That's big, hearty 1.8 for y'all (Nielsen, that is)

shocking the BigSoccer sophisticates

1.8 is a huge number...

1. the game wasn't that good. actually it was pretty awful. just boring.

2. it essentially went up against the Final Four, which is a top 5 annual event in all of North American sports. MLS had to fight with FF for headlines all week, that being said a 1.8 for a boring game is pretty darn impressive.

3. no nat'l TV ads (that I saw), only advertising the match got was free advertising from Kornheiser and the like on PTI and similar shows. in the end this type of promotion will probably prove to be far more effective...

bottom line

for those who think ADU won't make a difference, this is why he will. political gurus have long said that it's the FREE ADVERTISING that matters, not the paid, 30-second spots. i heard a former campaign manager say that you could win a Presidential campaign with only free advertising (i.e. talk shows, televised appearances, etc) without any paid advertising at all.

this is why ADU is so huge, now we get those free advertising spots on a CONSISTENT basis. before, we didn't. yeah, i know Landon Donovan's been on Letterman, whatever...this ADU thing is much, much bigger.

 

Re: shocking the BigSoccer sophisticates

While I agree with you for the most part, I should point out that talk show appearances and news coverage aren't exactly free.

Freddy didn't end up on Letterman or 60 Minutes by accident - MLS paid a PR firm good money to make sure it happened. All that media coverage wouldn't have happened if the PR folks weren't sending out press releases to the right people and calling up all their media contacts convincing them that Freddy is a Big Deal. After a while, the ball gets rolling and the coverage picks up on its own, but it takes a concerted effort to get it started and that's anything but free.

A good PR effort is the difference between a 60 Minutes subject and an "In Other News" item.

 

Re: shocking the BigSoccer sophisticates

right, but compared to a 30-second spot during "Friends" (wrong network, but you get the idea) having your PR people write a few press releases and bang the phones is practically free.

furthermore, I would hope that this PR stuff is something that MLS has been doing since it's inception, it's just now it has a subject that the mainstream media deems as "important," whatever that truly means. but then again, why give Doug Logan the benefit of the doubt on anything, he is afterall the man who instituted the shoot-out (ahh the mere recollection of that is like fingernails on a chalkboard -- nothing says the beautiful game more than Matt McKeon dribbling around Bo Oshoniyi from 33 yards out on NFL-lined artificial turf, to decide the game, mind you! anyway, i digress). the ADU story pretty much writes itself. either Tony Kornheiser/Michael Wilbon want to spend 6 minutes on him or they don't. Either 60 minutes wants to send a crew to your practice or they don't. it doesn't get much more on a silver platter than this...

 

Re: shocking the BigSoccer sophisticates

Or Nike would like to see a return on their investment. I wouldn't be surprised if they were pulling all the strings, as far as appearances go.

 

Re: shocking the BigSoccer sophisticates

They better start pulling some more strings then. I honestly think that soccer could be huge in this country if Nike and Adidas really put their financial muscle behind it. These are two companies can make any sport cool. There's just not as much money in soccer as there is in basketball and the rest. Since that's the case, I can't really blame them for not being "gung ho" about it.

 

Re: shocking the BigSoccer sophisticates

$1 million is chump change to the Swoosh. Not if Adu was getting $10 million, that would be something else.

 

I think we can safely say that soccer has arrived in the USA.

 

Yes we can. Now the only question is, when will America notice?

 

Wow! That is massive!

 

I hope you guys aren't gooing yourselves over the rating. The novelty of the situation warrents the numbers. But I much rather see this number for the MLS Cup final...without DC United in it.

 

as a metro fan, i agree with you

 

Re: shocking the BigSoccer sophisticates

1. Actually the game was very good except for the last few minutes. Just the anticipation for Freddy alone made it a great game. All the goals including the PK were spectacular.

2. Well the final 4 was after this game.

3. True. ABC/ ESPN really dropped the ball on hyping the game. But it may have been a good thing since Novak barely let Adu play.

4. Obviously

 

Re: shocking the BigSoccer sophisticates

Serena Williams got $65 Million from nike. $1 Million is an insult. I guess Nike was the only one doing any bidding on Freddy. I think Nike should just make the Unis for DC since Adidas gets tons of free advertising from Adu.

 

I TIVOed the game. Does TIVO enter into the stats even though I didnt have the TV turned on at game time. I was out of the house.

Jotadia

 

The first half of the game was actually exciting in my eyes. For what it was, I thought MLS got lucky with the quality of play in the first half with exciting attacking and goals. If Freddy had started, I bet the ratings would have been better. I bet some people turned the game off after not seeing him in there. However, a three goal first half is what the average sports fan in America is looking for. At least it wasn't 0-0 at the half. Ratings would have been even worse.

 

The weather was crappy and the field was slick and it was the first match of the season. As a result, I thought the play was pretty poor.

Still, with the lower bowl was full and the supporters having a great time, lots of slipping around on the wet grass, the spectacle was pretty entertaining.

 

Wow huge number, but I think that rating is the specific result of being Adu's first match.

Guys, Adu will sell tickets. But it won't be because of his play, but just because of what he is. He is all potential right now.

Also, I thougth the game was average. Some good moments, like when DC strung out 10 to 15 passes, but those were far and few between. The first 10 minutes or so were horrendous, no one could even control a pass.

 

1.8 is a great number. Sure, it's sort of a one-off, but still.

The game itself was up and down, and overall not bad (except for the refereeing IMHO). But for the first game of the season, you have to be pleased with the overall quality of play (except for Convey's finish!!).

 

Re: shocking the BigSoccer sophisticates

Well, then there's more money left for Nike to spend getting him out there. My point was that they too have an interest in making him a big deal, and my guess is that they are much better at it than MLS.

 

Re: shocking the BigSoccer sophisticates

Speaking of that, it must really pain Nike to see Adu running around in the Adidas DC United kit. Even in the commercial with Pele. And the press photos, etc. I'm kinda surprised there wasn't an offseason change to get DCU in a Nike kit.

 

Re: shocking the BigSoccer sophisticates

 

I thought the game started out well but got very ragged. Play was nervy and you had guys jumping around trying crazy stuff for the big event when the sharpness in skill and team play just weren't there yet.

LA/ Revs was a more down-to-earth affair. Maybe not as exciting but well played - a better game overall, IMO.

 

I agree with Nick. Boy, I remember the first few games last year, and they were all pretty bad. It wasn't until about game 3 or 4 where teams started to kick it on and play well together. I think the opening game, and other games I was able to see on Saturday showed that the league is well ahead of where they were at the same time last year.

Give the teams some time to play together and I think you'll see the league play is going to be very good this year.

 

The Tivo people will know that you recorded the game, and they do keep track of the top Tivo shows each week. But the people at Nielsen are only keeping track of people who have that box on the back of their television set. They use a pretty small sample set to determine what America is watching.