My whole family loves soccer but nobody except me watches the MLS games all my other family members watch the leages in latinamerica and in europe I think if every american soccer fan supported the MLS evey game whould be sold out
probably they support the teams from other leagues. then you need 2 thing: 1 - up the quality of play, to bring fans of good soccer 2 - create a subculture of MLS team being the second team for immigrants who have teams in others leagues. i noticed that brazilians in toronto are supporting toronto fc.
The way I look at it is, if you live in the U.S. and your a soccer fan of any league, you need to support MLS. It's like a parent supporting a babies first steps. It takes some energy in the beginning but eventually they will walk on their own. One day, you may even miss the days that you had to help your baby walk.
If every soccer fan supported one MLS team here, then we wouldn't need SS stadiums because the NFL stadiums would be constantly sold out. I think a key was mentioned by sidis: create a subculture for MLS teams. Fans who talk about the games away from the TV. People who discuss the good and bad aspects and potential improvements. General conversations about players and great moments during games. Arguing about moves that your favorite team should make. These are things that make the major sports great everywhere. How in the world can so many people enjoy baseball without being able to discuss every little detail? Thusfar (at least to me) the open discussion about MLS is missing. Even on the broadcasts before matches. There is very little from the commentators about the match-ups or details on the teams. That is what pre-game is about. Enough of telling us that Beckham will be coming several months down the road and how great the growth of soccer is doing. Give me details about the teams, the good and bad. How are they looking to improve? Who are the stars that need to carry the team this game? What are the on field match-ups to pay attention to? Who's struggling? Who's playing great? and then during the game, announce the game. Don't provide little tid-bits about how this guy could make a great NFL WR or another guy loves sky-diving. Comment on the game in front of us, or why should we bother watching?
Garber made an interesting comment when he was interviewed during the first TFC home game. He said that TFC did a great job of getting out and marketing the team by going to PUBS. Yes, a place where beer guzzling soccer fans hang out to watch overseas soccer games. Quite in contrast to many of the marketing efforts I see in LA where every other marketing activity is an attempt to get soccer moms and their kids to the games. Geez - what a novel concept. Concentrate your marketing efforts on real soccer supporters, and they come to games!
Some of the NASL clubs, the more successful ones, knew how to market. Yes they did a lot of youth soccer outreach, but they also made efforts to keep the local NASL club in the public eye outside the youth soccer community, and to keep good relations with local media. There wasn't the kind of large adult soccer watching fan base back then that exists now (or at any rate, the chance to watch European or Latin American soccer on TV back then was nonexistant or extremely limited). But they did a good job of marketing within the limits that existed back then. The MLS on the other hand, apart apparently from TFC, has no clue about marketing beyond the old standby of youth soccer. The problem with youth soccer is that kids don't have much disposable income (and that money is controlled by their parents) and the "soccer moms" and dads tend not to be soccer fans and look on the sport as a mere youth activity, not as a serious spectator sport. MLS needs to figure out how to market to actual soccer fans, who tend to be in the 20 to 40 years age range with a fair amount of disposable income and free time. Here is a hint to some of our BigSoccer trolls: sneering and swearing at soccer fans and calling them "EuroSnobs" is not a good way to market MLS to soccer fans. Toronto FC looks like it has been an excellent addition to MLS. This kind of innovation in marketing simply would never have happened under the old single entity/limited ownership regime.
Plz get FC Dallas to take heed. I am so sick of watching the freebies arriving late, interupting play to get snacks, and leaving early.
The emmigrant soccer fan does not suppport the MLS they normally have a low oppionion of our quality of play. However, if the MLS team has someone of their own nation of origin. Then they will go to support that player more then to support the MLS team he plays on. The American born soccer parent soccer fan does and if they live near a game they will go to the game. The player frankly would rather play then watch any game if you had to choose. However, if the youth player could do both play and then later go to a game they would. That is how I see it any way.
Do you think Peter Nowak playing in Chicago was a coincidence? (In case you do not know, Chicago is a big Polish city.) Do you think Chivas USA being in LA instead of Wyoming was a coincidence? Do you think Bruce Arena, an Italian American who grew up on Long Island, coaching for NY Red Bull instead of FC Dallas was coincidence? Carlos Ruiz playing for FC Dallas is also, no coincidence. I think you get my point. To me, it's pretty obvious MLS is trying their best to do just what you are saying. Obviously, with the current pay rates of MLS, they are not always able to attract the best players of many foreign nations to attract our many immigrants.
------- "Do you think Bruce Arena, an Italian American who grew up on Long Island, coaching for NY Red Bull instead of FC Dallas was coincidence?" Do you actually think a coach who happens to be Italian American would be a big attraction for Italian Immigrants to watch a game? Guess again.
No, I don't. So you may want to re-think about your previous post. Bringing in players of certain nationalities alone may not be enough to attract immigrants to MLS. It hasn't been so far. I was simply pointing out that MLS has been trying to do what you pointed out as a possible fix to MLS.
I think the immigrant population has been critical in building up support for MLS clubs. Let's face it : MLS doesn't have a good track record of encouraging passionate support. The early years were a disgrace and they destroyed a lot of the potential that was there initially. The past 5 years have been spent trying to rectify past mistakes as opposed to making progress. There's still a couple of stadiums that need to be built and a couple of more increases to the salary cap that need to be made before we can truly say that we turned the corner. But it seems like we're on the right path. But even through all those dark years, there were a few immigrants that didn't care about MLS's shortcomings. They came anyways. It's these immigrants that helped start the supporter groups in MLS - Bolivians in DC, Poles in Chicago, Mexicans in Houston etc... Now it's these supporter groups that are growing the hardcore supporter core in MLS. In some markets like NY, they've done it with 0 support from stadiums or FOs.
The message that shines through loud and clear in Franklin Foer's book How Soccer Explains the World is that worldwide love of soccer is driven by regional, racial, and sectarian rivalries.* Since the US has few really bitter regional and sectarian rivalries, and racial rivalries are hopefully suppressed, it is not surprising that these immigrants prefer to stick to their old ways rather than embrace MLS. This prompts the question of just how intrinsically entertaining the game is if one takes away all the baggage that goes with it. *Note that this thesis was not the one Foer intended to prove.
Tell you something else that did not work over all. That is when the MLS first started they tried to have some local players from the area on each team. That might have helped a little , but not enough. The one thing that can work is if all the teams start playing a good entertaining game. The attendence will get bigger. But will that alone bring in the emigrant fans in bunches?
I think it ultimately comes down to two things : 1)Appropriate stadiums that teams can call home 2)Increased budgets to buy quality players 3)Steady expansion The first issue is being worked on, and we've got nice stadiums being built all over the country now. The second issue will be amended by 2010 when a new CBA is negotiated. I think anything less than 5,000,000 per team would be an insult. Some coaches may go out and use the additional $ to get more $500,000 players which will help the league's image. Others will fill their rosters with more $100,000 players which will improve depth. Either way, the quality on the field will improve. Some of the guys starting in the league now will be full time reservists in the future, and they'll still be making enough to earn a decent living. Most of the starters will be players with current, past or future National Team careers. And lastly expansion ... It's hard to bump ratings when people in Philly, Atlanta, Seattle, Detroit, Miami don't have teams. Why would they care about a league that is irrelevant to their region? If someone is going to watch the sport only on TV, they might as well watch EPL or La Liga.
True enough point. Many games throughout the MLS season I organize team trips where we all sit together. Pointing out local players to the kids is pretty cool and I think it may have a future benefit. These kids that are watching may get inspired through the local connection, be it same club or the fact that that player played in the same league he does. FC Dallas has a few local players that I know the kids really like. Cooper, Nunez, Moor.
Look at the 2nd part of my name. The MLS is just a way for me to prevent me from having withdrawls due to lack of EPL.
+1 The MLS takes a back seat to the EPL for me but it is my second league to follow. I watch many leagues but really only follow those two. I do think it's quite a good league and would like to see it gradually grow but I'd hate to see it turn into the NFL or NBA. Since I have no team close enough to actually see a live game I support the MLS by subscribing to Direct Kick. (although not really sure what percentage they get ) But yeah it's a great way to prevent withdrwals and it works out perfect since it only overlaps a few months.
^^^^^^^ I forgot to mention that I follow Serie A quite madly. There's nothing better than waking up and watching an Italian soccer match on Sundays.
i am from buffalo new york and i love the MLS but i have no teams near me except toronto and IM only 15 so its very difficult for me to go to games since i have only 1 parent.
1) Yup, no bigger turn-off than having big empty stadia with gridiron lines on the field. 3) The lack of local derbies and, for many people, the lack of an MLS team anywhere close to their hometown has gotta hurt. Expansion would help these problems. I'll add more: 4) The # of teams making the playoffs. Even the English Premiership with all its quality and great stadiums with atmosphere... if they had a season that lasted 7 months, at the end of which, the top 16 teams made a postseason tournament, I probably wouldn't watch it much. Why would I? There are so many other leagues to choose from where every match matters. 5) Isolation of the league. No meaningful competition against clubs in other leagues. 6) No promotion/relegation. Makes it a lot less interesting. 7) The league's youth. It's difficult to develop a real passion for a team that didn't exist when you were growing up. And if they did exist, you're too young to matter right now (from a financial POV)
As sorry as I am to say this, the MLS needs to start building more partnerships with more teams abroad. I live in NJ and wouldn't go to Giants Stadium to watch RBNY play in front of 7,000 people in a stadium that fits 75,000 if my life depended on it. The MLS has been doing very well with their marketing but they need to realize that in certain markets, I.E. NY, they need to appeal to the majority nationalities of the area. These nationalities are definitely the biggest fans of the sport in the area. Immigrants from Italy, Brazil, & Portugal need to be targeted in order for the team to be remotely successful.
i think mls is doing fine the way it is. it has its own uniqie management style(salary cap, draft etc. i dont think mls should adopt any euro styles like the yount academy there starting to make the draft non existant. any ways back on topic the quality of play wont improve intill theres more soccer fans in the usa, dont forget what happened to the nasl. no matter how good the talent is if there ist enough soccer fans it wont work. pretty much it comes down to patients i mean usa fans should be happy they even have a league. iam not really sure what you mean by the sub-culture thing.....