Soccer basher of MLS

[Luis_Rancagua]

Guys, I've decided to post this article. It's from Christine Brennan of USA TODAY. She's totally bashing the sport. Will you like to comment on her negative thoughts?

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Beckham or not, U.S. soccer interest near nil

By Christine Brennan, USA TODAY

Our summer of Bonds, Vick and Donaghy is also, happily enough, our summer of Beckham. Soccer's Savior arrived just in the nick of time to give us something to focus on that doesn't involve performance-enhancing drugs, dogfighting or gambling.

Unfortunately, it also doesn't involve much of anything that the vast majority of American sports fans care about.

David Beckham came to America with such a happy Hollywood story: the handsome international soccer star and his Spice Girl wife moving to Los Angeles to play soccer and make money — perhaps in that order, perhaps not.

It was only natural that U.S. soccer would embrace him as the man who finally would turn all those millions of participants into spectators, the man who might make soccer our fourth professional team sport now that the NHL has spontaneously combusted before our eyes.

Giddiness abounded in the land of the nil-nil game. Overseas, the Brits were apoplectic. The colonies might finally be seeing the light. Magazine covers spread the news: Beckham is coming, Beckham is coming.

Then came his first game with the L.A. Galaxy. Every true-blooded U.S. sports fan had to know the time and date of the game on ESPN. You couldn't avoid it.

Then again, maybe you could. Based on ESPN's rating for the July 21 game, 99% of the nation with cable (which is a great majority of TV homes) didn't watch. The game drew a 1.0 rating.

For Major League Soccer, that's a huge number, several times greater than its average audience. But for a prospective major league sport, especially one that had unprecedented pre-game hype to attract the millions of second-generation soccer families now in this country, it was a terrible disappointment. A 1.0 is niche-sport territory, boutique viewing, little more.

As a comparison, the final game of the Women's College World Series in June on ESPN2 drew a 1.8 rating. Yes, college softball outdrew Beckham at what arguably should be his zenith, his most popular moment — and by nearly 2 to 1. Clearly, we still are a nation dominated by throwers, not kickers.

Two weeks ago, the Beckham road show came to packed RFK Stadium in Washington. There were 46,686 people at the game. A friend and I were two of them. For the first time in my life, I purchased tickets to a soccer game. I, too, wanted to see Beckham.

He played for 21 minutes. Put more accurately, he ran around for 21 minutes. You have to root for a foul to see him take one of his famous free kicks. But the flashbulbs flickered as if Barry Bonds were up to bat, and everyone sat through a driving rainstorm in the second half to watch him enter the game. The last time so many D.C. fans endured heavy rain in that stadium to watch football, Joe Theismann was playing.

Yet what was going on in Washington was lost on the rest of the nation. The game drew a thudding 0.4 rating on ESPN2. To put that in perspective, last weekend, the Scrabble All-Star Championship received a 0.5 on ESPN.

"I would have liked the ratings to be higher, but I don't think they are the only reflection of the growth that David will bring to our sport," Galaxy president and general manager Alexi Lalas said on the phone Wednesday. "This is a work in progress. Is it where we need to be? Not yet."

Beckham is certainly selling jerseys and tickets. People who don't know soccer know Beckham. On a local level, there's palpable interest. But, nationwide, during the slowest sports month of the year, there are mostly yawns from U.S. fans.

"I have spent more than 20 years waiting for soccer to take off," said Richard Lapchick, chair of the DeVos Sports Business Management Program at the University of Central Florida. "I hoped Beckham's arrival would finally kick-start it. I am willing to wait a little deeper into the season to see him play up to his full capacity. But if this does not do it, then I am not sure I can foresee whatever would do that."

Perhaps soccer, like many women's sports and men's non-major sports, will always be a participatory sport first and a spectator sport second. There's no shame in that. Participation can be a victory in and of itself.

Soccer has been here before. If the most famous sports bra in history can't lift this sport professionally, then maybe nothing can.

Find this article at:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/brennan/2007-08-22-soccer-column_N.htm

The article is even being debated at bigsoccer under the following link: http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=589679

[Gordon]

I don't think she is bashing the sport much at all. Calling a spade a spade perhaps. I think soccer fans have to give up on the notion of soccer as a "Top 4 sport" just as hockey fans should give up on the notion of a lucrative US TV deal. I doubt soccer will reach the regional success in the US that Hockey has in certain US markets where it is a legitament top 4 sport - the Detroits, Bostons Minnesotas and the Philadelphia's any time soon, Beckham or no beckham. Hell, even New York State routinely draws approximately 5o some odd thousand fans to NHL hockey 40 some odd times a year, 70K ifin you include Joisey (Rangers, Islanders, Sabers, Devils) - numbers that MLS would kill for and paying ticket prices 3-4 times higher than MLS.

[dbailey62]

Luis, I think Gordon is right. She isn't really bashing the sport but is pointing out that a lot of Americans couldn't care less about what means so much to us.

It's just one of those sad things .... most Americans don't care about hockey .... most Americans don't care about soccer.

It's just one of those things. I don't think she said anything bad about the sport as such.

B

[ag futbol]

I think it's a very valid point. Soccer can be successful but it will never overtake the main stays in North American sporting culture.

The goal of the MLS should be a sustainable league that brings pro soccer to north america and covers all the markets where people can consistantly support a team. The second this league goes NHL style and expands too far or lets expenses get out of hand things will be get very ugly in a hurry.

[VPjr]

Soccer fans will be a much happier lot when we collectively abandon the idea that our game will miraculously rocket up the popularity charts in North America (especially in the US). There are simply too many established professional sports to compete with and too many misconceptions about the game among those who dont follow it, including the majority of the media.

Every marketer worth his salt establishes short and long terms goals for their product. For North American soccer marketers, the short term goal should be to establish the game as the top 2nd tier sport in North America (ahead of hockey, UFC, X-Games and the like). This should be a manageable goal, as long as MLS continues to expand into viable markets with proper stadiums, they continue to bring good DP's into the league to help bring up the overall quality of the on-field product and continue to forge relationships with media outlets so the games are more and more visible to the casual fan. A casual fan will be drawn to a game being broadcast from a full, loud stadium. It's human nature. We inevitably feel that something special must be happening because all these people are going crazy in unison. It's the only reason I watch US college football on occasion. I truly can't stand pointyball but there is something to be said for watching 100,000 fans going nuts for their team. You just want to be a part of it somehow. That type of atmosphere (like what is found at BMO Field for a TFC match) needs to exist throughout the league. It needs to be encouraged and nurtured in order to draw more people to the game.

Long Term, if managed properly, soccer in North American can start to pull in the type of ratings that local broadcasts of midweek baseball and basketball games get. If expansion is managed properly, MLS will fill 25,000 seat stadiums in 20 North American markets on a consistent basis. If league finances improve, we will actually see North American players decide to stay in MLS to ply their trade because the pay is good enough to make it worthwhile. If player development becomes the primary focus that it should be, Canada and the US will have national teams with a legitimate chance to contend in major international competitions. If all those things come together, we might be talking about how our sport has strong mass market appeal, similar to that of basketball. That is a realistic LONG TERM goal. Forget about being as big as pointy ball, baseball or NASCAR. Those aren't sports. They are quasi religions, especially in the US, similar to the intense feeling many Canadian have for hockey (and curling)

[john tv]

That egg question was solved by TFC. The media in TO for umpteen years would always find a way to not report on soccer. They would always tell me,John fill up that stadium and we will report. In reality you need the media to fill up that sucker, so they very well know. So it comes down to liking or not liking.Marketing guys may have their views but if they smell a buck they don't give a ****ttt.

Soccer's success is and here we go again and again and again all about that effen media. If they like you great,if they don't you are in deep shill.

So again and again and again it is all about these jerks. Once they will recognize soccer well these marketing gurus will jump aboard and I can also assure you they may very well hate soccer,here we go again, money talks and etc.

[amacpher]

*cringe* John TV, please try to relax.

Now here are the facts:

She did make one lie: "Overseas, the Brits were apoplectic"

First of all, she mixed-up "English" with "Brits". A common sign of ignorance.

And of course English soccer fans are not even remotely angry that Becks went from Spain to USA.

Finally, the Chelsea - LA match was also on Telefutura (a spanish channel that is part of Univision networks). So really the ratings of the 2 channels should be added together, no? Sounds to me this USA TODAY journalist is writing her story and then finding the numbers that fit it later. [)]

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2007/07/televisionweeks_sports_rating.php

In other words, the Chelsea - LA game did just as well as ESPN Sunday night baseball. And for men aged 18-49, it did almost as well as the final round of the British Open, and better than the 3rd round of the the Open!!

[Mighty_TorontoFC]

for a country that gets a thrill out of nascar ( as boring a sport, if you can call it a sport)

they need to learn the game. You see all the soccer fans in the us with foreign jerseys on and

now MLS are popping up more each day. The sport will not reach the top quite yet but should replace hockey in the near future, Hockey in the states is losing spectators and one would expect those to continue. Sorry having a NHL team in Kansas City is not the brighest idea. But having an MLS team in Philadelphia, St Louis and Seattle will make the league more stronger.

[dbailey62]

quote:Originally posted by amacpher

*cringe* John TV, please try to relax.

Now here are the facts:

She did make one lie: "Overseas, the Brits were apoplectic"

First of all, she mixed-up "English" with "Brits". A common sign of ignorance.

And of course English soccer fans are not even remotely angry that Becks went from Spain to USA.

Finally, the Chelsea - LA match was also on Telefutura (a spanish channel that is part of Univision networks). So really the ratings of the 2 channels should be added together, no? Sounds to me this USA TODAY journalist is writing her story and then finding the numbers that fit it later. [)]

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2007/07/televisionweeks_sports_rating.php

In other words, the Chelsea - LA game did just as well as ESPN Sunday night baseball. And for men aged 18-49, it did almost as well as the final round of the British Open, and better than the 3rd round of the the Open!!

Is it standard practice for the American media to ignore the ethnic component of a television audience? It's not an accusation but a question.

db

[RJB]

The MLS is a quality league. Period. It's not the EPL, or Serie A, but it's one of the top leagues in North America. Soccer will not get popular in North America overnight, or in just ten years. This is a long term commitment. The dividends are paying off for the Americans already, imagine what they will look like in ten years?

I'm an MLS convert, I am not afraid to say. I was tentative to begin with, but now, I'm convinced.

[Guest Ed]

quote:Originally posted by RJB

The MLS is a quality league. Period. It's not the EPL, or Serie A, but it's one of the top leagues in North America. Soccer will not get popular in North America overnight, or in just ten years. This is a long term commitment. The dividends are paying off for the Americans already, imagine what they will look like in ten years?

I'm an MLS convert, I am not afraid to say. I was tentative to begin with, but now, I'm convinced.

I hope you didn't mean to say 'one of the top leagues in North America'? Really!!!???

[Guest speedmonk42]

quote:Originally posted by Ed

I hope you didn't mean to say 'one of the top leagues in North America'? Really!!!???

I am guessing he means the federation, in which it would be competing against Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica ect.....

But we all know the truth... Barbados has the best league!!!!!