Soccer/WC USA Thread

[Big T]

Here we go! Semi final of the Gold Cup tonight at 6:00 pm vs. Honduras at Jerry's World. Should be a good one tonight with the winner punching their ticket to the Final. The other two teams also playing tonight are Mexico vs. Panama and don't count Panama out. In fact, I think Panama are the favorites in that match. You can watch the games on Fox Soccer. USA is heavily favored to win the Gold Cup, but lets not get complacent tonight. Out of the two games they have played against each other this year, Honduras has already beaten the US once.

[Big T]

I called it! Panama beats El Tri 2-1!

 

Also, people are always comparing MLS to the European Leagues to show the gap between the two. They say while the MLS is rising and can and probably will become one of the best soccer leagues in the world, it's still a long ways away. Well tonight the Houston Dynamo beat Stoke City 2-0. In the past couple of years, the USMNT has beaten some perennial European powers and has played others very close. And thirdly, there are more US players playing in Europe than at any point in US soccer history. Therefore, the US is becoming a desirable place to look for players. And last but not least, the soccer academies here in the US attached to the MLS teams are churning out good quality MLS players. It looks to me like the gap may not be as wide as some make out.

[Big T]

Big news coming out of MLS today!

 

After years of waiting and fighting, DCU has finally come to a deal with the DC government and will be building their own soccer specific stadium.

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/07/25/dc-united-announce-long-awaited-plans-new-stadium-buzzard-point

 

Now there are only two teams in MLS that do not play in soccer specific stadiums and they are the New England Revolutionaries and the Seattle FC Sounders. The Revs desperately need to get a stadium of their own while Seattle is perfectly fine playing at CenturyLink Field since they average a crowd of 42,000 per match which is a sellout as they don't open the second decks for most games. When they do open the second decks they average around 56,000. It would be nice to see them get a 55,000 seat venue but it's not going to happen. The Link is fine.

 

Congrats to DCU! MLS is growing in leaps and bounds.

[LUSportsFan]

Big news coming out of MLS today!

 

After years of waiting and fighting, DCU has finally come to a deal with the DC government and will be building their own soccer specific stadium.

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/07/25/dc-united-announce-long-awaited-plans-new-stadium-buzzard-point

 

Now there are only two teams in MLS that do not play in soccer specific stadiums and they are the New England Revolutionaries and the Seattle FC Sounders. The Revs desperately need to get a stadium of their own while Seattle is perfectly fine playing at CenturyLink Field since they average a crowd of 42,000 per match which is a sellout as they don't open the second decks for most games. When they do open the second decks they average around 56,000. It would be nice to see them get a 55,000 seat venue but it's not going to happen. The Link is fine.

 

Congrats to DCU! MLS is growing in leaps and bounds.

 

That's great news!

 

A little off subject, but just out of curiosity, Jeld-Wen Stadium in Portland, OR came to mind as one that might not be soccer specific since Portland State plays there. Based on the history of the stadium, I think that it might have been another one at one time (before the 2010-2011 renovation). I did some reading up to refresh my memory. Jeld-Wen has been around since 1926 and has been the home of numerous teams of several sports in its history. Sports included baseball (several baseball teams), cricket, greyhound racing, as well as football (WFL and NCAA (Portland State and Oregon) and soccer. It sounds like the stadium has been well utilized over the years. With MLS and some NCAA football there now, it sounds like Jeld-Wen's current utilization is similar to the Dynamos' BBVA Compass Stadium.

[Big T]

Well if you look at JELD-WEN now it is billed as a soccer specific stadium that can host football games. It's the exact opposite of what Seattle has. Seattle has a Football specific stadium that can host soccer games. Really, any soccer stadium can host football games and any football stadium can host soccer games. Really the only difference is stadium capacity.

[LUSportsFan]

Well if you look at JELD-WEN now it is billed as a soccer specific stadium that can host football games. It's the exact opposite of what Seattle has. Seattle has a Football specific stadium that can host soccer games. Really, any soccer stadium can host football games and any football stadium can host soccer games. Really the only difference is stadium capacity.

 

In reference JELD-WEN's status as soccer specific, that's the conclusion I arrived at as I was reading about the history of the stadium especially the renovation a couple of years ago. It was just interesting to me to read all the different sports that had been played in the stadium over the years. Also, I didn't realize it had been around in various forms since 1926.

 

I guess I've gotten on some kind of stadium history kick recently. I've been looking up stadiums I am unfamiliar with. I usually look one up when either watching a game or when something piques my interest. I think the stadiums that interest me most are the older ones that have been recently renovated like JELD-WEN (1926) or like Percival Molson (1914) stadium in Montreal. I know its probably dumb, but it has been interesting to me. I've looked up a lot of stadiums while watching CFL games in recent weeks.

 

Soccer specific status gave me a reason to refresh my memory of another stadium. :)

 

Back to the original subtopic, the new soccer specific stadiums are a sign that the sport is in a maturing stage in the US. There are some nice, new stadiums around the country.

[Big T]

I remember JELD-WEN when it was a baseball stadium. It hosted minor leagues and independent leagues. The Timbers used to play there during their NASL, WACS, and the USL through 2010 before joining the MLS before it was renovated. It was one of the worst venues for soccer at that point. They really have made it into a great stadium. It's comparable to SKC when they were the KC Wizards and played three seasons in Community America Ballpark. If you remember, those days were terrible for SKC.

[Big T]

Here is a great article from the MLS website on the growth of the MLS since 2008 and the beginning of the MLS 2.0. And then talks briefly about the expiring TV contract and how this is the most crucial point in MLS soccer.

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/07/25/throw-remember-mls-20-crucial-period-next-upgrade

[Big T]

USA WINS THE GOLD CUP!!!!!!!!!!! USA 1 Panama 0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Big T]

Several huge event and announcements have happened this week.

 

First the MLS All Stars fall to AS Roma 3-1. After this there was much discussion on the talent level of the MLS compared to the other leagues. Here is what I have to say. AS Roma who plays in the Series A is a team of players used to playing with each other and know each others game. The MLS All Stars are players from all over the MLS who don't play with each other and are not a cohesive unit. Yes all very good players but they play against each other not with each other. So you can't go off of the AS Game. Instead tune in to the LA Galaxy playing FC Barcelona tonight and see how it goes.

 

Second there was a HUGE announcement made by the Commish Don Garber. The MLS will expand by four teams by 2020!!! There are currently 19 teams in MLS and these four will make 23. Then an even bigger bomb was dropped, Garber said the ultimate goal is 30 teams! We know the NYFC will play starting in 2015 and another one will probably be in Florida. Tampa, Miami, and Orlando are the cities being thrown around. Other cities being thrown around are Detroit, St. Louis, Charlotte, Ottawa, Edmonton, San Antonio, and Oakland/SF.

 

 

[Big T]

I have neglected this thread for a couple of weeks and several huge events have occurred since then.

 

USA 4 Bosnia 3!!! That's right! USA defeated Bosnia in Bosnia today in a Friendly Match. For those of you who are going "So what, Who and where is Bosnia?" Bosnia is ranked number thirteen in the FIFA World Rankings! This means that the US has bookended the summer with wins vs. Germany and Bosnia. Not only is this a huge win, but that makes 12 IN A ROW!!!!! While I wouldn't call this USA team a "B" team, it certainly was not their "A" team. The Depth in the USA system right now is phenomenal! Could this be the time for the US to shine? Is this upcoming World Cup the time when the US finally is able to break out and break into the top eight or even further? It's still a little to far in the future to tell but with the ways it's going right now it is a possibility!

 

Sticking with the USMNT and their game today, two players made their debuts today for the Yanks. 20 year old John Anthony Brooks who has citizenship for both Germany and the USA decided to accept the call from Klinsmann and play for the US despite one of the worlds best teams Germany showing him some interest. It depends on how this young man develops but at 6'4 and twenty years of age you can see the potential there and under Klinsmann's direction it should be interesting to see how he does.

 

Also to make his debut was Aron Johannsson a duel citizen of Iceland and USA. At 22 years old, he is a ready made player for the USMNT and he showed that on the pitch today. He played for Iceland's U21 team but was able to fill out his one time switch papers for FIFA and has changed to the US Uniform. Neither of these players are bound to the US team yet as both have yet to play a meaningful Cap as todays game was a friendly so theoretically both of these guys could change their minds and go to their other countries. But as soon as they play a meaning full Cap like a FIFA Qualifying Match or a CONCACAF match they will be bound to the US team for life.

 

And Finally possibly the biggest Soccer Story in the world last week, USMNT Captain Clint Dempsey has left the EPL and signed a four year contract with the Seattle Sounders in the MLS. This y'all is HUGE! To get one of, if not the best ever player to come out of the US to sign with a MLS team just goes to show you how much the MLS is growing. Dempsey may have just opened doors for the MLS to become a world brand and a world market. To get a player of his caliber in his prime was unthinkable three years ago. For those who thought getting an over the hill David Beckham several years back was huge, well Dempsey is in his prime at age 30. Now all I can think about is a couple years back when Cristiano Ronaldo said in an interview while in the states that he might play in the MLS some day. Of course everyone thought he was just playing it up for the camera and if he did play in the MLS at some point in his career it would be when he was old and washed up. Well, now with Dempsey signing, who knows what could happen.

[Big T]

One more thing I forgot to mention. To put how historic this streak the USMNT is on, If they win their next four WCQ matches, at Costa Rica, Mexico, Jamaica, and at Panama, the US will break the all time winning streak! It will not be easy to say the least. @Costa Rica is going to be really tough and the US just may see the streak end at 12 there. But if they do prevail, then they are going to have to face El Tri. The one thing I like about this match is it is being held in Columbus Ohio which is one of the furthest places from Mexico. Don't get me wrong there will be a large Mexican Contingent there but not as much if it were further south. And despite Mexico playing terribly right now, don't count them out. They always seem to step it up against the US. Then they face Jamaica. This game should be a win. Then they finish it off @Panama who they just beat for the Gold Cup. This is going to be a very tough match and if the US get to this match with the streak still intact, you can bet the Panamanians are going to do their best to makes sure we don't beat the streak versus them. It's an exciting time to be a US soccer fan!!!

 

USA USA USA! We are going to Brazil! We are going to Brazil! We are going! We are going! We are going to Brazil!!

[Guest CardAmbassador]

USA WINS THE GOLD CUP!!!!!!!!!!! USA 1 Panama 0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I was at this game LIVE. It was awesome, the game winning goal was scored by Brek Shea who is a TEXAN!! Whoo!!

 

 

[Guest CardAmbassador]

Nice thread, I keep up with soccer alot now. Dempsey news is exciting. For those wondering he is playing in Houston tonight at a sold out BBVA compass stadium.

[Big T]

Thanks CA! I don't know how many actually read the thread, but it is the fastest growing sport in the USA and it's a sport that I love. Whether people like it of not, it's going to be the third biggest sport in America in ten years if it continues to grow at the pace it is growing right now bypassing hockey and the NBA. And from what I've been reading lately, the NHL has passed up the NBA in the past couple of years. We don't see that much around here as we don't have an NHL hockey team in he local region but if your up around Chicago I'm sure you see quite a bit Blackhawks gear.

 

Anyways, MLS is growing at an astronomical rate right now and close to 40% of MLS fans are in the 18-34 year old demographic range. This is a direct result of the youth city soccer programs breaking all kinds of participation records. We will never be able to sway those older people who see the sport as a European sport and hate it, but with the influx of young people embracing the sport it's going to become on of the biggest sports in America. The Dempsey signing is just the beginning.

[Guest eagle eye]

Big T I think you are overstating the popularity of hockey. At least in comparison to the NBA. TV ratings for the NHL finals was dismal this year (and every year) compared to the NBA finals. Game by game nationally the NBA is far superior to the NHL. You're right about soccer as an up and coming sport. The thing, IMO, that hurts soccer is the disparity of the so-called soccer season. People know when football, basketball and baseball season begins and ends but soccer is a different story. World wide the "This Cup" and the "That Cup" to go along with Premiere League soccer and the USA's MLS and then the World Cup how the hell can you follow this sport? Even freaking golf has a beginning and an end to the golf season! More power to the soccer fans and the fans determine who's who in the pecking order of popularity.

Another thing that I think hurts soccer in the USA is the sport is really poorly marketed. You rarely ever see anything on TV to advertise the sport and most of the coverage is on the satellite sports networks and not in the mainstream outside of the World Cup. That should be a higher priority for the powers that be in domestic soccer.

As soccer becomes more integrated into the USA lifestyle it may one day become the most popular sport in world including the USA. Hopefully, it will be after I'm dead and the NFL is wussied down to flag football. (Ha)

[Big T]

"These are probably the most popular as 1,2,4,8 and 10 are played at college others are sports for adults but you see these sports a lot in America

 

 

1st: Football (NFL)

 

2nd:Baseball (MLB)

 

3rd:Ice Hockey (NHL)

 

4th:Basketball (NBA)

5th:Motor Sports

6th:Wrestling (WWE)

 

7th:Golf (Masters & Other Tournaments In USA)

8th:Soccer (MLS)

9th:Martial Arts

10th:Lacrosse"

 

There are different ways to gage the popularity of a sport. TV ratings are one of the least reliable of the methods. No one will argue that the NFL is the most popular pro sports league in America. But, because it is the most popular sport in America, how many people tune into the Super Bowl who absolutely hate football just because it's what the rest of the US does. Those people inflate TV ratings when normally they would be watching something else. It goes the opposite way with sports like NHL. It doesn't get the publicity or the attention from the media and the casual fan. Therefore when the Stanly Cup is on, those casual fans or the people that hate sports don't tune in like they do with the Super Bowl so the ratings are not inflated.

 

If you talking true fans, the NHL has the second largest following of any sport from around the world. It may not be so popular here in the US but while our ratings maybe low the ratings in other countries for the Stanley Cup are extremely high. This is what makes this the third sport in America. It's gauged by TV revenue which includes other countries. The NBA has a very large following in the US, much larger than the NHL, but while it has a large following outside of the US it's not as big as Hockey making it number four. Soccer of course has the highest world following. The only problem is that outside of the US the MLS doesn't have much of a world following. That's what makes the Dempsey deal so huge. Now with a player like Dempsey the rest of the world is going to be paying attention to the MLS which means more revenue which means more growth which means more Americans paying attention to soccer. With all of that said, the Following for the NFL in America and across the world is enough to have the NFL at number one pretty comfortably and will take quite a while before any sport could knock it off its lofty perch. This is a list from 2011.

[Guest eagle eye]

When I talk about the popularity of a sport I'm not talking about the world. Hell, isn't soccer the king world wide? I am talking about the good ole USA. Ratings on TV do matter. Ask the advertisers. Ratings matter A LOT! You talk about REAL fans then why don't the revenues domestically translate. Hockey may actually not even be in the top 5 in the US when you consider how popular NASCAR is. Those fans are deee-voted. You didn't address my complaints about the ambiguous seasons and poor promotion. Soccer is huge in most of the rest of the world but nowhere more popular than England or maybe the whole British Isles. Find me a list of the top sports in the US. Hockey is a niche sport and the attendance is indicative of the niche. The northern border play hockey in college and have junior league hockey. Soccer is a bit of a niche sport right now but it's growing unlike hockey. Gauging the popularity of a sport is always about money. Money and ratings. I haven't looked it up but I'd almost bet the top 5 sports in America are 1) football 2) NASCAR 3) basketball 4) baseball and 5) golf. Mainly these sports generate a lot of money for all concerned. I know you want to prove me wrong but I bet I'm not far off.

[Guest CardAmbassador]

attendance per game for Soccer in america is second only to the NFL. Now the MLS season is only 34 games long but it's still got a great fan following for those people actually close enough to see the game.

 

MLS TV ratings are very low but the sport still hasn't fully engaged the major US cities. Large cities like San Francisco and Atlanta don't have a soccer team so there are still very large markets to grab for soccer ratings.

 

Also if you want to go by Coverage, NBCSN has started showing the EPL alot, they're paying quite a bit of money to do so here in the U.S. When you combine the EPL numbers, World Cup numbers and MLS numbers together Soccer might just pass some of those other sports you listed in terms of financial popularity.

 

Regardless with each passing year it's getting talked about more and more, I'm sure you've noticed that ESPN just recently launched a daily soccer show and they always show USMNT highlights after games now, which wasn't always the case.

 

I suspect this next World Cup cycle on ESPN your going to see things take off even more. This is the first World Cup that will be in the right time zone for american fans in quite some time, that will make it extremely profitable and will get new fans interested in the sport.

[Guest eagle eye]

The sport of soccer is growing and I've said that. But the recent ESPN commercials about soccer with a "coach" at a press conference answering questions about the soccer league and getting them all wrong illustrates the confusion with the sport. There's a line in the commercial where the coach is asked what his goal was for the team and his reply was, "make the playoffs!". To which he was told there are no playoffs. He just smiled and said, "you guys just made my job easy!". The TV schedule needs to be better advertised and since there is a 34 game season maybe a little promotion wouldn't hurt.

[Guest boomer]

Great thread guys and I am a huge Dempsey fan and glad to see he is back in the States, too bad it is in the Great North West. Keep it up love to be able to get good updates without having to dig.

[Big T]

I haven't seen this EE but I'm not sure what they are talking about as the MLS does have a playoff.

[Guest CardAmbassador]

http://www.mlssoccer.com/

 

You can get updates here of course, it's probably the best site you will find covering the MLS. It's not your typical league website, there is alot of rumor content and personal interest stories from the world of soccer.

 

Dempsey and the Sounders play Diego Valeri and the Timbers 8/25:

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2013-08-25-SEA-v-POR

 

The game is sold out, it's on ESPN2 and did I mention it was sold out (67,000 tickets sold)

[Big T]

CA that's typical when we play the Timbers though. They actually open up the entire stadium instead of the lower bowl and the box seats. However it's gonna be CRAZY! ECTID! (Emerald City Till I Die)

[Guest CardAmbassador]

BOOOO!!! HDTID!!! (Houston Dynamo 'Til I Die) See that game last weekend? 3-1 for the good guys!

 

Well, I know it's typical, but I just wanted to get the magnitude of the game across to those that are less soccer aware than we.