The State of Soccer in the US

Well I will start by saying that the MLS has rented ESPN2 and is paying for the airtime for ESPN2 to show their games each and every Saturday. That being said, ESPN does not need to do any promoting of the games as they have already made their money from the MLS. In essence, the MLS is renting the network to try and build the game little by little. Unfortunately, the MLS only has so much money.

It will be interesting after the 2006 season as the TV contracts will be up for MLS. I am guessing there will be a couple bids made to show some MLS games. Not sure if it will be a national network or others, but it will be interesting to see what comes of this.

I will also say that the MLS had not done that great of a job marketing the sport here in the States. Gearing the sport toward soccer moms and little kids is not the way to go. While I understand they are a part of demographic that can help the sport, they are not the only ones to market the sport after.

The problem, whether it be ESPN or sport in general, is that the MLS and soccer in general is perceived as boring and monotonous. This claim unfortunately, is not going to go away anytime soon. We live in a country that thrives on entertainment and we want to be entertained by everyone. Baseball game, american football games, basketball, hockey, X-games, etc are all part of the sporting culture here in America.

That being said, it has and will continue to be tough for the sport to wedge its' way into mainstream America. As Heather mentioned above, the best way for this to happen is to see continued success at the International level for both the men's and women's teams in the World Cup. It is my belief that if the men have another good run next summer in Germany, it will continue to build the soccer here in this country.

One last thing is that right now soccer is a niche sport. I will be the first to admit that I am not the best about going out to Soldier Field to watch the Chicago Fire play, but I should. One thing we as soccer fans can do is support the sponsors who by adtime during matches on ESPN2, Fox Soccer Channel and on World Soccer Daily. Without these sponsors, there would be nothing on TV in the form of soccer.

We have a long way to go, but we have to be realistic with our goals. We are never going to get our domestic league to the heights of the Premiership or La Liga, but we can continue to build the league up to a more respectable height. Little by little this can be done, but the game needs the help of us and all other soccer fans to be ambassadors of the game to pass along our thoughts and wisdom to potential fans here in the States.

 

On the contrary, as one who is old enough to have been a casual observer of the NASL, I think things are going along PRETTY DARN WELL!

Throwing in a little plug for Lamar Hunt.. he was a mover and shaker for soccer since he got the KC Chiefs off the ground and was key in the makeup of the modern NFL. He ALSO was on the NASL board and he knows exactly what went wrong!

When you try to attract crowds by putting all your branding players into ONE team, the Cosmos, the short-term effects are misleading. The fans would come out whenever NY was in town but stayed away in droves, otherwise.
THINK "HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS!"
It's worth marking that the ONLY other NASL team most can remember is the Tampa Bay Rowdies, who also had a fair team but nothing to match up to Pele, Best et al.

When MLS started they vowed NOT to repeat this mistake and they knew the key was to mix up the foreign and local talent amongst ALL the teams.

And the MLS ALSO knew that their success was deeply tied to the National team's quality. AND that each team HAD to try to get a home stadium of their own, rather than choose between some run-down Gridiron stadium or something like Giants Stadium.
However they had to do all this slowly and look to the long-term.

Now we see the roots are healthy and taking hold. MLS, by forming the offshoot SUM - Soccer United Marketing- not only is the key player in pushing US team marketing but is cutting out the small-timers that used to bring in the foreign clubs for friendlies with no regard to what it did to the local product.

Now we see yet another facet coming to fruition:
The stadiums ARE being built, but on a different paradigm in most cases, from the typical local tax extortionist model.

Crew Stadium AGAIN is the hallmark... it was built with Lamar's money in cooperation with a quasi-governmental group who provided the land and collects parking fees as compensation for that.

AEG is doing almost the same thing in the newly announced Harrison stadium project

So as the Pizza Hut opens in Frisco, we will see what effect having a 'home' has on Dallas attendance. We already know that Crew Stadium kept Columbus attendance higher than the market wouldseem to indicate.

We know that Home Depot has rejuvenated LA attendance. We KNOW there is support for Soccer in KC but fans HATE watching it in Arrowhead.

We KNOW that San Jose COULD have been BIG TIME but local governemnt conditions and prices of real estate put a stadium almost beyond reach.

No, kids, the state of MLs soccer is as healthy as you could expect, given the competition and vagaries.

Slow and Steady wins the day... just keep your fingers crossed for yet ANOTHER good showing by the US team in next year's WCF.

 

Petty, I am not saying the MLS is not helping grow the game here in the States, but last week at a luncheon in Columbus with all the brass of the downtown Columbus businesses, a few a of them got on the mic and were asking McBride and the Crew GM why the game was not as big as say England and Brazil.

To those who the know the game quite well in America, it is easy to see that progress has and continues to be made in growing the game. However, to those on the outside looking in, it is not that evident of the growth. These "big whigs" do not know about all the soccer-only stadiums being built and the growth of talent the US put on display at the recent World Youth Cup in Holland.

We are Americans and we always want things here and now. Soccer is growing, but it will take time. It will never probably get to the level of the NFL, the NBA and MLB, but it could pass the NHL.

 

But Sierra Mist is an awful awful beverage

I know in DC they average between 15-20k per game, and more on weekends...but the stadium looks empty in a gigantic football stadium, same with the Fire and the Metrostars. I personally was impressed by the crew stadium, and I think eventually getting Soccer Only Stadiums would help the sport.

MLS team names are pretty silly as well

 

Agreed Johnny! It is brutal!

 

No quibble but it's an acquired taste... maybe as a mixer. Some of the most AWFUL tasting stuff like "Squirt" made great mixers when I drank them..

I agree - Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas is just plain silly and pretentious as he!!, this is the US ... shouldnt be catering to Eurosnobs who aint gonna watch them anyway. And if they DO watch because of the name... how smart ARE they?!!!!!

We dont need phony names and phony crests... that is the mark of wannabe's! And no less stupid than the "shootout" tiebreaker.

 

Putting aside their recent attempt at collective suicide, the NHL is a reasonable model/target for MLS to aspire to at this point in time. Their TV ratings are lousy and probably always be, and hockey and soccer have the common characteristic that they are much better in person than on TV. Inspite of that the NHL has generally filled their arenas with some of the most dedicated and passionate fans you will find anywhere. Smaller soccer-specific stadiums are one of the key elements in building this type of following. Johnny is right - you just can't get the atmosphere you need in a big 80% empty football stadium. As far as TV they just have to hang in there and get the best exposure possible until there is a bigger following.

Another thing I think would help would be the merger of CONCACAF and CONMEBOL into one big Western Hemisphere qualifying group, with 8-9 teams qualifying for the WC. It would mean that the Central American and Carribean countries wouldn't have much of a chance but so what - neither does Albania or Luxembourg. If you had the US playing Brazil, Argentina and Colombia in order to qualify you would see some excitement generated and a significant jump in TV ratings. Yes there is some chance we wouldn't make it but I'd rather see us earn it than get a free pass through a bunch of boring matches. Only Mexico generates excitement.

The kid problem that DC Heather cites (great post by the way) is partly a result of the way we teach the game but I don't have time to rant about that right now. Later

 

Besides the obvious (TV exposure and media/press coverage) here are some points that I feel every professional sports league needs to have at least one of to thrive; all of which are holding the MLS back:

1. league/sport tradition (fans growing up with the teams/sport): This can't really be avoided as the MLS is still considered new as compared to MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL. When compared to baseball and other sports, organized soccer is relatively new in the U.S. But, it's growing and will need more time to grow. Recently my hometown finally started a youth soccer program, but still doesn't have a high school team. As more kids play soccer in their youth ages and more high schools get teams, more people will grow up with the game, rather than having to learn about it through watching games like they do now. Once more people understand the game, support of the MLS is grow.

2. college exposure: Besides having a tradition of the league, sports like american football and basketball have huge college coverage. Fans can read about top college prospects in any newspaper year around, and then follow them throughout their pro careers. I know soccer is played at the college level, but I have to search the internet for standings while news of each year's heisman trophy winner just seems to find me. By the time a player reaches the NFL I've heard about them for a couple years already. When I watch MLS it's the first I've ever heard of the players, so I don't know what to expect. That turns off the average sports fan.

3. internationals: While the U.S. has some great players on their national team that play in the MLS, fans still want to see great players from around the world. Sports fans can watch NHL games and know that they are watching the best players from around the world. But, unlike the NHL (and recently MLB) top international players from other countries don't want to come to the U.S. to play in the MLS. Therefore, even with our national players in the MLS, the league still can't compare to the prestige of other top leagues/teams throughout the world. We're guilty of this too. We support FFC, a team half way around the world because we like the tradition of the team and the high level of play in the league.

4. winners/losers: Games ending in a draw are a part of soccer and the average sports fan doesn't like it. Americans want a clear cut winner. Hockey has the same problem and the NHL has acknowledged this. Personally, and I think most soccer fans agree, I'm fine with a 1-1 final score. But I think draws will hold the game back and continue to turn the average sports fan away.

Anyways, these are just a few of my views on the subject. And yes many of my points are geared towards the 'average sports fan' rather than the 'huge soccer fan' but lets be honest: soccer/MLS fans are going to follow the game and their favorite teams no matter how poor the coverage is. It's the average sports fans' interest in the game that has the potential to make the MLS really take off and maybe someday reach NHL and NBA status.

 

While I somewhat agree with Rumstove's take, I'll submit that the 'average fan' is drawn by the 'atmosphere' in the NHL arena as much as by the team or game matchup.

This is what will ALSO germinate into a steady increase in MLS fan base. The greater the game-time excitement, the more enjoyable the experience.

It's also necessary for TV ratings to show improvement and that will, I think, happen along with attendance.
Soccer is infinitely more watchable on the tube than hockey and when MLS and the sponsors figure out exactly how to put effective commercials in without overly annoying the fan, the battle for ratings points will be on.

Soccer already competes nicely with NHL ( hockey being hard to follow on anything less than HD quality screen) and again the WCF will help in that dept if US does well.

Meantime the league finally has a full contingent of managers that know something about coaching soccer on the pro level, or are proven in international settings, and are willing to improve the product.

The less we see of Rongen and Zenga and Andrulis types, the better off the league.

Couple that with the MLS being a desired destination for latin american players of quality, and we'll see the product continue to improve.
In fact one of the things MLS must watch out for is the attitude of millions of spanish speaking immigrants suddenly turning around and having them flood the stadia... MLS obviously wants them but they dont want them to 'take over'. Seems silly to speak of that, but it's coming. Mark my words!

 

It is a silly statement and sounds vaguely racist to me. Their money is as good as anyone else's. What are you talking about?

 

Of course it sounds vaguely racist to you ... arent all conservatives racist fascist bigots? Certainly we're glad folks like you are around to look out for anyone who might exploit or suppress the underclass! As they cant do it for themselves, of course.


How about giving me the benefit of the doubt... this is a footy forum and there IS NO PC in FOOTY!

I mean exactly what I say... if Soccer is to succeed in the US it cannot become 'ethnic'; that means we need MORE hispanic and black fans but not to the extent that the sport is identified with any particular group.

And to make it PERFECTLY clear.. Soccer IS now associated with comfy white suburbia and that has to change!

Let some of the suburbanite whitebreads go away, that's fine. But the rest will hopefully stay and the crowds REALLY become a 'melting pot'... then, how to overcome the 'nerdish' impression..

 

I agree 100% with this statement. It is so true.

 

My response had nothing to do with politics - you raised the issue. I still don't get it. So we want more black and Hispanic fans but not too many? Should we turn them away if the crowd is less than 25% white? What are you suggesting be done?

I don't think soccer in this country - especially MLS - has the luxury of worrying about who their fans are. They just need more - period - and they have not done a good job of marketing to anyone other than white suburbanites. So they need to broaden their base and it makes sense to market the league to Hispanics, blacks and for that matter anyone who is not showing interest right now.

 

I enjoy going to DC united games partly because of the diverse fans. Its interesting to hear european style singing, but then South american flags and drums mixed in the same section.

and yes, the white suburban soccer moms are scared to death of the fans in these sections...which i find extremely funny. I'm always stuck in those sections and its funny to hear them talk about "those crazy people over there"

 

Mrs.Jux and I have received several "looks" from members of our section through the years when we have vocally supported the Crew. Come on, it's a soccer match, not a movie. Heck, we don't even swear or make any rude comments as not to offend anyone. We just like to cheer on the boys during play. It is a shame that we have considered moving so that we could sit with more vocal supporters, because we really like our seats. I guess that's the current state of soccer here. The "vocal" supporters are relegated to certain areas of the stadium.

 

Heh... it is a sign of the 'state of soccer in the US' when, opposed to most countries playing their neighbor rival in WCQ, this isnt anywhere NEAR the biggest sporting event of the day in the US... it isnt even the biggest sport event in Columbus on Saturday!

100,000 plus will be at the OSU/Miami of Ohio game a mile and a half away