In most countries, the name of the game sounds the same. Words like soccer, fussball, soccer, futebol… not only do they sound the same, they are the same game. In America, however, they call it football. Major League Soccer (MLS) as an American professional soccer league has been around for some time.
Unlike other major American league sports, MLS does not dominate the sport’s public attention on a global scale, nor is its champion crowned the ‘World Champion’. MLS has been in constant development. Did you gain significant public and media attention in the football world? Nope!
Soccer being the second, seventh or 10th most popular sport in the US doesn’t make a big difference, the American public will still follow the NFL, MLB, NHL or NBA. The global public would follow those leagues with the same attention as the world’s leading sports leagues.
In recent years with the globalization of the media, the world sports landscape has begun to change; In the process, the English Premier League is promoting itself as ‘The World’s Greatest Show’ and is, in fact, the most popular and most watched sports league in the world, with a current worldwide audience of 500 million. people and media revenue for the 2007 to 2010 seasons worth over $5 billion. If the world watches soccer leagues like the English Premiership or the Spanish League, who will watch American major league sports besides domestic viewers? Will a part of the American public also watch soccer leagues abroad? Such questions caused soccer to become a topic in American sports.
From time to time, MLS officials would wake up from the torpor of being in the shadow of the top 4 American leagues around the time the World Cup takes place and it becomes apparent just how immense the game of soccer is in terms of global public interest. , media attention, sponsors.
As the noise around the World Cup passes, MLS would fall back into slumber. It wasn’t going to be like that after the 2006 World Cup in Germany, when the world public had a clear idea of the modern European football stadiums, the players’ multi-million dollar contracts… the world sporting spotlight took over football.
This time it is not MLS that is going to take the lead in promoting MLS, it is the entire American professional sports entertainment industry. It is an economic opportunity in which the money that revolved around world football was too great to lose or discard.
In the summer of 2007, US soccer attempted to take over world soccer by offering David Beckham a $250 million contract, the most expensive soccer player contract in the history of the sport, described by some as the deal to bring Beckham to America. It is believed to be the greatest in the history of the sport. MLS sends a message to the world.
In the middle of summer, when the European leagues were between seasons and the waters were calm, MLS got its desired exposure with news dominated by the Beckham family’s move to Los Angeles. Did the stories overwhelm the world soccer media and public attention in favor of MLS? Nope!
Do you have a long-term exposure of 250 million dollars? Time will tell. Autumn is here, the European and international leagues are in full swing, the world sports news publishes fewer and fewer articles about Beckham, LA Galaxy and MLS. To make matters worse, LA will hardly make the play-offs, giving the media less to write about.
In the league that has had a total loss of more than $350 million in the first 8 years after its founding (a 2004 BusinessWeek report), where only two teams, LA Galaxy and FC Dallas, are currently profitable with With 3 additional teams expected to be profitable a year from now, a $250 million investment for one player seems like a gamble. If so, what are the odds?
In recent years, several notable players have chosen to walk away from the biggest leagues in Europe and South America for a financially good contract with teams from the Gulf countries. Headlines reported rich transfer deals, although there was little or no follow-up in media coverage of those leagues.
It should not be forgotten that before the arrival of David Beckham, MLS tried to gain visibility with Freddy Adu, a player under 16 who was crowned the next Pelé. Adu received a lot of media attention, the world knew that he was playing for DC United in MLS.
Many may or may not know that Adu, this past summer at the age of 18, signed a contract in Europe with Benfica FC – Portugal. Before joining Benfica, Adu spent time over the summer at Man Utd’s training camp, Alex Fergusson giving him no reason to stay.
Benfica paid the Salt Lake City club $2 million for the player’s release note and Adu will receive $1.2 million per year, solid but not the deal headlining the news. Adu was not on Benfica’s Champions League match list against Milan on September 18, by comparison, a player like Messi at Adu’s current age was already among the 11 starters for soccer giant FC Barcelona. MLS did not appear to have gained substantial attention for the sport under Adu, nor did it contribute to his development as the world’s dominant player as expected. Throughout history, some of the greatest players of all time have played soccer in the United States, including Pele, Beckenbauer, Eusebio…
After decades of failed attempts for American soccer success, what difference does Beckham’s game make now (currently out for 6 weeks due to injury)? Let’s take a brief look at MLS, a professional soccer league that began in 1996 with over 10 seasons underway.
Logistics and facilities:
On the day of publication of this text, September 27, 2007, Beckham’s LA Galaxy faces the KC Wizards. SPORTiana.com, as the author of this text, was introduced to MLS through KC Wizards in the summer of 2006, a year before Beckham’s arrival in MLS. At the time, the head coach of the KC Wizard complained about having him and 2 other assistant coaches to lead the team’s workout, forcing him to leave several players from the 26-man roster sitting on the bench due to that he couldn’t have them all on the field during training. at the same time.
Training facilities included an outdoor field and the indoor field with a gymnasium used by the NFL’s KC Chiefs team, within the Arrowhead Stadium complex. The Wizard’s outdoor training field was located along the fence, to one side of the KC Chiefs’ training fields.
The turf on the Wizards’ field was almost detached grass as hard as a rock, a field where many players spent practice to avoid injury. A head coach, 2 assistant coaches, fitness trainer…NFL stadium and facilities…small office space in the corner of a stadium…would be a stark contrast to the clubs in the leagues Beckham was in previously played.
Players:
Most MLS players come into the league as drafted college players. College football typically means players play on a full scholarship with the first professional contracts signed around the age of 22. In other countries, the first professional contracts are usually signed at the age of 18, at the age of 22 the player ends a 4-year contract, and coaches have a better understanding of a player’s capabilities in professional football.
This means that college players are 4 years behind. Signing a first professional contract at the age of 22, they would exit the 4-year deal at the age of 26, at which point the world’s top soccer clubs would rather invest their money in a 22-year-old prospect who has also had 4 years of professional football experience. It’s hard for college players to overlook playing in MLS (the players’ first professional contract) on their way to higher-paying leagues, as most foreign clubs wouldn’t sign a college league soccer player with no experience in college. professional football at the age of 22.
Prominent American players such as DeMarkus Beasley ($2m for PSV – Netherlands, currently £700,000 with Rangers – Scotland) or Tim Howard ($4m for Man Utd – England, currently with Everton after being loaned out), joined MLS straight from high school. without playing college football, like Freddy Adu.
For an average football fan with the option to watch a variety of matches, for example the giants of the game facing off in domestic leagues like this past weekend when it was Man Utd vs Chelsea in England, Barcelona vs Sevilla in Spain, Roma vs Juventus in Italy, PSV vs. Feyenoord in the Netherlands… Boca Juniors matches in Argentina, Lyon in France… There is little room for MLS.
A football fan wants to see the competitiveness, the passionate fans, the fierce decades-long rivalry between the clubs, the tradition, the best players in the world, established players with a reputation of playing for prestigious clubs, ultra-modern football-specific stadiums, most of which are MLS does not offer. MLS needs to win the interest of the American public and media to win the same interest with the world public. Attractive, hard-working all-rounders like Eddie Johnson of the KC Wizards or Jaime Moreno of DC United, who proved their worth in this summer’s Copa America 2007, are the prototype players of a successful competitive league.
The modern soccer-specific stadiums proposed by MLS for all clubs are a step forward. The German Bundesliga witnessed a tremendous increase in national and global public interest and media attention before and after the 2006 World Cup, with a legacy of renovated old and new grand stadiums. MLS needs to internationalize as much as possible, the English Premier League did, when foreign billionaires started buying clubs, world-class players even came in huge numbers to make it the most watched and profitable soccer league in the world. Many writers have speculated as to why soccer is not as popular in the US as it is in other countries, most of them pointing to the fact that the game is not rated enough. Changing the rules of the game in favor of having more goals per game can be beneficial this time.
Soccer is a powerful force, it has already changed the sports philosophy of the North American major leagues, MLS clubs are competing in the Superliga and the Copa Sudamericana, the new New York Red Bulls stadium will have a full “European style” roof “, in 2007 MLS began selling advertising space on the front of the jersey (a minimum of $500,000 per jersey sponsorship), following the practice of international soccer.
As Latin American immigration to the US increases, so does interest in soccer. With soccer being the most popular recreational sport for both boys and girls, MLS has potential. In 2006, MLS Commissioner Don Garber expressed his expectations that the league’s clubs would be profitable for 2010 overall. LA Galaxy merchandise sales through Beckham’s next four years with the club may not exceed $600 million as it was during his time with Real Madrid, still an MLS player who graced the covers of the Sports Illustrated magazine and drew a sellout crowd of 66,000 to a packed Giants Stadium.
In the words of David Beckham on his signing for the MLS: “I’m going to come there to play soccer… I’m not saying that coming to the United States is going to make soccer the most important sport in the United States.” It is about taking one step at a time, if football wants to succeed in the world of football.