What Does This World Cup Mean to American Soccer?
by TheElusiveShadow on Jul 1, 2010 4:47 PM CDT
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PrintWhen the Americans let a very winnable game slip by against Ghana, I experienced a mixture of emotions. First, I was proud of our American boys for their valiant effort throughout the tournament. After all, my expectations were simply for them to advance beyond the group stage, and everything beyond that would be a bonus. However, given the massive viewership of the game and the relatively easier bracket the Americans found themselves in, I was disappointed that they let such an opportunity get past them. Here was a chance for them to create a special bond with the American people, to galvanize the nation behind them in an unlikely deep tournament run, and to perhaps even give people like me, who was not yet born in 1980, our own Miracle on Ice (Pitch). It was not to be so, as questionable roster moves and the same old defensive lapses sent the Americans home.
Still, while the opportunity for a massive Cinderella run was left on the table, not all was lost. Soccer cynics may think that Donovan's winning goal against Algeria will now be just a fleeting moment, ultimately meaningless, much like Lebron's miraculous three point winner against the Orlando Magic in 2009. I will have to disagree: I think that moment, celebrated by so many throughout the nation, can be a turning point, even if it is a small one, for American soccer. While I do not follow soccer religiously (basketball and football are and always will be my first loves), I keep up with it more so than the average American, and I can say confidently that while attempts to declare soccer is "here," meaning "ready to overtake the American sports conscious over others," are always tiresome and overly ambitious, soccer has been here for quite a while. Soccer will mostly likely never be as popular as football, basketball, and baseball. That is fine. That in no way means that the sport has not slowly but surely grown in popularity throughout my lifetime. Many Americans may simply be unaware of it, but I have not only seen more and more people my age pay attention to the English Premiership, I have seen steady fans of MLS teams. The MLS has quietly grown the past several years, and while the teams are not even close to being as valuable or profitable as their counterparts in the NFL or NBA (or even NHL, for that matter), it seems to have carved itself a nice niche market. I was skeptical that little gambits like bringing David Beckham over would do much of anything, as if so many soccer supporters were desperately hoping that the sport would just explode uncontrollably throughout the nation, but soccer's steady steps have been there. America is a large and diverse country, and to say that a sport with such worldwide appeal could never succeed here is to be presumptuous, no matter how silly the "Soccer is HERE!" declarations are.
Thus, I look at this American World Cup team, and Donovan's goal in particular, as not something that will set off big and immediate fireworks for soccer in a soccer-vacant country. If that was the case, I would agree with the cynics that this would constitute a fleeting moment. I look at this run as something that continues to build on the foundation that has slowly been constructed the past one or two decades. For sure, many USA fans became bandwagon fans this World Cup and probably don't have any idea what offsides is. However, you have to start somewhere, and as the video that was posted earlier on BON shows, soccer has worked itself into the minds of the American conscious as something relevant, not something that is just for foreign folks. Lastrow, among his many excellent World Cup posts, discussed USA's shining moment here, and while I cannot personally put that moment anywhere near the moment when Vince Young crossed the goalline in the endzone, I understand that Donovan's goal had nearly universal American appeal. While Texas fans and most Texas residents (and those who simply despised USC) erupted in celebration after Young gutted the Trojans, there were undoubtedly many crushed people across the country: USC fans, OU fans, jealous Aggies and Tech fans, etc. Some were also probably heavily confused, such as Cal fans, who did not know if they should cheer for the fall of Troy or be angry that the "whining" Mack Brown held the crystal ball. For Donovan's goal, there was no confusion: If you are an American, you celebrated that goal. No questions asked. From bars across the country to people like me who watched alone via Internet stream, wild celebration ensued.
As a Korean-American, I am aware of how a World Cup moment can change the sport for a country. In 2002, Korea made an unlikely run to the semifinals in front of their home crowd, and even granting Korean people's rather irregular amount of nationalism, the massive fan support was something to behold. I remember getting up at odd hours of the morning (or simply staying up) with my family to watch these games, and amused as I was to see my normally chill parents jump for joy for Korea, it was a testament to the appeal of the sport and how it can unite a country. If you have never seen Korea's "sea of red," it's pretty impressive:
Imagine a group of half a million Koreans in a city square watching the game on the big screen. Even three years later, when I visited Korea for a summer, I could see the after effects of their World Cup run. More kids wanted to play the sport, more people cared, and more people paid attention to the national team. I am not saying we will see a similar sea of red and blue for America, because Americans tend to like watching in bars or at home and not in the oppressive heat, but this World Cup success, however small it was, can no doubt push the sport further in this country. Ironically, the Americans made it further in that 2002 World Cup and were only derailed from making the semifinals by Oliver Kahn and Germany (and a missed handball call), but I feel like this World Cup, with the American team winning in dramatic fashion and overcoming not one but two robbed goals, resonated much more with the American people. Even foreigners commented that the Americans truly seemed to enjoy playing with each other and give their best effort, quite unlike some superstar-riddled European teams.
Did an opportunity slip away? Without a doubt. This team could have accomplished much more. But rather than dwell on that, I'd like to focus on what they did accomplish: They made Americans believe they were never down and out and they made Americans across the country pay attention. That may be too small a step for soccer enthusiasts just itching for the sport to take the country by storm and see our elite athletes play in it, but the sport has been going slow and steady for a while now, neither as fast as optimists want or as dead as cynics think. I am fine with another step, because I have little doubt there will be more.
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I was surprised at how many students at UT follow soccer. Not just the World Cup but the English premiership, Spanish leagues, and MLS. There are scores of passionate fans out there, they just don’t advertise it.
ESPN
I think the big question is the extent to which ESPN is ready to go all-in on covering international soccer. I think they might be near that point.
To me, the key is growing the coverage of international soccer. The United States is a major league country. Our football, baseball, basketball and hockey leagues are the best in the world. (Yes, I know, limited competition for those titles, but still…) I think one of the big problems professional soccer leagues in the United States have had is the sense many of us have that we’re not watching the world’s best. The MLS is, relatively speaking, a minor league — albeit a minor league that’s been very smart about its place in the American sporting landscape and its growth.
Some have speculated about the ability of the NFL or NBA or NHL to expand into Europe. I’m convinced that, if the EPL had the same sort of structure (in terms of awarding “expansion franchises”) in place that our leagues have, we would already see EPL teams in New York at the very least, and maybe a couple of other cities as well, and they would be performing very well, playing in front of 60K-80K fans on a regular basis.
But, alas, that is not an option, and American soccer fans seeking to watch the very best will have to settle for doing so on their televisions, often at very odd times of the day. It’s my impression, though, that the rest of the world has just recently caught up to the United States in terms of the ubiquitous of live sports events on TV. The one time I’ve ever been to England was in the fall of 2002, and I was struck by how the EPL was covered: live games were being covered by switching around to on-field correspondents around the country giving updates about what was going on. (Imagine ABC’s Saturday night football coverage not consisting of showing a game but instead constantly switching to an army of Erin Andrews around the country giving on-the-field updates of what had been going on.) Nowadays, given the range of games available on ESPN, FSN and Gol TV any given week, I have to imagine that most EPL games are now shown live.
And that’s a roundabout way to returning to my original point: there’s now an available inventory — literally a world of inventory — for ESPN to go all-in if so chose. One would imagine that ESPN senses the possibilities out there, showing EPL and La Liga games live over the last season and upgrading its World Cup coverage from “soccer for dummies” of the past couple of World Cups to a very impressive run of broadcasting over the last month — hiring top-tier English broadcasters, sending in the talented, non-blowhard cast from the States (Tirico, Fowler, Ley) to host the studio shows, etc. ESPN wouldn’t be doing all this altruistically — it most know, from its ratings, that there’s an audience out there for top-tier international soccer. (The big asterisk here is that the ratings might have been minuscule 20 years in a television universe of fewer options but are much more impressive in a universe of 8 billion choices.)
So what can ESPN do to retain and grow this audience? In addition to showing EPL and La Liga games live, I can easily see ESPN adding a “Soccer Today” show a la College Football Today, NFL LIve, etc.
Or, it could go after the rather amateurish FSC and GolTV and launch its own dedicated soccer channel (“ESPN Soccer”).
I don’t think it’s as far-fetched as it might initially sound. The key, again, is the inventory available from throughout the world which would be available. I recently read something (probably in some discussion about the Big Ten Network) that live sports programming of just about anything is preferable to the non-live. Seems pretty obvious, right? Well, over weekends, ESPN Soccer could go live pretty much all weekend long. (J League games in the middle of the night? Why not?!? There’d be people who’d watch.) And there’d be plenty of inventory for throughout the week on tape delay — with the advantage that a lot greater percentage of the audience wouldn’t know the outcome ahead of time than would know the final of a tape-delayed college football game.
Take that massive potential inventory and combine it with ESPN’s sophistication and skill at how the sport would be presented, discussed and promoted on an ESPN Soccer (ESPN’s World Cup coverage demonstrates that, when you strip away the Boomers and STEPHEN A. SMITHS and Jay Mariottis of the world and focus on the sport, it can’t be touched by any other American network), and I think you have a very successful network which would do more to grow soccer in the United States than anything else could.
And if I were the EPL or La Liga, I would do whatever it took to help that network launch. GIve away the broadcast rights for free! Anything to start tapping even deeper into the American market. You don’t think Real Madrid and Man U look over at us and see an ocean of untapped merchandising potential?
But so long as FSC remains the face of international soccer in the US, that market remains relatively untapped. ESPN Soccer would crush FSC relatively quickly unless FSC upgraded its act very quickly.
As much as I have criticized ESPN in the past
Their coverage of this World Cup has been largely excellent. While Alexei Lalas might be somewhat annoying from time to time, they got rid of that bighead Eric Wynalda and their analysts are interesting to listen to. Part of the reason I am so hard on ESPN sometimes is because I know they have the capability to put together a polished product, but sometimes they choose to employ boneheads, give crappy analysis, and exaggerate bogus storylines (See: Mike Leach situation).
by TheElusiveShadow on Jul 1, 2010 8:47 PM CDT up reply actions
Youth Movement
I agree with your post wholeheartedly. However, there is one aspect that you glanced over that I believe will be the supreme legacy of this World Cup here in the States: Donovan’s goal gave kids across the country a moment to latch onto.
If people my age (much older than you) or somewhat younger (even as young as yourself) tune in to more soccer as a result of this team’s run in this World Cup, that’s fine. But we won’t be participating in a meaningful competitive fashion anytime soon. What Donovan’s moment might do is get more kids playing soccer, watching soccer — and perhaps most importantly — coaching youth soccer for their own children, having had the benefit of (hopefully) a higher quality playing experience to draw from. And the grand plan is that Donovan’s moment will beget other, more meaningful moments in World Cups to come.
Kids might actually remember where they were and who they were with when they watched Donovan score that goal, like I still do whenever I think about the Miracle on Ice in 1980, or Hank Aaron’s 715th, or VY’s 4th and glory. Only time will tell.
Do you know what would happen if you typed 'google' into Google? You'd break the internet!
The IT Crowd
We aren't participating
But after all, who will be putting those kids in those youth soccer programs?
The United States actually has what is considered very strong and organized youth soccer. Everybody plays soccer when they are wrong. The problem is that many people tend to see it as just a kid sport that allows the kids to run around before they graduate to sports like basketball and football. The problem isn’t getting kids to play soccer; it’s getting them to stay there.
by TheElusiveShadow on Jul 2, 2010 9:19 AM CDT up reply actions
Yes! A Moment
Though I grew up with a fútbol in my crib, and was destined to always enjoy the beautiful game, I had a moment during the ’86 WC that just cemented the sport in my mind.
México v. Bulgaria: From our home in México, I watched Manuel Negrete score the most breath taking goal I had seen.
The fact that it was at the WC, in my home country by one of my countrymen just did it for me.
Progress for sure
Well written, Shadow…To give some context to the unwashed BON reader:
US soccer is essentially like UT Basketball…both were semi-decent during the first half of the 20th century and then dropped off the radar for the better part of four decades. But then in the late 80’s there was some signs of life. Penders came along and breathed life into UT basketball and US Soccer finally got organized and qualified for the 1990 WC (basically like making it to the Big Dance)….and the US Soccer doing well against CONCACAF teams (basically what they call the grouping of all North/Central American countries) is about like UT topping the old SWC.
Then there was the first real watershed moment – Running Horns make it to the Great 8, US Soccer beats Columbia and advances out of the group stage at the 94 WC. Those moments created expectations…just like UT fans expected the Horns to go dancing every March, we now expected the US to go the WC every four years…and not just go, but represent also.
Of course, you build up expectations, you’ve got to be prepared for the consequences if you don’t live up to them…Penders couldn’t get us back to the Great 8, US Soccer didn’t even score a goal in the 98 WC in France (even worse, we got blanked by Iran). So you fire your coach and bring someone in even better who can take you to the next wrung on the ladder.
Enter Rick Barnes for UT and Bruce Arena for US Soccer…and here came the 2nd watershed moment…UT goes to the Final Four, US Soccer actually gets to the round of 8 in the 02 WC in Korea (one step further than this year if you can believe that.)
Since then Barnes’ UT b-ball has kind of plateaued with some blips of greatness and US Soccer has too…the 06 WC in Germany was pretty much like UT’s visit to the Big Dance this year…some heart shown, but not much to show for it.
But what hasn’t plateaued, and this is crucial, is fan interest/expectations…we’re still trying to get UT fans just as passionate about b-ball as they are about football, and we’re still trying to get US sports fans to be as passionate about soccer as they are about mainstream sports like the Pro Football.
Some additional thoughts about US soccer…
- No doubt the Donovan goal helped and has become a “where were you when moment” for many folks…but don’t be surprised when interest in US soccer goes dormant for four years. I love the WC, I even went to it when it was in Germany and actually cried after tying Italy because the 2nd half had been so emotional standing literally 20 yards behind the US goal feeling like I helped will our keeper to stop shot after shot after shot….but I haven’t bothered to drive 10 miles to see FC Dallas play once. And I don’t watch MLS games on TV even though I’ll watch Thursday night college football even if Akron is playing San Diego State…and that’s because most fans like me are still in the party stage…we can appreciate the passion, but don’t quite yet get the game…sort of like loving Wrigley Field and the bleachers, but not really be a diehard Cubs Fan.
- Agree with Hopkins about the MLS being viewed as a Minor League…the Seattle franchise has made some good strides with their fan base, but overall, most US sports fans still treat the MLS like the WNBA…your brain knows they’re great athletes, but your heart still says, I think I could go out there and score. We want to know we’re watching the best, otherwise it’s not worth our time or emotional investment.
- Simmons at ESPN had a nice point about why the US soccer may finally be catching on…it’s really the only sport that everyone can get behind and Donavan’s goal was the closest thing we’ve had to the Miracle On Ice since, well since the Miracle on Ice. It didn’t matter if you understood the game, you understood USA, USA, USA, USA!!!
- Finally, I will just add that I think think the biggest problem with soccer catching on is simply the lack of patience with American sports fans…we don’t appreciate the chance, only the score. Soccer to the unwashed US sports fan is like watching a football game with 4 missed FG attempts and six turnovers in the Red Zone, a real defensive struggle. And that can be very frustrating. If that happened in an actual football game, you’d walk away saying, “what a crappy game.” But a soccer fan would say, “oh there was a touch of class on the 3rd attempt that hit the crossbar, lots of quality on the pitch, our boys were just a bit unlucky.”
And that’s the key, appreciating the chance and then going absolutely bonkers when you do actually score….GOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!
But it is changing…in 2002, maybe one guy at my office realized why my eyes were bloodshot and I was smiling the morning after the US beat Mexico in the round of 16.
Last Wednesday morning about 10:20am, the server at our office nearly shut down because over 400 employees were trying to stream the US-Ghana game.
See you in Brazil.
Be nobody but yourself in a world that desperately wants you to be like everybody else.
Whoops, last sentence, make that US-Algeria game...nt
Be nobody but yourself in a world that desperately wants you to be like everybody else.
by 54b on Jul 2, 2010 7:27 AM CDT up reply actions
Not happening
Despite some gains, soccer is still not appealing to most American sports fans. Here’s why:
1. It’s not the lack of scoring, it’s the lack of action. In 90 minutes, you may have a dozen plays worth watching.
2. Scores are frequently flukes or errors. You don’t feel you won so much as lucked out.
3. Officiating is absolutely horrible. I saw terrible, decisive calls game after game.
4. Player’s antics put off American fans. We hate flopping, whining, and grandstanding. We hate that in Basketball and Football.
5. No hero in the booth. We rather have a former American star doing color commentary than some Euro twit.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.
by Caradoc on Jul 2, 2010 8:36 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Fans of four-hour, nine-inning Yankee-Red Sox games, with up to eight visits to the mound by the catcher per inning, are nodding their heads in approval at your first point.
Alabama loves your assertion that luck never plays into championships.
Jim Joyce is right there with you on point #3.
Chad Johnson wholeheartedly agrees with you about #4. His TD celebrations are never, ever shown again and again on replay.
And Americans pine for OJ Simpson’s return to the broadcast booth.
Hey
It’s Chad Ochocinco. Get it right :-) I’m a Bengals fan and I think Chad is (usually) hilarious and harmless. The entire NBA and OU’s punter both agree with point #4, though.
- - Alexei Lawless agrees with you. Also, what do you think is going to happen in several years when Donovan retires? Anyway, every non-xenophobic American (and woman who loves to listen to Scottish and Irish accents) agrees with you on the “Euro twit” thing. Who cares how much they know about soccer as long as they’re Amuhricun!
Never ask a man if he's from Texas. If he is, he'll tell you soon enough. If he's not, don't embarrass him.
Very.
Never ask a man if he's from Texas. If he is, he'll tell you soon enough. If he's not, don't embarrass him.
I understand much of what you are saying
But I would like to differentiate, first, between what I call the culture of soccer and the game of soccer itself. There is much about the culture of soccer that Americans rightly find troublesome, such as the fake injuries on the field and the hooligan fans. That does not mean that the game itself is the problem, because soccer can surely exist and be a great game without that kind of stuff.
To your specific points:
1. I agree that some games are brutal to watch (see: Japan vs. Paraguay). But isn’t this true of any sport? Some games are great games, and some are ugly. The lack of scoring is a hurdle for many Americans, but I think if they watched games more and understood what was going on, they would see a lot more action than they think.
2. I agree that soccer seems a bit more luck-based than other sports, but luck is a part of any sport, including football. While most goals can be related to defensive errors, that does not mean that the scoring players do not exhibit skills to exploit those opportunities. Taking advantage of opponents’ mistakes is a common thread in all competitive sports.
3. Agreed, and there are changes that I wish soccer would undertake. Again, I think this problem is a bit divorced from the actual skill of the game. After all, I still enjoy basketball even though the refs are often awful.
4. See first paragraph.
5. Can’t really expect a hero in the booth until the country grows in soccer, right?
by TheElusiveShadow on Jul 2, 2010 9:07 AM CDT up reply actions
What, no love for John Harks? Bugger.
Caradoc, you definitely bring up a lot of points that have been made many, many times and no doubt I wish they’d unloaded that Ghana fool who faked an injury to waste time off the stretcher and into the dumpster, but I these point can all be dismissed simply because people can’t ignore the passion. There’s a big ass party going on, the rest of world is already there, and we’re just fashionably late.
The WC really is the World Wide version of March Madness without the brackets and office pools…point being, you don’t really have to know anything about soccer to join the fun.
I also think the fact that with the US minority population, particularly Hispanics, growing so quickly, you’ll see soccer more and more on TV as there will be an audience to generate the ratings.
It won’t be overnight and there’s no doubt that within a few weeks, you won’t hear anything else about soccer in the press, but it’ll just be dormant waiting for the next time to erupt.
Be nobody but yourself in a world that desperately wants you to be like everybody else.
by 54b on Jul 2, 2010 9:58 AM CDT up reply actions
For all that
I’d really like to see soccer make it. A true world sport would be a common ground for international understanding. If preserving its traditions means it does not catch on with the American media machine, that’s probably a good thing. By the time ESPN got done, it would go over like European NFL football.
HopkinsHorn, I’m not saying that the popular American sports don’t sometimes have these problems. But soccer is the new entry and has more to overcome. (I wonder if Baseball would succeed if it was a recent import?)
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.
Also
That 3-2 Auburn football game from a couple of years ago agrees with you. (and keep in mind that was standard football game length, not 90 minutes!)
Never ask a man if he's from Texas. If he is, he'll tell you soon enough. If he's not, don't embarrass him.
My two cents......
What the World Cup brings every 4 years is National Pride, watching your team compete to truly become World Champions. The grandest stage of them all. No corny team names like Galaxy, or the Burn, etc. But U.S.A. v. Ghana, or Germany v. Argentina, etc. No jumbotron or commercials. Two countries putting their best athletes on the field and settling it. Every country in the world watching. Every country in the world competing to qualify. So how do you take this momentum and make it grow?
1. Don’t Americanize it. No sideline reporters, jumbotrons, instant replay, graphics and needless stats, etc. Keep the game simple and pure.
2. Compete at a state level. Have one team from each state (if they choose to have one) and have them compete against each other. Texas v. Oklahoma, California v. Arizona, etc. will generate more of a following as opposed to following teams named Galaxy and whatever god awful names they come up with.
3. Have players compete to make state team. This will create competition within the state. Like college football, basketball, and baseball, players have a goal or dream of trying to make it to the big leagues. In soccer, there is no goal to reach.
4. Make selections for National team from the state teams. This allows players to compete to make state teams with the dream of being selected for the National team and represent the country every 4 years.
This is my average joe opinion on how soccer can survive along the big 3 sports here in the U.S. If there was a Texas team (state level), I could follow it as they compete against other states, follow up and coming players, and when the World Cup comes along in 4 years, most of the players will be household names.
BTW, Brazil lost so I am going to go get shitfaced after work.
1. Don’t Americanize it. No sideline reporters, jumbotrons, instant replay, graphics and needless stats, etc. Keep the game simple and pure.
I love this phrase, because it is used so often. The fact is that we are Americans, so if we play soccer in the States, we should make the game a form which will be enjoyable.
The real problem with soccer here in America is they are way down the totem pole for our best athletes. The top athletes in the States choose football, baseball, hockey, and basketball (in no particular order) before they ever consider soccer. And soccer still has to compete with all the additional sports like track and field, lacrosse, boxing, etc…
I have lived in Europe on two seperate occasions, and they do not love the myriad of sports like we Americans. They watch soccer, and possibly basketball. And that is it.
Either Americans like soccer or they dont. Personally, I dont see it having the success of our top tier sports any time soon, if ever.
Unofortunately, that's already been tried
and did not work. You are correct that Americans are going to like soccer or they are not. Americanize it to try and attract new viewers and you will drive away the current viewers. Add commercial timeouts and that will be the death blow to soccer in the USA. Not that Americanizing (if that is a word) is bad, I just would like to see the game played the way it is.
by longhorn1997 on Jul 3, 2010 10:04 AM CDT up reply actions
No tradition
Because the USA has no tradition of Soccer, it will probably take decades and a lot more Donavan moments. I am no historian, but it seems that Pro Football, Baseball and Basketball must have once been no more popular than Soccer is today.
What about a push to develop Men’s Soccer at a collegiate level? That might speed up the interest.
Interesting take...
…from the Sports Guy.
by Hopkins Horn on Jul 2, 2010 5:13 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
While I don't know an offside trap from a bicycle kick,
you can’t deny how incredible it felt when Donovan scored that goal. Or how amazing those YouTube clips were. Nothing was as satisfying…at least since Lake Placid in 1980. Here’s hoping we can have some more moments like that, but I fear they won’t come from the American made-for-tv sports. I’m really getting used to the constant 45+ minute flow, and the wonderful lack of commercials. (There’s a special place in hell for the tv-timout guy in the orange sleeve.)
41-38 !!
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