http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/7386756 Nick Webster makes a rather compelling case for this except that the two venues he picks are not exactly appropriate. He cites playing the games at the Big House and Happy Valley which leads me to believe he has never been to either Ann Arbor or State College. Neither of those places are really ideal to have 80,000 ManU or Liverpool fans traveling to as he puts it. There really isnt anything there besides the University of Michigan and PSU. Dont get me wrong, Ann Arbor is beautiful, but there are loads of more appropriate places. If you wanted to use college stadiums I think Columbus, Death Valley, Austin, the Rose Bowl. You cant ask people to travel across the pond to a small college town, they need something to do the rest of the weekend.
Is the author of that article a complete an utter moron or is this supposed to be tongue-in-cheek? I'm really not sure.
Calling Nick Webster a moron is an insult to morons everywhere. Seriously, though: I think he's the beneficiary of the fact that some American fans assume anyone with any British accent who calls the game "football" obviously knows the game. It's not as bad as it used to be (30 years ago, Webster would probably be coaching a small-market NASL team rather than making silly commentaries on TV), but without his accent, I don't think he's writing or talking about soccer for a paycheck.
Thank goodness you agree; I thought I was going insane! The most mind-boggling part of this little ditty has to be this: 'Finally, the boost to the local economy would be staggering as I can pretty much guarantee that 80,000 of the crowd would be from Manchester and Liverpool.' Looking beyond the fact that that's nonsense, I am the only one that is missing the point of playing the game in the United States if 80% of the crowd are Scousers or Mancs?
"Nick Webster" and "compelling case" are not words that belong in the same sentence. Unless that setence is arguing that the guy is a moron who should be nowhere near being a presenter on FSC.
Oh right, of course, because 'United and Liverpool could shift 200,000 [shirts] with a little marketing' and 'Virgin, British Airways or some other airline would love to sponsor the two-match series' at 'surely a $5 million value at the very least', right?
Haha yea,and 2.345.246 hot dogs at $5 a pop lol. But seriously look at how much money the NFL made in London. This is a growing soccer nation and the Premierships is fairly popular amongst American fans. I think its a fair trade,our NFL teams lost a home game to entertain the English, so now its the Prems turn.
I forgot the exact figure,I saw it on Sportscenter but when I get the exact figure I will post it for you.