Yah, think about it. He's sitting in a booth with a couple of NFL fanatics (Nothing wrong with an NFL fanatic.) They aren't going to lead him down the soccer path. Is the Price Is Right on the same network? Drew Carey's a high-profiler willing to step in. No need to criticize him - not yet anyway.
The fans of MNF don't want to watch commercials either. Its not about what they want to hear. Its about marketing.
Guys the Price is Right is rigged. Bob Barker is the only clear winner he gets all the babes and those sweet jet skis! Not to mention the infinite amount of hugs from people you wouldnt touch with a 10 foot pole...
Speaking of commercials, I swear there are 60 or 70 a game - absolutely annoying. Do you watch them or grab the remote and start flipping?
And how many thousands of men and women have sweated over making their customized "I Love Bob" t-shirts?! I notice the audience is skewing a bit younger since Carey signed on.
I'll agree with the point about marketing. But I think you need to understand that no one in the MNF booth wanted to talk about soccer. They changed the subject. They were right to do so, considering that Drew's an owner. Look- MLS fans are simply going to have to be content with the league they have and stop looking for huge growth overnight. Its a small league in a country where not many care about the Game. It's not going to explode, it's not going to pass the NFL, MLB or the NBA in your lifetime, no matter how much noise a few hundred or a few thousand BigSoccer posters make. Be thankful you have any kind of league at all, and stop wishing it were one of the world's biggest or best, 'cause that ain't happening. Most of all, be glad you have an MLS team nearby- I don't.
Commercials or lack thereof is why MLS is my 2nd favorite league...still behind the NFL, but ya, a good way to watch MNF is if you can pause live TV, Pause the game at the beginning, do something else for about an hour then start the game, basically can fast foward through the commericials and watch the entire game as you should be able to watch it...TV timeouts are the worst thing ever invented...I understand a timeout then going to commercial, but TV timeouts, the players just stand around on the field waiting...
It really frustrates me that so many people out there aren't getting it*. Perhaps I do have unrealistic growth expectations. I know it wasn't the ideal opportunity for him to promote the team and league. I just wanted a bit more out of it. Many of you are satisfied with what was said on the air, it looks like A LOT of you didn't even see the broadcast so should STFU instead of insulting me for having an opinion, and I think he could have done a better job. The fun part about BigSoccer is that if this topic had been "Drew Carey did an awesome job of promoting soccer" the flames still would have flown. *edit - people who don't know how bad ass soccer is, not the people on BS who disagree with my argument
If you REALLY want to know the only way Drew Carey could have promoted soccer to a tv audience that tuned in to watch Monday Night Football, here's how... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJjfn2NBDKU
You just don't get it do you. I watched the broadcast, Carey tried to talk about soccer, he brought it up when he could. The people in the booth wanted to have none of it and changed the subject, if he had kept on he would have looked like an idiot and been flamed on national television. We should really consider adding a common sense test as a requirement for joining this site.
How much growth? Soccer is at a stand still. That is the number one mistake. Repeating two decades since Italy 90' was obtain. There is no more growth issue unless there is a fall out. The league is steadily making way with expansion/contraction. In another two decades, growth issue should be complete. Soccer isn't up to par with the rest of world but really growth should be less of an issue every year/class and it is. It is a smart move. Telecast mentions right before the game or right at halftime. With him rasing the 12th man flag. He will have all the time in the world after the game. If persons are interested, they will search product. I found it sort of a surprise. He has done numerous things with MLS and US Soccer. I guess. That shows some capablities. The man just dropped a pretty penny and we make sound like he has to earn money right off the bat. Let him enjoy and lets all believe Seattle can house a good sport. I am quite interested in a sudden turn of events (don't always agree but if you let time pass there is briliance there). A couple big name international players and a couple expansion clubs in mixer. This sport just might be here to stay. Not to mention DC United's new ownership. There appears to be money somewheres and the players must start to earn it. Any side and all times!
Any You-Tube of this encounter?.. MNF, is that still on because ABC's ratings were down for MNF for a while now. Check this out you beer lovers. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/08/nadvert108.xml
NFL fans don't want to hear about soccer on MNF.It would turn them off.There are better places to do this and he knows it ''obviously you don't agree''.He knew that he would be walking a fine line.Would you like to hear our thursday night announcers spend two hours plugging Major League Lacrosse or Arena Football.God get a grip ,will you.
No. But MLS is! I agree. However, it is interesting to see how this works in practice; even though ABC/ESPN is paying MLS to air its games, it doesn't seem willing to do anything to cross-promote soccer the way it does with other sports. The Price is Right is on CBS, so it's on a competing network. No financial reason at all for them to talk to Drew Carey about that. MLS is on ESPN and ABC; big financial reason for them to talk to Drew Carey about that. It isn't Drew Carey's job to tell the MNF crew what to talk about on their own show; that's ABC/ESPN's job. So it is a bit silly to blame Drew Carey. He did the best he could do without coming off sounding like a pushy prick. MNF also talked to Russell Crowe earlier this season. I think they talked a bit - or let Russell Crowe talk - about his rugby league club, South Sydney Rabbitohs. Did they tell Russell Crowe (more or less) "that's enough talk about your silly rugby league club, please change the subject"? I don't think so. Just noting that the anti-soccer bias in US sports media ain't a figment of our imaginations. Drew Carey isn't to blame for this bias and it is not his job to fight against this on his own at the cost of his own credibility. He was a guest on someone else's show, with very limited time. People should cut him some slack.
The average guy watching last nights MNF game was such a serious NFL fan that he won't turn soccer on for the World Cup Final. Last night was the equivalent of a Wizards vs RSL. ESPN is more worried about getting ratings this weekend for its quickly slumping NASCAR product.
I've known plenty of NFL fans who are also soccer fans. I'm one. We're not talking about a huge interruption for cross promotion purposes; we're talking about letting Drew Carey talk for a few minutes about his new Seattle MLS venture, during a MNF game being played in Seattle. It's hardly a huge sacrifice of time on ABC/ESPN's part. There is such a thing as building for the long term, after all, and ABC/ESPN's relationship with MLS, USSF, UEFA, and FIFA is part of its long term plans. Of course I'm talking as though ABC/ESPN execs are capable of looking to the future beyond next quarter's TV ratings, which is probably a bit silly on my part.
Two questions. How long was this "guest commentator"/"interview"/whatever-it-was segment, anyway? And... Are NASCAR ratings down this year or something? I honestly don't know.
Actually, yes they are. They are down about 7% this year, although the say they have a 2% increase in the key demographics. But week in and week out, the average race still draws 5x the viewers as MLS Cup, so the segment of the Big Soccer population that likes to proclaim that other sports are failing may want to keep the cork in the champagne.
I really don't care if soccer is promoted to the general public or especially football watchers. With zero promotion quality games in America sell massive tickets. I'm talking about big European clubs or national team events. The soccer people are here if you just give em quality product on the field -- not field turf games and second rate teams. Soccer in America needs to concentrate on providing quality soccer to soccer fans. The rest will take care of itself.
I'm sure that you think otherwise, but I wouldn't necessarily call meaningless, pre-season run-outs by big-name European clubs, using at least some if not all of their second teams, "quality soccer," especially in comparison to, say, an MLS playoff game. I love how, when one of those "quality" clubs gets beat in a friendly by an MLS team, their effort is immediately downplayed. Does that mean that the big crowd for those games was given something other than "quality soccer" (or, at least less "quality" than if they'd played another Big Name Club, giving no more effort)? No, the big crowds for those games are more about the Name, and in some cases, to be fair, some previously-established home-nation club loyalties, than the "product on the field," no matter how much the typical Eurosnob wants to pretend different. And, the national team games draw because they're the national team. Even the biggest Eurosnob (defined here as an American who looks down his nose at MLS because the European club that he's adopted for glory-hunting reasons lets him pretend that he deserves SO much better) can also root for his national team without having to admit that MLS really isn't all that bad after all. The "soccer people who are there" who don't support their local MLS teams, in favor of waiting for Chelsea or Man United to come around once or twice in their lifetimes, aren't really "soccer people." If MLS were able to wave a magic wand and make their league's "level of play" increase to that of any league in the world, they still wouldn't care, at least at the level that they now care about bathing in the reflected glory of Arsenal's reserves in August. There is plenty of quality soccer in MLS right now. Just because you and others like you choose not to see it doesn't change that.
Has anyone thought that maybe he was told to tone it down and not steal the thunder from the news conference today? Just a thought!
The only people who blew it is ESPN for YET AGAIN failing to promote their very own product. Dumbshits galore run that place.