Talking soccer is becoming highbrow

Discussion in 'Business and Media' started by mjlee22, Apr 24, 2014.

  1. mjlee22

    mjlee22 Quake & Landon fan

    Nov 24, 2003
    near Palo Alto, CA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Maybe soccer is becoming cool in the USA. According to the NY Times, talking about soccer (basically, the EPL) is becoming popular in New York creative and literary circles.

    “It’s almost guaranteed that almost any male literary person under the age of 45 is going to be somewhat versed in soccer,” said Sean Wilsey, a writer who helped edit “The Thinking Fan’s Guide to the World Cup”.... As a conversation topic, it has become inevitable at book parties, in part because it is both sophisticated and safe. “Isn’t it sort of a relief to talk about the English Premier League instead of the sad state of publishing?” he added. “It’s a great default topic.”

    The article includes a list of the celebrities who follow some of the EPL teams.

    Over in the WSJ, there was an article explaining how the Glazer Brothers have come up with a good business model for ManU:

    Joel and Avram set out to build a club that would withstand dips in performance, people close to the team say, in large part by locking in big sponsors to multiyear deals. While other big-budget European teams have depended heavily on broadcast revenue and gate sales to drive revenue in recent years, United has notched almost all of its growth through commercial sponsorships.
    Even though it is ManU's worst on-field performance in 24 years, the Glazers' growth strategy has doubled the value of the company.
     
  2. RichardL

    RichardL BigSoccer Supporter

    May 2, 2001
    Berkshire
    Club:
    Reading FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    probably should have thought about the impact that worst season could have in income and future competitiveness, and ultimately "franchise value" before hailing the Glazers' success.

    It might not come to it, but they face the prospect of having to completely rebuild a team on a reduced budget, from a position of being less attractive to potential players and managers.
     
  3. napolisoccer

    napolisoccer Member

    NYCFC - Napoli
    Feb 20, 2005
    Napoli
    Club:
    SSC Napoli
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Interesting article.
     
  4. kronz21

    kronz21 Member

    Mar 17, 2006
    cleveland
    EPL?? Come on it's about the Spanish league, now that's cool ; )
     
  5. El Chuma

    El Chuma BigSoccer Supporter

    Sep 17, 2005
    San Diego
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    We can all be plastics together!!!
     
    THOMA GOL repped this.
  6. THOMA GOL

    THOMA GOL BigSoccer Supporter

    Jul 16, 1999
    Frontier
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Tunnel vision should not be this fashionable, no?
     
  7. El Chuma

    El Chuma BigSoccer Supporter

    Sep 17, 2005
    San Diego
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Dude you post the same drivel that's not funny.
     
  8. Wolfie65

    Wolfie65 Member

    Jun 16, 2010
    Albuquerque, NM
    It is interesting that a restaurant (....) no athlete should ever be caught dead in is an 'official sponsor' of not only the WC, but the Olympics as well.
    There are certain circles in the US who pretty much automatically consider anything non-American hip. Which includes soccer. There are some groups in Europe who like to adopt certain American things for themselves, but the location of their brows has nothing to do with it.
     
  9. guignol

    guignol Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 28, 2005
    mermoz-les-boss
    Club:
    Olympique Lyonnais
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    in some but not all european countries soccer is definitely a lowbrow thing. but there's an intellectual way of looking at the game, materialized by the cahiers du football, the related le monde blog une balle dans le pied or the monthly so foot that gets the drop on the intellectual anti-soccer poseurs. the ultimate highbrow attitude.
     
  10. mjlee22

    mjlee22 Quake & Landon fan

    Nov 24, 2003
    near Palo Alto, CA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  11. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Unfortunately, what's happened here is the middle class majority culture has never embraced the game. It's still largely Latinos, Asians, Caribbean-descended Black folks and the more well-traleved or well-read Whites and Blacks of several generations. Very much a foreign/highbrow/thinker thing, and the more the average American hears about thinking, the more s/he's gonna avoid it. Of course, that isn't just an American attitude- it's just the most of the rest of the world enjoys the fortune of having its middle class love this sport as its #1.
     
  12. Paul Breitner

    Paul Breitner New Member

    Jul 15, 2014
    Club:
    Valerenga IF Oslo
    While this school of thought might suit a given narrative, it flies in the face of history. It ignores the history of the central european and balkan immigrants in places like Brooklyn, Milwaukee and St. Louis who laid the ground work for the USSF prior to 1950 and then kept the embers burning from 1950 through the dark ages. Clubs like Blauweiss Gottschee and Kearney Scots-Americans were grown organically and not cynically as some would say was the case with Chivas USA.
     
  13. jhernandez86

    jhernandez86 Member

    Sep 22, 2004

    Here in Southern California, I notice that soccer camps are forcing parents to learn about the game. In addition, the World Cup has open the curiosity to both young and old. I never thought I would say this, but soccer in America will become a main street sport within the next 20 years. The MLS is heading on the right path of becoming the league of preference for the Americas.
     
  14. RevsLiverpool

    RevsLiverpool Member+

    Nov 12, 2005
    Boston
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It's certainly been embraced as a sport for kids to play, but maybe not by their parents. This is based on my experience growing up in a largely white, middle class community in Massachusetts.
     

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