If you look at MLS teams & their salaries, just spending money doesn't mean you'll win (FC Cincy, Miami), but spending towards the bottom makes it very difficult to win. Not impossible, but difficult. Oddly this year, the bottom 4 teams in salary made the playoffs, but as a general rule spending smartly- without guaranteeing anything- certainly helps.
I look at marketing the same way. Yes, we're in a crowded market. Yes we're in a region where people aren't going to just "Root for local sports team" like they would in a place like KC or Portland because they have no other options in those cities. But, spending very little on marketing makes it very difficult to generate any buzz around this team, even when they are winning. 2018 was a record setting year on the field. Did anyone feel like the metropolitan area was ever 'talking' about RBNY? Barely. Seemed like there was a lot more buzz during the TH14/Cahill years. I think most of us would take prime-of-their-career guys who are less famous but better players at the moment vs. an aging European star trying not to go "Full Steven Gerrard in MLS" while cashing that last paycheck. So, I wholly agree that marketing in this area is an uphill battle, but I also agree that marketing gets very little attention from the checkbook. We can point to a number of places where RBNY is spending money (academy teams, training center), but marketing isn't one of them and the impact of that is evident every home game.
What would it take to truly generate buzz? Well, you'd have to spend more on marketing, but also you'd need to sign bigger named guys. Would it have been worth it to throw $9m at James Rodriguez aged 30 & coming off of an poor stint at Everton for marketing/attendance reasons when the guys you truly need are the Lucas Zelarayan aged 27 types for $8m like the crew did in 2020 & won a cup with the guy? In that case, no, I'd love the buzz of a James Rodriguez, but I'd be ok with less buzz if it's a guy who is going to win us a cup.
So, while I'd like to see some money spent on marketing, if they are going to say "the marketing budget is on the field", that would be ok with me at the end of the day. Galaxy spent $20m & didn't make the playoffs, Seattle spent $13m or so in salaries, NE just $11m & change, while we spent just about $10m and were second from bottom. To RBHQ's soccer empire, the difference to get us to the middle of the top tier- say another $5m to get us to $15m in the range of top 5 to 10 spending teams- isn't a lot of money. Spending $15m for $15m's sake is dumb, but if you look at the last two cup winners (NYCFC, $15m, Columbus $15m), that's where they are, that's around where Seattle usually is ($13-14m). Hopefully they can see that the development-focused model we have can still work to win a title here, if we have those handful of special players to put us over the top. Luis Robles said the same, we just need a few special guys. Fingers crossed that they find them. I don't think the owners are scum. I just think they prioritize development over other things, and marketing is one of them. Last offseason saw us spending money on a coach & some new players. We need to repeat that investment in players on the field; we'll see what this offseason brings.