The following is a quote from Roy Wegerle on MLS and soccer in general in the USA, taken from FourFourTwo #98. If this has been posted somewhere else, my apologies. "John Harkes and myself had played in the Premiership for many years and we went back to the States to help the new league. They've been talking for twenty years about whether soccer is going to take off, but it never seems to get over that final hurdle. In the five years they've spent a lot of money on the MLS, but the public doesn't seem to want it. I don't know why. In the days when Pele, Cruyff, Beckenbauer and Neeskens played in the NASL, New York Cosmos were getting 70,000 every week and the New York Giants were only getting 35,000. My brother played for the Tampa Bay Rowdies with Rodney Marsh and they were attracting bigger crowds than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. At most of the cities where there was an NASL team and an NFL team, soccer was drawing in more people than football. Many owners and presidents from the other main sports felt threatened by soccer. They got to people in high places, particularly at the TV networks, and that was soccer's downfall in the US."
This has been posted a few times already but it still does not stop me from repeating that Wegerle used up a lifetime worth of lies in this one quote. Although 442 is partly to blame for not spending the 16 seconds needed to show how ludicrous his statements were about attendance. Andy
although you could make a point about the buccaneers - after all, they were in the NFL after the rowdies came to existence, and they really REALLY sucked (0-14 season, anyone?). but still, most of that is horse crap, and roy knows it. it's a shame he has to resort to some conspiracy theory to show why soccer hasn't "caught on" here in the States.
Andy I agree with you about the inaccuracies in his statement. However, I think he makes a valid point about the medias treatment of soccer.
Sorry about duplicating a thread. I tried to use the Bigsoccer search engine. But for me anyway, it is useless. I did think his assesment bordered on paranoid delusion.
So you feel that there is a media conspiracy against soccer and that the level of coverage has nothing to do with the fact that attendance is small, and ratings are even smaller? I wil never perscribe to the "media conspiracy" ideal. We all wish that the media covered soccer more, but if people were honest, they would realize that the sport gets more than an even shake from the media considering its niche status here in the US. Andy
Actually, this part is as big a lie as the Cosmos drawing 70,000 a week. Tampa's expansion year they drew an average of 44,169 (for an 0-14 team mind you). And this was the lowest they ever drew in the history I believe. You would have to nearly DOUBLE the Rowdies best average attendance to achieve this. Andy
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/nasl/naslhist.html Just to put everything into perspective this site lists the average yearly attendence figures for NASL. Looking at these results you'll notice that the largest attendence was in 1980 and was under 14500 people per game. If MLS had that low of attendence in one year everyone would scream about how it was going to die. Put that with the fact that Pele's salary was above that of any MLS team and I would say MLS is doing a lot better than NASL.
It's not more coverage that the sport needs. It's the way the sport is covered by the media that hurts the image of the game. That should be obvious.
I'll give you a prime example. In new york, not one paper has a beat writer for the metrostars, yet the metros matches get better ratings than either the islanders or devils, yet every paper has beat writers for those teams. The Metros have averaged over 18k a game for 7 years now. Is that fair coverage? In regards to the media's treatment of soccer, do you think its fair that soccer is treated as a punchline in a large percentage of the mainstream media? Do you not think that the medias tone does not sway public opinion? If you think not, you have no future in politics.
Well, with guys like Roy Wegerle bending facts in order to make it sound like soccer has lost popularity, maybe the problem isn't the media. Wegerle was way overrated as a player - never should have held down a spot with the Nats, but as an analyst, what an eejit!
I find it terribly amusing that Roy Wegerly says that "the public doesn't seem to want it (MLS)," yet the average MLS attendance last year was MORE than all but one of his 6 or 7 previous English Clubs. QPR, Preston, whoever the hell he hacked around with. Only Coventry averaged above the MLS average last season. Americans, in a Sports landscape with a nearly infinite number of possible places to spend your $$$'s, attend MLS matches more than supporter of Roy's old Clubs do. Yet the public doesn't seem to want it. Idiot. Didn't really need you in a USA shirt, and certainly don't need you now. (Thanks for the goal against the Canadians, though) And what is the deal with the photo of him and his golf clubs which accompanies the article????? Yeah, Yeah, he's turned himself into a Pro-Calibler golfer. But he's photographed with a freaking METAL, old man, piece of shlt, PULL-CART for his golf bag. Anyone who can break 80 shouldn't be caught dead with one of those things. I know I don't. Ya think Tiger uses them, Roy??
They did an article about a year and a half ago that was fairly upbeat about MLS. But in general, like many English fans, they're generally entirely too smug and seem to have forgotten they've won less World Cups than Uruguay. Uruguay, for crying out loud. As for Captain Backpass, he can take his crappy attitude out to the golf course, miss the cut every week, and just plain disappear for all I care. Twit.
Well, now that that he's mastered lying for effect, and taken up golf... next obvious step to run for office! Or CEO of something. What a freakin' liar! BTW: I think we need more tribute games with EPL , what is it with them and friendlies... they come here, we beat them ... yawn... we go there and beat them??? With a freakin' doormat team!