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Post by slasher911 on Nov 5, 2011 18:55:56 GMT -5
Free tickets.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2011 9:09:50 GMT -5
I actually watch MLS. A lot of the teams play in smaller soccer-only stadiums now which hold about the same amount as your typical NBA or NHL arena. The ones with large quantities of empty seats still play in those football stadiums.
Seattle, Portland and Chicago have some of the most devoted fan-bases around, and that devotion goes back to the old NASL days of the '70s. (Chicago Sting and Karl-Heinz Granitza, FTW.) Soccer boomed in the '70s and the glut of youth soccer players around that time grew up loving soccer from the get-go, so their kids play soccer - that equals more fans. (Mia Hamm was a fan of the Washington Diplomats - the "Dips".)
I can speak of Chicago because they have a group called "Section 8". Those are some wild people who love the team and travel to all road games to represent the Fire. They scream and yell and chant all game long.
One thing that helps soccer in this country (now, unlike in the late '70s) is they each have one exemption to sign an international star without having to worry about the salary cap. (Points to a certain player in Los Angeles, the Fire signed Blanco from Mexico.)
Back when there was the NASL, one team (the Cosmos, natch) would sign Pele, then sign Franz Beckenbauer and all these other foreign stars, so the rest of the league tried to keep up and do the same thing.
Problem was, while the Cosmos were under the Warner Communications banner (and overspent, but had money coming in from elsewhere - like their film-and-TV division, Atari, etc., so they were protected), other teams didn't have that kind of protection and bankrupted themselves (and eventually the league) by signing George Best and Kevin Keegan for exorbitant salaries.
The US Men's team getting better (they don't flat-out suck anymore), helps fans get acquainted with some of the players by checking out their "local" MLS team.
So it's a combination of everything.
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Post by Cyno on Nov 6, 2011 10:28:27 GMT -5
There are some fantastic MLS fan bases, no doubt, but ask a casual sports fan to name five MLS TEAMS, nevermind players, and they'd be at a loss. *tries this* New York Red Bulls Chicago Fire LA Galaxy DC United Seattle Sounders Sweet! Granted, I only knew about the Galaxy from David Beckham and the Chicago Fire from uh, this thread. >_> Sad thing is I know of more EPL teams than MLS. |
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Post by Hurbster on Nov 6, 2011 11:12:59 GMT -5
The US football team has been more than reasonable for a number of years now. Quite a few scattered around Europe playing top level as well.
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Post by bertheart90 on Nov 7, 2011 9:53:44 GMT -5
football is a globel sport more so than baseball (rounders with steriods) or basketball if the u.s get a world cup bid that would push it over the top anyway what ever happened to freddy adu ?
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Post by Bone Daddy on Nov 7, 2011 10:53:41 GMT -5
I find this very hard to believe. The revolution play at the same stadium as the patriots, and only about 10,000 people show up for the game. It looks pathetic
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The Line
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Post by The Line on Nov 7, 2011 11:02:46 GMT -5
I find this very hard to believe. The revolution play at the same stadium as the patriots, and only about 10,000 people show up for the game. It looks pathetic Aye, but there are other organizations like Seattle that sell out all their tickets (The CLink, when set-up for the Sounders, holds abut 35k) on a consistent basis who skew it. |
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Libertine
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Post by Libertine on Nov 7, 2011 12:09:15 GMT -5
I understand the game is most popular with children, particularly girls, in the US. The US has some good players and an interesting sounding league. If I had the time I'd watch more of it, but it's difficult keeping up with the amount of games in England.
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Post by FUNK_US/BRODUS on Nov 7, 2011 12:17:14 GMT -5
Good. I hope football continues to grow in America. Top level football is incredibly fun to watch when you take out the diving etc. At its best, it really is The Beautiful Game.
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Post by HMARK Center on Nov 7, 2011 13:32:01 GMT -5
I have been meaning to check out the Red Bulls; their new arena is one town over from where I grew up. My hometown, Kearny, has been known as "Soccertown USA" due to producing World Cup players and usually having a top flight high school team, and the cultural make up of the area (older Irish and Scottish base, younger Iberian base) makes it a logical place to put a pro soccer team.
Also, Red Bulls games have the "Empire State Supporters" and "Garden State Supporters" sections that lead in singing chants and whatnot. We're just now attempting to copy that kind of format at Devils game across the river in Newark.
Still, yeah, it might be more attended, but it's certainly not high on the national radar yet. We're spoiled in this country by having the #1 leagues on the planet for US football/baseball/hockey/basketball, so a lot of people get turned off realizing that the best talent doesn't all come here for soccer.
Still, at least around here it certainly does appear to be growing.
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Red Lion
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Post by Red Lion on Nov 7, 2011 13:46:00 GMT -5
Football won't get big in America, 45 minutes a half in a country where channels can't go 30 seconds without an ad break? Impossible!
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Red Lion
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Post by Red Lion on Nov 7, 2011 13:47:59 GMT -5
football is a globel sport more so than baseball (rounders with steriods) or basketball if the u.s get a world cup bid that would push it over the top anyway what ever happened to freddy adu ? He was a good player in a league full of amateurs (this was before the MLS was an attractive league to play in), and everyone soon realised that when he began to play his football outside of the US. |
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