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Soccer

Is ESPN's Hype Machine Hurting MLS?

Posted Aug 14, 2007 9:55PM By Eric McErlain (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Soccer, General NHL, The Word, MLS

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Back in July, Jason Chung, a fellow at The Project on Law and Mind Sciences at Harvard University Law School, got keyboards tapping everywhere with a post at The Situationist entitled, Negative Press: Is ESPN Killing the National Hockey League by Influencing Public Attitudes?

As a long-time fan of the NHL, it was an interesting read to say the least, and one that had my head nodding in agreement more often than not. From where I sit, there's little doubt in my mind that the relentless barrage of negative press the league endured throughout the playoffs and beyond was triggered in part by the programming decisions made in Bristol, Conn.

Now Chung is back, and his timing once again in fortuitous, as his latest post looks at ESPN's stake in promoting the success of Major League Soccer: Manufactured Hype: Can ESPN's Agenda-Setting Behaviour save Major League Soccer?

It's an interesting questions to ask, especially as a number of fans of the sport are beginning to question whether or not the sort of hype ESPN is delivering is actually hurting the league rather than helping it.

As my FanHouse colleague David Warner pointed out yesterday, D.C. United's own Bobby Boswell, former MLS defender of the year, has something of a bone to pick with ESPN, essentially accusing it of promoting Beckham at the expense of the sport itself.

Then again, there are other times when you have to wonder just what side ESPN is really on.

What's worse, as concern about the severity of Beckham's ankle injury linger, others are wondering out loud whether or not the hype is starting to backfire on Beckham and the league -- something which has to be considered particularly unfair given reports on just how badly hurt the England international really is.But in the end, all of that is really short-term static. As much respect as I have for Chung, I don't think MLS needs saving. In fact, I think that despite the short-term apathy of some American sports fans that translates into anemic television ratings, that MLS has a bright future.

Why do I say that? Anybody with half a brain understands that America is undergoing a profound demographic shift in its population. A couple of years back in New York, Spanish-language radio broadcasts of the New York Mets were already getting better ratings than the Devils and the Islanders.

A couple of weeks ago in the press box at RFK before a D.C. United match, a couple of reporters were joking about ESPN's new MLS slogan: "You're a Soccer fan, you just don't know it yet." In the moments that followed, a number of my friends started throwing out alternatives -- including, "MLS: We've got the demographics."

It's no lie. Going forward, America is going to have more and more of a Latin flavor. And as those Latins integrate into society and start flexing their economic muscle, they're going to be buying tickets to matches. In a way, it's already happening, as huge crowds usually turn out for matches pitting MLS squads against their Mexican League counterparts.

Back in March, I saw better than 26,000 fans fill RFK Stadium for a match between United and CD Chivas on a weeknight that was cold and rainy. Had the weather been better, I wouldn't have bet against a walk-up crowd of 35,000 or more.

So while MLS won't be turning down Mr. Beckham's help, we ought to acknowledge that he's here, in part, to surf the demographic tidal wave. I suspect that's the case with ESPN too.

Tags: DavidBeckham, MLS

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