Americans are so fickle, but this is FA Cup related. Honest.
Finally, in America we are able to see the early rounds of the FA Cup, League Cup and league games every weekend. As well as Scottish matches and LaLiga all on television.
This is all good but opens up a question in my mind. American soccer fans are noticeably fickle so is it a good thing that we get all these matches?
We have people jumping teams for no reason at all. Heck, some fans would take suggestions every week on a podcast (blogtalk’s Tuesday Vuvuzela 6:30 to 8pm est) to change their team and do it. Unlike my cohost in LA (Vanessa Valentine). She’s a stuborn Manchester United fan but good on her for it. She’s loyal and will always watch no matter what country she’s in.
We need more of her to be honest and less of people changing teams because they lose a match or three.
Two weekends ago in the States, Fox Sports 1 and 2 played selected FA Cup matches live on television. Here’s my issue. We were watching Grimsby Town v Hudderfield as well as the Leeds and Forest matches. While to most soccer fans in the UK, those are clubs with a great fan base. Who in America knows anything about the first two? Probably no one and that’s the issue.
I’m not knocking Huddersfield or Grimsby Town at all. I’m sure there’s some passionate fans and the clubs have played some good football. We don’t need to see them live in the States. FOX could have gone to the FA and asked them to put the Liverpool or Fulham matches on televisions here. There are more fans of each here in the States.
I’m all for growing the sport in the States and the NBC contract has been leaps and bounds more impressive than we thought it would be. For the first time people are able to see EVERY game on a weekend and not have to suffer seeing the Manchester teams, Arsenal and Chelsea every weekend. But we’ve gone too far FOX. FA Cup early round matches?
If you want to sell the game to the wider audience, do not make them watch teams they’ll never see again. We are a country of short attention spans, wait, what was I saying, I just saw something shiny.
Keep the fans interested in the game by showing the top league. Then if they get hooked they’ll find out how to watch the FA Cup or the lower leagues. We’re a smart country but we want success right now.
Look, guys I’m all for people watching the sport. I’m all for the games being played all the time. I hate the days when we don’t have a match or two on. But it has to be within reason. European matches, top leagues, top teams are all good enough.
If we wanted to watch some lower division soccer we’d watch our own pyramid of soccer. Plus the FA Cup being put on by FOX is a slap to the face to US soccer who doesn’t put our own FA Cup competition on television.
Oh the irony.
Article written by Stephen Brandt
