The World’s Game

written by Troy Ewers

Soccer Is The World's Most Popular Sport

Mexico, South America, Europe, and Africa all call Soccer/Futbol the sport of their respective cultures. In England, football games represent cities and communities in a way that only college football could rival... Maybe! On Netflix, the series 'Sunderland till I Die’, profiles a Football Club that balances trying to win games and represent a small city in England. While watching the show I immediately thought to myself, is there anything remotely close to home that has that passion towards a team. Growing up in the Bay Area I can say there is that passion towards their teams in each city, but that passion is different in each city and with a different sport. In San Francisco, the Giants were always a hometown favorite since their move from New York. The ballpark(AT&T Park)  itself is a staple landmark in "The City''. When the Giants won 3 World Series titles in 6 years, San Francisco treated those teams like the Yankees. In Oakland, the world knows about the city's loyalty. Loyalty to the Silver & Black, The Oakland Raiders (bet you said that like Chris Berman) are known for their loyal fan base and how their rugged style of play represented the city of Oakland. Even though I come from an area where the passion is expressed in the love of sports, the Bay Area like the rest of America doesn't necessarily express that love toward soccer. My fascination with soccer and people's love for the game stems when my aunt gave me an Arsenal Football Club hat as a gift from her trip to London. I was intrigued by the hat so much that the next time an Arsenal vs Manchester United match was on NBC, I watched the entire game and fell in love with how the game was played. Not only did Arsenal win, but the game was so flawless. The passing and scoring looked like something from a  video game and I was stunned to see the crowd explode in cheers when Arsenal scored. I followed Arsenal the rest of the season and I instantly became a die hard fan, it probably helped my case at the time hearing about what English soccer journalists call "the Greatest Season ever played in Premier League history. " I was hooked to a sport that the rest of the world was hooked to; Everywhere except the country I lived in. The reason for this could be attributed to  a number of things, could be the channel American soccer is displayed on? Well Major League Soccer(MLS) plays on ESPN and in a pandemic you would think any live sport played on ESPN would get viewers... Hell, Korean baseball got a positive rating and MLS got lower ratings than Korean Baseball. MLS historically gets low ratings, it seems the only time Americans will watch soccer is the World Cup or Olympics. 

So How Do We Fix This?

What could it be that England and the rest of the World love about the game of Soccer that Americans don’t? If there's one thing I can point to, it's America’s Addiction to 2 things... Scoring and Stars.. In America, especially since the explosion of social media (even going back to Michael Jordan) American sports fans love scoring and love stars. It's how Steph Curry became one of the most beloved superstars of this generation. In baseball, a sport lacking in scoring since the Steroid Era, Aaron Judge SHOULD and  could still be one of the bigger stars in the MLB, due to the simple fact he hits a lot of Home Runs. The Soccer stars that have global fame including in the US all have one thing in common, they score! Messi scores, Ronaldo scores, Salah scores, all the big names score. The MLS doesn't produce a lot of scoring, because it's style of play lacks in comparison  to Europe, South America, and Africa. The MLS’s style of play isn't as fast paced, technical, or as elegant. A unique style of play is what fans around the world appreciate about the sport of soccer. They appreciate how beautiful the game is, the art of it all. They see that you can't score if your style of play isn't at a high level. As Americans the only style of play we appreciate is to put the damn ball in the damn net. If a player in the MLS scored a lot of goals then he'd be a star, it's that simple. Which would help promote the MLS as a whole, but that's easier said than done. With the top American talent going overseas to showcase their skills against the best in more dominant leagues, it leaves the MLS to be the home to a lower level of professional players, whether that be a younger less developed player or a former star from another league who is past his prime. The only cure for the MLS to produce a star is by developing their clubs into more established organizations, putting the money into clubs the way Baseball, Basketball or Football do. Clubs like the San Jose Earthquakes and Atlanta FC are putting more money into developing their clubs, but the rest of the league needs to follow suit or else Americans just forget about the MLS and American Soccer all together. Americans would rather watch/ sports video games than the actual sport, that sport is in trouble and Americans are choosing 2k tournaments over the MLS. 

The World's Game might be too much for our country.