Posted on 05/04/2012 6:46:20 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Adidas (ADS.DE)'s $200 million sponsorship deal with Major League Soccer shows that the apparelmaker has noticed sports marketing's best-kept secret: U.S. soccer's audience is threatening to eclipse that of the National Hockey League and the NBA. The crucial thing to note in the new deal is that the $200 million pact is worth $25 million per year through 2018. It replaces, mid-contract, a 10-year deal for $150 million, or $15 million a year -- a 66 percent increase in annual value.
Why would Adidas make this expensive move? Consider: The MLS isn't broadcast to a large audience on TV (you have to pay for Fox Soccer Channel to see many of the games). The mainstream press's coverage of U.S. soccer is patchy at best and actively disinterested at worst (this means you, New York Times). And there's a cultural consensus that soccer just isn't important in America (ask any football or baseball fan).
Under that radar, however, the game that ought to be called American football is growing like mold. Here are some recent average attendance stats for the major American sports:
NFL - 67,508.69 (2009 season) MLB - 30,213.37 (2009 season) MLS - 18,452.14 (2010 season, as of 04/11/2010) NBA - 17,149.61 (2009/10 season) NHL - 16,985.31 (2009/10 season) Obviously, there's a caveat here: basketball and hockey teams play a lot more than once a week, so their total attendances are a lot greater.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
I’ve been away for quite a few decades now. Don’t know who Heysel is.
The question is obviously more rhetorical than anything. That works for gamblers who have access to casinos and sportsbooks, but what of the millions of Americans who like to make a wager on a winner, like the millions who make the weekly bets in college and NFL football. The vast majority of them are straight up bets.
You know what’s socialist....spreading revenues evenly across all NFL clubs no matter how bad a team sucks.
In the EPL, if you suck, you get relegated. Good teams get promoted....and the difference between being in the Premier League and the Championship (2nd Division) is huge.
Probably the richest sporting event in the world is actually the playoffs to determine which teams get promoted to The Premier League, in terms of impact to a team’s bottom line.
that's as far I as got because both engines volunteered between 4 and 8 possible opponents. Cryuff wasn't one of them. And they all (Ronaldo, Maradona, Rooney, Pele, etc. were given 2nd fiddle to Messi when you checked the articles.
I then did the same thing using Cryuff instead of Messi.
I was able to type in the entire question and still no suggestions were given even after I hit search.
Normally I take pride in walking to the beat of my own drummer but this time, based on seeing most Barca games over the past few years, I'm comfortable falling in line.
Messi almost always does something exciting every time he touches the ball. You can see the panic in his opponents eyes as they try to deal with him.
I saw Maradona playing for Argentina against Peru in the Liberator’s Cup at River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires in the late 80s. It was 88 minutes of blah and about two minutes of pure Maradona magic.
“The only sport more boring than basketball is soccer.”
You’ve obviously never seen a cricket match.
couldn’t agree more but you’re confusing the action on the field with the action in the boardrooms. I was referring strictly to soccer as a sport. There is no doubt in my mind that lib’ruls embrace it because it promotes that mythical equality of outcome bullstuff whever a game ends in a tie.
I don’t think there are as many good players today as in the 90s.
Bergkamp and Cantona were just flat out amazing players to watch.
Still the most amazing goal I ever saw (and the greatest homer call) as well.
Bergkamp scores against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsZkCFoqSBs
Real Americans pay zero attention to the organized crime owned game called soccer.
Its a gang centered “sport.”
.
You know what’s dumb is that a team gets the same amount of points for an overtime win than a win in regulation. But at least a tie in soccer causes you to drop 2 points.....it takes 3 ties just to equal 1 win.
An example is happening this year in the Italian Serie A....Juventus may not win the title, even though they haven’t lost a game all season, but they have so many ties.
The NHL needs to alter their points system so that a win in regulation is more than a win in overtime....it should be as follows
3 points - regulation win
2 points - OT win
1 point - OT loss
0 points - regulation loss
The NFL should do something of the same thing, an Overtime Win should not be rewarded the same as a regulation win during the regular season.
>> “Is soccer boring?” <<
.
Yes, very.
.
>> “Why is soccer continuosly pushed on us?” <<
.
Because it works by Marxist principles, and it is owned by organized crime, world wide. The ideal Democrap game.
.
>> “I see a lot of people even here in Dallas wearing Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Manchester United jerseys now.” <<
.
Yea, but we were talking about the US, not Mexico.
Wide screen HD is killing TV!
The distortion horizontally is absolutely unbearable; everyone looks like a dwarf.
Could US Soccer Eclipse Basketball and Hockey?
Only if Vuvuzela becomes our National Anthem.
>> “I do not know anyone who actually WATCHED a soccer game on TV or in person (except for childrens games)” <<
.
God has blessed you greatly!
.
Outside of Africa, if anyone tried to bring a vuvuzela into a stadium, they’d get the crap beat out of them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.