Paradigm Shift Outline: Soccer Goes American

Posted on by McClane Dyreson

Image result for clint dempsey american flag

  1. Introduction
    1. Soccer made in Germany; Toby Charles
      1. Bundesliga and UEFA games
      2. Reserved for tape delay
      3. lack of popularity
      4. perceived as un-american
    2. What changed
      1. Information revolution
      2. Rise of cable and later streaming TV
      3. Globalization
      4. Marketing trends
    3. Thesis: Due to process dating back to the 70s that has skyrocketed in the past 5 years that reflects globalization, mass access to information, and international corporate practices. This represents a paradigm shift in the sporting culture of the United States where soccer went from an obscure foreign game played reserved children to being deeply embedded into the sports psyche of the country.
  2. a brief history
    1. Why the US caught behind in soccer
      1. The 1920s (ASL)
      2. 1930 World Cup
      3. The great depression and stagnation of the game
    2. ABC wild world of sports and the 66 WC
      1. Investors found a market for soccer in America
      2. Established North American based league NASL
      3. Pele and the Cosmos
      4. Soccer mania
      5. Why it failed: poorly run and lacked domestic players
    3. However, children all over America played soccer
      1. When these kids grew up, they were able to qualify for the 1990 WC
    4. 1994 World Cup
      1. Hosted in US
      2. Most successful World Cup in history
      3. Convinced American and foreign firms that soccer in America could become huge
      4. Allowed for creation of Major League Soccer
    5. Slow but steady growth until 2014
      1. Successful finishes at international competition
      2. Landon Donovan; first true American superstar
      3. EPL games on US TV
      4. Sam’s army and large following for national team
      5. David Beckham goes to Hollywood
      6. Popularity only came in waves though and would often wane after the hype of the world cup
    6. Explosion since 2014
      1. 2014 WC came at just the right time
      2. American stars Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard
        1. US made it out of the hardest group in WC history
        2. Stopped Cristiano Ronaldo, the biggest star in the world
      3. Hype stayed even after the WC
  3. Reasons for shift
    1. Profit:
      1. American and Foreign corporations have realized the value in promoting soccer in the United States
      2. American companies: Nike, Coca-Cola, Walt Disney, Fox, Chevy, and others promote their brands overseas with soccer
      3. Foreign companies: Adidas, Hyundai, Puma, Umbro, BEIN, Sky Sports, Qatar Airways, and others have all realized the potential of soccer in the US to promote their brands
      4. The US is by far the largest market for sports/entertainment worldwide
      5. market for us soccer
        1. fan base establish by the children of the 70s/80s/90s are now adults
        2. are now in charge of the media, corporate, and cultural paradigm of the United States
        3. passed game onto their children
    2. Information revolution and globalization
      1. In 1976, there was really only 4 channels. Now there are thousands
      2. The internet gives access to every soccer game in the world
      3. Social media
      4. Soccer fans during the 70s, 80s, and 90s got glimpses of the biggest stars during the world cup
      5. Now soccer fans have access to every game in the world
    3. More internationalized world
      1. European immigrants made soccer popular in the 20’ss and Latino Immigrants have done the same today
      2. Americans are travelling more than ever
      3. Brands need to be global to stay relevant
    4. changing of the American sports landscape
      1. decline in popularity of baseball because of steroids and lack of TV value
      2. concussion crisis in making many parents nervous about letting their kids play american football
      3. controversy surrounding NFL has hurt rankings
      4. sports industry realized that the US market was large enough for several sports to be popular
    5. Patriotism:
      1. Americans love scrappy underdogs such as our national team
      2. Americans hate being told they can’t be good at something
      3. Cheering for the men’s/women’s national team has been an excuse to show patriotism
      4. hard to say soccer is un-American when you look at American fans dressed up in red, white, and blue
  4. Conclusion:
    1. Soccer is here and is here to stay, it may not be America’s pastime but it is certainly one of America’s pastimes
    2. Repeat thesis
    3. Soccer needs America because of its power, its influence, its culture, it’s resources
    4. America needs soccer to broaden its own horizons, enhance its culture, provide new opportunities, and remember passion and joy
    5. As Pele once said, “Football represents the World”, likewise the world needs America for the same reasons and America needs the World

Image result for pele cosmos

2 thoughts on “Paradigm Shift Outline: Soccer Goes American”

  1. I like the topic on the 1994 world cup and how multiple foreign firms came in and thus expanded soccer into different countries. By explaining that you kind of see how soccer made it’s roots into different countries. I think you may have too many points for the TED talk so possibly narrow your list down to 3 subtopics and expand more on those.

    Reply

  2. I definitely agree with Eddie, it’s hard to realize how short five minutes is until you have a ton of information to present in that amount of time.

    Reply

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