JONATHAN CHAIT JUNE 28, 2010
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Over at the World Cup Blog, Stefan Fatsis is again full of soccer triumphalism:
A poster named “Irishman” puts it nicely: “The USA has the extraordinary luck to be both Germanic and Hispanic, black and white and brown, African and European and Asian, all in one driven national character.” Progress is uncertain for every national side, but it’s highly likely for the U.S. Irishman quoted Gandhi: “First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.” To which JustinO replied: “First they ignore you (to 1989). Then they laugh at you (1990-2001). Then they fight you (2002-present). Then you win (???). Does that look about right?” Yes, it does.
I'm still in the ignoring stage. So is most of the country:
Yesterday I watched the US-Ghana game in a steakhouse in the suburbs of Nashville, with the game sound replaced by a country music selection so immaculately insufferable that they’re surely using it to extract bogus information in the Guantanamo Bay torture resort. Apart from me, there was a guy drinking alone, and some of the kitchen staff.
That's Alexsander Hemon, also on the World Cup blog. People have been captivated by images of sports bars packed with World Cup fans, but of course, in a huge country it's not hard to pack a few dozen people with a niche interest in a room. If you want to claim that World Cup fever is going mainstream, you have to look at places that haven't self-selected for high-level soccer interest. And overwhelmingly America still looks like that steakhouse in Nashville. The World Cup is not like the Super Bowl or the NCAA tournament, where it's on television in every public area and everybody is talking about it. Indeed, it turns out that even I am following the World Cup more closely ("Not very closely") than most Americans:
Perhaps one day soccer will gain a mass American following. I wouldn't mind. There are lots of sports I don't personally enjoy watching, but I don't find the prospect of them becoming more popular any kind of threat. Maybe soccer will get huge in the U.S. That's okay! It won't stop me from enjoying the sports I like to watch. All joking aside, the idea that this is something worth fighting over seems bizarre.
Hemon takes the sensible position that he doesn't care if soccer never becomes a major spectator sport in America:
I've lived here for nearly 20 years, and have not had any problems finding people to watch or play soccer with—none of us, whether born in Bosnia or Togo, Rosario or Cleveland, worries about acceptance of soccer. The World Cup and Champions League are easy to find on TV, the bars showing games are packed at 8 AM on Sunday for a Premiership game. In fact I can see more Premiership games here than my friend in London, and this in addition to the Italian and German and Argentine league games that I get to watch. I play my soccer at 7 AM on Saturdays, because all of the soccer fields in the city of Chicago are continuously booked through the summer. Many of the fields along the lake shore are infested with children playing every day of the week.
Right. You need some level of popularity to really enjoy a sport -- fans of curling probably have trouble getting together a game or watching it on television. Once you're a top 10 sport, though, the country is big enough that you have all your playing and spectating needs taken care of.
9 comments
Mr. Chait, reading comprehension must not be your strong suit. Mr. Fastis' post is clearly not about the American public "ignoring" soccer. It's rather about the World. As the quoted commenter states: "To which JustinO replied: “First they ignore you (to 1989). Then they laugh at you (1990-2001). Then they fight you (2002-present). Then you win (???). " That was NOT about the US public, but rather the global football community. The US was ignored before 1989 (when they broke the 40 year failure to qualify). Then, with the failures of 1990, the surprise of 1994 and the disaster of 1998, the US was an international joke. In this decade, starting with the quarterfinal run in 2002, the US has become a mid tier power, "building a soccer history" as NY Times Sports Columnist George Vecsey said after the Ghana loss, coming to dominate CONCACAF and getting notable results vs. major powers (the gutty 1-1 draw with 9 men vs champions Italy in 2006, the 3-2 shock of Portugal in 2002, the upset of Spain and near upset of Brazil in 2009). As for your continual "This is a niche sport!" yelps, I'm dismayed again. Wow, the World Cup isn't the Super Bowl! And thou doth protest too much about "All joking aside, the idea that this is something worth fighting over seems bizarre." one wonders why you seem to follow any USMNT game with a post denigrating its impact, ratings, and popularity. As for the popularity, wow, 55% of the population doesn't care. What would that rating be for the World Series, NBA Finals or Stanley Cup? The audience for all the showcase events of major American sports has been declining for years because of cable and other broadcast choices. And there are plenty of people in the country who don't care about sports. The NFL masks that by turning their championship into a spectacle that the non-Sports fan watches for commercials and music acts, even if they don't care about football. I also notice that you don't beat your selective data about ratings this time. Perhaps because this time, the data is unequivocally good. To quote Sports Media Watch: "The match also drew 4.5 million viewers on Univision. The combined audience of approximately 19.4 million viewers would rank as the 6th-largest for any sporting event in 2010 (again excluding the NFL and primetime Olympic telecasts). The ABC telecast of the match outdrew Butler/Michigan St. in the Final Four, Game 1-6 of the NBA Finals, the Fiesta and Orange Bowls, the Daytona 500 and every game of the Stanley Cup Final. Ghana/USA drew a massive 15.4 rating in San Diego, the largest local rating for the match. Washington, D.C. (13.8), San Francisco (13.3), Cincinnati (12.9) and Las Vegas (11.7) round out the top five." And that was against a non-traditional power in a Round of 16 knockout game. After the Donovan goal, the USMNT was on the front page of every newspaper in the country. Does that happen 20 years ago? 10? 4? No. Soccer is on the upswing in the US whether you like it or not. I anxiously look forward to your whinging, poorly argued posts every step of the way.
- Crock1701
June 28, 2010 at 12:14pm
As I forgot, here's the link for my source: http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/2010/06/nearly-15-million-for-usaghana-on-abc.html
- Crock1701
June 28, 2010 at 12:15pm
What some of us find annoying, Crock, is the implicit suggestion among "triumphalists" that soccer's popularity in the U.S. matters for some reason. It sometimes comes with a whiff of superiority besides, as though soccer not only is becoming more popular, but that it *ought* to be more popular. Why should it be more popular, and why should we be so pleased and exicted about its becoming more popular than it was? I feel like I can't turn on NPR now without someone instructing me how important soccer is, as though it's not just a sport or a hobby but a moral cause. Will soccer join cycling among the most irritating liberal lobbies? That reminds me: This is a message for cyclists who take up a lane of traffic on LaSalle during rush hour. No. You have streets with bike lanes. You have buses with bike racks -- which many of you don't know how to use. You have draconian laws that prohibit any driver from looking at you funny. You have more than enough. You do not get the parking lane on LaSalle during rush hour too. No room for you there.
- jhildner
June 28, 2010 at 12:37pm
I don't understand why anyone other than officials at FIFA and a few ad agencies care whether the US is in or out, interested or not, watching or not. The only benefit for the US suddenly becoming more interested in the game are the higher advertising fees. Oh, and a few dozen more millionaire sports players. I say enough already. Those who like soccer - as I do - can enjoy it, and those who don't can go and play croquet or lacrosse or whatever it is they do.
- icarusr
June 28, 2010 at 12:45pm
"All joking aside, the idea that this is something worth fighting over seems bizarre." And yet you keep fighting. Why?
- cspencef
June 28, 2010 at 12:52pm
Who loves soccer more, USA vs England USA Population = ~300 Million, people in USA following world cup Very Closely and Somewhat Closely = ~63 Million. Population of England = ~50 Million... Who has more soccer fans... Just saying...
- pfinucan
June 28, 2010 at 1:41pm
I happened to spend the weekend in San Luis Obispo, CA, 3000 miles from my home, so I watched the US-Ghana match in a bar there. Not a sports bar, just a bar, but the tvs were all on the World Cup, and the place was crammed full of mostly college-age kids and people in their 20s, all screaming for the US and following every play. The guy sitting next to me didn't know many of the rules of the game, but he was just as excited as the rest of us. And just as disappointed at the result. I think US fan support for soccer is at an all-time high, but it is still nowhere near the level of the biggest sports, and probably never will be. And its format is unlikely to produce a major tv network contract that will flood the sport with money. But as some of your commentators have noted, fans of a sport can watch their teams and their competitors to their hearts' content, even without a "big-time" network tv contract. Networks don't have a stranglehold on tv content any more, and the lines between "major" and "minor" sports have blurred to the point of disappearing. Is auto racing a major sport? How about golf, or ultimate fighting? Poker? Golf is all over television, both cable and network, but I bet more Americans play and watch soccer than golf, and more Americans cared about the fate of this year's US World Cup team than who won the US (Golf) Open. US soccer fans can watch all the games they want, and find places to compete all over the country, so it really doesn't matter (except to the players) whether the MLS players are paid $100,000 or $5 million a year. Nowadays, there are niche markets for clothing, films, and television shows, so why not sports too?
- rpearson
June 28, 2010 at 4:08pm
Whether soccer becomes more popular will depend on how many young people are actively engaged in playing it. We all grew up playing / listening to / watching baseball, basketball and football (not so much ice hockey except for Gordie Howe) and "know" the game in our blood and bones. How many girls and boys under 18 are involved in soccer in the US? Have found this link: http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/123897 The number of league organized soccer players may indicate at least a steady interest in the sport among a young age group.
- kras
June 29, 2010 at 8:08am
Whether soccer becomes more popular will depend on how many young people are actively engaged in playing it. We all grew up playing / listening to / watching baseball, basketball and football (not so much ice hockey except for Gordie Howe) and "know" the game in our blood and bones. How many girls and boys under 18 are involved in soccer in the US? Have found this link: http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/123897 The number of league organized soccer players may indicate at least a steady interest in the sport among a young age group.
- kras
June 29, 2010 at 8:09am