Surprised no one mentioned this (SI article)

There's also a two page spread of Jones and Kante "playing footsie" in the front pages few pages.

 

Thanks

 

Good job Grant.

 

I read at the article at my denist's office the other day. Pretty good stuff.

 

"This country is getting increasingly more ethnic, and professional soccer is positioned to capitalize." -Don Garber

Is it me, or is this statement just wrong? It seems to imply that American's previously lacked ethnicity.

 

No, it is not wrong. I think he is saying that there are many more ethnicities now then there ever were. This statement is true in all accounts. Just look at the variety of countries that people are coming from.

 

I suppose that's one interpretation. Assuming that people are coming from a larger variety of places than ever before, I'm not certain that translates into them being inclined to like soccer more than people who came over in the past, when I presume immigration was primarily from soccer-centric European countries.

Either way, I think MLS relies too much on assumptions about ethnicity and the need for a cultural basis to become a fan, and should focus more on the universal appeal of the game and the quality of the product they are putting on the field.

 

Problem is that not too many Americans have been raised on the game and can appreciate good soccer when it's available.

You could use Chicago to support that or Columbus against it. It certainly isn't cut and dry. I think that MLS should lean towards a cultural angle. It'll foster closer ties with fans and better support.

 

Well, they haven't been "raised" on the game in the sense that they get to follow a team in a live match every week, but most people under the age of, say, 25 have been raised on the game in the sense that they played it. It's been the number one youth sport for a while now, so I just don't buy the argument that Americans aren't familiar enough with the game that we need to focus a lot of attention solely on people with a presumably soccer friendly cultural background.

 

Agreed that you shouldn't focus on just the cultured fan.

Yes, they might be familiar, but they still don't know the game. A lot of the attention and focus is from parents wanting to be involved. "Get the ball! Kick it!" are the most intelligent statements at youth games typically.

 

I think he is also implying that Americans are becoming less ethnocentric. Which I believe is true in some cases. I mean, up until a year ago half of America was suprised to learn that half of the world thinks we are giant arseholes. In terms of soccer, however, i think that we are just beginning to find out how much potential the game has here. I think a lot of passion and openmindedness is really contributing to the cause.

 

i think garber's statement reflects the commonly-held notion, not that america is more ethnic, but that america has more and more ethnicities who, for whatever reasons, are resisting for forces of assimilation for longer periods of time.

we've always had ethnicities - their kids just ended up as generic 'Americans' and that isn't the case any longer.

 

Again, this notion of "knowing the game" seems to be a double standard that we only apply to Americans. I'm not focusing on parents here, I'm talking about the number of people who "know the game" because they grew up playing it, often through high school and into college. That number is huge, and it's getting larger all the time. And yet I often encounter the presumption that because someone came from country X they "know the game" better or they will be more receptive to MLS. And I just don't buy that argument, even though it seems to influence a lot of the people who are in charge of the league and the way it is marketed.
Fortunately, I think the league execs are increasingly willing to market the strengths of the league, which is the quality of play and the attractive, talented young stars. But comments like this one from Garber still hint at other underlying ideas which I think are off base, even if they are assumed to be accurate.

 

I think you might be right about the first part, although I'm not sure that's what Garber meant. You sort of lost me, however, with the point about American's discovering the rest of the world thinks we're *********************s.

 

Well, if he did mean that they are resisting forces of assimilation, I think that would seem to support the complaint that many people support the league or teams in their home country at the expense of MLS.

 

Wow, great article and completely unrelated commentary. Fantastic.

This one almost made me cry.