I feel that the team's public image was badly damaged after the poor result. Before 2014, the USMNT was not a top power but was able to provide good games in every WC, especially VS the giants and we took down Spain in 2009. But after that we kinda lost the touch, the 2015 GC was a disappointment, then we had a 0-4 against Costa Rica. The way we were out of the 2018 WC was a shame, the guys weren't really prepared for a true tough game. The teams seems like losing confidence since 2015. Of course missing the WC resulted in loss of revenue as well. We really need a "tournament of redemption" to reignite the fire. I think we might not do as well as 2010-14 if we had got into Russia, but at least it' good to let the young players experience it, especially Pulisic. Let's hope it never happens again.
I don't think any permanent damage occurred. We had a terrible WC in 1998 and the game continued to grow. We did well in 2002 and there was not a big jump. Other factors like USSF over pricing of tickets and not wanting to challenge the team by playing in the Copa America are bigger factors to me than missing the WC. It shows a like of focus in developing the game.
I have this strong suspicion that just not enough players care. Sure, you have Brazil, Germany, Italy....they’ve all tasted the glory, and they want to continue it...so they always have strong players in the pool who have the drive to keep their country in the limelight.... Same with US women.. they’ve always been good, they want to continue that tradition and theirs enough women across America who have that same mindset for them to choose from.... For the US men, it’s a continuous uphill climb. Even on years where they seem to be “better”, they don’t do enough to get over the hump. They can’t gather enough guys who are on the same page with a passion and drive to do whatever it takes to get this team good. (Hence, them not making the WC...they thought they had it wrapped up, so they coasted in a game that they shouldn’t have). So it’s hard enough to find guys with this passion to make the team great, then you have to factor in what’s the incentive? The US is a football, basketball, baseball country...it always will be. Even if they were able to get “good”, will that equate to US soccer finally becoming relavent or does it simply become popular for that 15 min of fame? So at the end of the day, there just isn’t this drive to force players to become great enough to push a national team forward. Even a country like Mexico where they haven’t won a WC, their entire country loves soccer...it’s enough incentive for them to want to excel...
Even the WNT had the 2007-2011 downhill, the 2011 VS Brazil game really put the audience and confidence back. The MNT probably needs a "game of redemption".
Well for one thing, the embarrassment of being dragged through the mud by the media regarding the women’s lawsuit probably wouldn’t exist had we qualified. I think damage has been done, temporarily. Attendance for the men has been shit, excitement has been minimal and the team has just been drab overall.
Agreed. Also, while we are not of their stature, Italy and the Netherlands also didn't qualify for Russia 2018. Mexico only made it to Brazil 2014 with our help. It happens. That said, the USSF does have far too many shitheads in positions of authority.
Yes it would, because even if we'd qualified, we weren't going to win the thing, and if there's one thing the general population of Americans can't resist, it's being ignorant of soccer. So we'd still be hearing arguments based on the assumption that the women's international game is just as competitive as the men's, even though it clearly isn't yet.
As Isaac Asimov once noted, Americans are proud of their ignorance: https://media.aphelis.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ASIMOV_1980_Cult_of_Ignorance.pdf
we havent changed anything structurally, we have learned zero lessons. in terms of interest in the team/growth among casual fans i dont really have a clue, but i would think a good percentage of attendance is hardcore fans frustrated (to put it lightly) with the fed being a pile of crap, charging eighty bucks for friendlies, the aformentioned lack of any attempt at change in course whatsoever, etc.
We have some young exciting players. It's not a terrible situation, once you come to terms with the fact that we're neither the Dutch nor the Italians. We weren't before missing the WC, we're not after.
I can think of another game in 2011 that was the beginning of the end for the USA ascendant curve in the men's game: the defeat to Mexico in the Gold Cup final. Bob tried to play a much more open approach, with Adu feeding balls to Donovan and Dempsey, and our midfield trying to control tempo and possession. We tried to play modern, fast-thinking, pretty soccer and paid the price for it. The Gio goal with Tim trying to catch a mouse was the end of a dream, IMO. Everything that followed was a massive giving-up, even if in slo-mo.
There's one plausible way that missing the 2018 World Cup could have a long term negative impact on USMNST: if the long gap between high-profile tournaments undercuts youth interest in pro soccer. Any effect of that won't be seen at the full national team level for another 6-8 years or so. Missing the 2006 or 2010 WC would have been very harmful, and missing the 2002 WC would have been catastrophic. But I think there's reason to believe that the long term hangover from a 2018 failure will be small. Things like: -the continued strong attendance for MLS (no apparent big drop-off after the qualifying failure) -the rise of star players like Pulisic -the much greater awareness of Euro club soccer compared to a decade ago ... all make soccer's overall status here much less dependent on USMNT's latest World Cup showing. Also, although clueless people will cite the WNT's victories to make baseless (and always annoying) criticisms of the MNT's comparative results, I still think that the popularity and competitive success of the women's team is a net positive for maintaining soccer's place in the cultural mainstream, and is especially important given an eight-year World Cup hiatus for the men's team. So I'm not too worried about any long-term impact of the 2018 absence. That said, I think the Olympics are unusually significant for the men's side next year - a strong showing there would help dispel some of the pessimism and indifference around the men's team, and mitigate the impact of the eight-year gap.
MLS in attendance has always been impressive, right behind the Big 5 and Mexico (and now the Chinese Super League). But that's for several reasons: good weather over most of the country, large population, good economy. Comparatively, MLS is doing very well. The culture of mass events is alive and well in the USA, not so in other parts of the world. Still, it could be noted that it's not growing either. The 21.8K average attendance per game for the 2018 season is about the same it was in 2017 (down 1.09% actually) and 2016. This year is holding, too. Also, there's the issue of lying. https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-soccer-baxter-20161029-story.html "What MLS won’t say publicly, however, is how many paid to get in — or how many even bothered to show up at all. [...] While the use of complimentary tickets may swell attendance, leading to increased media attention and local sponsorship dollars on the club level, it hurts financially..." https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...leagues-attendance-figures-arsenal-celtic-mls "American sports executives have long operated under different rules, whereby the announced attendance frequently bears little relation to the number of people present. Clubs and leagues want to inflate their numbers. Higher crowds attract more lucrative sponsorship contracts. They persuade city officials to allocate taxpayers’ funds to new stadium projects for clubs owned by billionaires. They have prompted Major League Soccer to tout itself as the world’s sixth most popular league based on a deeply flawed comparison to global averages." https://worldsoccertalk.com/2015/12...tendance-numbers-a-game-of-smoke-and-mirrors/ "So you watched your favorite MLS team on TV this past season and you noticed the vast swath of empty seats at the stadium (not you Seattle, Orlando or NYCFC fans). Then you get your soccer geek on and check the boxscores for the game and see that the attendance has been reported at a sellout or a near sellout. You think to yourself, what the heck is going on here? Welcome to the world of attendance reporting."
Expansion of MLS should have ceased long ago, certainly prior to 2018's non-qualification for the WC. As Suyuntuy points out inflated attendance numbers will not bring soccer a critical mass of fans. Since MLS has become a conveyance for foreign players rather than our national team, it fails miserably compared to the leagues in England, France, Germany, Holland, etc.
impact? for growth of sport hardly any impact... much as i love the team it remains a niche in this country....so failure or success doesnt matter as much as what tournament we are in and if people tune in.. as far as the growth of the team...qualifying or not qualifying has no consequences either way it seems.... ultimately we will continue to slowly grow due to MLS, due to Academies, due to more kids being exposed to the sport...the USSF isnt doing enough to help it...thankfully the game sells itself.
About kids: Since American football is getting a reputation for concussion at an early age and its consequences --- and Soccer headers are frowned upon --- I expect this will have a big impact (no pun intended) on participation (less so for soccer). Hockey has always been dangerous and limited to a small part of the US. That puts soccer's importance squarely in 3rd place after baseball and basketball. You've got to be fairly tall to compete in basketball, not so in baseball or soccer.
Bingo, with MLS growing both in terms of product and popularity the sport will continue to grow. Hell, the growth of teams in lower divisions to try show an MLS team would be maintainable will help the team geow. The bigger issue with the Nats has been the relatively new focus on the academies. I think it's fair to say that the academies are just now starting to really pay off for all teams. Now you are starting to more prospects come up
How have MLS' TV rating been? A cursory look shows numbers are down Y/Y but that was through June. Global sports is primarily driven by TV revenues but perhaps that's changing with online viewing. Will MLS be able to significantly increase its TV revenues when its contract is up in 2022? What happens to revenues when expansion stops (assuming it does)? I also think that the next SUM/USSF deal should be much more balanced towards USSF than the current one but I'll believe that when I see it.......
World Soccer Talk has the viewership (average per game) for 2018 at 290,278: https://worldsoccertalk.com/2019/04/10/mls-fails-close-tv-ratings-gap-premier-league-liga-mx/ With 459K for Liga MX and 428K for the EPL. For total audience numbers they have this to say: --- Based on the above data, the growth of each respective league from 2016 to 2018 is as follows: Premier League – 69% increase Liga MX – 46% increase MLS – 8% increase --- But when done on a per-broadcast basis, the results are less discouraging: --- Premier League – 8.5% increase from 394,452 to 428,503 MLS – 6% increase from 273,321 to 290,278 Liga MX – 21% decrease (largely due to DISH dropping all of the Univision channels as well as showing more games featuring less popular teams) ---