Subscribe Feed (RSS)I will say this one more time: I do not have anything against Major League Soccer coming to Portland. But what I do not care for are misrepresentations about what we’d be getting.
This story in The Oregonian bothered me right from the headline on through to the end. The headline characterizing the MLS as “big-time soccer” was laughable. I mean, seriously — MLS is probably the seventh- or eighth-best league in the world, right? It’s not big time in any real sense of the word, from TV ratings to attendance.
You aren’t big time when you average fewer than 17,000 fans per game and get television ratings of 0.2. That’s zero point two??? This story said MLS ratings are “roughly on a par with the WNBA.” Yikes! And that’s big time? Come on, folks — that’s flat-out awful. WNBA franchises cost $10 million, if you can find someone to buy them. For the most part, it’s a league being run as a loss leader by the NBA for no apparent reason. And the MLS wants $40 million for a franchise that gets the same 0.2 TV rating as the WNBA?
Ultimately, big-time leagues in this country support themselves through television revenue. This league is miles away from doing that so it will never be able to pay the huge salaries needed to bring enough great players into the league to make it competitive with other leagues around the world.
The Oregonian also breathlessly reports, “MLS is also reaping new revenue by selling ad space on the front of team jerseys.” Wow, now there’s something that gives the league a touch of class. Selling ads on the uniforms — like your local Little League. Soccer teams have been doing this for years, by the way, usually finding beer companies — totally appropriate when it comes to soccer and its fans — to purchase space somewhere on the uniforms.
Again, bring MLS to Portland. I think it would be great. But please, let’s not confuse it with bringing real major-league sports to the area.
Tags: Dwight Jaynes, MLS, Portland Timbers, Soccer, The Oregonian
I was on Yahoo and found your blog. Read a few of your other posts. Good work. I am looking forward to reading more from you in the future.
Tom Stanley
Dwight said “You aren’t big time when you average fewer than 17,000 fans per game ”
So- Dwight….
Your realize you just said the Blazers weren’t big time from 2003 to 2007? Or anytime they were in the Colosseum?
Hmm.. I guess you are right.
Indoor sport vs. Outdoor sport… the attendance dymanics are obviously much different — particularly in light of the number of games played by each franchise per season.
Forget it, Larry. A “big league” sport is “whatever Dwight Jaynes says is a big league sport”. Facts will not persuade him.
When soccer gets to Portland, enjoy the hell out of it.
Yes, Tinheart, you are correct. Ignore the facts in this blog — it is full of them — and feel free to make up your own, although it doesn’t appear you’ve quoted any. And enjoy the hell out of it!
It’s like all those people who talk about how many more people the Timbers draw than the Beavers — quoting a per-game average attendance. But come on — if the Timbers played 70 games per season at home, how many fans would they average? Would you draw those same 8,000 people on a rainy Monday night in April if you were playing 70 home games, the way the Beavers do?
It’s all relative, folks. And you have to have a theory of relativity to understand it.
Also Dwight, the one thing that you are forgetting is that the people who played soccer during the soccer boom of the 80’s are now in their 30’s and introducing their kids to the game. It’s growing big time…but you are to old to understand.
and…if it isn’t baseball or football Dwight says it isn’t “big time!” hahaha You are so out if touch Dwight!
HAA!!!! I’ve heard all about that “soccer boom” for decades. I have news for you — they’ve been playing soccer all over this country for decades. That “boom” still hasn’t arrived.
SOCCER — the sport of the future, and it always will be!
Funny — you have your perceptions… but nobody is arguing with the FACTS in this blog. Nobody has mentioned that .2 TV rating. My goodness, WWE gets 10 times that many viewers on a bad night!
Like it or not, the MLS will work here in Portland. If it can work in places like Kansas City or Colombus, it will do just fine here. Sure it’s a joke to call it “major league” but the league is still number 5 in terms of popularity (after hockey). Also Dwight, you’re being pretty generous calling MLS the 7th or 8th best soccer league. I’d say there are at least 10 leagues in Europe better than than the MLS and 2-3 more in South America.
Wow! Advertising on the front of the jerseys. Chico’s Bail Bonds, anyone?
Obviously, I don’t want to see Paulson fail, but this adventure is probably destined to. I would think differently if they attracted more fans per game especially given the population of the Portland Metro area.
I have watched MLS on TV and there are way too many empty seats for the league to survive. Not knowing off the top of my head, but I am guessing that they will need more than 10k fans in the seats every game to at least break even. That’s going to be a tough sell since they are only averaging 3500 now.
Pitar made my point here. I have no problem with it coming here. I’d, in fact, LOVE it to come here — just to see if it will work if nothing else. (I watched the whole NASL thing implode here). I’m just concerned with what it’s being labeled.
And a PS… most teams in the MSL need 16,000-17,000 per game to break even. That’s double the 8,200 the Timbers are doing now.
i don’t think anyone is saying that soccer is the sport of the future here. But soccer can and does have a fairly strong cult following in the States, much the same way baseball and (american) football have in Europe. And Portland is definitely one of those towns, we’ve seen it time and again.
I won’t dispute your facts about TV ratings for soccer–but you know what?? The league has been going for over a decade and haven’t stopped playing yet. It’s gotten better organized with bigger names every year.
They weren’t MY facts… they were used by The Oregonian this morning in a story telling us that “big-time soccer” is on the way.
In a sports landscape dominated by the NFL, MLB, and the NBA, MLS is a relatively minor sport and it will take a while for it to reach the level of these other sports, if at all.
We’re used to having leagues with the BEST players in the world. The MLS doesn’t offer that. The best players play elsewhere because that’s where the money is.
As this league develops, perhaps the best players in the world will join the MLS in their prime and not at the end of their careers (e.g. Beckham). It’s at this point that I’ll consider the MLS “big time” soccer.
Lastly, you can’t discount the competition MLS faces from Premier teams in the North American marketplace. With Premier games and the World Cup broadcast on television, kids learn quickly who the best players are and the best teams. Add marketing from Nike and Adidas to the mix and the soccer heros are from Man Utd, Arsenal, Brazil, Barcelona or Real Madrid, not from the MLS. This is a major obstacle to reaching the “big time.”
The “big time” label does not bother me. The term works for me because MLS is the highest level of soccer in North America. Just like the Blazers are “big time” compared to the Idaho Stampede – compared to the Timbers any MLS team can be considered “big time.”
I hope MLS does come and I hope it does succeed. The only thing I would worry about is if it comes and does not succeed, then that failure would cast a pall over any future attempts at luring MLB to Portland. I.E. “If you can’t support MLS, how can you expect to support MLB?”
And if you go to enough games, you may even see a goal scored. Don’t forget to have your mommies bring the orange wedges.
so- Dwight.
You said “And a PS… most teams in the MSL need 16,000-17,000 per game to break even. That’s double the 8,200 the Timbers are doing now.”
Why is it that this logic works with MLS but doesn’t work with the Portland Beavers and MLB? there’s only one letter different.
I’ve always been puzzled as to how you think Portland fans will support 82 games at a 30,000 or so level when they can’t put 10,000 in the seats for fewer games.
I once lived in a small town that had “A” ball and put more asses in the seats. (Frederick Keys. They still do).
I’ve written this a thousand times but support for minor-league ball means nothing in regard to ability to support big-league ball. Why would MLB draw twice as many fans for twice as many games as soccer? Well, is there anyplace in America where it doesn’t?
Dwight-
Well, you live in a fantasy life. You have nothing to support that conjecture. If Portland ever does get a MLB team, it will be the 25th or so best funded team. It won’t win and no one will come.
Oregon has a better chance of supporting an NFL team. At least for that, you only have to fill the seats 8 times a year.
THAT, I think, is possible.
Sorry, Larry… a baseball stadium costs about HALF as much as a huge football stadium and can be used about 10 times as often… the football thing doesn’t pencil out. But nice try. By the way, you would not believe how many people said the NBA wouldn’t work in Portland. Said it would never draw.
FC Portland with, say, a Les Schwab logo on the front of the jersey? Sign me up for an $85 replica!
I love soccer as much as the next guy (well, maybe not as much as Larry) but I don’t think I could bring myself to support one financially on a consistent basis.
Given that I’m a sports nut, that doesn’t bode well.
Ben-
you can get an FC Portland shirt now, but it will have to be purchased from Clive Charles’ old youth club system. It might take a deal for a pro team to use it.
That $85 bucks might go towards a nice scholarship for a low income kid, though.
All big European clubs have ads on jerseys, Dwight.
“And a PS… most teams in the MSL need 16,000-17,000 per game to break even.”
No, that’s not even remotely true. Not if you have your own stadium. An MLS team can be profitable at a lower average attendance than that. You’ve got a shocking lack of understanding of the league. And of jersey sponsorships. And in saying that MLS is like the seventh or eighth best league in the world. Would that that were true. But if it WAS the 7th or 8th best in the world, yessir, it would be “bigtime” because the 6 or 7 that would be ahead of it are huge.