If a Soccer Game is shown in New York and no one watches it…

By: Bob | August 21st, 2007

It has been pretty easy to take potshots at MLS over the years and plenty of people have. The league hasn’t always made good decisions, the level of play has been questionable and the attendance numbers in some cities have been depressing. You’ve read it all before. That said, it is hard not to feel good about the direction the league is moving in this year, especially if you had a chance to watch Red Bull New York and the LA Galaxy play in front of a packed house this past weekend.

Indeed, things are moving in the right direction but they still have a long way to go. Take a look at the average television audience for Red Bull New York games this season. From The Offside Rules:

The New York Times soccer blog Goal is reporting that “this season, the team is averaging a meager 1,031 households on MSG and FSNY, which is still 40 percent higher than last year’s 736.”

Granted these numbers are for games that are carried on local cable channels, but they are still shockingly low for the largest television market in the United States. A market that will turn out in huge numbers to watch David Beckham, but apparently prefers watching reruns of Seinfeld over Jozy Altidore, Claudio Reyna and Juan Pablo Angel.

Sometimes being an MLS fan feels like pushing a boulder up a mountain.

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Bakley

I think it has more to do with NYRB and their former life as the metrostars. I wonder what the Revs numbers look like because that is a pretty similar market in that it is a four sport town with a big interest in its baseball and football teams.

I am football fan here in nyc and i gotta say i have never felt that pulled to north jersey for a game eventhought that makes me feel guilty. However, no town in this country is screaming out for good football in a good atmosphere than this one. more europeans than any other and plenty of latinos, africans and asians to round out the potential for a big response if an equivalent beckham move were to be made. or even like carlos tevez did where he parked in brasil for a year before moving on. i wish MLS and the teams would start to vire them selves realistically as a development league that can compete. A place where Zidane could be enticed to play for the money and lifestyle and the next mionel messi could play for a year or two. And we need defenders.

And if Zidane came to new York it would be an absolute mob. People would come out of the woodwork.
John

They should cure cancer first, then possibly revitalize or bring in a new world class Designated Player.

Unfortuantely, it'll probably happen vice versa, and even more unfortunately, slow or injured.
Lucas

@ Yovany: First? All they have to do is change the team name, bring in a few world class players, move into a new stadium in the city, and change their TV deal? That's "first"?

What's second? Perfect human cloning and play with 11 Peles, build a floating stadium that can travel with the team, end world hunger and maybe actually win a title?
CD

Those numbers if true are catastrophic. You could get those kinds of numbers in New York from people accidentally leaving there TV on the channel carrying the game. Theres 20 Million people in the NYC area and the NYRB average 1000 viewers per game. That is mind boggling.

To anyone wanting to push for another team in New York City, WHY? So you can have a second team that is 5 times more successful and average 5k viewers a game.
Peter

I don't think it is a problem specific to New York. The television numbers aren't great for any of the MLS teams but if you look at the number of people watching EPL and international games in America the numbers are improving. One thing the league should do is have regular start times and have the games on regular channels. It is often difficult figuring out where and where games are shown.
Yovany

Fist,

RBNY needs to change their team name. Bring back "Metrostars" or even better COSMOS FC. They need a better keeper someone like Buffon or Oliver Kahn. Bring in Adriano or Riquelme (Villareal doesn't want him). The stadium has to be withing the 5 boroughs. Queens will be perfect - FLUSHING meadows.. there's a large latino population there who loves soccer to the death. Red Bulls games should be on Telefutura or Telemundo for the latino audience.
tmc

Well obviously those ratings are atrocious, but I think it speaks more to the fact that they NYRB have yet to really make an impact in the NYC market. The team is terribly marketed, crowds are usually sparse, and they seem to be waiting for the new stadium to make it better.

NYC is still untapped as an MLS market. I wonder if there needs to be another team there before this changes? The NYRB certainly haven't maximized their potential in terms of crowds, ratings, merchandise, etc.