The Missing Link in Major League Soccer Popularity in the U.S.

By adopting a simple strategy that is practiced in every country around the world, the MLS can pack it’s soccer stadiums with capacity crowds

If you have watched enough soccer on TV or in stadiums, you may have noticed that there exists a distinct difference between watching an MLS game in the United States and watching a soccer match played in any other country. There is something missing in the way MLS games are played than soccer leagues in other countries. If you talk to enough soccer fans, this sentiment seems ubiquitous, although few are really sure of what is missing or different and speculation abounds. There is no question, however, that soccer here is lacking some dynamic that tends to keep it’s popularity from exploding.

The immediate thought is that soccer players from other countries are more skilled and more organized. Or that the training and facilities are superior to what one might find in the U.S. To some degree this is true, but the quality of play in this country is not so inferior to other nations as people tend to think. If you watch soccer players in the MLS, there is not much difference between how they perform individually or as a team than players and teams from around the world. No, it’s not the quality of play or coaching.

The way to begin to understand the difference between soccer quality here and abroad is to watch an MLS game on one channel and then an English Premiership game, for example, on another channel. Watch an MLS game for a few minutes and then switch to the premiership game for a few minutes. If it doesn’t hit you right away, keep switching back and forth and the obvious will eventually burst through. Doesn’t it seem that there is more excitement surrounding the premiership match (or any other European game) than the MLS? Can you hear the difference?

Yes, it’s the sounds and revelry displayed by premiership fans that you don’t hear from American fans and that is what is different. And what causes this level of excitement that needs no cheerleaders? A team song and a town song and songs that mock the opposing team and their town. That is what all soccer teams have in other countries. That’s what we need here in the MLS. If every team in the MLS had a song that the fans could sing at soccer matches, you would see an immediate improvement in the quality of play, the excitement of the game, and the number of fans.

When soccer teams play in Europe, for instance, each team’s fans are all singing their song in unison with such vigor and emotion that the sound echoes throughout the stadium and creates a stirring atmosphere. Players on the field are more motivated, coaches are more active, announcers are more lively, and the game takes on an air of grandeur where everyone there is involved. And that is what draws the crowds.

You do not see or hear much fan excitement during MLS games. Even when there are large crowds, the noises emanating from the stadium are muted and disconnected. Only those annoying drums and other odd sounding devices in the audience blast out too often, but there is no unity in the fans’ cheering and that detracts from the excitement that soccer brings elsewhere.

With each team in the MLS adopting their own song and promoting it to their fans, a new aspect can be added to accelerate soccer’s popularity in America. It will serve to gain new audiences as excited soccer fans share their exuberance with their friends. Watching an MLS game will then be as thrilling as watching a match in any other country.

It would only take one or two MLS teams to get the ball rolling. Once the other franchises realized the increase in attendance and fervor in the game, they would then follow suit. Before long, all teams would have a team song and the stadiums would rock with thousands of soccer fans. A team song will create this excitement and that will bring more people to the game of soccer and into the stadiums. Making the beer less expensive wouldn’t hurt either.

Till Next Time,
Bernie Rosellen
Soccer From The Pitch

About the Author:
Bernie Rosellen has played and been involved with soccer for over thirty years. He has coached youth soccer teams for almost twenty years. He still plays on two adult soccer teams today. Tapping his experiences as a soccer player and soccer coach, he writes articles as, Soccer From The Pitch, and provides content for websites such as http://www.SoccerCountry.com