After stressing the growth of soccer enthusiasts all over the United States - justified by attendance figures and TV ratings over the summer - The San Jose Mercury News' Mark Purdy feels writes how that growth is about soccer...but just not Major League Soccer.
Over the past decade, soccer telecasts from around the globe have found their way onto American television sets through satellite or cable. Thus, in the same way that an NFL fan in Wyoming can follow the 49ers or Raiders, soccer fans in the USA can follow European or Latin American teams every week.
See? See? That's what I say to my soccer-holic friends. See how this doubleheader shows once more that "soccer" and "MLS" are definitely not one and the same thing? Last Saturday when FC Barcelona faced the Los Angeles Galaxy at the Rose Bowl, more than 93,000 showed up. It takes the Galaxy three or four games to draw that many against an MLS opponent — even when David Beckham deigns to suit up for Los Angeles.
See? See? This is still the marketing dilemma faced by the Earthquakes and their American brethren: In the United States when people buy tickets to a "major league" game in any other sport, they do so with the belief and knowledge that they will be seeing the planet's best players in the world's best league. Major League Baseball is the best baseball anywhere. The NBA is the best basketball league in the world. The NHL is the best hockey league in the world.
http://www.mercurynews.com/markpurdy/ci_13002080
Over the past decade, soccer telecasts from around the globe have found their way onto American television sets through satellite or cable. Thus, in the same way that an NFL fan in Wyoming can follow the 49ers or Raiders, soccer fans in the USA can follow European or Latin American teams every week.
See? See? That's what I say to my soccer-holic friends. See how this doubleheader shows once more that "soccer" and "MLS" are definitely not one and the same thing? Last Saturday when FC Barcelona faced the Los Angeles Galaxy at the Rose Bowl, more than 93,000 showed up. It takes the Galaxy three or four games to draw that many against an MLS opponent — even when David Beckham deigns to suit up for Los Angeles.
See? See? This is still the marketing dilemma faced by the Earthquakes and their American brethren: In the United States when people buy tickets to a "major league" game in any other sport, they do so with the belief and knowledge that they will be seeing the planet's best players in the world's best league. Major League Baseball is the best baseball anywhere. The NBA is the best basketball league in the world. The NHL is the best hockey league in the world.
http://www.mercurynews.com/markpurdy/ci_13002080
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