Q: Soccer still isn’t going anywhere in America for this reason: People like me, who only watch soccer whenever the World Cup is on, are hated by actual soccer fans. They would rather have us not watch soccer at all rather than start watching soccer and rooting for the U.S. during the World Cup. It kills them to see people watching who don’t normally. I have heard people say things to other people along the lines of “you don’t even know the rules” and “if you don’t know what’s going on then don’t watch.” Ironically, diehard soccer fans here are actually hurting soccer’s progress here in the U.S…
– Brandon P, Zanesville, Ohio
SG: You just introduced a premise called “The Cult of Status Quo.” Sometimes when people become die-hard fans of something that isn’t mainstream – a writer, a band, a player, a TV show, a sport or whatever – they want to keep that thing the way it is over seeing that thing take off. Why? Because it’s cooler to like something that isn’t mainstream popular. Because mainstream popularity begets bandwagon fans and people who aren’t as sophisticated about that product. Because it’s more fun to love something before it takes off than after it takes off.
Hence, it’s easier for original fans to dump on newer fans than to tolerate them and hope they advance the cause of whatever they like. I notice this every time I mention the UFC or poker – there’s this bizarre (and totally dismissive) backlash, as if I’m not allowed to watch those sports or even mention them because I’m not a real fan. Well, how do you become a real fan? By liking a sport without disliking the core people who like it. So it’s a self-perpetuating cycle, and as weird as this sounds, the original fans like it that way. It maintains their ownership of the product. When the product outgrows them (specifically in the case of a creative entity), that’s when the core fans start throwing around phrases like “jumped the shark” and “sold out,” mostly because they’re bitter it’s not just them and the product any more.
With soccer, die-hard American fans love the World Cup itself, but they hate everything that comes with it; the World Cup drudges up the same storylines they’ve learned to despise (“Soccer can’t take off unless X, Y or Z happens,” “Our best athletes don’t play soccer,” “It can never be big here unless there’s more scoring” and “They should get rid of offsides,” to name four). I don’t blame them for reacting negatively to that stuff, but you wouldn’t call them welcoming, either. And they have taken a ton of crap over the years, which tends to harden the line between real fans and everyone else. I can tell you that in the past 15 months, when I wrote about soccer a few times and it became clear that it was more than a bandwagon thing, and that I was actually starting to understand what I was watching – the feedback from die-hards has been tremendous (and much appreciated). They just need to be a little less condescending with neophytes.
Good points. I remember 30 years ago when kids really started playing soccer in youth leagues by the droves (still do) and football & baseball youth leagues seemed to be waning. I thought then the tide was turning and I imagined soccer might overtake other sports in the US by now. Well, it didn’t and I don’t think it ever will. The American psyche likes scoring too much to get very interested in a sport that has next to nil (pun intended) in that area. I think most US sports fans appreciate the “nuances” of the soccer and the athletic skill the players exhibit, but they will never be willing to sit through them 90+ minutes just to see a 0-0 or 1-0 final. I personally would rather see my HS football team play any game in person than a 0-0 World Cup game that ends in a draw. Apparently, most seem to agree.
Having said that, to the real soccer followers out there: there’s room for soccer in the US, just don’t expect it to catch fire here. Be satisfied that we on the fringe get excited at World Cup time if the US does well. And don’t act too snobbish toward those of us who are not fanatics, or your ranks will never grow.
Here’s the problem. I don’t care about American pro soccer. It just sucks.
I do however have some interest in the Premiere league, but not for the players or games, but for the athmosphere. Those people get into it like nothing I’ve ever seen. They have to somehow bring that atmosphere to America, which they can’t because ESPN sucks the life out of sports by over-analyzing it and selling the ESPN brand instead of the sport. Watch a Premier league game. The announcers will describe the action, but if it’s slow, they’re just quiet and it’s awesome. Just the sounds of the crowds in the backround and no Costas or Buck telling us how beautiful the game is, instead of letting us watch for ourselves.
I also love the soap opera of it all and how these clubs have been playing each other for 100 years. This will never happen in America
One thing European leagues get right, that American leagues can’t grasp is… expansion. American leagues dilute their own product so badly. When was the last time there was any real expansion in the EPL.
They kick the shitty teams out and bring in the better B teams.