Photo Credits: Fetchy
Soccer has been struggling to find its way into the mainstream of American sports for a long time. Since the late 70’s, when stars like Pelé and Beckenbauer were brought in to try to stir some interest, all attempts have been in vain. While the skill level of the U.S. men’s soccer team has improved greatly (the team is now a regular and consistent participant in the World Cup), soccer hasn’t become a big-time sport yet.
In my opinion, soccer has a branding problem and these are some of the reasons:
- Soccer is introduced to kids mainly as a girls’ sport. It is also promoted as a recreational activity, rather than a serious competitive sport. Boys, from an early age, are steered toward “real” sports like football, basketball and baseball.
- Male sports dominate TV air time. Until soccer is seen as a serious sport for guys it will not have the media coverage it needs to be catapulted into the mainstream.
- Soccer is popular in Europe, which gives the sport a certain “snob appeal” that doesn’t bode well with middle America. Competitive soccer in the U.S. is mainly a niche sport confined to some big cities on the coasts.
- Soccer has a low scoring frequency, which compared to football, basketball or even ice hockey makes it too slow for the average American spectator. Few U.S. sports fans are inclined to watch a 90 minute game that may end in a scoreless tie (can somebody say “I want my money back”?).
- The format under which soccer is played (two uninterrupted halves of 45 minutes each) doesn’t lend itself to frequent commercial breaks, which lowers its appeal to potential advertisers.
- The U.S. is not among the top 10 teams in the world. Americans love to win and can’t get easily excited about a sport where the U.S. team plays courageously and pretty well, but has never won a serious championship.
I am writing this post after the U.S. men’s soccer team has reached the finals of the Confederations Cup by beating No. 1 ranked (and overwhelming favorite) Spain, by playing with poise, courage and skill. They will be playing against Brazil for the title this Sunday.
A U.S. win, especially if it’s an exciting game, could be the beginning of a new era of soccer in the U.S., a re-branding of sorts that may change many of the current perceptions about the sport. I certainly hope so. If you’re reading this, tune into the game this Sunday at 2:30pm EST and cheer for team U.S.A. Those guys are working hard to make history and they deserve a lot of credit for what they’ve done so far.
That’s why the LA Galaxy signed up David Beckham, no? To hopefully help win a major championship (Your #6 point), and the launch the sport into the lime light.
Maybe they should allow more slide tackles, would appeal to our natural tendency for violent sports. Just kidding…
Too bad U.S.A lost in the finals… But they played very well. We can’t forget that they played against Brazil, the most successful country in the world concerning soccer.
As for soccer in the states, I feel that it is going to start to pick up momentum. I believe that it will become more and more popular. The Europeans have been playing the sport for over a 100 years, and many of the European clubs have existed for over 100 years. So in the next fifty years, we should see an increase in soccer’s popularity among the Americans.
what i find really cool, is that You are talking abouth the product (the soccer) from brandning perspective and what You are doing is not phantasize about advertising issues of soccer, but really analyze the products features. I find this attitude really on the right track. What’s the point in workingt on advertizing strategy (although from branding perspective) if the product itself is flawed — for the particular kind of audience. just not power enough in soccer for americans, i guess. good article. indeed good. thank You!
This website is demeaning to the wonderful sport of soccer, which i love. I feel offended.
Dear Managment
Hi
As the folowing study in your site that was so usefull,I am thank you.In fact I want to more reasearch about Soccer branding.let me know more Connection .
Yours Faithfully
Ali.R.Ahmadian
Thanks for this post, I’ve been at all times on the lookout for this convenient articels all over the place however couldn’t discover complete data supplied here. thank you. and I will just reference some of you words .