Soccer and the Media

by Chris Allen

There's been a lot of discussion about soccer and the media, particularly ESPN, in the past week or so on this list.

Maybe it's time to put this discussion in a larger perspective. Here are some points that might be worth discussing:

ESPN is actually pretty good in what it shows. Compare the current era to the years before World Cup '94. It's like night and day. Could we get more? Of course, especially the vast stuff that goes out on ESPN International that only infuriates those of us who hear the promos on the English and UEFA matches. SportsCenter is another matter entirely and should really be discussed separately.

USA Today is consistently steady! There is a story or stories on soccer LITERALLY EVERY DAY! If you call yourself a soccer fan, you should support this paper by subscribing to it or buying it as often as you can. And if you do subscribe, tell them their soccer coverage is WHY you subscribe.

Satellites! Nothing more needs to be said. Truly the soccer junkie's lifeline, whether via the Dish Network or at your local soccer-friendly C-Band pub!

The Latin Media. These folks are truly spectacular! If it weren't for Fox Sports Americas, Galavision and Univision, we'd be back in the dark ages. Muy bien y gracias, Amigos! If nothing else, a whole bunch of anglos can now "comprende un poco espan~ol". And on top of that, maybe this even increases a little hemispheric geopoltical understanding! Just last night just before going to bed, I flipped on "Pasaporte Deportivo" at 1 AM EST! This is a "generic" sports show -- and not always soccer only -- but for more than 35 consecutive minutes there was wall-to-wall soccer coverage. From highlights of international friendlies, to a Mexican friendly, to Copa Libertatores highlights, to interviews with Bora and Bobby Lenarduzzi prior to Sunday's "Gran Partido" at the former Azteca (which is already sold out at 130,000), to stories and highlights of soccer around the world, the soccer stories were relentless. I went to bed before they finished showing soccer news. It never stopped!

Compare this coverage to SportsCenter! Conspiracy? I don't think so, it's just indifference, insularity and ignorance on the part of the people running SportsCenter. In fact, it's not just SportsCenter. When was the last time any of you saw any soccer coverage at all on CNNSI, or Fox Sports Net? It's simply not worth any soccer fan's time to watch these English language sports shows. If you must, tape these programs for whatever brief nugget you might find. Compare the 35+ minutes of soccer news on Pasaporte Deportivo on a THURSDAY night with Howard Hamilton's wagering "pool" of how many SECONDS of coverage that Keith and his pinhead colleagues might deign to show after the Jamaica - USA game on the so-called "big show" on Sunday night.

The local MLS/A-League press? Here there is a wide variety from the very good (Boston, LA, DC and now apparently Tampa Bay) to the truly horrid (Atlanta). What to do? Ask the papers for more, more more, but (in the case of Atlanta) unless the fossilized sports editors are put out to pasture, it will be uphill going.

Weekly/Monthly Magazines. Soccer America takes a little stick on NAS for not being aggressive enough, but it remains the "bible" of weekly coverage. As for others (Soccer News, Soccer Magazine, Sidekick, Soccer Jr.), these monthlies/semi monthlies simply don't have the market penetration needed to make a big splash. As for the hard working editors and publishers, they do a good job but lack distributional power. Why, for example, can I go to virtually any newsstand and find scads of magazines on roller hockey, skateboarding, etc..... and scarcely anything on soccer. OK, supposedly lots of these other sports that arent' "major league" have a large participant culture. But isn't that supposed to be the STRONG point for US soccer? The 16 million PLAYERS? Why is there no mass market publications for them? Somebody is clearly missing the boat here BIGTIME! Why aren't the soccer equipment people -- who SELL to the 16 million -- doing more here?

Is there anything we -- as fans -- can do to help increase coverage in the English language media? Or will this just take time?

Inquiring minds want to know....