In recent memory, Soccer has never been in a better spot to grow than it is right now. This last weekend, the US took a 2-0 lead over Brazil in the Confederations Cup Final, only to lose 3-2 giving up 3 unanswered goals. But Soccer fans, this may be exactly what Soccer needs in order to become relevant in the US.
U.S. Goalkeeper Tim Howard making a stop.
The game of Soccer has never been one of my personal favorites, however, it is starting to grow on me a little and I can’t help but think that maybe it’s because it’s becoming a little more mainstream and finally getting a little more exposure. Yeah I know, I was that one that said myself that “if you wanted to talk Soccer….errr….Futbol, I probably wasn’t you guy” on the “About Daymon” page of this site, but it is my responsibility to discuss everything in sports that is relevant right? At least that’s how I’m justifying the writing of a Soccer article here on Sports Uncut……
Someone might ask how is soccer becoming more relevant? Well, really, it’s a simple as this…..ESPN has Soccer matches on at least 2 nights a week over on the duece, and even some on weekends. For god’s sake, the NHL doesn’t even have multiple matches on during the week on ANY network, and Mr. Bettman, that sir is an issue, but I digress. Not only that but they now have, much like MLB, NHL and NFL, their own television station MLSnet, for Major League Soccer. That, paired with the David Beckham for $50 mill per, tells me that their owners are doing whatever they can to put their product in the forefront, and for that you can only commend them, especially considering how badly soccer has failed here in the states in the past. Past failures can be seen with The North American Soccer League (which featured Pele) and then the National Professional Soccer league (1984 – 2001). With each of those failures, owners, investors and management personnel alike have learned some valuable lessons and it appears that right now, they’re putting the lessons learned to work, and it’s benefiting the sport of Soccer….errr…..Futbol!
The largest single site Soccer Complex in the U.S. was just erected outside of Denver, Colorado in Commerce City; Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, which seats 18,086 and can accommodate up to 26,000 for certain events and was built at a cost of $131 million. That site was built on over 360 acres of land, and has essentially become the “home” of Soccer in the United States, featuring yearly tourneys and over 20 different fields. The venture was built by Commerce City and KSE, which for those of you that don’t know, is Stan Kroenke, who owns the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Mammoth, Colorado Crush, Pepsi Center and Arsenal F.C. of the English Premier League. There’s other big time investors in MLS and EPL as well, companies like Kraft, Hunt Sports Group, SPC Worldwide, Red Bull, Vulcan Sports and Entertainment, Pizza Hut, Home Depot, Pepsi, and yes, even the Golden boy himself, Oscar DeLaHoya. All of those investors, have ties to the NFL, NHL and even MLB. In other words the pockets are deep, and their standing behind the product.
Back to what I was saying about the U.S. losing to Brazil in the Confederations Cup Final, even though the US lost, that match was watched by about 65% of the normal viewers that Super Bowl Sunday has…..65%! And that’s just the beginning I think, because, when you look at what this sport is OUTSIDE the U.S., you knew it only had to be a matter of time before it became relevant here. Now, make no mistake, I don’t ever feel that it will surpass the NFL in terms of fan attraction and overall sales, but it will be relevant, and that’ll happen sooner than later. Frankly, and forgive me if I sound a bit new to this (because I am) but I’m interested to see what this sport can bring to the U.S. and what it can do here. I tend to believe that if you have more teams like the Seattle Sounders, who’s fans literally march down the street (marching band in tow) while gathering everyone from the local pubs and bars to go watch the Soccer match, it’s going to catch on and more people will become involved. Because afterall, you need the fans to make ANY sports league work, and if you’re involving them in that capacity, I can only think that will increase exposure and make people take notice.
The only issue that I currently see, is that MLS hasn’t been able to lure some of the biggest and best talent in the world over to the US, and I believe that some of that is because we haven’t had the following needed to support the signing of guys like Sergio Ramos(Real Madrid), Wayne Rooney (Man. U.), Andres Iniesta (F.C. Barcelona), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Kaka (Real Madrid), Ronaldhino (Milan), Lionel Messi (F.C. Barcelona) and Christiano Ronaldo (Man. U.). That said, I would expect to see some of that change in the coming years, as several players in Europe have been on record as saying that playing in America would be great, but they worry about the lack of fan support. Will the US ever have a team like Manchester United? Probably not, because frankly, there aren’t ANY teams like Manchester United as it’s the single most profitable and wealthy sports franchise in the world. That siad, we could soon have some special players here in the years to come.
So, I guess I’ll end this and go brush up on my Soccer terminology and rules; from the pitch, extra time and corner kick. I’ll try to figure out what the hell the difference is between a Red Card and a Yellow Card, and how one earns a penalty kick and what exactly a “tackle” is in Soccer……err…..Futbol. Hopefully you’ll all do the same, because like it or not, soccer is here, and it’s only going to get bigger.
