The MLS is doing everything in their power in order to help grow the sport of soccer in the United States. They do everything from grassroots marketing to bringing in some of the World’s most renowned soccer players. Their most recent big-time move consists of bringing Thierry Henry, one of the greatest French goal scorers in history over to the New York Red Bulls.
Is this the answer for the MLS? Will brining these players, such as David Beckham, Thierry Henry and possibly Marquez make the difference? As we all know these players are at the end of their careers, but they’re still special players. This formula is based off the same idea of when Pele came over to play for the NY Cosmos. It worked then, but times are different now.
As a passionate soccer fan myself, these guys do make me more curious to go watch a game. So it may work to get me out to a game. If I enjoy the game, then there’s a chance I’ll be back.
There are many other fans like myself out there, so it can help. But there are also fans that believe these guys are basically in retirement and it’s almost degrading for the league. Thierry Henry has come to the Red Bull as retirement so he can spend time in NY. He’s getting paid big bucks for it, so hopefully this isn’t his mentality.
Can this work for someone who’s more of a casual fan, but doesn’t know much about Thierry Henry and other big players? My answer is probably not! If they’re just casual American fans, they probably never even heard of Thierry Henry! So why in the World would they want to go see him?
The problem with casual fans is that they’re probably hardcore fans of the NBA, NFL or MLB. If they’re going to spend money on attending a sports event, they’d probably rather spend it on something else.
Other countries don’t really have to deal with this. In all of Europe, soccer comes first. England has cricket, Spain has basketball but nothing comes before soccer. Unfortunately, it’s very hard for the MLS to compete with all these major leagues.
With that said, I do have to congratulate the MLS for how far they’ve come. They really are doing everything in their power to make this sport grow in the USA. Every kid plays soccer, but then eventually loses interest. If they can provide some role models for these kids to look up to, that’s where it can really help. They know this and they’ve done a great job with Landon Donovan.