the fog and weather at Kezar and is considering moving the team to a different location for next year. Also I don’t think the team is making money yet but they are committed and believe in their team and league. Hopefully we will have ownership like that committed the same way!