The big MLS opener on April 3rd is probably going to be one of the biggest season debuts w/ all the hype over the 14-year old phenom. While the soccer community will be enthusiastic about his debut, how will the American public as a whole feel about it? Saturday 4 PM isn't exactly primetime and Adu hardly gets the same amount of media coverage that young stars like Lebron James got in the NBA.
If you didn't notice there is very little sports on the networks at prime time so 4 on ABC isn't that bad of a sports time slot, the only thing I would be worried with is if the NCAA basketball is still going on. p.s. Did BS crash for a little while or was it my network.
The Final Four is on April 3rd starting at 6:00pm so it won't conflict with Adu's debut. And yes BS crashed.
nah it crashed for me too. In terms of how Adu's opener will be viewed. If he will even play. I certainly am going to be watching with a greater interest. In terms of the overall American population, I doubt that his first game will get all that much attention. We're not talking Lebron James type phenom here. As I've said before, I'm not heading out to a lot of LPGA or PGA events as it may be to see Michelle Wie play. Now for example if Adu makes the All Star team after playing well you might see a blip... Basically waht I'm saying is dont get your hopes up too much. It's still about building up this sport bit by bit not by some big flash in the pan.
he'll probably get 6 minutes of mop-up time and the "media" will all fall over themselves to point out at what a disappointing debut it was. and life will go on.
Adu for the ratings I doubt the American public will be tuning in to see the opening of the MLS season, however I do think they will turn on the tube to see Adu. ABC will probably have ESPN hype the game and so I think a lot of general sports enthusiasts will turn it on. I would be very surprised to not see Adu play, ready or not, because if there is any extra interest in the game it will be from him.
I wonder if we could see too much of a good thing from Freddy early on. Imagine if he goes nuts in that first game, scores two lets say. Some of us might think, "Damn, he is the baby Jesus." Skeptics might say, "He's a talent but this just shows how weak MLS is." Here's hoping we see flashes of brilliance early on, but not dominance from this kid. Of course my bigger concern is that the idiot refs in MLS will let people chop away at Freddy the way they did with Tab Ramos.
So i guess any rating # over a 1.0 would be considered a success ? What have the opening game viewing #'s been over the years ?
I highly doubt ESPN will be hyping anything. Maybe some SC time leading up to the game, but if there was an actual commercial or in-game promo I'd be stunned.
well if adu dominates then this means he is the real deal and not that MLS is weak....i mean wayne rooney at 17 yrs of age dominated Arsenal and finish their unbeaten streak last year... Adu is supposed to be light years away from Wayne Rooney... im a quakes fan and i expect the kid to gives us hell... Hey United see u April 3rd because the Defending Champions are going to be wating L8r
Either this guy will be lucky enough to have tickets and will be at the stadium, or he's on the wrong page.
I agree with pretty much everything you said except for the "we're not talking Lebron James type phenom here." yes we are, if you are listening to what coaches are saying about him. It's just that in the US, we don't yet care about soccer like we do about basketball. but worldwide, my opinion would be that he certainly has gotten more hype than Lebron James. in the end though, I agree with you. I hope people give this kid a chance to grow into the game and his new role as a professional. if he is rushed, we could unfortunately be looking at a disaster.