What U.S. Soccer Really Needs

The most popular sport in the world is still an alien in the land of another sport called "football".

The real "football" has never been popular in this country. It started when the United States became independent of England and wanted to do everything different.

Full of immigrants from Ireland, Germany and other European countries, and tired of battling for independence, the new Americans wanted to invent their own sport, different from their previous colonial power.

The Americans then invented the other football, baseball, basketball and a few other sports, just like they preferred to drink coffee over tea or write "color" instead of "colour".

Let me first apologize about my using "soccer", instead of the word we love—"football"—but to avoid confusion, as it is an article related to the USA, I had to use soccer with a heavy heart.

Football is a global sport, one which involves billions of dollars every year—player transfers, tickets to games, jerseys and club merchandise, TV rights—everything in football generates money.

The advantage of football being popular in America could be a blessing for this sport.

Look for example at the Richest Sportsman in the World list. Tiger Woods, a golfer, is first. Golf is a sport not popular in many countries except America, England, and maybe a few wealthy countries.

But the fact that Tiger Woods is the richest sportsman in the world is because the money he wins is due to sponsorships from companies and fans in America. Gatorade, Buick, Nike are just a few examples of his sponsors.

The fact that David Beckham, arguably the most popular footballer (and no doubt the richest) is just seventh in that order, with another golfer between him and Tiger Woods, and just shows where the maximum money lies.

The richest “sportsman” in New Zealand, a country where rugby and cricket dominate sports channels, papers and discussion, is Tiger Woods caddie.

The fact that two of England’s most successful football clubs, Liverpool and Manchester United are owned by Americans is also proof of where the money exists. The majority of stakes in Arsenal, England’s third most successful club is owned by Stan Kroenke, another American businessman.

Aston Villa, the club now trying to and closest to breaking the “Big Four” in England is also owned by an American.

America can bring money to football. Some people may argue that more money in football is bad, and that it is the passion of fans that drives football every week, but clearly with the insane amount of transfer fees, player wages, prize money, etc., there is no end to more money being pumped into football, at least for now and the near future.

But why is it so hard for football to be so big in America?

For those of us who grow up watching football, or rugby, or cricket or some other sport, we may not want another sport to “take over” our lives, so, similarly, Americans who grow up watching the other football or baseball may not want the real football to “take over” their lives.

But in America, it is a little different. College sports are very big, with channels like ESPN broadcasting games live. Fans buy season tickets to watch the whole season of a certain sport and support their college as passionately as a football fan would support their club.

But football is not as big of a sport in even colleges in America. However, soccer is the most popular sport in America among youth girls and the most popular sport along with baseball among youth boys.

But then why do these kids stop playing soccer, or do not take it as seriously as other sports?

The problem is that there is no scope to be a well-known professional. If one can be an American football star, or a baseball or basketball star, it would be easier to be more popular and, of course, richer with the tremendous amounts of sponsorships, exposure and salaries.

Major League Soccer, the domestic league in the country, has salary caps. Each club can have only one player who can be paid more than the salary cap. That rule was introduced with the arrival of David Beckham when he moved from Real Madrid to LA Galaxy.

But, the introduction of the rule shows how Americans are ready for a change in a rule for the expansion of a sport.

When Manchester United first signed Park Ji Sung from PSV Eindhoven, they were already a popular team in Far East Asia. Manchester United had a big fan base there, and generated income through jersey sales, visits to play friendly matches and TV deals.

However, when they signed Park Ji Sung, the amount of money they generated from the same part of the world has increased dramatically. Manchester United can now sell more jerseys, demand more money for appearances for friendly matches and TV right deals have increased.

The awareness one player brought to football fans in Far East Asia, and non-football fans in South Korea—the country where Park comes from—has been enormous. Football fans in South Korea have a reason to buy a new jersey every season, a new topic to talk of everyday, and non-football fans have a reason to start watching the sport.

The arrival of Thaksin Shinawatra at Manchester United’s local rivals, Manchester City, also brought a similar change.

Shinawatra bought the club in 2007, and the fan base for the club in his native Thailand increased massively. Thailand did not even have a player from their country playing in a top European league, but just the fact that the owner of a Premier League club was one of them raised the awareness, thus increasing the fan base.

Shinawatra signed two young players from Thailand for his new club as well, making the fans more delighted. Manchester City opened new youth academies in the country and Manchester City was now one of the “biggest clubs” in the hearts of Thai people.

Shinawatra’s assets were frozen by the Thai government, and he was arrested. He then sold the club to the Abu Dhabi Group from Dubai, and the youth camps in Thailand shut down recently, as their was no interest about Manchester City in the country anymore.

Iran, a staunch Muslim country with many strict laws (like women not being allowed to watch their football team in stadiums because they wear shorts and expose their thighs), is also generating interest and passion in football.

The emergence of players like Masoud Shojaei and Javad Nekounam at Osasuna have made football more popular in Iran and has attracted many non-football fans into football.

With their increasingly better performances, fans have started to get more passionate and excited about both their fellow countrymen and the sport.

In Osasuna’s first match of the season, against Villarreal, Shojaei won a penalty for Osasuna, and Nekounam converted. The atmosphere in the Estadio Reyno de Navarra was amazing, and I am sure it was equally amazing, if not better in Iran.

Vahid Hashemian is another Iranian based in Europe. Currently, he plays for VfL Bochum, and has been playing in the Bundesliga since 1999.

He has represented Hannover, Hamburger and even Bayern Munich, and has scored over 50 goals in Germany’s top flight division.

Another famous Iranian, Mehdi Mahdavikia, has played in the Bundesliga since 1998 and amassed over 200 appearances for Hamburger. Currently at Eintracth Frankfurt, Mahdavikia is looked upon as an integral part of the team.

To strengthen my argument, I would like to give the example of the launch of a new sub-site by Goal.com, one of the most popular football website worldwide. Goal.com introduced Goal.com Iran a few days ago, showing the rise of football as a popular sport in the country.

America needs a football star who is born in the country, brought up in the country, but becomes a global football star in Europe. Freddy Adu had all the hype around him—he may not have been a household name, but was popular among many people in the country.

Non-football fans knew what Adu looked like, knew how old he was and many knew which club he played for. He was the perfect platform to make football popular in America, but unfortunately, he never lived to the expectations with his move to Benfica, a big club, but in a “small” league in Europe.

Adu was more popular in the country than other players including Jimmy Bullard, Brad Friedal, Clint Dempsey or Marcus Hannehman, just a few Americans playing football in the most popular league in the world, the Premier League.

The arrival of David Beckham created a big hype to soccer in the country. Beckham may not have had a super big impact in making football bigger, but surely he has made a big impact single-handedly in such a big country.

The fact that L.A. Galaxy’s home games have been sold out since his arrival, and all other clubs home games have also been sold out when they play the Galaxy, just goes to show the fans want to see Beckham.

If a popular Englishman can come to America and make an impact in making football big and generating more money, then imagine what impact a great player, who happens to be American, could make if he moves to England.