America's Lastime

World’s most popular sport can’t find popularity in the United States

By John Mchugh

Instead of hearing the crack of the bat at Pac Bell Park or the roar of a touchdown at Bulldog Stadium, the rest of the world dances to a different tune, that of the ‘beautiful game’ and the ball hitting the back of the net.

The ‘beautiful game,’ as soccer is known, continues to dominate the world sports market, though studies and statistics suggest U.S. sporting history, media and advertising has stunted the growth of soccer in the United States. So what does the future hold for soccer in the United States?

On behalf of sporting goods manufacturers in the United States, a research company called Superstudy, conducted its recent annual study of sports participation in the United States in 2001. It showed that more than19-million Americans played soccer at least once that year and 15 million of the participants were under 18.

The study indicates participation in soccer in the United States has increased in the last decade with an increase of seven percent over the previous year and a substantial 24 percent increase from the 1987 benchmark measurement of 15.4 million.

In comparison to the study, soccer as a spectator sport at a professional level remains underdeveloped. This is particularly in comparison with Europe and South America, where the English Barclaycard Premiership matches had an average attendance of 35,464 in 2002-03 and the latest $1.6-billion television deal reflects the British soccer audience.

A theoretical explanation some historians offer for the relative failure in soccer’s growth is due to the theory that each society has a limited amount of ‘space for sport’. In the United States, this space has already been filled by football, baseball and basketball, which crowds out soccer as a spectator sport.

Dr. Dave Russell is a lecturer in history and the head of the department of soccer and society at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, England. He understands the vital role the historical background and cultural traditions of the United States have had in preventing the growth of soccer within its bounds.

Russell talks about how a primitive mix of sports allowed the creation of soccer and rugby.

“ It’s this division that has led to sports such as American football developing in the U.S. and not leaving room for soccer to flourish as in the rest of the world,” Russell said.

The Fresno State men’s soccer team was cut from Fresno State’s athletic program last spring along with the swim and diving team before being reinstated before being reinstated on a temporary basis.

“ We’re never giving up,” Fresno State soccer coach Chesler said. “We’re a long distance from our target, it’s a constant emotional thing.”

The Bulldogs face an uphill task of raising $2.7 million to continue the men’s soccer program, but are determined to battle the odds to survive.

“ We’re definitely on our own but we’re so determined. Sometimes the only positive way to look at it is it’s been an incredible learning experience,” Chesler said.

The prospect of women’s soccer in the United States was the major positive sign for the future of soccer in the United States. Unfortunately the first professional women’s soccer league, the Women’s United Soccer Association, suspended its operations after three seasons, failing to attract enough sponsors to cover a $17.5 million shortfall.

The last Women’s World Cup in 1999, won by the United States, triggered the formation of the WUSA. And just five days before the 2003 Women’s World Cup kicked off, poor attendances forced the league to fold.

The United States’ emphasis on advertising and marketing within sporting events such as football and baseball, greatly conflicts with the structure of a soccer game. Although football is played over two halves of 30 minutes, the actual length of a game is usually over three hours. Unlike soccer which is played over two continues halves of 45 minutes, not really suitable for advertising.

The layout of the game does not allow frequent advertising opportunities that are available in football. The 2002 Super Bowl contained a total of 85 product commercials, 35 advertising promos and 33 sponsorship messages broadcast during the game.

A total of 127.5-million people watched at least one minute of the 2002 Super Bowl and in the KN/SRI “How People Use Television” research, the reason for such heavy advertising became clear.

As according to the KN/SRI poll, “45 percent of Super Bowl 2002 viewers said that they were as interested or more interested in the advertisements during the game as in the game itself.”

To emphasize the value of advertising according to the Nielsen Media Research and Advertising Age Research, the average price for a 30-second commercial in the 2002 Super Bowl was $1.9 million, and Anheuser-Busch purchased five minutes of advertisement slots totaling 19 million. That’s in contrast with World Cup 2002, which was said by several television executives to be a “very difficult sell this year,” and something that may have trouble attracting advertising dollars in the United States.

Even so, ESPN attracted the biggest ever soccer audience of 3.8 million for the U.S. 2002 World Cup quarterfinal loss to Germany, despite the 4:30 a.m. PDT kickoff. The media are beginning to become an important factor in the future of soccer in the U.S., and many coaches, including Chesler, think the media need to support and boost the popularity of soccer.

“ The media need to appreciate the important role they play in the future of soccer in the United States,” Chesler said. “The country doesn’t have a background in soccer, so they don’t get behind the national team and the sport; this is something the media can help to change.”

Americans often criticize soccer for being “too slow” and “boring,” Fresno State junior Matt Holt said. “Soccer is never going to become big in the U.S., because we already have established national past times such as football and baseball. Maybe the U.S. national team winning the World Cup would make people interested in soccer.”