Has USA Men's Result Tangibly Helped MLS?

For a brief moment, yes. The team was appearing on all of these talk shows and stuff, but then it just stopped. We had our fame for the month. But, then again LD has been in a lot of mags and he's doing an ad with Nike now. So, maybe.........

 

of course it will, it just isn't going to be seen right away

 

it's a question that, if it refers to now, it's a resounding now... if you allow it to carry over and do what it's going to do over the long haul... it's a resounding yes

simple as that

 

I think I remember hearing that MLS has seen a 20% increase in TV ratings. If that's true, then I would say that is a significant bump from the WC.

 

According to DG in the state of the league address:
http://www.mlsnet.com/special/as02/as0802sotl.html

If nothing else, the WC helped to remind a lot of people that MLS is out there and actually features some pretty decent players. It also may have helped to convince some of the people who took a look at the league in 96 and decided it was terrible to take another look.

 

for this season, no. but for the state of soccer in the us, which must include mls, overwhelmingly yes. the success of the world cup only feeds the youth explosion in soccer, which in turn will better develop the game in this country. mls gets better every year because each successive generation is better at soccer (much as it pains me to admit it to my brother, making the team for him is much more of an accomplishment than my feats on the team six years ago). just look at the average american coming into mls now compared to the average american in mls just a couple of years ago. with more soccer players, come more soccer fans, etc etc.

 

Before WC I had never watched an MLS game.

After the WC I have watched every MLS game that I have been able, and taped ones them when I was not able.

As an added bonus I actually made a trip to Rochester to see the Rhino's play and brought 4 kids from my u-10 soccer team with me.

Double bonus - I now read all about MLS on Big Soccer.

 

Good, Michael, and welcome.

 

I agree, I lost interest in the MLS after the first few months of their inception b/c they aren't in Atlanta but the World Cup changed it. I watch all of the MLS games (on TV) and now have an unhealthy amount of MLS/Soccer knowledge thanks to BigSoccer.

 

If the U.S. bombed at WC02 and didn't show improvement in 2006, then I've always thought the league would fail. Like it or not, in the U.S., the USNT is the bell weather for the soccer here. The success in Korea has helped. MLS banked a lot of marketing and money on the WC and the USNT.

Actually, prior to the MLS investors committing to fund the league through 2006, I felt if the U.S. went out in the group phase and looked "bad" doing it (see U.S. '98, France '02), then the league was gone. Maybe not this year or in 2003, but probably in 2004.

After the commitment, that thinking changed to the USNT shouldn't look bad at WC02, but they better do some damage at WC06 to convince the investors to fund the league for another ten years (through 2010).

I think the USNT (with MLS players and players developed in MLS) must build on the "success" at WC02 to help MLS further. This doesn't mean they have to make the final in 2006, but now they have to look good and reach the 2nd round again. There can't be any "Poland" results in 2006. They need to play how they did against Portugal, Mexico, and Germany.

If they can do this in 2006, then MLS will without a doubt be around for a long time. However, I do think can make it without the USNT influence, but it will be much tougher!

MLS needs the USNT to be competitive and to play well (see the POR, MEX, GER games) to get the respect of the soccer world. This is where the fans come into play. MLS doesn't need, though it would help, new soccer fans. There are enough in the U.S. now to support MLS with 25K attending MLS games.

The soccer fans here don't think MLS is legit, or that it will be here in the long run. They would rather watch Bolton v. Charlton (MLS should advertise on Fox Sports World, not ESPN) then get out to stadium and see Kansas City v. Columbus. That is why the success of the USNT (with MLS players) is important. The league realizes this, otherwise they wouldn't have bought the broadcast rights to the WC in 2002 and 2006. They also wouldn't base their marketing around the USNT ("The Strike Force").

With the U.S. playing so well in 2002 MLS has rec'd more credibility as a solid 1st Division league. Maybe fans in Europe, Latin America, or here haven't come around, but I'm sure the deciscion makers at the club and international level outside the U.S. think that MLS can produce some good players.

More success will help.

 

I'm another fan that came around to the league because of the WC. I liked the game before, and enjoyed WC's 94 & 98 (and even WWC 99), but didn't really think the MLS was that good. The first MLS game I watched was the Metro-Galaxy game that the Big Mama scored 4x. I was impressed. (By the way, why wasn't he on that Senegal team?) I also had hung out with a guy about a year ago that played with and against LD on state and regional teenage teams - hearing him talk about how good some of the young guys were got me ready to be a fan, I think. Unfortunately, I was only able to go to 3 Galaxy games before returning to college... and Denver is a pretty big drive from BYU!

 

I honestly think a big run at 2006 can really put the sport over. We can't afford to have another dismal showing after a promising WC. (94, 98)