(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
BY NICK GERHARDT
ANCHOR AUSTIN KIM
You're watching multisource sports video news analysis from Newsy.
There’s a new giant in the US sports market, and you’ll find them just south of the border--the Mexican national soccer team. Nielsen ratings for the CONCACAF Gold Cup drove the marketability of the team to a new high.
Mexico bested the United States twice on Saturday: on the pitch, four to two, and in the metrics, eight to one. Fox Soccer channel’s English telecast brought in nearly a million viewers on average--a record setter for the young channel--but Univision’s Spanish coverage netted nearly EIGHT million viewers. This according to Multichannel’s Mike Reynolds.
Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup pulled in an average viewership of 8.5 million, and Rory McIlroy’s victory at the US Open logged about 9 million.
Outside of the World Cup, is national soccer now must-see TV in the States?
Fox Soccer general manager David Nathanson issued a statement,
via Multichannel:
"The US-Mexico CONCACAF Gold Cup final was a must-see event for American sports fans... Breaking our viewership record twice in one year speaks to … the growth of soccer in the United States.”
The Mexico national team sold out five American stadiums during the CONCACAF Gold Cup, including the final against the US at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. About 80 percent of the 93 thousand plus in attendance came to cheer for Mexico,
according to J.A. Adande of ESPN. Adande says this is about so much more than just soccer.
“Well for those people who say soccer is so much more than a sport, this was a case where that was really true. You had all kinds of things coming into play: the immigration issue, which is such a big topic here in California, then of course basically The whole American melting pot theory was put to the test—should you remain loyal to your original country, or to the country in which you live now? And I think that’s what so disappointing to a lot of people.”
Adande is referring to the red-white-and-green having the home field advantage on American turf—even drowning out the national anthem of the country where most of these fans currently reside.
Business Insider’s Tony Manfred says American companies want the money generated by such a passionate fan base--but they should understand it comes with a heavy dose of nationalism.
“National team fans aren’t just the people who buy tickets and merchandise, they are the people who the team on the field actually represents.
"This is why the boos in the Rose Bowl were so off-putting for American fans. Because unlike our pro teams, the U.S. national team really does represent us and where we live.”
“We’re not booing the country, we’re booing the team. There’s a big difference.”
As Tony Manfred points out, US soccer fans who took issue with the booing must remember one thing: this is sports--a rivalry between two teams. And right now the better team on the field has the more profitable fans in the stands and at home. That’s Mexico, and it’s not likely to change.
Transcript by Newsy.
