Sorry if this was posted last June, but I don't recall having read a similar topic before. I was wondering if anyone ever saw positive effects from the success of the MNT in the WC. I read how TV ratings were slightly better after the WC and there seemed to be a bigger interest in MLS and soccer after the WC, but did anyone ever personally see a positive effect of the MNT's success on MLS? Example: None of my friends like soccer. They mostly think it's boring. To them the sport is filled with constant turnovers with no team ever seeming to get anywhere. In this past WC, as the USMNT kept advancing, my friends began to follow their games more closely. It lead to the climax where they all watched the US vs Germany game live in their own separate locations (some at home, some with other friends, etc..) But after this game they all pretty much lost interest in the sport again. Only one of my friends, who I've invited to MetroStars games a couple of times only to be shut down with "Sorry soccer ain't my cup of tea" remark, said he's now a soccer fan. But unfortunately he's not an MLS fan. He's become an EPL fan and supports Liverpool only because he like's Robbie Keane who never played in the WC to begin with!. First I think he likes Robbie Keane only because he's Irish. Secondly, I believe Robbie Keane as since been traded (to Tottenham?) so I'm actually wondering now who my friend roots for. In any case what I'm saying is after the WC I did not see any positive change towards MLS in the people I know. No one became an MLS fan. At the most it seems one person became an EPL fan (or maybe a Robbie Keane fan is more appropriate). Has anyone, any youth coaches or soccer fans, seen positive changes towards MLS?
I think you are looking for big, obvious changes. Unfortunately, there were none of those. A lot of people here definately got more into the National team, but for many Americans the World Cup is pretty cool, but they don't follow the sport otherwise. I know that is true for many of my friends. Still, while there was no huge ratings boost, there were some real benefits that will probably pay off in the long run. The league definately got more respect. It's hard-to-impossible to write off MLS as an amatuerish joke when it produced and developed so many of the outstanding players from our '02 team. And it made a marquee name out of Landon Donovan, which means there was is now at least one up-and-coming MLS star who is a household name. Clint Mathis is close to that level. Don't forget, there were 61,000 people in the stands for MLS Cup last year (sorry it wasn't a better game, but hey!). I think the foundation has been laid for the general public to at least realize there is a genuine, professional soccer league going in this country, and that the quality of play can be quite good. Not a light-from-the-sky revelation, not a huge shift in perception...but real progress, at any rate.
I saw a big change in mindset from a bunch of people I know regarding soccer in general. These are hardcore pointyball, basketball, baseball types (all male) who now at least will talk about soccer when it comes up. First Tommy Smith's commentaries really caught their attention. Likely his accent and unmistakable passion rather than the content of the analysis. And from there they tuned in to a few games to watch, including the US matches, esp. v Mexico and Germany. From these they started to accept that soccer a) won't always seem boring to them and b) the players from their own country can actually play pretty well. Now I've got at least 2 committed to coming to see ManU v Barca in Philly this summer. Not MLS, but that's the next step. They are learning to understand the game, which leads to interest on to love. So somewhere down the line I hope I'll get a few of them to watch some MLS on TV and then get them to come see a match live. So while the WC won't have an immediate impact at the gates, it serves to expose and educate the masses. This, coupled with the reinforcing message that our boys can play the game, will eventually lead to a larger fan base.
His post was one (as I know you know) of the best I've read here in a long time as far as seeing the results of the seeds being planted.
This seems like a stupid answer but the World Cup success did help us. How, I don't really know. I've saw slightly more in the media about the National Team lately here in Florida. Like a mention of the upcoming games in Miami and Ft. lauderdale. Hopefully it translates to interest in MLS. I noticed a lot of interest in the Nats games during the World Cup so that's got to be positive for soccer, because Florida is an hard nut to crack soccer wise I guess.
I don't think Robbie Keane ever played for Liverpool, he was transferred from Leeds United to Tottenham this year. He did play in the World Cup for Ireland in Korea/Japan 2002, and scored at least 2 goals I remember. One against Germany, one against Cameroon in like the 92nd minute to salvage a tie. He is one of Ireland's best players. But, to the point you were trying to make. The World Cup did have a postive impact on MLS. Just not a glaringly obvious one. You saw MLS players on David Letterman, on the cover of Sports Illustrated and ESPN the Magazine, and attendance & TV ratings were higher after the WC than before, although only slighty. It's still got a long way to go. But it won't fail, it really can't be stopped. My advice to you is don't apologize for being a soccer fan. You don't have to hate soccer to love the NFL or MLB or whatever. Don't start conversations with non soccer types with "most people don't like soccer but.... did you hear/see...etc. James
Well, maybe this is in part the reason I heard on Radio Unica that they have almost sold out the place for the Canada game. Any positive exposure of the sport will contribute at the local level
yea every1 here in nj watched it just cause the usa was playing after that nothin.and if usa had not qualified the ratings would of been alot lower they just watch to see how there countries fare just like in the olympics.u dont see most people interested in swimming now do you?
when are you going to realize non of you 32 year old soccer fans matter... everything is for thoose that will be 32 in 10 or 15 years.. little kids all over america are infused with Mls'ism.. they know brian mcbride and kobi , and hell they're might even be more viewing fans.. if there was a team in the town they could get behind.. lots of big metro areas with no clubs.. bad bad news..the kids are there.. the clubs are not..
For anyone who start following soccer because of the WC, they'll most likely start with the top leagues in Europe. Sadly the media coverage (here in the states) and the quality of play cannot compare. You have to be a hardcore soccer fan to follow the MLS.
At least MLS games are readily available on basic cable or satellite. Isn't this the last season of ESPN2's Champions League coverage?
so wrong. i watched the world cup, and noticed a lot of the players played in the u.s. well, seeing as i live in the u.s., common sense told me to check out any soccer teams in my area and to find out about the league. why on earth would i look to leagues in other countries first? (and keep in mind, i actually lived in england part of my life.) the world cup probably attracted new fans to mls, when people like me caught the US playing and saw a real soccer game for the first time. luckily enough, i have an mls team around, i doubt i ever would have gained interest in mls if there wasn't a team in dallas.
I have the EPL highlight show on every sunday, RAI does a show every sunday. the Spanish channels does highlight show every night, CNN international has world sport and I don't even have Fox Sports World. Sure MLS is on ESPN2 once a week, and I have the Metros on MSG. But If I have DirectTV or PPV, I can watch much more top leagues in the world then MLS. In matter of fact, I can catch more WUSA games on basic cable then MLS. I forgot the point I was trying to make... Anyway here's another point. You have to be a hardcore soccer fan to follow the MLS, you have to hardcore soccer fan to follow any soccer leagues in this country. I know a regular soccer fan who happens to be a Eurosnob, but ironically he can’t name any rosters of a European club. He watched two or three matches of the WC, but soccer isn't his favorite sport. If a fan only want to catch tidbits of soccer highlights, he isn't looking for the MLS.
but if a fan wants a league and a team to follow, they will inevitably go with the home team and follow mls. mls isn't looking to attract fans who watch highlights, what is the point in that? but by default mls attracts new soccer fans because it is the USA's league, which believe it or not is good enough for many people.
maybe you are right. But MLS soccer is a Paradox. Americans are breed to love the best, and MLS isn’t the best, therefore ironically it isn’t American. Not many fans that understand the nuances of the game only follow the domestic league. I was afraid that by the time the new American fan starts to appreciate soccer, he would also come to understand the concept of country vs club. Yes, a teenager soccer player could name the roster for the Burn and not know who won the champions league last year, but it’s inconceivable for anyone over a certain age to know the former but not the latter. I was wrong. You could follow only your local MLS club and your country and call yourself a hardcore fan, but to know nothing of the other leagues seems very unthinkable.
That's one of the great aspects of soccer that most Americans are missing out on. Having a world's worth of leagues and teams to follow and how much movement their is of players from country to country. It's sad so many are missing out on this big world party.
That is the main reason that they don't follow the sport, because it takes forever to check the standings and stats of all the leagues around the world. Not to mention that all the leagues are watered down because no country has the best players. I would rather have 30 teams in America filled with all the top notch talent from all over the world. That way soccer would be like hockey and basketball where the American league is the best and the excitement comes from seeing who is coming here to play and from where. Right now when soccer clubs win a championship, it doesn't really mean they are the the best in the world, like in all the other sports. When the Yankees, Lakers, Redwings, and Packers win their league title no one disputes if they are the World Champions. In soccer we will never know who is the best in the world with the lack of a super league of some sort. Many Americans have noted this as their main reason for not following the sport more. -VON
When I lived in Dallas, I could watch Burn games quite easily. Now I live in San Francisco, and I can watch a plethora of English games, but hardly any MLS, despite living within a 45 minute drive from San Jose. The only free games are the one game on ESPN or ESPN 2. If I want to watch any other, I have to pay a larger amount to get all of the regional Fox Sport Nets. Even w/out paying this, I get Fox Sports World.
Actually all of the Quakes away games last year were on basic cable - some were even on a local independent broadcast station - KICU 36/cable 6. All of the home games were a short drive/ride away. Lot's of people travel from SF to see the Quakes play. I just wich there were more...
Back to the subject of the effect of the World Cup on MLS...I'd say yes, it did have a significant effect. However, most of those effects are kind of behind the scenes right now. I think everyone is looking for some huge transformative effect, but there isn't one and I'm starting to doubt there ever will be. I mean, there will not be any moment when suddenly we have all Soccer specific stadiums...there won't be any sort of expansion from 10 to 30 teams overnight, just like we won't win the World Cup overnight, or in 2006 for that matter. But the growth that eludes us when looking at something over a period of a few months, becomes tremondously magnified when we look at longer spans of time. MLS this year compared to MLS in '99, I think is a whole different beast. The fan base has broadened, if not mushroomed, and the general public doesn't sneer reactively to any mention of the sport. Though the increase in ratings for MLS games was mild, MLS executives were excited about it. I mean, imagine if the ratings even went from .8 to .9, that's about a 16% increase. The ratings still basically suck though. Now if we could just get a 16% increase in all the stands (unlikely while Chicago and Dallas have those crap stadiums), there would be smiles all around. Then again, local ratings for some of these teams have been very high. I think the Metrostars ratings in New York were mentioned as the case in point. I think there is more of a groundswell for cities to try to lure in an MLS team now than there was before the Cup. However, this is still the chief problem facing MLS. It can't run forever on only ten teams, and while attracting interest from municipalities is all fine and good, what we really need are some well-funded investors, of which there has been neither sight nor sound. Where are they? Why aren't they paying attention? What stands in the way of their commitment?
But there is certainly a precedent for US sports fans following such a structure - college sports. There are of course other variables with college sports, but they show that US fans can indeed follow sports that don't adhere to the standard "one super league" model.