US Soccer Fans, It's Time to Declare Your Independence

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- It's July 4 in South Africa, and while the sun rising over the eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean here at the bottom of the world makes for quite a sight, there is (after nearly a month in this country) a definite wish that the sky was filled with fireworks instead. Missing Independence Day is a bummer.

But there's been plenty for Americans to be proud of here. The U.S. national team had a decent World Cup, winning its first-round group for the first time in 80 years. And perhaps more importantly, there is a sense that the performance helped change perceptions of American soccer.

One of the coolest things about covering the World Cup is the chance to interact with so many observers, fans and journalists from other countries. It's a soccer stew, and everyone has an opinion. This month, those opinions have been almost universally positive. Numerous South African fans and reporters have told me they were enamored of the unity and commitment of the U.S. team, and that the Americans were one of their choices to go far (before the Ghana game, of course). Meanwhile, Europeans I've spoken to have been impressed with the progress and increased professionalism of American soccer, and they've been more than willing to share their admiration for players like Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley and Tim Howard. (Check out this story in The Guardian).

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It's ironic then, that most of the condescension toward American soccer resides on American shores. We're so quick to trumpet our accomplishments and patriotism to the rest of the world, except for when it concerns the world's game. Then we withdraw, insist we're second rate, and spend our Saturdays worshiping at the altar of a West Ham-Bolton game on FOX Soccer Channel.

It's time for that to change, and here's why: The notion that there are no soccer fans in the United States has been torpedoed. Around 19.4 million people watched the second round match against Ghana, the largest audience for a single soccer game in American history and higher than the average number of viewers for an NFL regular-season game last season (18.4 million). Viewership records were set throughout the tournament, culminating in a number that about equals the populations of semifinalists Uruguay and Holland combined. Nineteen million people can accomplish quite a bit.

That number already has convinced executives at ESPN to enhance their non-World Cup soccer coverage. On Sunday night, ESPN2 will broadcast Donovan's return to club ball as the first-place Los Angeles Galaxy host the Seattle Sounders (10:30 PM ET). Surely a robust crowd will fill the Home Depot Center, ready to celebrate July 4 and the homecoming of the country's best player.

US World Cup Fallout

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• World Cup Player Evaluations
• Four Reasons Why US Lost
• Bob Bradley's Future
• US Eliminated by Ghana But what about the rest of the season? Will fans turned on by the World Cup continue to tune in? Will stadiums be full from Boston to the Bay? Or will all of those people in all of those bars wearing red, white and blue go back to ignoring the sport in their own backyard and watching European soccer, or none at all?

Here's the harsh truth -- if you're among the latter, then your hopes for the national team during the World Cup were hollow and meaningless. Those 19 million people need to realize that they have a role to play in pushing American soccer forward and in helping the U.S. field a national team that can challenge for a World Cup title. In most pro sports, fans are simply customers. They fill ownership's pockets and serve as targets for advertisers. Soccer is the one game in this country where it's appropriate for supporters to use the word "we" when they talk about their team. That's because the fans, all those people in all those bars, can help the U.S. win the World Cup.

How? Buy an MLS ticket. Go to a game. It's that simple. Now, to be clear, this isn't charity. MLS isn't the Premier League or La Liga, but it's ours, and it's competitive. Unlike most of the leagues in Europe, nearly every MLS match is up for grabs thanks to a salary cap that forbids teams from just buying victories like they do abroad. Does that cap reduce the overall player quality? Sure. But there are plenty of decent athletes in the league. In fact, 17 of the 23 men on this year's World Cup roster either play or used to play in MLS, and foreign signings almost universally acknowledge that MLS is a fast, demanding and challenging competition.

It just so happens that the Dutch and Uruguayan leagues are second-tier as well. The majority of each country's national team plays abroad. But the difference between them and us is that every person who follows the sport there and hopes to see either La Celeste or the Oranje lift the World Cup also feels allegiance to a domestic club. They may not have season tickets, but they have a commitment to the sport at a local level. They have pride in their country and their town, and while they may tune into the EPL and Serie A, they also understand that winning begins at home.

It's time American soccer fans understood this. If just a small percentage of those 19 million viewers start buying MLS tickets, the whole level of the league and sport in this country will rise. More tickets equal more revenue, both directly and because the growing league eventually could command higher TV rights fees.


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More revenue from tickets, scarves and beer means higher salaries, which inevitably will increase the quality of play. MLS will attract better foreign players, whose experience and talent will help develop the Americans who compete alongside them (and the league will continue to ensure that most of its players are eligible for the U.S. national team, certainly something that English fans cheering for clubs full of foreigners might wish for).

More importantly, higher wages will promote soccer as a viable career choice for more of the country's top young athletes. Gifted kids will see that they can not only earn a good living in MLS, but that the league could be a stepping stone to even greater riches abroad. Maybe someday players in the U.S. will command Premier League salaries, but in the meantime, any increase will help steer more of them toward the beautiful game.

Nearly 300,000 people in the Dallas/Fort Worth area watched the Ghana game. If just 7 percent of them bought MLS tickets, Pizza Hut Park would be full. The profile of FC Dallas would skyrocket, its bank accounts would swell, the team would get better, and in turn more kids in North Texas would begin pursuing a pro soccer career. Those who make it will be playing for a better team in a more demanding league. Some with ambition may even start dreaming of the World Cup. Perhaps one of them eventually will be a star talented enough to lift it.

It is time to end our self-loathing as a soccer nation. It is time to feel the pride and purpose familiar to fans in the countries we compete against every four years. The Dutch, Uruguayans and Ghanaians have it, the leagues in Brazil and Argentina draw huge audiences even though their top players are in Europe, and this World Cup, which has seen the likes of Brazil, France, Italy, Argentina and England fall by the wayside, demonstrates that everything is within reach. It is time for American soccer fans -- and there are at least 19 million of you -- to stop relinquishing responsibility. Don't lament the fact that MLS isn't as good as La Liga. Be part of the solution.

You have a role to play. Buy a ticket. Bring your friends. Participate, enjoy an evening out at the stadium, represent your hometown, see some competitive soccer and imagine how good it will feel to celebrate a World Cup triumph -- to stick it to the entrenched powers (many of whom now have more respect for American soccer than we do) and to know that you had a small part to play in that success. Banding together to accomplish something great is an American tradition, and we have as much right to the game as anyone else.

Nineteen million people can accomplish just about anything. It's there for the taking, and July 4 is a great time to start.