Awesome write up in the Press this week. http://blogs.houstonpress.com/ballz/2009/03/the_great_american_soccer_boom.php The Great American Soccer Boom: Not Gonna Happen By John Royal in The Other FootTuesday, Mar. 10 2009 @ 9:26AM Photo by faeryboots Last week, I wrote a post about the Rockets lowering ticket prices, and I made a comment about the Dynamo playing in a minor league. And that is a comment that I stand by, though several of you got upset. And the responses that I got were the same as I always get: soccer is the most popular sport in the world and that the sport and the MLS are growing inside of the United States. And I'm really sick of hearing these responses. Because I've been hearing this crap since I was kid way back in the 70s. For a major league, like the MLS is supposed to be, it gets about the same publicity as a minor league. It's got no national TV contract with one of the broadcast networks, nor does it have any national radio network. Hockey, which is primarily a regional sport, has a major league, the NHL, which has teams throughout the United States and the Canada and is supposedly dying. Yet it has a national game of the week on a major broadcast network every Sunday afternoon. And when the NHL playoffs start, there will also be games broadcast on NBC. The MLS, which is the league of the Houston Dynamo, used to have a national game of the week on ESPN 2. But the ratings were so anemic, so microscopic, that ESPN dumped the Game of the Week concept and now just uses the MLS the way Ted Turner used to use the Atlanta Braves for TBS; when it needs something to fill programming, it sticks in the MLS. That's not exactly the way a booming, national, and major sport is supposed to be treated. And could anybody see a team in MLB or the NFL or the NBA or even the NHL being owned by the same company that owns another team in the league? But this is a common occurrence in MLS. The group that owns the Dynamo also owns the Los Angeles Galaxy and Hunt Sports owns the teams in Columbus and Dallas. Now that's rather common in minor league sports, but it's not exactly major league - this couldn't happen in the major leagues now because of that whole conflict of interest thing. So tell me. Just when exactly is this soccer boom ever going to occur? Like I said, I've been waiting since I was a kid going out to the Astrodome to watch the Houston Hurricane of the NASL - a professional soccer league that had a national broadcast TV contract with ABC and in which the best of the sport wanted to play and weren't busy trying to escape from. - and they were playing before bigger crowds than the Dynamo. Millions of children were playing soccer in the 70s, and they were all going to drag their parents to the professional games. But that never happened. And you can tell this to me now, all over again, but it still ain't happening. So please stop feeding me this same line of bull over and over again. Soccer, or football as billions refer to it, might be the most popular sport in the world. But it's not here in the States. And despite the best efforts of U.S. soccer fans over the past 30 some odd years, it's nowhere close to being a major U.S. sport. And it probably never will be. So just count me in with Dan Rydell. I'm tired of people telling me I don't understand soccer and that it's the world's most popular sport. This isn't the rest of the world. This is the United States. And here, it's just a minor league sport with a niche audience. If the Houston Dynamo ever get off the digital channels, and if the MLS ever gets on a broadcast network with the real major league sports in the country, and if the MLS teams can ever draw legit crowds for actual games against other MLS teams that don't involve David Beckham, then I might be willing to listen to you talk about the great so-called soccer boom. But until that time comes, please, just give it a rest. I've been listening to this for over 30 years, and I'm really rather tired of it.
Letting the liberals make them change their name from the proud, historic Houston 1836 sealed their fate.
Pretty depressing article for a Dynamo fan like myself. But I must say, I does make a valid argument. Probably on point...
I'm not a big fan of the other football but I try to pay attention and have gotten into it a little over the years. Problem #1 they don't play the traditional season from fall to spring this causes two problems a.The MLS playoffs compete against the NFL and NCAA D-1 football b.During this last international tournament the MLS team (Dynamo) was in training camp vs the Mexican team that was in full stride If they want to be legit than they need their top teams to start beating top clubs from established leagues Problem #2 There is not enough money here to bring the top players i.e the NBA attracts all the top stars and has enough money to retain most of them I think the MLS is doing things the right way as far as growing it but I don't understand why they play when they play it's colder in the UK than in New York, Toronto and most of the MLS cities
I find this article to be misleading, threatning, and full of anti-futbol propaganda. Yes, the MLS might suck, but soccer will still draw the biggest crowds in the U.S. What the writer forgets to mention is the power of the latin american community, who can fill 90,000 seats just to watch mexico and el salvador play a friendly match. Last time I checked, Univision and telemundo are based here in the U.S., and the ratings are off the charts.
True, the latin american community can fill seats here watching Mexico vs. El Salvador and even Mexico vs. USA. But as a whole what does that do for AMERICAN soccer. We have to build from the inside, and that's where the MLS should come into play. I also find it very annoying that we don't follow a more traditional season. Sure scheduling, etc. would (and is) quite a task, but I think this does hurt the MLS overall. I'm also mad the Dynamo lost to Atlante...
Fixed. Seriously, they're the ones who were offended because they lost the Texas War of Independence. But the Dynamo won 2 championships under the name Dynamo so I'd hardly say it was a bad omen.
I don't find it very depressing. As has been pointed out his overall premise is that soccer will never be popular, but he only uses MLS as an example. He chooses to ignore national teams and the European teams that have a huge amount of support here. And anybody that looks at MLS in a realistic fashion knows the situation (both the good and the bad). The author chooses to focus on the negative to try to support his opinion, but has done little research and gets many facts wrong. The people that dislike soccer already will read the article and think it the greatest thing ever written, but in the grand scheme of things their opinion doesn't really matter since they were always going to hate soccer for whatever reason. The people that already like soccer will see through his flimsy arguments and disregard the article. Personally, I don't need other people to agree with me to justify my opinion of soccer. I enjoy it and that's all that really matters to me.
Why do you really care? Entering their fourth season, the Dynamo can probably write you off as a potential fan. Oh, well feel free to ignore the 30,000+ that show up for playoff games and the ~20,000 that arrive for every home game that's not in the sweltering day games during the summer. Why are the Dynamo the only team that people make threads to hate on? I personally don't enjoy baseball, but I don't start threads decrying the sport and the fact that the game was tainted horribly during the past ten years by steroids years and that most of the players could never keep up in an athletic competition with a soccer player. Yes, the games on ESPN were poor. But that's because some of the markets are a lot worse than others. We're lucky that Houston is one of the strongest markets for soccer in the country. Channel 11 has entered into a deal with the Dynamo to broadcast their games on 11.2. You're probably saying "But that's only 11.2! What about 11.1?!" The switch to digital has made that irrelevant. Multiple channels are now the new norm and the Dynamo are lucky to have a committed local backer in the media. Why is KHOU even interested? Because the Orange have grown exponentially in support since they arrived and are about to gain more support with our new stadium downtown for this "fad" that you love to downplay. Multiple ownership of teams was required for the league to survive in its initial days. However, most of the teams have been moving away from that and are profitable with the construction of their own stadiums. Look at some of the new soccer-specific-stadiums that have been built, especially Red Bull Arena that's currently under construction: Home Depot Center, Carson, CA Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Denver, CO BMO Field, Toronto, ON And those are just a few. Over 32,000 tickets have been sold in Seattle at Qwest Field, home of the Seahawks, for their first game this year. 20,000+ of those are season tickets. Cities like Portland and Vancouver are clamoring to get into MLS. FC Barcelona was trying desperately to get a team in Miami before the recent economic crisis. Now, why would a team like FC Barcelona, who has worldwide legions of support, want to get into MLS like Chivas de Guadalajara? Because there's growth here and it's a shame that you're too blind to see it. So yes, I get it. You don't like soccer. A lot of people don't. But a whole lot more do. If you gave the Dynamo a chance, you'd realize it's the most fan-friendly experience in Houston where you're not charged to death on tickets and a great, passionate game experience. The players are more accessible than any other league. Two of our players are on the US Mens National team, which just dominated Mexico in Columbus to record television ratings.
Eh, you know, I don't care any more if soccer takes off here anymore. I used to so I could watch more of it on tv, but with soccer channels and the internet, I can pretty much all the soccer I want. UEFA baby!
Not in the US. I think soccer is slowly growing. I don't think there will ever be a great soccer "boom". I think you'll just see steady growth as more people that played soccer as kids raise their kids to be soccer players. I don't think it will ever rival football's popularity in the US, but it could pass MLB in a generartion or two and maybe even still some of the NBA's thunder.
I don't care but when it's my tax dollars I do care. No new stadium for the Dynamo - a minor league franchise. What's next, the Aeros want their own arena? If the Dynamo want it, they can build it.
Please do some research in the thread dedicated to the Dynamo stadium. I don't feel like explaining the partnership with TSU, TIRZ money, the fact that they are paying for the majority of it (which can't be said for the Astros, Texans, or Rockets), and that it will help a blighted part of town that I happen to have been born and raised in. And Joe Joe, soccer isn't more popular here, true. However, World Cup ratings in 2006 were huge. They will likely be larger in 2010 with more games on good ol' ABC. If the US Mens National Team does well, interest will rise in the MLS.
it amazes me how much people underestimate the popularity (particularly as measured in revenues) of MLB in the US.
With the jobs and peripheral businesses that will open near the stadium, you can say that the stadium will more than pay for itself pretty fast actually. Putting something nice in that part of town is a huge positive in my book as well. Can't look at everything in the short-term. About soccer itself, in the US it will always be a niche/minor league sport. Doesn't really diminish any enjoyment fans get from it though. I do think that anyone expecting a huge boom for soccer would be disappointed, but that was never realistic. I think that it is about where it will end up. A loyal fanbase, 3 cable channels (that I know of), increased attendance for national team matches. Nothing wrong with that. Anyone bashing the MLS for what it is has the problem, not the MLS.
Yeah, I'm just going off the top of my head but I thought that MLB was more successful than the NBA financially. I could be wrong, but that's what I've thought for a while.
A few years back everyone said that no one would ever match NFL revenues. MLB essentially did that in 2007 season. They're in excess of $6 billion for both MLB and NFL. NBA revenues are around $4 billion. http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/25/commentary/sportsbiz/index.htm Major League Baseball's sales will surpass $6 billion for the first time this year, double the amount from 2000, and putting the sport closer to passing the NFL. A weekly column by Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer October 25 2007: 5:17 PM EDT NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- When it comes to sales, the National Football League used to dwarf Major League Baseball the way a defensive lineman towers over a batboy. Not any longer. Baseball will finish this year with just over $6 billion in revenue, according to Bob DuPuy, Major League Baseball's president and chief operating officer. To put that into context, that puts baseball right on the heels of the more than $6 billion in revenue reported by the National Football League in 2006.
