There Is Hope for Soccer
The UEFA Champion's League concluded Saturday with Inter Milan taking the title in victory over Bayern Munich.
Usually this event would go off without so much as a ripple in the stream of U.S. sports consciousness while being one of Europe's most popular events. For as long as anyone can remember, Americans have not cared about soccer. This shows up in youth leagues, sales, TV coverage, and more.
This collective apathy might be on its way out. That the Champion's League final occurred is not as newsworthy as the fact that it was televised nationally in the U.S. FOX, whose coverage of anything aside from MLB and NFL is lackluster, did a satisfactory job carrying the event. Many thought the match would carry a rating of at least 2.0, as compared to the 2008 match on ESPN that carried a minuscule 0.8. The ratings have not been released yet, but the predictions and weekend time slot are indicators that Americans are hungry for soccer.
What's causing this change in appetite? Why is it happening now? These are questions that I cannot answer intelligently, but I do have some ideas.
First, our culture of instant gratification, ushered in by technology and electronic communication, has contributed to mass A.D.D (if A.D.D. is even real). The average attention span is much, much shorter now than in recent decades. Need proof? Hang out with anyone between the ages of 13-30 for five minutes and you'll see. Concurrent with this lack of attention are drawn out televised sporting events. You'll be hard pressed to watch any pro game on TV that elapses in less than 2 1/2-3 hours. Games are getting longer, and our attention is getting shorter. Enter soccer! Played at a non-stop pace in faster time, it is better suited to the American culture than baseball and football, which take 45 seconds off between 5-7 second discrete plays.
Second, there is gobs of money in soccer that companies and rich Americans want a part of. Between 2003 and 2005, Malcolm Glazer, owner of the NFL's Tampa Bay Bucs, gradually gained controlling interest of Europe's premier soccer franchise, Manchester United. The purchase was valued at $1.47 billion. Soccer salaries in Europe are as bloated as NBA and MLB salaries, if not more. The global fixation on soccer is something that MLB, NBA, and the NFL have been chasing for 20 years. The reason that soccer hasn't gone corporate in America is because the interest has been lacking; companies don't throw big money at something until there is a market for it. They don't create the demand, they meet it when it arrives. If soccer starts to take off in the U.S., you can bet the money, attention, and sponsorship will come with it.
Third, soccer (especially in Europe) has major star power. Ronaldinho, Messi, Zidane, Van Nistelrooy, Xavi, Ballack, Christiano Ronaldo, Eto'o. If there's one distinguishing attribute about American culture, its that we are celebrity-obsessed. This could be a major driving force to the soccer movement. I don't think it would take much for these names to explode in American fame. The problem is, America doesn't have any homegrown players on level with Europe's best. We saw that the David Beckham experiment did not work out very well on the pitch, but the notoriety and revenue that the LA Galaxy gained was noticeable. Becks walked off the beaten path by leaving the most competitive leagues in the world to play in the lowly MLS.
Fourth, we're getting better at soccer.
Jozy Altidore gives Americans cause for optimism
There is hope anew for soccer in America. The World Cup craze in 2006 is sure to be replicated, and most likely exceeded by next month's version. But let's not give our boys too much hype or bank on them too much; this team underachieves when expectations run high, as I've written before. I'm excited for the World Cup and hopeful about our chance of success, but wary of how much impact the World Cup outcome will have on the trajectory of the world's sport in its crucial stage in the United States.
