Behind the MLS Ambition Rankings: Houston Dynamo
• How much money has your team spent in the past five years on youth development? How much in the past year?
$3 million; $850,000 in the last year
• How many homegrown players have you signed? How many have played in MLS league games for your first team?
Six currently, four to MLS deals, two to USL deals; 10 total all-time.
Two have played with the first team (Tyler Deric and Alex Dixon).
• Who pays to play on your youth teams? And how much do they pay?
Fully funded U-15 and up.
• How many season-ticket holders do you have? How many did you have in 2015?
12,000 and 12,000.
• Where does your first team train? Did you build the training facility yourself? If so, how much did it cost?
At our training complex, Houston Sports Park. It was built with public funds.
• Do you have a model for integrating your academy with the first team? How closely do your academy teams resemble the way the first team trains and plays?
Yes. We strongly believe in vertical integration and practice it. They closely resemble the first-team training sessions and style-of-play. First team coaches regularly conduct academy training session and academy coaches regularly attend and assist in first-team sessions.
• What’s your philosophy on the use of technology in your training and preparation for matches?
We believe in it very much and use everything at our disposal, including a full-time sports science director and performance analysis. For technology, we use OPTA, Match Analysis, ProZone, In-Stat, Healthy Athlete, Fit for 90, Catapult, etc.
• Who is your jersey sponsor? What’s your total income on sponsorships this season?
BHP Billiton. Income ranks in the top third of MLS.
• Local TV deal: How many of your games this season are shown on local television? How much is your local TV deal worth per season?
All games are on TV. 20 on a regional sports network and six on local over-the-air partners. We do not receive a rights fee.
• Local radio deal: How many of your games this season are broadcast on local radio? In English? In other languages?
All games are on the radio in English and Spanish.
• How many front-office employees does your team have? How many have you added or subtracted in the past year?
115 total, added 10.
• Have you hired any additional technical staff over the past year to reduce doubling-up roles? Are you planning on expanding your technical staff in the near future?
Nothing full-time but many part-time pieces to assist. Yes. We will step it up more and more over time.
Other miscellaneous notes:
The Dynamo have launched a new USL hybrid affiliate in Edinburg, Texas, the Rio Grande Valley FC Toros. It’s the first hybrid affiliation in MLS history, as the Dynamo control all technical aspects of the club and RGV FC controls all business aspects. The Dynamo have hired (and pay) the current technical staff, including head coach Wilmer Cabrera, assistant coach Michael Dellorusso and fitness coach Steve Fell. Our partners at RGV FC are building what will be the best stadium in USL, a 9,400-seat mini BBVA Compass Stadium, along with world-class facilities.
