FRISCO — Nico Estévez used to be a teacher. He comes from a long line of educators, his college professor father among them.
So he gets the importance of education and of being well-rested and ready to learn. He hopes fans will make an exception next week, though, letting the kids stay up late and root for FC Dallas in the Monday night playoff contest against Minnesota United set to kick off at 8:36 p.m.
"That next day, for me, school isn’t that important," Estévez said with a smile.
The manager did say as a native of Spain it's puzzling for him to see such an important game put in a non-traditional slot for a soccer match, one that will require the club to "work really hard, looking at strategies to encourage people to come" rather than being an obvious date and time for people to come out to enjoy a do-or-die playoff match.
Or, as Jesus Ferreira put it, "We know that the league doesn't believe in Dallas. No one believes in Dallas. But we do."
"The team is focused and determined to win things this season," the star forward said. "We're excited we can bring playoffs back home and have our fans there. It's going to be a long, late Monday but hopefully we get fans and have a good game."
Estévez, Ferreira and the squad have largely done everything they can to get fans into the building this season, playing an exciting and winning brand of soccer. Whether or not a crowd will pack Toyota Stadium is up to the marketing and ticketing departments.
Weekdays haven't been kind to FCD, and the last home playoff game was in front of an announced crowd of 10,297, witnessing FCD crash out to the 2018 MLS Cup runner-up Portland Timbers. At that time, the stadium's capacity was listed at more than 20,000, meaning the club was able to fill barely half of the stadium — and that was the tickets sold number.
The "New Era" tag that the marketing department utilized for the team this season to welcome Estévez and several on-field arrivals also applies to the team's front office.
With seven sellouts this season, Jerome Elenez's first year as FCD's Vice President of Marketing has to go down as a success, but he'd love to cap it off with a full stadium for FCD's playoff game — and he's teased big plans should FCD advance, whether the conference semifinal is in Austin or Frisco.
Elenez noted that "there's not much we can say or do to influence" when MLS and its TV partners schedule the match, so they're trying a few things with the game set for Monday night. For one, they're leaning into the "Monday Night Futbol" label, another example of the strategy that this season has seen the club strengthen its embrace of bilingual and Spanish-speaking fans in the market.
As soon as the team on the field clinched a playoff place, the ticketing staff started selling tickets to be proactive and make sure the fans who want to be there no matter the time can be there.
FCD is hoping fans make a night of it Monday, opening gates at 6:30 p.m. with Monday's earlier MLS playoff game between NYCFC and Miami on screens around the stadium, a fan fest outside and a giveaway of inflatable sticks that fans can beat together to make noise.
"We've just kind of got to play it and see how it plays out. We're anticipating people want to get here early, have some fun," he said. "I feel like our team is an extension of their team, and we feel that we are creating an atmosphere that helps them win."
If so, it will be worth the bleary eyes, dozing off at a desk or other adverse effects of a long Monday night spent at the stadium. If anyone asks, tell them Mr. Estévez said it was OK.