Is football finally taking off in the US?

I wonder if football, or Soccer as we may soon have to call it, is actually about to finally take off in the United States. The news that Thierry Henry has signed for New York Red Bulls was another pointer to the fact that this might just be the case.

Thrilled

Ok, Henry is thirty-two and past his best, Ok, the handball against Ireland made him a good deal less popular, Ok, he hardly got a game for Barcelona, Ok, he was only used as a substitute in France’s ill-fated World Cup campaign, but he is still a top player and many clubs in Europe would have been thrilled to offer him a place at their club.

The arrival of David Beckham in Major League Soccer back in 2007 was met with a remarkable media circus and was clearly intended to bring the game to the mainstream of American sports reporting. The signing of Henry has not been so ostentatiously high profile, but it has been well reported and that shows the great progress the game is making.

Jean Chang, the Soccer editor at Sports illustrated told the BBC,

“It’s highly unlikely that soccer will ever reach the heights of popularity in the US enjoyed by the three major sports; the NFL, MLB and NBA. However, becoming an established top five sport is certainly within reach, and ultimately I don’t see why it can’t become more popular than the NHL.”

Since the MLS was founded in 1993 the game has grown considerably and impressively. The average attendance at MLS matches this season has been 16,000. Ticket sales were up by almost 10%.

Remarkable

Most MLS matches are covered by US television and the recent World Cup saw remarkable viewing figures for ESPN who covered the tournament in the States.

19.4 million people watched the USA lose to Ghana in the second round of the tournament and 24.3 million people watched the final between Spain and Holland. These figures compare favourably with big baseball and ice hockey events in the country.

The US Soccer Federation president, Sunil Gulati also spoke to the BBC and he is very upbeat about where the game is going.

“The MLS is not trying to be baseball. It’s not trying to be the NFL. These are both sports with major history behind them. My favourite catchphrase when people ask me how long it will take for soccer and the MLS to prosper is simple, tradition takes time. We don’t expect a single event and the viewing figures to change the landscape of our game overnight, but the sport has been on a pretty upward trend for a while now. The difference between 1994 when the US hosted the World Cup and now is that we have a sixteen team league, ten soccer specific stadiums, soccer on TV and players who the public know about.”

Gulati knows that the growth of football in the country is a challenge but it is one he thinks that can be met.

“The challenge is certainly to get people who watch the US national team to watch MLS. In the short term, Henry is a player who chose MLS over the Premier League. He’s a great figure to have on the field and he’ll excite people. In the long-term, you hope that people might come out and choose to watch Henry for a first time, then a second time, a third time. Hopefully people will see the connection between the ‘watercooler talk’ and go and watch a game.”

It does appear that football, or soccer, is starting to get a foot-hold in the US and it looks as though the MLS is here to stay rather than collapsing as former attempts to launch the game have done.

Excitement

Gulati looks like a man who knows what he is doing and as more great players join the MLS, the crowds and the excitement created by the beautiful game will become bigger and bigger.

Having watched the US national team do pretty well at the World Cup I fear for the rest of us if and when football really does take off over there.