Now that my semester is winding down, I can indulge my semi-unhealthy obsession with the global game. In exactly one month, the United States’ most popular team, Mexico, will take on South Africa in Johannesburg in the opening match of the FIFA World Cup.
Just a warning to our dear readers (and to my fellow bloggers) I’ll be hijacking using this blog to geek out about the social and political aspects of the tournament.
First, let’s dispel the myth that no-one cares about this tournament in the United States. In 2006, ABC drew a 5.8 rating for the USA-Italy match (a 1-1 draw for the USA against the eventual champions). This despite the games being telecast in the morning rather than in typical prime time spots (the tournament was in Germany in 2006). The final of that tournament between Brazil France and Italy drew a 7.0 rating, a 180% increase from 2002.
As a comparison, here are the TV ratings for the finals of the four “major” sports in the US.
World Series (Average for all games in the series) — 10.1
Super Bowl — 41.6
NBA Finals — 8.5
NHL Stanley Cup Finals — 1.8
Buoyed by the surprise success of the 2006 tournament (ESPN didn’t even bid for the 2002 World Cup), the network is putting more resources into the event than ever before. John Skipper, ESPN’s vice president of network programming, is expecting this to be the highest rated World Cup in the network’s history. The network has hired famed English broadcaster Martin Tyler for the event and it will broadcast it’s Sports Center news show from South Africa.
The network can also take heart in the fact that non-World Cup international soccer has garnered impressive ratings. In 2009, the U.S. made an improbable run in FIFA’s Confederations Cup, a largely ignored, bi-annual tournament featuring the champions of each of FIFA’s regional confederations. The USA reached the finals of that tournament, losing to Brasil 3-2 but giving them a scare by taking a 2-0 lead on them. The game drew an impressive 4 million viewers in the United States, despite little promotion of the event. Here are highlights of that game (it just sounds better in Spanish):
Whatever success this World Cup garners can be traced back to two key events in US soccer. The 1994 World Cup held in the United States. The event introduced hundreds of thousands of people to the game in the USA (myself included).
The next big event was the USA’s 5th place finish in the 2002 tournament held in South Korea/Japan. Along the way, the little regarded USA beat Portugal, tied the hosts (South Korea), beat arch rival Mexico, and had Germany on their heels before falling 1-0 to the perennial powers. That impressive run brought an entirely new group of fans into the game as well:
To get you in the right frame of mind, here are the promo commercials for the 2010 World Cup:
Here’s an ad that announces the World Cup in the language of each of the 32 participating nations:
The Power of 10
31 Countries will Fall
And of course, Bono’s meta-analysis
Let the geeking out begin!
Comments 8
Kenneth M. Kambara — May 12, 2010
I'm looking forward to these posts.
I was in Brooklyn for the 2006 World Cup and the energy was palpable.
iamjennie14 — May 12, 2010
It's a shame that the United States don't pay as much attention to soccer as many other countries. Soccer is more than just a sport to watch. In Ivory Coast, soccer unites its country during a time of turmoil. Drogba, their star player, helps promote peace within the country and helps set up organizations and hospitals with the money he earns.
I believe some reasons why soccer isn't popular in the United States is that people are more interested in high scoring sports such as football and basketball. Also, soccer has 45 minute halves, so there isn't much room for advertising and breaks. And I think it also depends on one's location when talking about the popularity of the sport. In larger cities, one is more likely to encounter a sports bar where there are avid fans every weekend watching the EPL, La Liga, etc. But here in the midwest, there are less of these get togethers.
I hope soccer becomes more popular in the United States within the next few years.
As for my favorite soccer match... 2006 world cup (?) when Netherlands went against Portugal, with 16 yellow cards and 4 red cards handed out. Intense.
Tamar — May 13, 2010
Lately on a conference I got one of the most interesting insights on why US Americans are not interested in this sport (sorry, I find it physically hard to write or say the "s" word instead of the "f" one).
We have been watching the film "Offside(s): Soccer in Small Town America" [ http://anthropology.appstate.edu/news-events/news/189 ] and had a discussion with the "directors" - three English and Sociology college professors.
One of the most interesting things for me was not the gender (dominance of women soccer in the US in comparison with other countries where it is a "masculine" sport) or the ethnic/class associations of soccer ("it is a Hispanic/European/foreign sport") but the fact that unlike Baseball and (what the Americans seem to call) Football, soccer is a "club based" sport, it costs lots of money to train do it professionally, which in fact kind of blocks the poor from becoming professionals or even college level football players. I am thinking about Germany - where "everybody" (yes, first and foremost boys, not girls) are enrolled in a Fussball Verein (soccer association/club) of one kind or another, which is inexpensive; and where soccer is part of school and everyday culture.
jose — May 13, 2010
Tamar,
You are right that the youth club system in the USA is expensive and too often focused on winning rather than skills development. The US Soccer Federation has been trying to change that. Two years ago they created a "development academy" where 100 of the top clubs compete in regional leagues and get technical assistance and have limits on how many actual games they play (to put more emphasis ont raining). Additionally, each of the Major League Soccer clubs are now required to have development academies. This year is the first year that the academy system is bearing fruit with four teams (D.C. United, Houston Dynamo, New York Red Bulls, and Chivas USA) promoting academy players up to the first team.
Eoin O'Mahony — May 14, 2010
All I can say is: jaysus, Bono'll try anything for publicity.
Frogxonian — May 17, 2010
"The final of [the 2006] tournament between Brazil and Italy..." Fact check?
jose — May 17, 2010
Oops..it was Italy and France...who can forget the headbutt! Thanks :-)