World Cup whirlwind
American children are playing soccer in greater numbers than ever and fans are filling stadiums across the country, although they may be there as much to see the Mexican national team as our own professional league. Since the U.S. hosted the World Cup in 1994, the sport’s popularity has been growing steadily among immigrant families and the well-off. Vanity Fair magazine had soccer beefcake on its cover in June and a Louis Vuitton ad on the back with former international soccer superstars Pele, Zidane and Maradona. And yet, and yet. Inside the magazine, British commentator A.A. Gill could almost be heard shouting when he said, “Look can we get this straight.... It’s football, OK? Football.”
Yes, well, we have a football, one we embraced in the 19th century when we were still trying to get out of the shadow of Britain. We cling happily to it. So while from Iran to Argentina, Iceland to Australia, much of the planet is counting down the days to Friday’s launch of the World Cup in South Africa, the United States remains something of an outlier to the monthlong sporting party. The fans, that is, not the U.S. team, which has gained respect in the world. Ranked 35th just 15 years ago, it is now ranked 14th by FIFA, soccer’s governing body. But where’s the national pride in that?
Big business sees an upward trend and is banking on soccer’s future in the United States, investing in new Major League Soccer teams, stadiums and players. ESPN and Univision paid $425 million for the rights to air the 2010 and 2014 World Cups in the United States — more than broadcasters in any other country — which suggests they believe the market is there. Indeed, the U.S. television audience doubled between the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, and ESPN is predicting — or at least hoping for — a 25% to 50% increase this year.
Perhaps American complaints that there’s too little scoring in soccer and that the possibility of a draw is anticlimactic will give way to enthusiasm for “the beautiful game,” as it is known around the globe. Maybe there’s room in the hearts of new and younger Americans for another sport alongside baseball, basketball and football. But if you’ve ever been in a soccer-crazed country (one that riots or even goes to war over the sport, as Honduras and El Salvador did in the 1970s), if you’ve ever seen that great national conversation during a World Cup match that brings traffic to a halt over a brilliant goal or provokes collective euphoria over a victory, you’ll know that U.S. sports fans don’t yet have that world-class passion for soccer.
