go soccer!

The LA Times has a piece on Major League Soccer, the hook being FC Barcelona's 2-1 victory over the LA Galaxy on Saturday. On the mostly pro-Barca crowd's booing of international soccer star and Galaxy captain David Beckham:

But soon enough the crowd reverted to booing him, a sound that was sweet music to the ears of MLS Commissioner Don Garber.

"The opposite of love isn't hate. It's indifference," Garber said. "We have people now that care about what goes on on our field. I'd rather deal with people having challenges and issues with some of the things that take place on the field than not care at all.

"The amount of awareness for this story has been one of the biggest stories in professional sports anywhere around the world, and that's a good thing for Major League Soccer."

I've been a fan of MLS from near the beginning. It was founded in 1993, right before the U.S. hosted the World Cup the following year, and in response to criticism of the lack of a professional U.S. league when the World Cup was awarded to us as the host country in 1989. I remember being in summer camp that year and the excitement of professional and international soccer really coming to the U.S. (I seem to remember "pogs" being big around the same time, and some fast food franchise giving out country team pogs as part of the promotion of the World Cup). It turned out that it was a momentum changing year for the sport here in America, with the U.S. Men's National Team making it to the knockout round (round of 16) for the first time since World War II. The U.S. Men's National Team has qualified for the World Cup in every tournament since, with disappointing finishes in 1998 and 2006, but a quarterfinalist performance in 2002. Team USA has also placed in the top three in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Gold Cup 8 of the 9 tournaments since 1993, including three champioinships. Most recently, Team USA made a lot of noise with a huge 2-0 win over Spain, ranked overall number 2 in FIFA, in the Confederations Cup.

The U.S. Men's National Team is currently ranked overall 12 in the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), among 208 teams.

MLS has been a boon for soccer fans in the United States; as the LA Times article notes, large international games have drawn capacity crows of 90,000 to 100,000 throughout the history of American soccer. The article, however, makes an unfair comparison to the average MLS game audience:

There is an audience for soccer, for the big occasions when remarkable club teams such as Barcelona visit. Yet, Saturday's crowd was about six times bigger than the average MLS crowd, which was about 15,515 through mid-July.

The disconnect remains between fans who will come out in happy droves to see Barcelona or AC Milan play the Galaxy and the smaller crowds that file into MLS stadiums.

But as the article notes not two paragraphs later, "MLS has smartly avoided that with a business plan that makes it more sensible for teams to invest in soccer-specific stadiums that seat 20,000 to 25,000." It should be no surprise that a game featuring former Real Madrid teammate Beckham against FC Barcelona--currently the best Spanish and European Team (2008-09 La Liga, Copa del Rey, and UEFA Champions League champions, as well as Madrid's La Liga rival--would draw fans of all stripes to such a momentous occasion. But 15,515 on average per match is nothing to scoff at, especially considering there are 6 or 7 matches a week, with teams across the country, from L.A. to Boston to New York to Columbus, Ohio to Dallas and Houston and Seattle, etc, etc, etc. There are currently 15 MLS clubs, with expansions planned in Philly for the 2010 season, and Portland, Oregon and Vancouver in 2011. The concern for MLS right now is smart growth, building the infrastructure for a sustainable league with soccer-specific stadiums, and a loyal fanbase around clubs. Commissioner Don Garber, who has led the league's resurgence since 1998, has a clear, and so far successful plan for expanding the league, both in terms of number of teams but also in terms of the fans. I look forward to much more great U.S. soccer in years to come.