Adu is a citizen
 

Freddy Adu, the "saviour of soccer" became a US citizen today. He is 13 years old and could already start for a MLS team. He turned down a million dollar contract from an Italian team side, Inter Milian.

He is suppose to make the game very popular in the US, similar to Tiger Woods.

Discuss.

Okay.........I think this kid will revolutionize the way people in the US dont watch soccer ......:-0

ROTF!

Does anyone watch golf who didn't before Tiger?

Boring sports will always be boring sports no matter who you put out there.

LOL

but did golfers date hot Swedish twins before Tiger?

Why would any great soccer player want to come to the US? Americans only care about soccer once overy 4 years, and then only untill the US is knocked out of the World Cup.

"but did golfers date hot Swedish twins before Tiger?"

Good point. :)

no we don't.

Would'nt you rather be paid in American $$ than Lira?

Maybe he is trying to change that. His only other option is to play with Ghania. Talk about a no-brainer.

Seriously, I think soccer will have more and more of a following in the US soon. It just takes explanation of the game. Once you learn the game, you see really what a great game it is. I was in the same boat a few years back, and now I cant get enough of the game.

If soccer ends up more popular in the U.S than hockey i will cry.:(

I think you can count on soccer becoming more popular than hockey. Hockey is real popular north but not in the south. Soccer can be popular everywhere.

If soccer can get a TV contract like hockey it will be in good shape. Hockey and soccer draw the same ratings, but hockey has commercials.

Americans don't have the attention span to watch games like soccer and hockey.

I dont think attention span is a problem. If so, baseball wouldnt be so popular. Again, I think it is just a matter of time....

"Would'nt you rather be paid in American $$ than Lira?"
It would depend on how many lira (actually it's euros now, but assuming the lira was still in place) and how many dollars were being offered. I would much rather 1,787,204,855 Lira than US $50,000

The lack of comercials in soccer will be a major hinderence for the game. Why should tv air it if they can't get the kind of revenue from the game that other sports (the ones with breaks) get from ads

Preach on.

As for the Tiger Woods comment, I'll bet I'm like a lot of people who weren't golf fans pre-Tiger. I watched the final day of his first Masters' win, but haven't watched but 5 or 6 HOLES of golf since then.

adu well i have read about him a couple times in soccer digest i sure am looking forward to actually watching him play at a camp he was there with players like donovan and donovan said the kid is better than his hype

I actually like soccer now. Damn CM turned me toward the dark side...

I wonder if he can kick a 50 yard field goal?

I'll listen to stories about him on ESPN just like I do with Tiger, but I will not watch soccer just like I don't watch golf. Oh, and uh, high school basketball.

I think MLS does some ESPN2 televising, right? If they were smart, they'd approach NBC, which is so desperate for sports coverage that they're televising Arena Football.

Soccer is a fine sport to play while growing up, but it just doesn't translate to a spectator sport once you're done playing. I don't see anything to change that fact. I'm 31 and played soccer growing up. People older than me played soccer growing up. Kids now are playing soccer growing up. So far, that fact has never changed our viewing habits once we hang up the cleats.

What's changed?

Like it or not, soccer is a rich man's version of volleyball, a poor man's version of tennis, in this country. Fun to play, not so fun to watch.

As for golf, I hate it, so Tiger Woods' involvement means nothing to me, at least in terms of me watching him or anyone else play golf. I think it would be cool if he became the Wayne Gretzky of golf, blowing records out of the water, but that's about as far as my interest goes. How he achieves his accomplishments is no less boring because he's Tiger than how Phil Mickelson blows his chances. It's still golf. Same principle applies with soccer.

I think soccer becoming more popular in this country is enevitable . With schools cutting athletic programs left and right the more expensive sports to equip (hockey, football) are in danger. Soccer is relatively cheap (buying some ratty soccer balls is even cheaper than buying aluminum bats for a team).

Based on the cost factor, I see soccer becoming more and more the sport of choice in schools. And since you can easily field guy and girl teams (unlike football and in most places hockey), you are doubling the participation of the youth. With more and more schools/kids playing I don't see how it cannot become more popular here (if anyone has ever driven around northern Virginia on a weekend in the summer, you'll know what I mean).

I just think that our generation (well most of us anyways) never got into it as kids, the way we did baseball, so we are a lost cause. Unless we become CM junkies.

Soccer, much like the Cleveland Browns, is nothing more than an adult excuse to sit in plastic seats and start fights.

Alf predicts : Soccer is going to be more popular in the US because the Hispanic population is growing, and they love soccer !

But the distinction here is over what is "popular" about the sport. Clearly, soccer is a "popular" sport to play. Equally clearly, soccer is not a very "popular" sport to either attend or watch on TV. Two different things.

I don't think it necessarily follows that because more kids will play it, more will watch it. That doesn't appear to have been the case over the past 20 years, or at least, to the extent the TV audience has grown, it hasn't grown nearly enough. Look at hockey - a decent-sized portion (I really have no idea how many, but there are a lot in my neck of the woods) of those who watch it never even played it - just the opposite of what's happening in soccer. So I don't think you can make predictions that playing will eventually equal watching.

Having said all of that, if there's nothing else on - and I mean nothing - I have been known to leave an MLS game on ESPN2 while I'm doing something else. I don't fully understand the game and never will, but I can enjoy it for what it is, even if it doesn't hold my interest. Not only did I play, but I kept score and announced for my high school girls and boys teams. So I've been exposed to the game. It's just that my idea of excitement isn't soccer - my idea of a "scoring opportunity" isn't a guy shooting wide of the largest goal in any sport I know. When there's not a reasonable chance of scoring (I don't care if they actually score or not), it's not exciting. 10 combined shots on goal for a 90 minute game is not excitement, at least when the other "scoring opportunities" aren't really opportunities at all.

Finally, someone expalining why soccer will become more popular. Everyone else just seems to think it will magically happen. I think it will overtake hockey within the next 10 years easily.

Ding Ding Ding Ding! Soccer will grow in popularity as the Hispanic population grows. It is inevitable (and welcome in my book).

Thanks guys : that was my useful post of the month :D

If so, I wonder if he's ever been to Indianapolis?

soccer in the usa
 

did you know that the mls sold out the new england pats building for the mls cup? did you know the mens national team have drawn over 6 figures for games, also on espn ranked usa's favorite sports and soccer was tied with hockey(9%) mls attendance is rising and it looks like most teams will actually make money this season based on last years attendance, you can say its never going to make it but people used to think football was too barbaric and its popularity is through the roof now. Anything can happen, and if you watch arsenal vs manutd tommorrow you will see a display of skill talent hardwork and a rivalry with two teams wanting to show they are the best, to alot of people(not americans except me) its going to be more exciting then even the super bowl.

Wait until the Americans start becoming soccer hooligans! Bullets will fly. Pipe bombs will burst. Buildings will burn. After all, we have to do everything bigger and better than everyone else, even if it is unoriginal.

I don't have any facts to back this up, but I'm going to guess that the interest in soccer today is growing. 20 years ago in the midwest, most people didn't even uderstand what the rules of the game were. What I'm trying to say is that I don't think the popularity will increase magically, but that it will continue to grow over time (as the youth generation who actually plays starts to take over for the older people who refuse to watch soccer).

I grew up watching/playing baseball and I understand the nuances of the game, so I still watch baseball (even though it can be incredibly boring at times). Likewise, if kids play soccer, they can appreciate the beauty of the passing even in a 0-0 tie.

Then again, there's also a possibility that in 20 years all of the popular sports degenerate into X-games style events. :(

Sadly, you may be right. The way the NHL is going, within ten years hockey fans will be craving the explosive offense and high-scoring action of soccer.

There's room in the US for all types of sports, and like nearly every sport in the past 20 years, surely soccer has and will continue to grow. But will it ever be accepted like the Big 3 or 4 is? I sincerely doubt it. What the growing Hispanic community does with their time doesn't affect most Americans, and to the extent that some of their enjoyment of soccer rubs off on the rest of us, it goes both ways. I can say that I bet the number of Hispanics who will watch hockey and basketball is probably going to increase over the next 10 years and I'll be right.

Now, if you want to argue that the crowds will be larger simply because a greater percentage of spectators will be Hispanics, I won't argue against that. I just don't see how that is going to affect the rest of us. That's not going to change how I or many other people view soccer in relation to the other sports. Soccer may grow simply because one of their key demographics is becoming more populous in this country, but how does that change the way, for example, die-hard football fans view soccer? If there's no growth in those areas, soccer will still be relegated to "second class sport" among a significant portion of this country.

I'm sure soccer will catch hockey in the US... even the XFL had better TV ratings than hockey.

Assuming there is a limited attention span, I don't think Football and Basketball are going to lose their audience. Hockey might be in danger of being passed by soccer.

The interesting one for me is baseball. It won't happen in our lifetime, but I keep hearing how kids aren't as interested in baseball because it takes too long, costs too much to take them to the games, the playoffs are on too late, etc. I'm wondering if there's any real stats to back that up (i.e. something to show the under 20 generation is less interested in baseball then their parents were).

I've always said, I'd be happy if baseball became a niche market and went back to 24 teams. As long as I can still see spring training games here in Florida and catch all of the games on DirecTV, I'm fine with baseball not being as popular as it once was. Of course, I'm not in baseball's revenue stream, so I have less of an interest than, say, the owners, players, and agents.

I think soccer needs one magical superstar to make the game explode in America. I think Freddy Adu will make kids in the intercity and in the suburbs alike want to play soccer. When Adu nails 3 goals a game in MLS at the age of 17, the vast majoiry of America will tune in. Then people will start asking questions about off side, one touch passing, creating space, etc and Americans will begin to understand the game and take up a passion for it.

Then MLS will see its popularity explode. Every kid will want an Adu jersey, and an Adu retro throw back jersey. Merchandise and TV Ratings will increase and as will TV ratings.

Oh yea, and I forgot to mention all this will be by 2010, when the US will most likely host the World Cup.

The superstar is there, the formula is there, and now all it needs its some marketing. Take my word, after the 2010 World Cup soccer will be a top 3 sport in this country.

Hmm... so if I buy an Adu jersey now, by like 2010 it will be a 'retro throwback jersey' and I'll be able to charge guys like Lebron James $500 for it. Hmmm...(calculates ROI)

Something like that. I can just see Allen Iverson showing up to a press conference with a 1950 US World Cup jersey with the name Adu on the back of it.

Also, a couple of other things.

Adu played with the U17 National team against the Chicago Fire (MLS side) and scored two goals. This is without the best of service. Sure its the offseason, but still that is impressive.

Also a Brazil National newspaper (the Brazlian New York Times) ran an article on Adu and called him the next Pele.

I like Donovan. I think for the first time you can point at someone on the US team and say "hey this guy can actually score". At least the couple of world cups I watched it seemed the US was happy to draw with anybody and this last one they went out and tried to attack. I thought they outplayed Germany even though they lost.

So if this Adu comes in, is that good and pairs up with Donovan we might do even better in the next world cup.

brian mcbride
 

well i pointed to brian mcbride since 96 when he was the crews first selection and said that guy can score he is already the best "target man" the usa has ever had and if you want to question his quality look at what he has done for everton in the english premier league.(and yes i have a brian mcbride jersey)

I really, really don't think so. Soccer will always (in the foreseeable future) be a second-tier sport at best. The reason is that we have more watchable sports ingrained in our national culture. Want to see the future? Take a look at what sports kids are playing one their consoles. This is why soccer is popular about everywhere else - most nations have no other sports, esp. one that has been around for any length of time. Soccer is all they have and therefore, a soccer superstar can be huge news. A soccer superstar here in this country will be just a sidebar on page 5.

I have nothing against soccer, and if it succeeds as is being predicted hee, great. But I can't help but agree with Anrhydeddu. There's just too many other things, even putting aside other sports, to keep people occupied in this country.

Plus, the general apathy, at least in off-years, about nationalist sporting events, is an even more important reason why no one will really care. In the US, we have professional leagues that are clearly Priority #1 to us. Here, playing in the Olympics or World Cup or World Championships is second to our leagues. In many other countries, even those with leagues, they are secondary considerations to international play. But by and large, we don't care about that here. If we win, great, we get big heads and care about something we otherwise wouldn't care about - for a couple of months. Then it's back to our leagues.

In other countries, fans can recite 20 year old international competition scores the way a basbeall fan can recite 20 year old world series scores. I couldn't tell you who we played last year in soccer, or who our Olympic basketball team beat for a gold medal - or even which years we won a gold medal!

Well, following that thought ... we had many ingrained watchable sports besides golf before Tiger came along, and look what he did to the popularity. Many more kids and adults alike who used ot find golf boring are tuning in to see him.

Having said that, I thin the difference in golf and soccer is that golf is an individual sport. People watch Tiger because he does something each and every time he goes out there. In soccer, even a superstar may not score (or even get many touches) in half the games. This may detract a bit from the 'one star' following.

Excellent example! I think this is one of the most important things when talking about soccer and olympics type events. For a lot of countries, that is all they have and therefore, quite defensive about the US not feeling the same way. I know the US can be bullies about sports but one cannot argue about our diversity of success. The rest of the world needs to accept that instead of taking pot shots at us not liking your little sport.

Don't forget to factor in many that used to find golf watchable but stopped watching because of Woods.

Personally...i watch both these sports because i like them...not for any specific player or team.