DOLPHINS: more names than a phone book

[ldouglas]

I love soccer. LOVE it. Haven't played since 8th grade but watch every
weekend. I'm watching it right now. But there are several reasons
soccer will never (at least not for a few generations) become a top-3
sports - and some of you have hit on it:

1. It's tedious/boring/low scoring - well it's not if you like it and
are looking for more than just a score. any sport is boring if it's
not appreciated for what it is. I can't stand hockey. I can see the
similarities to soccer (Skip Bayless calls it soccer on ice) but for
me it's just not the same.

2. Stats - American sports culture has pushed stats because of
baseball's popularity. Remember when the NFL never had stats for
sacks? forced fumbles? TFLs? now look at it. It's plastered all over
the damn game and any ESPN outlet. Soccer has companies like Stats LLC
that can provide stats like passes completed, distance covered,
tackles, heat maps, and all the cool stuff you see in FIFA 10 or might
see at the World Cup this summer, but for the most part it's not
pushed because people don't want it

3. Ferners - the reason most don't want it is because they're ferners
(foreigners) and haven't been indoctrinated in our way of sports
consumption, which includes commercials. Plus there's the fact that
world soccer now, while there are individual leagues, the rules (laws)
of the game are controlled by FIFA - a world wide body with heavy
influence from Europe. yeah. You want instant replay or 4 quarters for
more commercials? too bad - FIFA doesn't so we won't have it. That
doesn't goes over well here in 'Mer'ca. Even the NBA has only cursory
attachment to FIBA and we know there's no (legitimate) world baseball
federation.

4. Commercials - did anyone see that WSJ study that said more than 60%
of NFL broadcasts are consumed by commercials. Soccer has two 45
minute halves with additional "injury time" as determined by the
referee. The clock never stops (except for extreme cases like
lightening, riots, etc.) So the only way you can sell ads are stuff
that nibbles off the borders of the screen (that most people ignore)
or at halftime (when everyone gets up to use the john because they've
been sitting down for 45 damn minutes). I've seen ESPN and NBC
(Olympics) run commercials during live matches and miss goals because
of it - which, in a game where goals are scarce as it is, sucks.

There's no way in hell a niche TV sport will ever sell in the American
TV landscape if they can't offset rights fees with commercials. Hell -
Setanta Sports - a channel that shows a lot of international soccer,
is going bust on March 1 - to be replaced by a Fox premium channel
with a lot less content.

Money talks. You'll hear ESPN buzz a lot about it leading up to this
summer, but once England play the US in June, expect to hear less and
less about soccer - especially if we don't do very well (we already
have 3 of our stars with ligament injuries)

and to keep it Dolphins (and Chris Farley) related - remember,
remember  when England goalkeeper David James was a guest at training
camp a few summers ago - 2003 I think - to learn more about our
training methods? That was cool.

On 1/20/10, Greg Foster <GregFoster at optusnet.com.au> wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Curt Fennell" <curt at phins.com>
> To: <dolphins-disc at phins.com>
> Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 9:04 AM
> Subject: Re: DOLPHINS: more names than a phone book
>
>
>> On 1/20/2010 16:34, Josh Liller wrote:
>>> I don't think the NFL will face serious football competition any time
>>> soon either.  The XFL was a disaster and the Arena Football League folded
>>>
>>> about a year ago.  Plus there seems to be insufficient talent for another
>>>
>>> league, even a small one: the NFL can't even find 32 good starting QBs
>>> and 32 good kickers.
>>>
>>> Maybe a small league with that projects a less strict image (without
>>> turning into a trashy freak show like the XFL) and that somehow
>>> encourages more diversity of offensive styles.
>>>
>> Like the LFL? http://www.lflus.com/
>>
>> Curt
>
>
> I do believe you're on to something here.
> I despise soccer (many reasons, the sheer tedium of it being just one) -
> BUT...
> played by attractive women in their underwear...
>         I am THERE!
> Soccer has a real advantage here;  in football, the pads obscure many of the
> the real attractions.
> So work that entrepreneurial spirit -
>                   you might be on to the biggest thing since pro beach
> volleyball.
>
>
>
>> --
>> Curt "Dolfan in New England" Fennell, curt at phins.com
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