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ESPN dumping MLS Thursday night

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by poindexter, Jan 20, 2009.

  1. Boomer7

    Boomer7 Active Member

    I'd disagree with the notion of an "MLS attendance boom" in the first place. I saw that mentioned in earlier posts and scratched my head.

    As for last night, the fact that the national team plays so many games a) in Carson and b) against Sweden doesn't help matters.
     
  2. Boomer7

    Boomer7 Active Member

    As a postscript, CNN International is showing a special now on the 2010 World Cup and talking about how, in Nigeria, the Premiership is swamping the domestic league in terms of popularity. There's nothing uniquely American about MLS' predicament.
     
  3. didntdoit19

    didntdoit19 Member

    Why wouldn't people want to watch the best? Only when MLS is the best league in the world (or in the conversation) will it be popular. That's why the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL (to a lesser extent) are hugely popular here.

    We Americans like knowing we are watching The Best. And MLS is nowhere near the best, so we find other alternatives. As do the Nigerians.
     
  4. Boomer7

    Boomer7 Active Member

    Glad you threw in that last line, but one can argue that, given the vast number of Americans who prefer college basketball over the pro game, we don't always prefer The Best.
     
  5. didntdoit19

    didntdoit19 Member

    But the NBA is still more popular than college basketball.
     
  6. Shoeless Joe

    Shoeless Joe Active Member

    I don't have any numbers to back it up, but I'd disagree. Outside of NBA cities, I'd say pretty much for everyone else college is far more popular. How many people fill out NBA playoff brackets?
     
  7. cougargirl

    cougargirl Active Member

    I use a similar logic when readers call in and complain why there "isn't enough high school/college/pro soccer coverage" in our paper. Well, I say, when I see millions of people tuning into Monday Night Soccer and throwing tailgate parties in rural Wisconsin for Real Salt Lake versus Red Bull, then we might reconsider.

    When it comes to the end of MLS on ESPN, if a tree falls in the forest ...
     
  8. NoOneLikesUs

    NoOneLikesUs Active Member

    I think we're getting there. The numbers might not support it, but I think a lot of people dedicated to the game really cherish having the opportunity to go and support their regional club.

    Take a look at the advancement of supporter sections across this country - I'm not talking solely MLS here either as the USL has many fine examples of dedicated support too. People are starting to "get" it. Where these groups take the sport is anyone's guess, but ignore it at your own peril.
     
  9. forever_town

    forever_town Well-Known Member

    I understand the thinking, but I think it's short-sighted.

    In its formative years, the quality of MLS play wasn't up to snuff with even mediocre second division clubs in the best leagues. Only the very best teams could conceive of holding their own against the best club teams from other countries.

    D.C. United winning the CONCACAF Champions Cup in 1998? Big upset. D.C. United winning the InterAmerican Cup over Vasco da Gama that year, after losing to the Chicago Fire in the MLS Final? On the order of Appalachian State beating Michigan in the Big House.

    The league has shown steady improvement since its 1996 debut. It's become much more legitimate since the league fired Doug Logan as commissioner and named Don Garber to the post, which I didn't expect. It's definitely not the best league in the world and it doesn't belong in the conversation, but its better teams aren't an embarrassment now.

    We have to remember MLS is entering its 14th season. The best leagues in the rest of the world have been in business for over 100 years. They have youth programs, reserve sides and all those sorts of things that have been well established. MLS only recently established a league of reserve teams. It's only recently started getting into the youth program market (and I think D.C. United got pushed into doing it first when the French league invited its then-non-existent youth team to a tournament back in 1999 or so).

    Other things the league's done that should give it increased credibility around the rest of the world: 1) Dumped the shootout, then eventually dropping overtime from regular season play; 2) Changed the names of some of its teams to more closely resemble names of teams around the world (such as Real Salt Lake) and 3) Changed its first round playoff format to a home-and-away series with aggregate goals deciding the winner. Soccer purists thought the league was a joke back when it started because of some of its "Americanized" gimmicks.

    MLS doesn't have to be more popular than the NFL or the NBA. It just has to have a seat at the table. It's starting to get there, and may get there in a few years.
     
  10. Boomer7

    Boomer7 Active Member

    I'd agree that they're starting to get it--it's just a matter of how patient investors, sponsors, TV networks, etc., will be ... especially in a bad economy. I mean, the Revolution's hard-core supporters group is much bigger than it was several years ago, but the club struggles to pull respectable crowds for matches on short notice (such as last year's playoff game, which drew about 5,000 people). The club has to overcome more than a decade of its own questionable marketing, in which it targeted the kiddie crowd first and foremost. Contrast that approach with Toronto FC.

    As for ignoring things at one's peril, read the last graf of this story. And for all the Lou Dobbs types out there who'll yap about illegal immigrants padding the ratings, tell me this: If you were trying to avoid deportation, would you let someone put a tracking device on your TV?

    http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/2009/02/usamexico-sets-record-on-espn2.html
     
  11. Jeremy Goodwin

    Jeremy Goodwin Active Member

    For those who don't want to go to the link:
     
  12. Boomer7

    Boomer7 Active Member

    I like to make people work for it.
     
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