Last night my friend Tom & I had a spirited discussion about soccer's chances of mainstream success here in America. Tom had read a previous post here speculating on the meaning of David Beckham's arrival on these shores. He found my rosy prediction about soccer's inevitable acceptance to be way off reality. Summarizing Tom's strong opinion about soccer here: There's no way that, in our generation, soccer will find a huge audience (ie. get regular coverage on SportsCenter or on your local sports talk radio.)
He outlined his strong disagreement thusly:
1. There ain't no way that 30-45 year old guys like us are going to start watching soccer on a regular basis. That's too much of a stretch for sports fans who already have too much on their plate: American Football, Baseball, Basketball, not to mention X Games,
2. The only way soccer will become popular here is if the young kids today grow up watching it, become very familiar with it and find a few soccer heroes to fawn over. Then maybe it gets acceptance 20 years down the line.
I had a hard time defending my dreams of American Soccer acceptance to Tom over the phone. But it did get me thinking today. Perhaps I should do a better job of articulating my appreciation of the game.
Televised soccer has no commercial interruptions.
I really prefer not being bombarded with commercials every inning, pitching change, series or timeout. Watch a soccer game and lose yourself in two luxurious 45 minute halves. (These days, ESPN2 annoys us with the sports crawler. That's another blog post though! For now, I'm thankful that they throw us the occasional soccer bone.) You really get a sense of pace for the game.
Soccer Has Real Passion, not Artificial Exuberance
Been to an NBA, NFL or MLB game in the past few years? For whatever reason, the presentation of the live game has been maxi-size hyped. Do we really need for each batter to have a theme song? Is it necessary to blow our ears & eyes out with a laser light show and "Girls Girls Girls" blaring at an NBA game in October? As a fan, this is insulting to me. There's no such offensive overhyping in Major League Soccer.
I watched the ESPN2 coverage of last Sunday night's Toronto FC/LA Galaxy game. (Yes, the only reason ESPN2 broadcast this game was because of the presence of David Beckham.) I had no idea how insanely passionate the Toronto FC fans were going to be. It was a really impressive display. And none of it was artificially produced: No dancing girls on the sideline, no dimmed house lights & laser shows & no commercials between plays. It was pure sports passion.
In the movie about the NY Cosmos: Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the NY Cosmos there was a reporter talking about the short American attention span for sports. We expect the commercial after the punt or a stretch in the 7th inning. She explained how soccer is similar to an opera or a play. You get swept up in one act, you break for intermission, then you come back for Act Two. I genuinely find this refreshing in this day and age. I suspect that I'm not alone in that sentiment.
I have a confession to make. I used to loathe soccer. As a kid, I used to play goalie. Our offense was strong & I would get really bored on the other side of the field waiting for the next stampede. I did enjoy going to SMU to watch the Tornado games. I followed Kyle Rote Jr., Kenny Cooper & Mike Renshaw. Later in life, studying in Europe left me far removed from my beloved Cowboys early '90's resurgence. This sapped any enthusiasm I might have had for Real or Atletico de Madrid. I was happy enough going to watch the Super Bowl at 3:30AM in some Spanish pub.
But in 1994 I worked protocol for the World Cup here in Dallas. I went to all the games at the Cotton Bowl. And I followed closely our American squad's tourney. (We beat Colombia!) Watching the 1998 World Cup was also instrumental in stirring the soccer embers. I will never forget the victory over Mexico. What an upset! Then we got our own soccer team again: the Dallas Burn. We went to all of the inaugural season's home games at the Cotton Bowl. (I was a season ticket holder with my buddies Bryan, Brandon & Tim.) We had a blast at those games.
I do hope someday soon we'll be listening to local sports reporters covering FC Dallas scuttlebutt. We have a playoff contending, division leading team this season. The league has the highest profile soccer star in the world now. (Hopefully the Galaxy make the playoffs so we can see him some!) Most clubs have plans for or already have shiny new soccer-specific stadiums with great site lines. It's a matter of time before we're all enjoying the beautiful game again: this time for keeps.
6,000 hits to your blog is quite the undertaking. Much like the interest in the great game. I know you want me to do a soccer blog from an American perspective. I would also like to work with you and finding a way to develop an EAP for the Univision broadcasts. They do SAP for MLB, NBA & NFL games on the major networks. Univision is not major? Univision is nationwide and is major. When Chivas de Guadalajara played Club América and the NBA playoffs were going on, the Univision had a hiring TV rating. The interest is there and it is pronounced, "interés." But, how do we get the English market interested? It is difficult. My theory is that the Soccer Moms and Dads of America (SMADA) do not connect to the sport. Sure, they will cart their little tikes to their games, but once it is over, their feeling is, "Thank God that is over! Get the Cowboys on and hurry!! I got soccer cooties and there is only one cure! Good ole wholesome American made 100% beefy football!" The SMADAs will gladly go to their kid's game socialize, make fun of the sport since they don't understand it and don't care about it, watch the kiddos become a huddled ameba, end game with granola and orange slices, go home, place soccer experience in nifty box of photos and forget about it. When kids get older and other sports arise, the SMADAs can then say, "Now you are playing a real sport. Aren't you glad you don't play that sissy sport anymore?" I guess the interest of 300 million people is more important than that of 7-8 billion people? Now what about this EAP? This thing that seems to be non-existent. Is it the missing link for connecting SMADAs to the soccer? Probably not, but to have such an option I think would be in the right direction. Think back to Chivas-América. This is the Boston Red Sox vs. the New York Yankees in the Mexican league. It is common for boots and fists to be flying in the opponents face. Sissy sport, eh? Fine, these players are outweighed by the NFL types by 100-150 lbs. But, soccer players can run the 40 in 4.0. All of them! I think if the public becomes aware of such a fierce game and they know they can hear it in English, then they will be all over it. Even if they only tune in for 10 minutes, such a game would increase the interest. To Tom's point, I understand where he is coming from. And for the sake of the game in the USA, we have to develop a linkage from one World Cup to the next. Interest in our league, not just the other global leagues. The quality of play needs to increase, although our style is completely different from the world's (not worse, different - this is another post - do we sense the need for a blog - curse you Pablo). Regardless, MLS will not lead the ESPN newscast unless it has Beckham in it. And, it will not lead unless we show interest at all times. How many of us really plan our day around a sporting event? "Ooh, Cowboys are on at Noon; I got to go." Have we ever said, "Ooh, Columbus Crew are on at seven. Are you watching? Got to go!" I don't. I should. But if the US National team is playing, I will plan my day around the game. I do not plan my day around MLS, but I do occasionally with the Mexican league. Shame on me, but don't tread on me - B
ReplyDeleteThe way to get more people watching the game is to get more people playing the game. Youth soccer coaches need to get soccer mom's and dad's on the field and let them experience the game, may of them will then come to respect the skills needed to play and well enjoy the challenge of really learning the game.
ReplyDeleteThe game is so less expensive to watch then any other sport and its so cheap to play economics will play a huge role in it slow but steady climb to the top of American sports.