“American soccer is shit eh?” Those unpopular words were uttered, maybe sarcastically by someone to me after the MLS cup final on Saturday at Frawleys. It’s unfair for me to name the perpetrator of this opinion so I won’t reveal his name, but for the purposes of this article I’ll just call him Dave Corbitt.
To be fair, It was a pretty good final, so I presume he was joking. However I agreed with him.
I’ve been meaning to write this for awhile you see, but the David Beckham thing took precedence because he’s going to announce his Miami folly pretty soon.
So anyway, yes Dave. American soccer is shit. absolutely dire. Then again so is the premier league*, so is La Liga, Ligue un. Brazilian football is just utter dross. ultra fancy hipster Bundesliga is a similar 2 or 3 horse race which has 18 other shit teams. (like an affluent Scottish league I suppose)
So if football is shit, aside a few super clubs bankrolled by banks in Spain or Qatar or Dubai or Gazprom.
Why are we paying so much for it? The players are no better. We have our stars now just as we did in the past.
I recently switched from Charter to Uverse, I should have done it long ago, but I resisted until I could no longer bear not having BeIn and the Premier League package. I thought I’d be in a veritable cornucopia of football, stay at home dad with every channel and every game pretty much.
The thing is, I haven’t watched a single game on BeIn yet why would I? I am not emotionally invested in Real Madrid or Juventus. I tried to watch a few games and I found the games very meh.
So lets turn to a league I do watch. The EPL. well not only is that shit, but it is eating itself. I now have the ability to watch every single game wooooo hoooooo! so this weekend I got to view plenty of empty seats at the Britannia and the Hawthorns. Frankly, if the citizens of Stoke and West Bromwich can’t be bothered to go and watch their team, I’m not going to bother from 4000 miles away. Football in the UK is far too expensive for the working man to go watch now, as can be seen by the empty seats in the stands. An average ticket of $60 is making the game unaffordable to the family staple of Father and son going to the games on a Saturday afternoon. The average age of the fan in the stands in the Premier League is a Europe high of 41. Kids simply can’t afford to go to games anymore.
So what, right? St Louligans is a website for St Louis soccer. What do we care that the kids of Stoke can’t afford to go to the Britannia Stadium to watch rubbish soccer?
Well it affects us because everything is gauged from the top down. Nobody would buy a Ford Focus if a Lexus cost $15,000.
If the premier league ticket is $60, then the championship is $50 and league 1 and 2 is $30.
MLS figures, well, “we’re around the Championship and League 1 caliber so lets charge $40 a ticket”
If MLS charges $40, then USL will charge $30. and indoor teams, who’ve never played a game will charge $20 for opening night.
Now imagine if Premier League charged less.
If the premier league ticket is $40, then the championship is $30 and league 1 and 2 is $20.
MLS figures, well, “we’re around the Championship and League 1 caliber so lets charge $25 a ticket”
If MLS charges $25, then USL will charge $15. and indoor teams, who’ve never played a game will charge $10 for opening night.
That’s how it affects us here.
Anyhow, quick change of pace…… Really enjoyed the MLS cup final watch party at Frawley’s thanks to the Illinois Piasa people and Dave for setting it up before their game we went to.
I’m compelled to respond as I’m the apparent instigator to the article above. I posed this question after the game was over, not necessarily to stir Matt’s opinion on this particular game but rather, his opinion on US soccer in general…..more as a conversation starter. Mainly because I knew it would get him going and I wouldn’t really have to add much to conversation to be a part of it. He’s a great soccer pal and I love talking soccer with him….or listening.
Along with soccer, I’m a man of many hobbies, one of them beer. I love to brew, drink and share a frosty barley pop on occasion and I’ve found my attention drawn to great and unique craft brews. I find great pleasure in experiencing the intricacies of the ingredients and specific hop selections made by artists in the brewing community.
I also like Stag Beer. Not because it’s a fine beer (it’s not) but because it was brewed in my town for generations (BelleVegas) and even though the old brewery is long gone (currently a warehouse) and it’s now brewed in Wisconsin, I have a connection to Stag Beer. Sure it stinks, has an ugly uniform, and can make me sick the next morning, but I still dig it.
I have thick skin. I can take it. Especially from my soccer pals!