Most people growing up
today played soccer at some
point in your lives.
Somewhere between the
ages of 5 and 15 or perhaps
older, but after that age,
many American children
abandon the “beautiful
game” in favor of sports such
as baseball, basketball and
football.
But, recent trends have
shown that soccer has been
steadily picking up enthusiasm
in the U.S. beyond just
recreational play. So the
question is this: Could soccer
be gaining momentum on
other mainstream sports in
the U.S.?
Professional soccer in the
U.S. has always had a bit of a
rocky history to say the least;
arguably the most famous
team in American soccer history
was the New York Cosmos,
who played in the North
American Soccer League that
operated from 1968-1986, according
to nasl.com
There’s a current incarnation
of the NASL, but we’ll
get to that a bit later.
Many NASL matches failed
to reach 15,000 in attendance
and rapid expansion ultimately
led to the league suspending
operations prior to
the 1985 season. So, while
the original NASL ultimately
folded, it laid important
ground work for Major
League Soccer.
The MLS was established in
1996 and began with 10
teams: D.C. United, Columbus
Crew, New England Revolution,
NY/NJ MetroStars,
Tampa Bay Mutiny, Colorado
Rapids, Dallas Burn, Kansas
City Wiz, Los Angeles
Galaxy and the San Jose
Clash, according to mls.com
Attendance in the early
years of the league was rather
poor and many of the original
10 squads have either folded
altogether, re-branded or do
not exist in their original
state.
“It was a struggle,” said
Greg Plefka, 27, an avid soccer
fan and historian. “The
league (MLS) was in its infancy
and it was difficult to
put fans in the seats.”
Indeed, the league struggled
financially under original
commissioner Doug Logan,
who eventually resigned and
was replaced by current commissioner
Don Garber, a former
NFL executive.
During Garber’s tenure, the
MLS initially struggled to attract
viewers outside of the
team’s markets, but hit a
major breakthrough in 2006
by garnering a TV contract
with sports giant ESPN.
Since then, the MLS has become
more profitable. One of
the best moments for the
MLS was the signing of
Beckham from the Spanish
giant Real Madrid. Beckham
has since been a part of the
LA Galaxy since 2007.
Many established European
stars have come to the U.S.
since Beckham’s arrival. One
of the most notable being
French striker Thierry Henry,
who joined the New York
Red Bulls in 2010. Other
players include Tim Cahill,
Rafael Marquez and Robbie
Keane.
By 2007 the MLS was on
stable ground both financially
and fan-wise; having
pockets of die-hard fans in
many of the markets. But the
league wanted to expand
more.
Because of the influx of famous
players, there have also
been new teams added to the
league including the Montreal
Impact, Portland Timbers,
Vancouver Whitecaps,
Philadelphia Union, Seattle
Sounders and San Jose Earthquakes
have all debuted in
the league and 15 of the 19
teams now play in soccerspecific
venues.
In 2011, the MLS had one
of their biggest accomplishments
in bringing soccer to
the public by inking a huge
3-year TV deal with NBC,
according to
newyorktimes.com. This
meant that at least one game
per week in the 2012 season
would be carried on the
newly-formed NBC Sports
Network, or on the flagship
NBC station.
“The NBC deal was huge,”
said Sean Cuerou, 26, a
growing soccer fanatic and
sports fan. “I think that gives
them a big opportunity to
continue to grow the game.”
Additionally, NBC agreed to
televise several U.S. Men’s
National Team contests on
their airwaves. National
team games have always
drawn relatively good rating
as people usually have pride
in their countries.
So, with profits on the rise
and the league slowly gaining
national footing, is it possible
that it could overtake any of
the four major sports in the
United States?
The attendance in the MLS
has continued to grow in
2012 as they broke their previous
record of 5.5 million to
6,072,854. This was the first
time that the MLS broke the
6 million mark. They also
posted their highest average
attendance with 18,801, according
to
mlsattendance.com
In fact, in 2011 the MLS
overtook the NBA and NHL
in average attendance. The
MLS had an attendance of
17,870 and the NBA and
NHL posted numbers of
17,319 and 17,126 respectively,
according to the examiner.
com
But, seeing as how the MLS
has only existed since 1996,
already being ahead of two
major sports in attendance, it
is a big accomplishment.
“It’s (Soccer) definitely on
the rise,” Cuerou said. “MLS
is very entertaining and the
amount of money NBC paid
for the EPL shows interest
here.”
He may be on to something.
If NBC is willing to shell out
that kind of money to show
those games, the network
must know the market for the
sport in this country is heading
in the right direction.
It’s hard to say whether soccer
here will ever become the
top sport in America with the
way the NFL dominates, but
they appear to be on the right
path and they are moving
ahead of other major sports
in North America.
Despite a rocky beginning,
traditional “football” appears
poised for a rise to national
prominence.