Americanization of the World's Sport

Here's another "practice" article for my soon-to-be website... As always, comments are welcome!

Soccer, er “football” to the rest of the citizens on the planet, is the most popular sport in the world. It has a grand history, and a proven formula that has withstood the test of time and culture. Everywhere except the United States, that is.

We Americans can be pretty selective about what we embrace. We prefer something that’s primarily our own, like (American) football, basketball, or baseball. For some reason, if it comes from another land, we don’t fully embrace it as part of our culture. That’s ironic, considering how our great country was founded.

In order to see soccer succeed in the states, the MLS’s founding fathers found it necessary to adjust the “beautiful game” to make it more appealing to this market. Things like team nicknames, separate conferences, and a playoff system to provide a champion are all bastardizations of the rest of the world’s football. To some degree, I do think it’s worked, as the MLS has slowly caught on over the past decade, and to be fair, the MLS has made some adjustments to become more in line with what the rest of the world offers (for example, getting rid of the “golden goal” in league play).

However, I’d like to see more changes. First of all, I want one table for the league, where the regular season champion means something. This system worked for Major League Baseball in its inception, and I think the American public can relate to it. Quite frankly, a fourth place finisher really doesn’t deserve a shot at the championship, does it?

On an even more radical level, I love the concept of relegation. For those of you that aren’t familiar, the lowest teams in the table (probably the bottom two would suffice, in the current MLS), are relegated to the next league below the MLS, while the top finishers in the lower league in promotion to the MLS. What a great concept! To continue the baseball analogy, could you imagine the Kansas City Royals getting demoted to AAA, while the Columbus Clippers get promoted to the Major Leagues?! How exciting would that be?! Plus, it gives teams in the middle and at the bottom of the table something to play for as the season winds down. My fear is that the lower leagues don’t have the appeal nor the financial stability to make this work, at least right now.

Lastly, can we please get rid of the nicknames – at least the “official” ones? Only one team gets this right – FC Dallas. The Dynamo? The Crew? The Galaxy? Embarrassing, when compared to the rest of the world. Salt Lake tried, but really, “Real” Salt Lake? How about just “FC” Salt Lake (or any other city)? It’s simple, tried, and true. Let the fans come up with their own unique nicknames, as they build rapport with their club and its developing history.

I truly believe the world’s most popular sport can become America’s most popular sport, at least at some point in the future. The youth in mass are playing soccer instead of most other “American” sports, and over time, the fan base is going to continue its grassroots growth. A strong American performance on the stage known as the World Cup could accelerate this growth considerably, especially if the rest of the major sports continue tripping over themselves with labor strife, spoiled, petulant, overpaid athletes, and elitist ticket prices. Maybe this is a “pipe dream,” but 25 years from now, I wonder what the American sports landscape will look like…