Why doesn't the American sports public embrace soccer?

Hello.

The most bedeviling question for just about every American soccer fan in this country, other than, “When am I going to haul in that powerball jackpot?” is:

“Why doesn’t the American sporting public (fans and journalists) embrace soccer?”

[Poster's note: The following post will be filled with generalities. I am aware that there exceptions to some of the statements I will be making. I am noting general trends and characteristics and extrapolating from them. I don't believe that the exceptions invalidate my conclusions.]

Some people site the game itself. Continuous action with few breaks or timeouts. The infrequency of scoring. The frequency of ties. The inconsistency and arbitrariness of officiating.

All of these, with the exception of the last, are traits not found in most popular American sports. But these are part of the game we love. We wouldn’t want to do anything to radically change them. Nor, would we have to, if we were to eliminate the primary reason America doesn’t embrace soccer.

Other people blame the media. “Soccer doesn’t get the coverage it should,” say soccer fans. They ignore that the news/sports media follow the public at large. Coverage of professional sports is primarily determined by attendance, television ratings, and level of play. Sports and sporting events in this country with consistently high attendance and high ratings get better coverage. Major League Baseball gets better coverage than AAA baseball. If professional soccer in this country drew more people and higher ratings, it would get better coverage.

Many soccer fans feel it is because the American sporting public doesn’t understand the game. “We need to educate the public about soccer,” they cry. “Once they understand the game, they’ll support it just as much as baseball, football, and NASCAR.”

Wrong.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

Stop saying that. Never say it again. Every time a non or potential soccer fan sees or hears that, they either run screaming into the night or erect their barriers and defend them like Maldini with a hatchet.

First off, it’s condescending. In a recent special on the 100th anniversary of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, FIFA president talked about having many ideas to improve soccer before he assumed office. But, he abandoned most of them after being in office a short while and conferring with officials, coaches, players and fans around the world. Why? Because he came to realize that one of the most valuable features of the game is its simplicity.

And it is, at its base, simple. Put the ball into the goal without using your hands. Few sports are as simple. Believe me, most anyone understands the game well enough to became a fan.

“But, they don’t know anything about tactics, or formations, or the offsides rule.”

Big whoop. The average basketball fan can’t tell you how Lakers coach Phil Jackson’s triangle offense works. Your average NASCAR fan would be lost if given an engine to get Talladega-race ready. And, these days, the NFL changes its rules or the enforcement of them so often that the average fan can't keep up.

Doesn’t matter. They still remain fans.

One of the most common and blindly egotistical viewpoints held by a shockingly large percentage of people on this planet is “If only they understood the situation/problem/facts as well as I do, they’d agree with me.” Occasionally, yes. Most of the time, no.

So the question remains, “Why doesn’t the American sporting public embrace soccer?”

While there are many minor reasons of varying small degrees of significance, there is one reason that overrides them all. And, that answer is as elegantly simple as the game, itself.

It’s because the United States of America isn’t great at soccer.

America loves winning. America hates losing.

This is true of people the world over. But it is more keenly felt in America, because we tend to win more often than anywhere else. We are the materially richest nation in the world. We are the most militarily powerful nation in the world. We are the most influential nation in the world. America and Americans are used to having things go their way.

This attitude is reflected in their sports fandom. Other than currant geographic location and the “hometown” factor, nothing determines the choice of team for an American sports fan more than how consistently it wins championships.

Merchandise sales reflect this. The biggest merchandise seller in the NBA? The Lakers. In the 90’s it was the Bulls. In baseball? The Yankees, by far. The NFL? Green Bay, Dallas, and Oakland.

This is reflected in the American sports fans choice of sports. We like baseball, football, and basketball because we created them and we're the beat at them. (For our international readers: I know that all of these sports have appeared in other forms in other places much earlier than their date of “creation” here. But their current rules and structure are pretty thoroughly American.) Hockey is our fourth major team sport because it was invented in Canada (“our national suburb”, sorta ) and we are consistently among the best at it and occasionally do win it all.

The most popular form of auto racing in America? It’s not Formula One, dominated by Europeans. Nor is it even Indy Car Racing, since its biggest race, the Indy 500, has been won by foreign drivers, more often than not, over the past 15 years. It’s NASCAR, dominated by American drivers.

The most dramatic example of this phenomenon is bicycle racing. The Tour de France was a one day curiosity on ABC’s Wide World of Sports, until 1986 when Greg Lemond won it. His next win in 1989, arguably the most dramatic in Tour history, cemented the event in the American sports fan’s consciousness. And during the Lance Armstrong era, we’ve seen coverage expand greatly, with the Tour’s television ratings higher than they’ve ever been, and Lance himself becoming one of the top five celebrity endorsers in the country.

Alas, American soccer hasn’t had any major success anywhere. The highest we have ever gone in the World Cup is the semi-finals, which we did in 1930. We have never medaled in the Olympics in soccer. We have never produced a Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, or Muhammad Ali in the sport.

And that is why the American sporting public has never embraced soccer. Which kinda leads to another question. Will they ever?

I believe the answer is yes.

Here’s what it will take.

First, American soccer must find and develop a soccer prodigy (a forward or attacking midfielder, as they are the glamour positions of soccer). They must have him play in the MLS for a few years, showcasing him and marketing him to the public. Only then should the MLS agree to a transfer to one of the powerhouses of European club football. He will need to truly excel there, helping his club win lots of silverware and becoming one of the greatest, if not the greatest, players in the sport. He must lead the U.S. National Team to the World Cup finals, preferably winning it.

At that point, it is key that the MLS open its checkbook and bring him back to the U.S. while he is still in his prime, simultaneously launching a massive campaign to lure some of the best players in the world to the MLS. If they are successful at doing this, they can market themselves to the American public as a truly top-flight league in the world of soccer. And in the world of American sports, nothing brings ‘em in like being at the top.

Obviously, this will take a while, even assuming that Freddy Adu is the prodigy (which is quite an assumption at this early stage). My guess is that, with a little luck, it’ll be somewhere between ten and twenty years at the present pace.

However, that doesn’t mean that all the little things we do as fans and promoters of the game are futile. Keep writing in to your local media outlets asking for more soccer coverage. Keep telling your friends and co-workers about the great game you went to over the weekend. Keep lugging anyone who’ll go with you to the matches. Keep doing whatever you can to keep the game alive here. You never know how or when the next prodigies will first hear about or experience the game.

Girding my loins for battle (quit peeking), I remain

That little old jersey collector

Me

 

Hello

It looks like it's time for me to respond to the responses posted so far.

First, I want to thank all of you for reading and considering the case I have made.

For NoSix: Thanks for the complement on my post. I am not anyone's sockpuppet. (However, I wouldn't mind being Salma Hayek's sockpuppet.) (Please, don't nobody tell my inamorata.)

For Oktoberfest: We seem to be in basic agreement. However, I do disagree with you a little bit about the culture thing. I do think a country's sporting culture is a very important part of the puzzle, probably second only to winning. But winning triumphs. American cycling is again the evidence, but we go earlier for this point.

It's not a commonly known fact, but around the turn of the twentieth century, when competitive cycling was in it's infancy, the United States was a major cycling world power. Track cycling, especially six day races, took in massive amounts of money. Attendance was huge and the U.S. produced many cycling champions, including one of world cycling's first superstars, Major Taylor. The sport thrived in this country from the 1890's through the 1920's. But a combination of the Depression, mismanagement by the promoters of the sport, and lack of investment in the infrastructure of the sport (venues, youth talent development, etc.) killed the sport in America by the start of World War 2. When America quit producing cycling champions, America lost interest in a sport it was largely responsible for globally popularising.

I pretty much agree with the rest of your post. More air-time would help. It is worth noting, however, that between the MLS club's regional TV contracts and the coverage that they receive from ABC/ESPN and Fox Sports World (which broadcasts both games and an hour-long weekly highlight show), plus the A-league's game of the week on FSW, that professional American soccer has a greater television presence than ever in the history of the sport in the U.S.

When we get better at playing the game, we'll get more of a baseball/football quantity of coverage.

For Tivo_fan: SABuffalo786 is right. It isn't just a matter of time. Parents have been taking their kids to pro soccer games since the NASL set up shop. But the carryover from kids who play soccer and kids who were brought to soccer games by their parents is significantly less than the carryover from the other, more popular sports. By all means, bring as many kids as you can cram into your minivan to the games. Every little bit helps. But, if we don't keep getting better at the game until we become among the best in the world at it, it will never catch on bigtime. Fortunately, we seem, on the whole, to be heading in the right direction.

For Richie: Please, quit saying that these people don't understand the game. You're just alienating them.

On the level that you describe in your third paragraph, you're right. Most people don't understand the game. But at the level you describe in your third paragraph, hardly any fan of whatever sport he follows understands his sport. Find a sports radio call-in show who has landed the coach or manager of one of the local pro teams. Listen to the quality of questions and suggestions from the callers. If you could see the face of the coach/manager, you'd see him roll his eyes more than if he took a clean left hook from Roy Jones Jr. These fans obviously have an incomplete and flawed understanding of their sport. But they are undoubtedly fans.

An even more stark example. Take a seven year-old kid plunked down in front of the teevee, watching a football game with his dad. He watches a runningback score on a 70 yard touchdown run. How would that 7 year-old describe what he saw?

"The quarterback got the ball and gave it to [whomever] who faked out a guy and ran it in for a touchdown." And that would be the extent of his understanding of what happened.

He would have no idea that the quarterback was using an irregular snap count to keep the defensive lineman from getting a jump on the snap. He wouldn't be able to recognise the trap block that the Center made on the defensive end to open the hole for the runningback. He would have no idea that the wide receivers had opened the middle of the field by running go routes, pulling the safeties deep and keeping them from providing run support. He wouldn't have a clue about the dozen or more things that occurred during that play that enabled that runningback to score. But, I can guarantee you that the next time that seven year-old boy gets taken to the mall, he will be begging his parents to buy him [whomever]'s jersey. That seven year-old has a rudementary understanding of football, at best. But that seven year-old is a football fan.

Let me tell you about the first time I ever won money on a bet.

When I was seven years old, I was sitting on the sofa watching a boxing match on TV, when my father walked into the room. As far as I can remember, this was the first boxing match I had ever seen. After having watched the first two rounds, which was when my father walked in, I had figured out that the object of the game was to hit the other guy and not let him hit you.

"What are you watching?", my dad asked.

"Fighting," I replied.

After a moment's pause, my dad asked me, "Who do you think is going to win?"

"The guy in the white shorts," I said.

"His name is Cassius Clay," my dad told me.

"Who's the other one?"

"He's Sonny Liston. He's going to win."

"Uh-uh. Cassius Clay is."

My dad half smiled at me. "Wanna bet?"

Cautiously, I asked, "How much?"

"A nickel."

" 'Kay."

Let's just say that I had extra Bazooka Joe during the last week of February, 1964.

I knew nothing about boxing. My boxing experience before making that bet was having watched two rounds of that fight. But on that day, I knew greatness when I saw it, even when that greatness entered the bout as a 7 to 1 underdog. I have been a boxing fan ever since.

People don't need to understand more than the very basics to become fans. And the basics of soccer are:

Whichever team scores the most goals, wins the game.

You score by getting the ball in the goal.

The Goalkeeper can use any part of his body to touch the ball.

All the other players can use any part of their bodies to touch the ball except their hands and arms.

Those are all the basics people absolutely need to know to become fans. Once they have started to become a fan, then they will make the effort to learn more, although they will probably never understand the game as well as a good coach or an experienced player.

Women's Artistic Gymnastics is one of the biggest ratings winners in this country at each Summer Olympics and receives prime time coverage because millons of Americans tune in to watch it. Rhythmic Gymnastics is hardly even mentioned. Why? It's not because the average viewer can tell the difference between a double salto with a full twist and a Peanut Buster Parfait with extra sprinkles, because they cant. It's because America has produced Cathy Rigby, Mary Lou Retton, Shannon Miller and Kerri Strug, along with quite a few other medal winners in Artistic Gymnastics. Can you name even one American Rhythmic gymnast without using a search engine? Neither can 99.99 percent of the rest of the country. Because America is not great at Rhythmic Gymnastics.

The vast majority of Americans will not catch the love of the game until America gets great at the game.

Most of the rest of the post is advice for players and coaches:

Coaches should try to pass on a love for the game. Even if you are not good at playing, play anyway, because you will learn more about the game. For coaching young players, wins and losses are not as important as teaching them how to play the game properly.

This advise is basically very sound. But it is tangental to the topic.

"When most people have that love of game. That's when it will really be dug in America."

No offense, but the above quote is a clumsily worded redundancy.

When America gets great at soccer, that's when it will really be dug in America.

Wishing I had found someone willing to put a nickel on Poland last Wednesday, I remain

That little old jersey collector

Me