You Will Have Soccer, and You Will Like It!
Soccer, I am convinced, has the potential in this country to equal, if not surpass, football in popularity. That is quite a claim to make, I know. But if it were possible to buy sports futures, I would put all my money into soccer.
Dig a bit deeper, past the arguments about beautiful game vs. sissy sport. There are some things that soccer can claim in the USA that no other spectator sport can claim, and in many cases will never be able to claim.
Big on this list is growth in internationalism and the role that technology plays. The cultures of the world are coming closer together, whether the American xenophobe or the Muslim fundamentalist cares to believe it. Communication and transportation are changing the world. People are connecting all over. And people all over love soccer.
In the business world, it is becoming necessity to build connections abroad in order to open up new markets, create international partnerships, and gain access to resources and labor. Television programs, music, and movies from other countries are more and more common in the US. It is hard to imagine these business and cultural connections developing without soccer sneaking in.
Elsewhere in the sporting world, American leagues are setting up shop in foreign countries both as a way to develop players and to develop new fans and markets. With limited success, MLB has set up in Mexico, the Caribbean and Japan, the NFL in Mexico and Europe, and the NBA and NHL in Europe. Whether it be setting up a full fledged league, marketing team gear, or hiring international talent, these leagues see the business need for connecting abroad.
The fact is, in the US we are doing what we have always done: absorbing foreign cultures into our own and exporting the result back to the home countries. This process has been accelerated by internet and communication technologies. It should be no surprise then that soccer is becoming more prominent in everyday American life.
A second big claim that soccer can make pertains to youth participation. Kids love all sports, of course, but the fact that soccer has risen to the top in terms of participation indicates that there is a whole generation of young people coming into their own who have at least a familiarity with the sport. With that, the claim that soccer is for foreigners can be laid to rest. The marketing problem of trying to teach Americans a game that they don't know or understand has vanished. Sports journalists who have been dissing soccer for the past 30 years are having their last hurrah now because they realize they are dinosaurs. The future is with the youth.
American youth are increasingly exposed to soccer through cultural and student exchange programs at schools and universities, television, music, and movies, and friends who come from another country or whose parents come from another country. Strangely, it almost seems that some people believe that companies will ignore soccer and continue to market traditional American values such as baseball and the fucking Hardy Boys to kids. On the contrary, companies will increasingly see soccer as a gateway to connecting with those valuable demographics, teens and young adults.
The growth curve of soccer in the US is not a linear trajectory. Technology will play a big role in the growth of soccer, and the rate of change in technology is exponential. As technology makes it easier for people to watch, talk, and share, for companies to more finely tune their products to customers, and for new niches to be discovered, the vast diversity of the soccer world is perfectly poised to take advantage. What seemed like a miniscule trickle of interest in soccer back in the 60's will accelerate to a flood in the coming years.
Dig a bit deeper, past the arguments about beautiful game vs. sissy sport. There are some things that soccer can claim in the USA that no other spectator sport can claim, and in many cases will never be able to claim.
Big on this list is growth in internationalism and the role that technology plays. The cultures of the world are coming closer together, whether the American xenophobe or the Muslim fundamentalist cares to believe it. Communication and transportation are changing the world. People are connecting all over. And people all over love soccer.
In the business world, it is becoming necessity to build connections abroad in order to open up new markets, create international partnerships, and gain access to resources and labor. Television programs, music, and movies from other countries are more and more common in the US. It is hard to imagine these business and cultural connections developing without soccer sneaking in.
Elsewhere in the sporting world, American leagues are setting up shop in foreign countries both as a way to develop players and to develop new fans and markets. With limited success, MLB has set up in Mexico, the Caribbean and Japan, the NFL in Mexico and Europe, and the NBA and NHL in Europe. Whether it be setting up a full fledged league, marketing team gear, or hiring international talent, these leagues see the business need for connecting abroad.
The fact is, in the US we are doing what we have always done: absorbing foreign cultures into our own and exporting the result back to the home countries. This process has been accelerated by internet and communication technologies. It should be no surprise then that soccer is becoming more prominent in everyday American life.
A second big claim that soccer can make pertains to youth participation. Kids love all sports, of course, but the fact that soccer has risen to the top in terms of participation indicates that there is a whole generation of young people coming into their own who have at least a familiarity with the sport. With that, the claim that soccer is for foreigners can be laid to rest. The marketing problem of trying to teach Americans a game that they don't know or understand has vanished. Sports journalists who have been dissing soccer for the past 30 years are having their last hurrah now because they realize they are dinosaurs. The future is with the youth.
American youth are increasingly exposed to soccer through cultural and student exchange programs at schools and universities, television, music, and movies, and friends who come from another country or whose parents come from another country. Strangely, it almost seems that some people believe that companies will ignore soccer and continue to market traditional American values such as baseball and the fucking Hardy Boys to kids. On the contrary, companies will increasingly see soccer as a gateway to connecting with those valuable demographics, teens and young adults.
The growth curve of soccer in the US is not a linear trajectory. Technology will play a big role in the growth of soccer, and the rate of change in technology is exponential. As technology makes it easier for people to watch, talk, and share, for companies to more finely tune their products to customers, and for new niches to be discovered, the vast diversity of the soccer world is perfectly poised to take advantage. What seemed like a miniscule trickle of interest in soccer back in the 60's will accelerate to a flood in the coming years.
posted by Andy at
11:02 PM
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