From: MLINDROOS@FINABO.ABO.FI (Marcus Lindroos INF)
Subject: "Fact & Fiction about US soccer"-suggestions?
Organization: Abo Akademi University, Finland
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 14:30:12 GMT
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.24

One of the things Chris Allen and I are going to do is a small brochure,
listing all prejudices and misconceptions uninitiated(sp) Americans have about
the sport. We feel this is important if the television companies, sponsors,
owners of franchises in other sports etc. are to offer any financial support at
all. Soccer still has an image problem in the States, and far too many of the 
crap and false claims made by SPORTS ILLUSTRATED columnists and the like are 
never being questioned by people who know anything about soccer.
---
Off the top of my hat and listed in no particular order:

1) "Soccer is a dull game where a goalless draw is the most common result."
(Admittedly, 2.5-3.0 goals per game isn't that good but still better than
 baseball's average of five runs during the duration of a 3-hour-long-game.
 Besides, FIFA is working on the problem. Incentives such as more points for
 goals and wins can rectify the problem to some extent. Unsportsmanlike
 conduct [timewasting,"acting"] is a far more serious problem.)

2) "Only poor developing countries are playing the game."
(Sure, Germany and Italy are the most successful nations of all time. Soccer
 knows no boundaries - everyone (rich and poor) is playing it.)

3) "Soccer is a silly foreign sport - an un-American activity"
(Soccer is not an American invention, but so what? Neither are tennis and golf,
 which does not affect the way Americans treat those two sports. Soccer is
 being "owned" by no one, although it originated in England. It is the world's
 number one sport and cuts right across national borders and has appeal to 
 all kinds of people, regardless of race, age, sex or nationality.)

4) "Every time soccer got a chance in America - it failed."
(Only once did American sports promoters give the sport a real chance, when the
 NASL was founded in 1968. After a slow start, average attendances remained in
 the 12,000-14,000 range from 1977 until the league folded in 1985. This is
 better fan support than the French, Belgian, Dutch and Portuguese pro leagues
 have. And all this was achieved despite the fact there were few American 
 adults that had grown up with the sport. The millions of kids who picked up
 soccer the NASL years should provide the fan base they did not have in the
 1970s.)

5) "Only kids not good enough for 'real' American sports play soccer."
(Some of the players on the current US national team were highly recruited
 for their skills in other sports, but chose soccer because it was their
 favorite sport. But it does offer skillful players that are too small for
 basketball or American Football a chance to play.)

6) "Nobody gives a damn about soccer - how can anyone use it for endorsing
    a product and advertising?"
(Conservative estimates put the number of American soccer players in the 15
 million range, although several of these only play it occasionally. So a
 market exists. Besides, having a foreign star players endorse
 a product will sell not only in the US soccer community but overseas as well.)

7) "There are four professional sports leagues already. Where does soccer
    fit in?"
(Having over 100 "major league" franchises certainly is a problem, but there
 still is a demand for more. All major leagues are currently being pressurized
 to expand further. Being a summer sport, soccer would "only" have to compete 
 with baseball for the fans.)

8) "Soccer is not suitable for television as there are no natural breaks for
    commercials."
(This problem can be taken care of, for example by condensing the picture so
 that there is room for the occasional commercial as well. Another possibility
 is showing brief commercials lasting only a few seconds, or "subtitles" shown 
 at the bottom of the screen without blocking out the action.)

9) "Poor fan support has always been a problem for soccer in the States."
(Both the NASL and MISL were doing OK in many cities. For example, there were
 twelve cities where local NASL teams averaged at least 10,000 during their
 entire existence. And this includes the difficult years of the early 1970s.
 What killed both leagues was mismanagement, lack of interest by sponsors and
 television. The national team has so far averaged 25,000 fans for their 
 international games on US soil throughout the 1990s. The fans will come, if
 the product is good. Half-baked solutions such as the APSL have little
 appeal.)

10) "A North American pro soccer league would not be financially viable."
(This remains to be seen. One should remember that soccer is far less 
 expensive for financial backers than, say, baseball and American Football if
 we only look at the price tag for owning a franchise or using one for
 endorsements. Granted, the sport doesn't exactly enjoy a high profile in the
 States but that should change. Everyone knows that the "established" sports
 [except basketball] are having financial problems and are rapidly becoming 
 too expensive for both TV and the corporate sector. Why not try something new
 and less expensive that is rapidly gaining in popularity as a participant 
 sport among young Americans - tomorrow's consumers?)

11) "Latins and foreign-born Americans play soccer, nobody else."
(Not entirely correct. Most of the players on the national team are white,
 grew up in the suburbs and are products of the college game. True, the sport 
 is popular among Spanish-speakers but there is no reason why blacks and whites
 should not like soccer. In fact, many of them do. There have been recent
 attempts to promote the sport in the inner cities, so the number of black
 soccer players will likely rise.)

12) "Soccer does not suit the American mentality."
(Millions of American kids play the sport. Similar 'simple' games such as
 basketball and ice hockey are firmly established already. Fan support for
 the occasional big soccer match usually is good [Olympics, US Cup'92, NASL
 in its heyday]. Need we say more?)
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An aggressive campaign, perhaps a dozen pages with a "provocative" picture on 
each [for example, a picture of Giants Stadium for the Cosmos-Strikers NASL 
game that attracted 77,691 fans in 1977, subtitled "SOCCER WILL NEVER MAKE IT 
AS A SPECTATOR SPORT IN AMERICA"] would be useful. All we need to do
is persuade USSF or somebody to print it, then distribute it to the relevant
companies and people.
---
Did I leave anything out BTW? 
 
       


MARCU$

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. . . Fififinlandssvensk
     
Marcus Lindroos                             Internet:     mlindroos@abo.fi
Computer Science
Abo Akademi University
Finland