SOCCER / JULIE CART : World Cup Could Be Victim of Its Success
Now that the first phase of World Cup tickets has sold out, officials are predicting that each of the tournament’s 52 games will be a sellout. Certainly, the two-month private sale--tickets were available only to those in the “soccer family”--was successful in terms of demand outstripping supply.
But what have been the other effects of the private sale, which ended a month ago? Ill will, the result of broken promises, in the community that soccer seeks to serve seems to be one.
When, with great fanfare, World Cup officials announced their ticket-selling plan, they mailed applications to 1.7 million homes. Requests would be taken by telephone and mail, they said, and the sale was not going to be first-come, first-served.
But that’s exactly how it was done. As some soccer fans pondered their ticket choices, trying to organize family or group purchases, orders poured into World Cup offices. Venues quickly sold out all tickets allocated for the private sale. To deal with the volume, officials then released some tickets earmarked for the public sale, shifting them to the private sale.
Expecting the worst, World Cup organizers apparently didn’t plan for the best.
But why did all this come as such a surprise to them? By targeting the homes of nearly 2 million soccer aficionados, they correctly identified their core group of fans. This certainly is the group most likely to buy World Cup tickets. And if 10 tickets for the world’s largest sporting event are offered at a 20% discount, won’t most in this group be eager to buy?
World Cup officials were asked about this potential scenario when the ticket plan was announced. The answer was that they were expecting a 3% response to the direct-mail offering. No greater response than that, considering the target audience? No, was the answer.
How about some basic math here. World Cup sent out 1.7 million applications and allowed up to 10 ticket requests per application. That’s a potential request for 17 million tickets for the first and second rounds.
But that number is nearly five times more than the tickets available for the entire tournament.
Only 450,000 were originally set aside for the private sale.
The upbeat spin put on this debacle is that such heavy demand for tickets helps ensure the financial success of next year’s World Cup. True. But what about the “legacy for soccer” that World Cup officials keep talking about? Alienating soccer fans would not seem to be on the agenda.
The sale of remaining tickets available to the public begins next month. Orders will be taken only over the phone, and it is expected that each caller will be limited to fewer than the 10 tickets allowed in the private sale.
Here’s hoping that soccer treats the public with more respect than its “family.”
Pele, soccer’s ambassador, says he has a few good ideas about getting a professional soccer league off the ground. He ought to, having helped draw 50,000 a game for the New York Cosmos of the defunct North American Soccer League.
The Brazilian is a consultant for the new Japanese professional league, which may estimate its potential for success on the public concern of Japanese baseball officials about fan defection to soccer.
As for the prospects for a viable American professional league, Pele remains cautiously optimistic. Speaking on a conference call recently, Pele said that it is important to learn the lessons taught by the NASL in order to find the formula for success.
“By the third year, we were getting 60,000 fans in Giants Stadium,” he said. “But, unfortunately, this league made a lot of big mistakes. (Most of the) players on every team were foreign, and in the United States this is not good. Another thing was, in 1977, they began to grant new franchises. This was not good. There was too much travel and also too many teams. Then they fight with TV. This, you must never do.
“In Japan, they have learned from what happened in the United States. There are only 10 franchises. They have made all their deals with TV before the start of the league. No problems.”
Pele said that if a league is to flourish in this country, the World Cup will play a role.
“If the World Cup is a success--I hope it is--then there is a chance. The next step will be a pro league. When we played here, only four players on every team were American. I think it will have to be opposite: only four foreigners and the rest Americans.
“I believe in the United States. They are going to be a big surprise to many people. If the U.S. team does well in the World Cup, then the professional league has a much better chance.”
Soccer Notes
The American Professional Soccer League began its fifth season over the weekend, with the expansion of three teams into Canada. The new American team is the L.A. Salsa, the Fullerton-based team coached by Rildo Menezes. . . . The long-awaited England-Netherlands World Cup qualifying match last week solved little. The 2-2 draw, coupled with Norway’s victory over Turkey, gave Norway the lead in Group 2 with nine points. England and Holland are tied for second with eight points. Only the top two teams in the group qualify for the World Cup.
John Harkes, a midfielder on the U.S. national team, became the first American to score in the English League Cup last month, but his Sheffield Wednesday team lost to Arsenal, 2-1. The game was played in historic Wembley Stadium before 80,000. Harkes will play there again May 15, in the FA Cup final. Whereas few English players ever have the opportunity to play at Wembley, Harkes will be making his third appearance there. He helped Sheffield Wednesday to a victory over Manchester United in the 1991 League Cup final.
According to wire service reports, a group of neo-Nazi soccer fans has launched a campaign of extortion against players on the Real Madrid team. The group--called Ultra Sur, for the section of the Real Madrid stadium where they hang their ultra-rightist banners--have demanded “tips” from some players and attempted to scare them when players rejected the demands. The reports claim some players have political sympathy for the group.
