American fans still largely prefer to watch sports made in the USA. But football has recently succeeded to gain more and more attention.
The success of TV in the USA is due in large part to three series that never go off the air or are cancelled: sports, sports and sports. With four highly visible professional leagues, basketball (NBA), american football (NFL), baseball (MLB) and ice hockey (NHL) being broadcast at different times of the year, a week doesn't go by without professional games being televised. Added to that, collegiate basketball and football elicit nearly as much attention and enthusiasm from fans as their pro counterparts.
Sports every day of the year
Every day, live broadcasts of games, sports news and sports shows are shown on television. ESPN, one of the most well known network brands in sports, has assumed an ever greater role in the sports market since its founding in 1979 as an alternative to the sports reporting of the established networks. Testimony to the network's success is the fact that ESPN now reaches viewers in 100 million households in the USA. Since 2000, several of ESPN's channels can also be viewed in Europe. ESPN Classic has been in existence since 2002 and is broadcast in more than fourty countries. The US sports channel NASN, which also belongs to the ESPN family, broadcasts mainly live, North American professional games to ten million households in 32 countries in Europe.
Successful concept
Inspired by the idea of broadcasting a big game during prime time, the NFL founded Monday Night Football in 1964. The first Monday night game was played as a test without TV coverage, with the result that over 60,000 fans came out to watch the Detroit Lions vs.Green Bay Packers on September 28th, marking the highest attendance of a game ever. Since 1970, when the NFL nearly doubled in size by absorbing a second professional league, Monday Night Football has become a must see for football fans, with nearly forty percent of the country's viewers tuning in to watch.
Prominence as "experts"
Monday Night Football has not only elevated the visibility of the game. For commentators, it's also one of the most competitive slots in American sports. The current four member team is a star-studded combination of top commentators and hall of fame players. The team also has special guests, perhaps the most memorable of which was Ronald Reagan, who explained the rules of the game to John Lennon. Kermit the Frog has also joined the commentators on several occasions, and last season presidential hopeful Barack Obama turned up at a Chicago Bears game to gave what began as a campaign speech, only to conclude with Obama revealing that his dedication to the Bears and singing the team's victory song. The other professional leagues in the US may not have quite the same star power of the NFL, but they too have their prime time slots and continue to score high in the ratings, even though most of the professional sports seasons overlap. The transfer of David Beckham to the Los Angeles Galaxy in the Major League Soccer (MLS) last July marked an attempt to show that there was plenty of room left for the MLS. What had been lacking in the promotion of the league in the eyes of sports fans was a combination of a lack of exposure to the sport and, most importantly, the absence of a super star, a Michael Jordan, a Wayne Gretzky, a Joe Dimaggio, or a Joe Nameth.
Pele and American soccer
In the brief history of football in the USA, there have been two distinct phases in which the beautiful game has become respectable in the eyes of the public. The first was the end of the 1970s when Pelé and Beckenbauer were sensations at Cosmos New York; the second came shortly before, during and after the USA hosted the World Cup in 1994. Now, with the migration of Beckham and waves of football fans streaming across the border with Mexico, a new era of interest, perhaps the breakthrough era, is on the horizon.
The Beckham factor
The arrival of David Beckham may mean more than what he brings to the MLS as a player, considering that the studly yet mild mannered and affable Posh Spice husband definitely has excellent career possibilities as a future commentator. For the TV networks, a plan is already in the works to model the MLS on the other pro leagues. Two major networks, ESPN 2 and FOX, both broadcast MLS matches. The league final on November 18th was broadcast at prime time on ABC, the former carrier of Monday Night Football. Already a household name in the US, Beckham will continue to win over sports fans with his unique, brilliant shots and should go on to become fixture in the booth as soccer grows its roots deeper and wider in a country with a love of sports and an abiding respect and fascination for the new.
A rapidly growing soccer fan base
The fact that there is a team, Chivas USA, that is largely supported by Latin American immigrants is another indication of the potential football has to take off in the US. The size of the Latin American population is large enough to swing the outcome of US presidential elections and is already having an impact as a sizeable football fan base and viewer audience. With Beckham and a growing fan base, perhaps soccer can make the leap from amateur to respected professional sport in the USA. And maybe "Becks" will at some point even sit with Kermit the Frog and explain the secret of bending a corner kick.
by www.bundesliga.de
The success of TV in the USA is due in large part to three series that never go off the air or are cancelled: sports, sports and sports. With four highly visible professional leagues, basketball (NBA), american football (NFL), baseball (MLB) and ice hockey (NHL) being broadcast at different times of the year, a week doesn't go by without professional games being televised. Added to that, collegiate basketball and football elicit nearly as much attention and enthusiasm from fans as their pro counterparts.
Sports every day of the year
Every day, live broadcasts of games, sports news and sports shows are shown on television. ESPN, one of the most well known network brands in sports, has assumed an ever greater role in the sports market since its founding in 1979 as an alternative to the sports reporting of the established networks. Testimony to the network's success is the fact that ESPN now reaches viewers in 100 million households in the USA. Since 2000, several of ESPN's channels can also be viewed in Europe. ESPN Classic has been in existence since 2002 and is broadcast in more than fourty countries. The US sports channel NASN, which also belongs to the ESPN family, broadcasts mainly live, North American professional games to ten million households in 32 countries in Europe.
Successful concept
Inspired by the idea of broadcasting a big game during prime time, the NFL founded Monday Night Football in 1964. The first Monday night game was played as a test without TV coverage, with the result that over 60,000 fans came out to watch the Detroit Lions vs.Green Bay Packers on September 28th, marking the highest attendance of a game ever. Since 1970, when the NFL nearly doubled in size by absorbing a second professional league, Monday Night Football has become a must see for football fans, with nearly forty percent of the country's viewers tuning in to watch.
Prominence as "experts"
Monday Night Football has not only elevated the visibility of the game. For commentators, it's also one of the most competitive slots in American sports. The current four member team is a star-studded combination of top commentators and hall of fame players. The team also has special guests, perhaps the most memorable of which was Ronald Reagan, who explained the rules of the game to John Lennon. Kermit the Frog has also joined the commentators on several occasions, and last season presidential hopeful Barack Obama turned up at a Chicago Bears game to gave what began as a campaign speech, only to conclude with Obama revealing that his dedication to the Bears and singing the team's victory song. The other professional leagues in the US may not have quite the same star power of the NFL, but they too have their prime time slots and continue to score high in the ratings, even though most of the professional sports seasons overlap. The transfer of David Beckham to the Los Angeles Galaxy in the Major League Soccer (MLS) last July marked an attempt to show that there was plenty of room left for the MLS. What had been lacking in the promotion of the league in the eyes of sports fans was a combination of a lack of exposure to the sport and, most importantly, the absence of a super star, a Michael Jordan, a Wayne Gretzky, a Joe Dimaggio, or a Joe Nameth.
Pele and American soccer
In the brief history of football in the USA, there have been two distinct phases in which the beautiful game has become respectable in the eyes of the public. The first was the end of the 1970s when Pelé and Beckenbauer were sensations at Cosmos New York; the second came shortly before, during and after the USA hosted the World Cup in 1994. Now, with the migration of Beckham and waves of football fans streaming across the border with Mexico, a new era of interest, perhaps the breakthrough era, is on the horizon.
The Beckham factor
The arrival of David Beckham may mean more than what he brings to the MLS as a player, considering that the studly yet mild mannered and affable Posh Spice husband definitely has excellent career possibilities as a future commentator. For the TV networks, a plan is already in the works to model the MLS on the other pro leagues. Two major networks, ESPN 2 and FOX, both broadcast MLS matches. The league final on November 18th was broadcast at prime time on ABC, the former carrier of Monday Night Football. Already a household name in the US, Beckham will continue to win over sports fans with his unique, brilliant shots and should go on to become fixture in the booth as soccer grows its roots deeper and wider in a country with a love of sports and an abiding respect and fascination for the new.
A rapidly growing soccer fan base
The fact that there is a team, Chivas USA, that is largely supported by Latin American immigrants is another indication of the potential football has to take off in the US. The size of the Latin American population is large enough to swing the outcome of US presidential elections and is already having an impact as a sizeable football fan base and viewer audience. With Beckham and a growing fan base, perhaps soccer can make the leap from amateur to respected professional sport in the USA. And maybe "Becks" will at some point even sit with Kermit the Frog and explain the secret of bending a corner kick.
by www.bundesliga.de
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