This weekend in Brooklyn, New York, the first ever BlazerCon took place. The event was spearheaded by NBC’s popular comedic soccer duo, the Men in Blazers, and brought soccer fans from around the world together for a weekend simply oozing with soccer.
Heading into the convention, one may have been concerned that the suboptimal Men in Blazers stamp would be everywhere, and that the event would be very tongue in cheek and not taken seriously. But once the keynote address kicked off on Friday night, it was clear that wouldn’t be the case as NBC’s Rebecca Lowe interviewed Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore. The conversation between Lowe and Scudamore was fascinating to both casual and diehard soccer fans, as the head honcho discussed the growth of the league domestically and abroad and its continued evolution.
The rest of Friday night was a very laid back affair. The United States-St. Vincent and the Grenadines World Cup Qualifier aired on screens throughout the venue, and Michael Davies of the MIB ran around the venue handing out pies to the convention goers for every USMNT goal. At halftime, Davies and Roger Bennett were joined by ESPN’s Paul Carr for a brief breakdown on the match. Once the match concluded, a traditional Men in Blazers live show ended the night, with the pair interviewing former Leyton Orient owner Barry Hearn. The interview was both hilarious and enlightening, neither too serious nor too silly.
Day two of the convention was the one where everything came together. Most fans were at the venue for more than 12 hours, indulging in upwards of 12 panels and one more live show. The panels weren’t all clustered in one general topic, either. Four of the panels were focused on the Premier League. Two discussed MLS. The US Men’s and Women’s National Teams were each the focus of their own panel. NBC, Serie A’s Roma, the German Bundesliga, and EA Sports were all also spotlighted during the day.
Something I also appreciated was the lack of representation from the more popular clubs in the world, shining more of a spotlight on other teams (with the exception of Liverpool, which was the focus of a panel with club CEO Ian Ayre). No one representing Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Juventus, Manchester United, or Real Madrid was on a panel. The only representative of Manchester City was Ferran Soriano, who spent nearly his entire interview focused on NYCFC. But Bournemouth chairman Jeff Mostyn and Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger? Yup, they were both there for their own panel.
Another takeaway from from BlazerCon was the sheer diversity of the audience. While the bulk of the audience was the 25-49 white male demographic, women, African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, seniors, and children all made up segments of the crowd to varying degrees. No one who went to the convention would have felt like an outcast and out of place just because of what they looked like.
Speaking of diversity, there was a less important, more immediately noticeable bit of diversity in the crowd – the clubs that were represented by their fans. I counted over 40 different crests on shirt, scarves, and jackets over the weekend, and probably missed a bunch. It’s not as if every other fan was wearing a brand new Alexis Sanchez, Sergio Aguero, or Wayne Rooney shirt – nearly every Premier League and MLS club was represented, along with several national teams. Hell, I even saw someone with a Stoke City shirt – Stoke! No random fan off the street grabs a Stoke shirt!
In hindsight, a lot of the strategy behind the creation of BlazerCon makes sense. Yes, the tickets were quite pricey – but that seemed like a nice way to weed out some of the less serious fans who might consider coming and treating the panels with less respect or simply not be interested in what was going on. BlazerCon was less of a Men in Blazers convention, which I think is what many people immediately assumed and judged it as, and more of an international soccer convention created by the Men in Blazers. If you had no idea who they were and simply went as a diehard soccer fan, you may have found some things odd – like the Mini with a tweed paintjob, or every third person wearing a blazer – but you would have enjoyed yourself. If you went as a soccer fan who enjoys the Men in Blazers, you likely would have had a blast and learned a lot.
BlazerCon was a welcome blend of serious discussions about the future of the beautiful game, at home and abroad, and off the wall, soccer-based insanity. I think the weekend struck the right balance of respect and irreverence, though your mileage may vary. BlazerCon 2 will be happening sometime in the future, and I’d expect a more expansive, slightly smoother experience, but one that will leave fans just as satisfied as they were this weekend.
Header photo via Men in Blazers
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