U.S. Media is to blame for lack of interest!

Discussion in 'Soccer in the USA' started by tmcdaniel, Feb 8, 2007.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's snobbery of the highest order.

    There are a great many different agendas at a soccer game. If you have 15,000 people there, there are dozens, maybe hundreds of different reasons why individual people choose to go to the game and either enjoy it or don't.

    Your agenda is no better and no worse than anybody else's. To say that someone doesn't belong there because they're not the same type of fan as you are is short-sighted, ignorant and incredibly snobbish. Get the hell over yourself. God didn't reach down from above and annoint you The Perfect Type of Soccer Fan.
     
  2. NYC_COSMOS

    NYC_COSMOS BigSoccer Supporter

    Jan 13, 2007
    Queens, NY
    Club:
    CA Vélez Sársfield
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina

    No, he left that distinction for AlecW81 lol.
     
  3. NYC_COSMOS

    NYC_COSMOS BigSoccer Supporter

    Jan 13, 2007
    Queens, NY
    Club:
    CA Vélez Sársfield
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    Let's get back to the ground. Of course everyone is welcome to the game but my opinion is that the MLS needs a little more atmosphere. Should someone stand up and block anothers view for the hell of it, NO. But if enjoying the game makes you stand up and cheer then you should be allowed to. Should you disrespect fellow fans, NO. Maybe moving to the supporter section might be better. But getting back to the reason why everyone is in a huff about what I said. Why are certain fans more expendable than others? The fans that I was referring to are there at the game simply for the novelty or newness of soccer. Those are very very casual fans. You can't build anything in terms of a following with fans like those. Remember the saying "Less is more".
     
  4. england66

    england66 Member+

    Jan 6, 2004
    dallas, texas
    I guess my situation is the opposite of the majority here. Born, raised and spent my formative years in England. Brought up in a Man Utd mad household (my grandad had been a regular since 1908) I was a regular at Old Trafford (and I mean EVERY home game) from the age of 7....came to the USA at nineteen and occassionaly pro football on tv aside....just cannot get interested in ANY of the so called "American" sports...

    Over the years I've been to NFL,NBA,MLB,NHL and college football games and I'm glad I did....it taught me what a fcuking waste of time these sports are...I have NO interest in any of them. I can get comp tickets to Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars games anytime I want and ALWAYS turn them down as life is just too short for that stuff IMO....I give the Mavs tickets to my two sons (both born in Texas) as they can tolerate the game.

    I agree with the earlier poster who mentioned the no time outs angle with soccer...Americans are used to the constant stop-start-stop-start aspect of "their" sports....just fcuking excruciating to one brought up in the north of England in the days before Nintendo, computors, DVD's etc.....I have directv and watch FSC and Setanta almost exclusively....I NEVER watch "sportscenter" as I can't fcuking stand freaks of nature playing gloryfied netball....just can't....and don't get me started on baseball (the great American pastime)....great American waste of time more like....4 + hours watching that crap...?? give me a fcuking break....

    ....anyway thats just my two cents worth.
     
  5. MNAFETSC

    MNAFETSC Member

    Feb 5, 2000
    Blacksburg
    What does your distain for american sports have to do with the media coverage?

    Im sure theres a few american in england who dont get kicking a ball around for ninenty minutes, hitting a ball with a flat bat and taking more than a day to do that or wear skimpy shorts while playing lateral football. Its all about what you know. I dont get hockey, I dont get cricket, I dont get rugby but to go on a rant on how horrible they are and how much of a waste they are would be just ignorant.
     
  6. ugaaccountant

    ugaaccountant New Member

    Oct 26, 2003
    Yep, one less person making fun of paying customers would indeed help MLS grow. I think you should do your part and move along.
     
  7. NYC_COSMOS

    NYC_COSMOS BigSoccer Supporter

    Jan 13, 2007
    Queens, NY
    Club:
    CA Vélez Sársfield
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina


    SOS UN GRANDE INGLES!!!! SOS UN GRANDE!!!

    We all hate LEEDS SCUM!!!
     
  8. NYC_COSMOS

    NYC_COSMOS BigSoccer Supporter

    Jan 13, 2007
    Queens, NY
    Club:
    CA Vélez Sársfield
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    That's his opinion, you dont have to agree with it and you dont have to like it but you have to respect it!
     
  9. NYC_COSMOS

    NYC_COSMOS BigSoccer Supporter

    Jan 13, 2007
    Queens, NY
    Club:
    CA Vélez Sársfield
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina

    A paying customer is different than a loyal customer! I'll take the loyal customer alllll day! That's simply business 101!
     
  10. england66

    england66 Member+

    Jan 6, 2004
    dallas, texas

    seems to me I was just continuing the tangent this thread had, in some posts, gone off on....anyway the point I was trying to make was that MY formative years were spent immerserd in soccer.....I did not grow up with baseball, American football. et al so FOR ME they don't mean jack (even though I have spent more than half of my life in the USA) so the stuff that was important WHEN I WAS A KID is still important TO ME.....I don't have a problem with anyone liking these sports, I have chosen to ignore them....totally.
     
  11. stonesean

    stonesean Member

    Mar 18, 2006
    Arlington, VA
    Club:
    VfB Stuttgart
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well, aren't you just haughty and above the fray unlike all us rabble.
     
  12. england66

    england66 Member+

    Jan 6, 2004
    dallas, texas

    No, I'm not.
     
  13. rangers00

    rangers00 Member

    Jun 1, 2000
    You do more than just "ignore them". As a matter of fact, you are no different from a soccer basher, you are just an American sport basher:

    - "what a fcuking waste of time these sports are",
    - "Americans are used to the constant stop-start-stop-start aspect of "their" sports....just fcuking excruciating to one brought up in the north of England",
    - "freaks of nature playing gloryfied netball",
    - "great American waste of time more like....4 + hours watching that crap...??"

    It's this kind of attitude that make people think: "Jim Rome is right for bashing soccer; soccer deserves it". In other words, you are as intolerant as Jim Rome.

    I grew up with soccer, followed the English league as a religon. I came to the U.S. 30 years ago. When I first got here, a telephone installation man asked me:

    "what sports do you like?"
    "soccer"
    "why?"
    "because it's continuous action".

    Then after 30 years of following American sports, my answer 30 years ago looks very funny. There is no law of nature saying that "continuous action" is the only model of how a game should flow. The stop-play-stop-play-stop-play is a equally legitimate option, just like one of the British favorites: cricket. And there is no law of nature saying that a game has to last only 2 hours. How many hours does a cricket game last? So what's the problem with a 4-hour baseball/football game with lots of stoppages and timeouts?

    The stubbornness of snobbish soccer fans, especially the Euro expats that live in America who fail to embrace American sports, stem from this idiotic notion that soccer's model is the ONLY way how a game should go. And that's naive to say the least.

    And take this from someone who is equally passionate about European soccer and the NFL/NBA. Yes, soccer is boring. It doesn't mean I don't get nerve wrecking when I am watching a CL knock-out game of Chelsea, or a Euro quarter-final between Holland and Sweden.
     
  14. texgator

    texgator New Member

    Oct 28, 2003
    Plano
    You aren't actually in business are you?

    Where do loyal customers come from? Do they just appear, ready to soak every last dollar into your product? No....they begin as regular, old paying customers that you cultivate. Insulting them and telling them that their particular brand of purchase isn't valued probably won't work very well. That, my friend, is Business 101.
     
  15. texgator

    texgator New Member

    Oct 28, 2003
    Plano
    Nah...Mike's just an old fart, too set in his ways to change at this point. Just about the last thing that you could call him is "haughty".
     
  16. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And that reason is absolutely no better or worse than your reason for being at the game. You don't get to choose who "deserves" to be there. Someone likes a night out. Someone else likes the tackles. Someone else thinks #12 has a nice butt. Someone else loves the tactics and strategy. Someone else just likes to yell. They're all welcome. And you and your "I'm a better fan than you, this league needs me more than it needs you" should both go fark off.

    Remember the saying, "A league that folds with a cadre of hardcore fans is still dead."

    If we were overrun with hardcore fans like yourself, great. We're not. And I don't know if you've noticed, but Americans like that are the exception rather than the rule. Especially when it comes to soccer.

    Sorry if not everyone lives up to your expectations of what fandom should be.
     
  17. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Did you take Business 101? Just curious.

    Because I'd wager decent money that the vast majority of the people on Bigsoccer who lecture us about Business 101 and Marketing 101 and Ticket Sales 101 have never taken any of those courses and have no practical experience actually doing it. They think they heard something somewhere along the way or read it somewhere and think they're Good Will Hunting all of a sudden.

    You know how many loyal customers MLS has? Do you? Do you realize what percentage of people in the stadium make up that type of customer that you want at the expense of all other customers?

    Like most things, I'm guessing you don't.
     
  18. JeremyEritrea

    JeremyEritrea Member+

    Jun 29, 2006
    Takoma Park, MD
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Kenn, NYC_COSMOS is a total idiot. You're wasting your time on this one.

    Ignore the guy. Seriously.
     
  19. england66

    england66 Member+

    Jan 6, 2004
    dallas, texas

    Good for you.
     
  20. NYC_COSMOS

    NYC_COSMOS BigSoccer Supporter

    Jan 13, 2007
    Queens, NY
    Club:
    CA Vélez Sársfield
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    While all customers are good, some aren't and you shouldn't be afraid to shun those out. While yes its cheaper to keep a current customer than attract a new one. You also should know which customers are loyal and which ones are just passing thru. Treat your loyal customers like GOLD because that's what they are.
     
  21. NYC_COSMOS

    NYC_COSMOS BigSoccer Supporter

    Jan 13, 2007
    Queens, NY
    Club:
    CA Vélez Sársfield
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina

    Did I use the world DESERVE?
    This is what I said:

    No, No, No I'm sorry that's not the context I meant to put it in. I just didn't want to type out a long post. Yes there are some fans which prefer to sit and watch. And those fans pay just as well as the ones that jump up and down and scream and so on. Sometimes even more so. What I meant to say or express when I posted that earlier was that there are certain fans that go to MLS games which are there for the novelty and newness of soccer. They dont necessarily understand all the idiosyncrasies of the game. And while we need as many fans as we can get some fans are better left out.

    No where in this post did I say DESERVE or I'M BETTER THAN YOU. Kenn do you read or simply follow along with the crowd?
     
  22. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You didn't use the word deserve.

    You said "some fans are better left out."

    What does that mean to you? Or have they not covered that in high school yet?
     
  23. NYC_COSMOS

    NYC_COSMOS BigSoccer Supporter

    Jan 13, 2007
    Queens, NY
    Club:
    CA Vélez Sársfield
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    While I might not know the specifics of MLS a loyal customer is better and cheaper than acquiring a new one. Those are the ones that you should treat like gold. Cater to them and they will be your best advertising.
    Does a business need to acquire new customers? Yes all the time, but the frequency or your need to acquire customers is dependent on your base of loyal customers.
    That my dears is Business 101. They don't teach it in school, you learn it in the street everyday.
     
  24. NYC_COSMOS

    NYC_COSMOS BigSoccer Supporter

    Jan 13, 2007
    Queens, NY
    Club:
    CA Vélez Sársfield
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina

    When I said left out everyone else added the connotation that I was discriminating against them. All that was meant by that, is that those are customers that might cost you more to have in the stadium than others. While spend tons of money on customers which aren't going to stay around. You need to concentrate on the loyal customers you have, and then selectively marketing to new fans which will turn into loyal fans in the future.
     
  25. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You know how sometimes people type "LOL" on the internet, but they don't really laugh out loud?

    I really, actually laughed out loud.

    "I said they should be left out, not that I was discriminating against them."

    Okay. Got it now. Thanks.

    Can you identify those people just by looking at them? They're the ones standing and cheering, right? Because no one else could possibly be a loyal fan?

    You've got marketing figured out. I applaud you. Please, go work for a team. You have a lot to offer.

    What are you selling in the street, actually? Just curious.
     

Share This Page