Comments on: Peter Wilt on how to market soccer in America

By: siset

siset — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:37:36 +0000

I’m not a fan of mia talent

By: Murray

Murray — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:20:43 +0000

Some interesting comments here guys on womens soccer in USA. As a spectacle, it depends on the level it is played at. Football Federation of Australia are proposing TO bring in a Womens national league in Australia next year. The Hyundai A-League has proven to be been successful in its short reign and I will be very interested in how the womens league takes off and the level of support it receives especially by the media!

By: peter wilt

peter wilt — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:55:11 +0000

Thanks Brian. i think Joel is mistaken to believe that stereotypical blue collar American men who want violence in their sports will ever become fans of soccer regardless of there being a women’s version or a steroid infused full contact version of the sport. That demographic has sailed away. The WPS target demographic demo is already emotionally connected to the sport, recognizes and loves it for what it is and won’t choose American football over soccer, because he’s perceived soccer as being a soft sport…his ignorant father might though.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:02:39 +0000

Joel, I know what you mean and to some extent share the same feelings. I think the trouble with a lot of women’s sports is that they’re covered in such a way (and promote themselves in such a way, sometimes) that you feel like following them is a kind of grim civic duty, like recycling or getting an emissions inspection for your car. Almost no one wants to follow a sport that makes following it seem like work, and the people who do are frequently so implicitly self-congratulatory and moral-high-ground-ish about it that only make matters worse.

But I think it’s clear enough that women’s sports can succeed with a large audience when they’re made to be entertaining, dramatic, and skillful, just like men’s sports (ideally) are; think of the difference between women’s tennis and the WNBA. I think all Peter Wilt is saying is that for women’s soccer to succeed, it has to show people that it’s entertaining and fun to watch, not that it “provides strong role models” or empowers your red-haired twin daughters. Whether it succeeds or not is another question, but to my mind it’s refreshing to hear someone talk about a new women’s sports league in a way that understands that it’s the league’s job to win you over, not your duty to follow the league.

By: joel

joel — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:57:06 +0000

I sort of groan every time women’s soccer gets press here in the U.S. My fear is that so much attention on women’s soccer is seriously retarding the growth of the men’s professional game here in the U.S. by turning off young males from football.

Young men are the ones who move a sports profile up or down. Women, on average, don’t spend money on sports, they don’t attend live games, they don’t buy merchandise and they don’t consume sports media like young males do. No sport is ever going to succeed by appealing to “families” the way MLS has tried to do.

My wife always tries to defend women’s sports to me. My response… “Will you actually buy tickets and go to a game?” Of course she won’t!

By: ursus arctos

ursus arctos — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:46:57 +0000

Word. The “Draft Wilt” movement starts right here, right now.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:44:59 +0000

Can we make this man president of FIFA? Now? That’s the most sensible two paragraphs I’ve heard from a football administrator since Henri Delaunay proposed cherry-flavored whistles. Great stuff.