[High pitched geek voice with a skin problem] "I AM A REAL SOCCER FAN!!! HERE ME ROAR!!! [/High pitched geek voice that smells of fried grease] In recent times you have heard blowhards like myself exclaim that one of the reasons the WUSA failed was cuz the geniuses at WUSA HQ failed to market to "real soccer fans". Well exactly who are "real soccer fans"? I guess I shoulda prefaced the start of this thread by saying that I strongly believe that in order to grow the women's game...you have to support it from ALL levels...not just at the Mia level or Beat level or whatever....show your support for the game by coaching your kids rec team...show your support by attending matches at the local colleges...if there is a W-League/WPSL team in your neck of the woods --- GO!. Now that I got that out of the way back to the original premise of my thread.... Will someone please define "real soccer fan" for me!?!? Is "real soccer fan" one that dissects the X's and O's of a match at great length to the point of redundancy? Is "real soccer fan" a licensed coach or referee or former elite HS/club/ODP/college player? Is "real soccer fan" someone that "follows" obscure foreign teams even though they have never ever visually seen them play? Is "real soccer fan" one that lays claim to being the founder of the sport back in 1785? What is a "real soccer fan"???
quote:Originally posted by FearM9 Well exactly who are "real soccer fans"? I wonder if I am one.... Is "real soccer fan" one that dissects the X's and O's of a match at great length to the point of redundancy? I don't know enough of the subtle nuances of the game to do that. Also, I don't like getting into fights with people over analyses. Watching soccer is supposed to be fun! And Clive Charles has made me believe that playing ought to be, too. Is "real soccer fan" a licensed coach or referee or former elite HS/club/ODP/college player? I'm not a player; I have spina bifida, a physical disability. There are plenty of other sports that are adaptable, just not soccer. And as far as coaching, I got into wanting to do that, but the licensure for what I'd want to do, U-14 to U-18, is prohibitively expensive for my blue collar budget quote:Is "real soccer fan" someone that "follows" obscure foreign teams even though they have never ever visually seen them play? I do follow a couple of Swedish teams, but not because I want to come across as "more knowledgable than thou". I'm just attracted to Sweden in general, even though I have yet to go. I love the language, and I love what I've seen of the scenery. Also, with the collapse of the WUSA, I've suddenly gotten off my women's soccer high horse and started researching women's leagues in other countries. Some pretty interesting stuff, and you have to admire them, because even in their premier leagues, they generally have jobs. Here's some Swedish soccer team links I like: http://www.mff.se Malmo Fotbollforening (Allsvenskan---Sweden's premier league) http://www.mff.se/dam Malmo Fotbollforening Women (Damallsvenskan---women's premier league) http://www.atvidabergsff.com Atvidabergs Fotbollforening (Superettan---men's 2nd division) quote:Is "real soccer fan" one that lays claim to being the founder of the sport back in 1785? No! That would be called a "jerk" I hate holier than thou people! Especially those that say they are "fans". quote:What is a "real soccer fan"??? Somebody who enjoys watching the game on whatever level they choose, despite what the bandwagons want you to do. Personally, the WUSA was my favorite league. I followed the Beat because Cindy Parlow was assigned to it. She's a versatile player, fun to watch, and seems just plain nice. As I said, I also follow the Swedish system the best I can; mainly reading about it on http://www.svenskfotboll.se and on webfeeds from http://www.tv4.se . As far as soccer I can actually watch regularly, there is a PSL club in my city, Pittsburgh, and I go to their games a lot, and try to stick around at the end and say hello to the players. We have a modest supporters group that I am a part of, with drums and the occasional kazoo. They tend to be the most knowledgable fans at the matches, which is fun for me, because I love learning more and more about the game. We will likely be carpooling to Harrisburg and Reading, PA next year to support the team, which is always a blast. Also, on TV I sometimes like to watch the Dutch league, and I love it when the Mexican league is covered on FSW's news, as I grew up in San Diego, a border city. Down in TJ, they have a second level club called Trottamundos, which replaced Nacional de TJ, which moved. So, yes, soccer consumes a big chunk of my life, but I watch what I like, not necessarily what the glory seekers and anti-glory seekers like. Great thread, btw!
Whatever a real soccer fan (RSF) is, there aren't zillions of RSFs in the US, anyway, and many RSFs wouldn't be interested in a women's league. The failure of the WUSA has almost nothing to do with not marketing to RSFs. The problem is that the WUSA drove nearly everybody away except PTH, and they even managed to lose some of them. For the most part, the WUSA, which had the potential for appealing to a nearly universal audience, limited itself to a very small audience and seemed, at times, to be making a point of alienating certain groups of potential fans. The WUSA failed to market to anybody who was either male or over the age of twelve. But, as lousy as the marketing was, it wasn't even the WUSA's biggest problem. The truth is, many sports leagues, including a couple of the big four, have made huge marketing mistakes. The WUSA's marketing mistakes are understandable. WUSA's biggest problem was overspending, and delusions of grandeur.
Insightful analysis. WUSA should have been marketing not only to RSFs but to real SPORTS fans. Anyway, it seems to me that a real soccer fan either (i) gets up to watch a World Cup game that starts between midnight and 6 a.m. or (ii) skips work to catch a World Cup game. How's that for a definition? Disclaimer: I've done both. My definition is biased.
lol I didn't get up between midnight and 6 am to watch the WC '02. But that was because I was visiting family in Australia. Same time zone. Jet lag made it a little hard to stay awake through 90, though. I requested and received last Sunday off to travel to Portland. I would have called in sick if I couldn't get it off. I'm thinking of calling in sick on Saturday. That is, if I think I can stand the thought of watching us in the third place game. :| -- To me, an RSF is someone who loves the sport.
For what it's worth, IMHO, you have to love the game, not suddenly grow bored with it and find some other sport to watch ... You support specific teams, get emotionally caught up in the action on the field and like the game for what it is -- a game -- and not just the other pointless crap that goes on. == On a sidenote, someone wrote an article in Newsweek recently about how the younger fans of the league had grown out of it just three years later and no longer thought it was 'cool' to be at a WUSA game. Point being, while we need to nurture kiddies (as much as I hate them with a burning passion in my soul) when they take an interest in watching pro sports, we should also realize they are the most fickle demographic in the U.S., if not the world. They may have been a fan for a year or two, but I wouldn't consider them 'RSFs' by no means.