The United States hasn’t caught soccer fever yet, but it’s running a bit of a temperature.
While U.S. athletes rate among the best in many sports, Americans are rarely mentioned when talk turns to the world’s soccer stars.
But many people, including agent Richard Motzkin, contend that the planet’s most popular game will soon snap American ambivalence. They point to a steady upward arc in interest from 1986, when the U.S. last failed to qualify for the World Cup, to today, as the team prepares for a sixth straight finals bid.
When Motzkin made the decision to begin representing soccer players in 1995, the U.S. didn’t have a competitive pro league, and Major League Soccer wouldn’t kick off for another year.
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“Many people thought it was crazy and questioned what I was doing with my life,” said Motzkin, who now represents some of the U.S. national team’s biggest stars, including captain Landon Donovan and Freddy Adu.
Times were “challenging” at first, Motzkin said, but soccer was enjoying a popularity boost from the 1994 World Cup. Also, the domestic youth leagues had been swelling for years, as the Internet and expanded cable and satellite offerings made “the beautiful game” more accessible.
“You just didn’t know what the best soccer looked like, but if you’re a top soccer player [today], you’re probably watching a little bit of Manchester United or AC Milan every week,” he said. “Eleven-year-olds who play soccer know exactly who Arsenal is.”
American youngsters are even being sought out by top European clubs, including Chelsea, Manchester United and Everton, which are developing partnerships in the U.S.
Motzkin has enjoyed soccer’s ascent. Three years ago he sold his agency to Wasserman Media Group, a marketing agency, and he’s noticed dealings with clubs, agents, partners and sponsors becoming increasingly international.
“There’s more of a reflection that it’s a worldwide marketplace,” he said.
Soccer isn’t poised to take on the Super Bowl, Kuper said, but its top product rivals those of America’s Big Four: the well-heeled NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL, whose lengthy seasons provide year-round entertainment.
In 2006, the World Cup final — with 16.9 million Americans watching, five million of them the Spanish broadcast — beat out deciding games of baseball’s World Series (16.3 million) and basketball’s NBA finals (15.7 million).
“Soccer is going to get a place at the top table,” Kuper said, “but baseball, basketball and football aren’t going to go anywhere.”
Evidence that soccer is shedding its second-class citizenry may lie in the ticket sales for the World Cup in South Africa. Speaking on March 4, U.S. Soccer Federation spokesman Neil Buethe said at least 125,000 tickets had been sold stateside, more than in England or Brazil and second only to South Africa.
It’s difficult to compare this year’s ticket sales, Buethe said, because FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, has changed how it sells them.
The federation had about 10,000 tickets allotted for the U.S. team’s first-round games in the 2006 World Cup in Germany — not enough to sate the 40,000 applicants but enough to top the combined American sales of the 2002, 1998 and 1990 World Cups combined, Buethe said.
“I think there’s definitely been a noticeable change in the interest level, not only with fans but also with broadcasters and media in general,” he said.
ESPN approached the U.S. Soccer Federation last year and shared its plan to pump the World Cup into American homes. The network aired a handful of World Cup games in the 1980s and none in 1990, but showed every game of the 1998 and 2006 tournaments live.
Americans can expect the same this year, as ESPN plans to put its muscle behind soccer like never before, said Seth Ader, the network’s senior director of sports marketing.
