This weekend I went to a FC Bayern München game with Jenn, Dani, and Jeanine. FC Bayern is kind of comparable to the NY Yankees - they tradionally have the best players and most money, and are usually in the top of their division. They also have a brand new stadium that is probably the nicest in Germany, and maybe even the continent:
Even with a 70,000 capacity (very large for Europe), the game sold out (like every home game for FC Bayern). 69,000 people were in attendance.
I used to go to DC United games in the US (yes, we have a professional league). Soccer games in are totally different than here, or really any other professional sports in the States. Maybe not better, but certainly different. Football is the only thing that comes close, but it's just different.
One cool thing I noticed was after the game, the away team (who lost 5-2), sat down in front of the away-fans section and listened to the fans cheer for them. The fact that fans would not only cheer for a team that lost, but stay AFTER the game shows how passionate people are about soccer.
For Soccer, 5-2 is a VERY high scoring game. Jenn made a joke that if more soccer games were like this, people in America might actually watch. I think she may be on to something.After the strike of 2004 that led to a cancellation of the entire season, the NHL took the opportunity to restructure its rules. To make the games more exciting, they tweaked a few rules to ensure higher-scoring games.
Maybe that's what Soccer needs. One of the big problems is that soccer games can end in a tie - a 0-0 score is not at all uncommon. For purists, the score is less important than the atmosphere, culture, and plays the lead to try on goal. But for your average fan, some sort of tangible result is needed (in all sports, really).
Perhaps that's what MLS could do - tweak the rules to make Soccer more exciting for the average person. That would definitely be a controversial move anywhere else in the world, since the rules have been that way forever, but in America we would be up for it. The problem is besides making the actual goal smaller, I'm not sure how it could be accomplished. Something MLS should definitely think about.
Oh, and the Wacky-Waving-Inflatable-Arm-Flailing-Tube-Man made an appearance:
