Moment or Movement? (Part 1)

How Should We Interpret Soccer's Current Momentum in the United States?

This was originally going to be one story, but as I started writing, it felt like each topic could be a full fledged story unto itself. So I’ve divided it up into 5 parts, an introduction and conclusion, and then three main sections. As you read, you may want to get through all three posts as quickly as possible, or you may need a moment to digest between them. Either way, I hope you enjoy.

Intro

Whether it’s the likes of a Ted Lasso winning several awards, the 48 hour non-stop worldwide coverage of the birth and subsequent death of the European Super League, or some other more invested and committed form of fandom, it’s safe to say soccer in the United States is gaining popularity, efficacy, and traction in more ways than ever before. We are seeing historic levels of participation in Europe, and unprecedented evolution in the game’s foundations here at home. So, it begs the question, is soccer simply having a moment in the U.S., or is this momentum indicative of some larger movement? Let’s take a look.

Before getting too deep into the weeds on any of this, we should also ask ourselves what we mean by moment or movement. For the sake of this article, let’s consider a moment to be something short term. We don’t have to set firm parameters of time. Let’s just note that a moment is fleeting, and leave us with nothing more substantial than memories and locker room banter. A movement however, consists of real change. Its impacts can be measured and witnessed both as it occurs and after the fact. For something to be a movement, we should also be able to say, it started at point A, stuff occurs --- time passes --- blah blah blah --- we get to point B. So with that tidied up, let’s dive in.

Part 1 Pop Culture

Like any society, looking at what content is generated in pop-culture can tell you a lot about what is valued in that society. In addition to both quality and quantity of content, accessibility is also an important factor to consider as we think about cultural relevance.

Perhaps two of the biggest forms of pop culture (outside of music) would be television and social media. So is it any surprise that as we have seen U.S. viewership of the English Premier League steadily increase by 70 percent (per Comcast and NBC) we also see a show like Ted Lasso explode in popularity? Probably not. Of course, there are plenty of reasons why Ted Lasso is wildly popular, from the stellar performances, to the scintillating dialogue, and the inexorable joyous warmth and soft smiles the show leaves you with after each episode. But surely we can’t believe it to be totally coincidental timing.

As we consider the increase in fan viewership again, it’s also worth noting that in the last few years, major television deals have been struck for the top three levels of American Soccer, the top two levels of English soccer, and the top German, Italian, and European competitions. This gets back to that accessibility thing we mentioned earlier. Soccer is available to American consumers in a vastly more expansive way than it ever was before. It used to be you had to either find some live stream in the depths of the internet, or spend an arm and a leg for special channels. Now, anyone with ESPN or basic cable sports packages has quick and passive access to the beautiful game. Of course, per the capitalist world, certain platforms have exclusive rights to certain games, so there is still a hurdle or two to jump, but on the whole, soccer is more accessible than ever before.

This is important for two reasons. One, it is easier to be a fan in the U.S. now. Two, it’s easier to become a fan in the U.S.

Similarly, when the most influential clubs in Europe announced their plans to form a European Super League we saw coverage and uproar in the United States like we haven’t seen at least since the World Cup or Olympics; and maybe, ever. That may be due, in part, to the fact that the three clubs leading the charge were either owned or run by American billionaires who wanted to impart the American (specifically NFL) model into European sports.

Now this isn’t a post about the Super League, (and thank goodness because the coverage on that was exhausting) but to understand the entire picture it’s best to have some understanding of European soccer and the proposed Super League. To briefly describe the Super League, imagine Duke, UCLA, Gonzaga, Michigan, UNC, Villanova, Michigan State, and several other top programs decided to start their own tournament instead of March Madness. Not only that, but those founding teams were also guaranteed to participate every single season, so even if Duke had a regular season like this past one (13-11), it wouldn’t really matter because they were still guaranteed a chance at the post season championship. If that happened, imagine how different March Madness would be. There would be no fairytales, no David vs Goliath, and no incentive for sporting merit.

So, translating that back to soccer...

The Super League genuinely threatened the entire fabric of the revered European Soccer model or the Promotion-Relegation model. For those of you unfamiliar, the pro-rel model’s founding and most sacred pillar is that the entire soccer system from the “Pre-game smokes and half-time beers” Sunday Leagues, up through the multi-million dollar top divisions, is an open system. Top teams in each division get promoted to the division above them, and bottom teams get relegated to the division below. This model allows any team the chance to advance and earn their way up the ranks based solely on merit. Obviously, like anything, having money helps. But, in the pro-rel model, it is not strictly a necessity. Especially since the more you win the more you make and there is no pay to play requirement. So, not only does it mean winning is rewarded and losing is punished, it also means every game matters, as opposed to the Detroit Lions, whose fans can basically start focusing on their draft stock after Week 10. From promotion to prize money, the most important thing a team can do is win.

Tying this back into soccer’s momentum in America, with a whole system endangered, soccer fans were outraged and outspoken. They took to the streets and stormed stadiums in protest. Sports anchors and U.S. late night hosts soliloquized and lamented the selfishness of the clubs involved. The American 1% inciting the world’s working class, who would have guessed.

Instagram, twitter, and the likes were set afire with hashtags and posts saying #BoycottSuperLeague, and #SuperLeagueOut, etc. Some individual posts reached millions of likes, and others got hundreds of thousands of retweets. And to top it all off here in the U.S. even the top, predominantly American Football facing, sports podcast, Pardon My Take, spent 20-30 minutes covering the drama. Somehow, even in our franchise-model, closed-system country (we will discuss more on in Part 3), European soccer still managed to inspire and outrage millions of American fans.

That level of pop-culture influence would have never happened even five years ago, let alone 10 - 15 - 20. The sheer amount of content generated alone is remarkable. But when you pair that with the increased accessibility and cultural relevance, you see why examining pop-culture matters. And what we are seeing with all three? Steady, consistent, growth.

That’s momentum.