Two Tuesdays ago in Hamsterdam Chester, PA the US Women’s National Team played a friendly against the China Women’s National Team. 2,505 people showed up. When I arrived around an hour before kickoff and PPL Park looked empty I assumed everyone was just running late. Or that they were all sitting directly under the press box and I couldn’t see them. Or that they were all suffering from some ailment that made them transparent. None of these things were true, it turned out. Instead, it seems the only truth was that everyone just had, uh, more important things to do.

So why did only 2,505 people show up?

Well, some of the responsibility has to fall on US Soccer. If you’re reading this, chances are you were aware the game was going on. The problem is, if you’re reading this, you’re likely already a fan of the USWNT. In our little world we’re tuned in to what’s going on, to when the games are, who the players are, what’s at stake. But outside of our little women’s soccer bubble is a whole other world, unaware. There were two recent Men’s National Team games – and a quick look at the main US Soccer Twitter feed revealed all kinds of information on the men’s teams they geared up for their friendlies; what’s going on at training, jerseys being printed, players making appearances on the radio. The WNT meanwhile, got just a couple mentions. Of course, the WNT has its own separate feed, which does fine providing interesting tidbits every now and then as well as a bit of commentary during matches. The issue is that the @ussoccer_wnt feed has just 3,614 followers, a mere 2.4% of the 150,765 that the main @ussoccer feed has. For casual fans who get their info from @ussoccer and were unaware that WNT had its own feed, you’d think the team no longer existed. Did you know the Women’s National Team played a game on October 2nd in Kennesaw, GA? The @ussoccer feed didn’t either. Or that the dates for CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying were announced? Again, don’t feel bad, @ussoccer is just as clueless. But don’t worry, there’s photographic evidence that Bob Bradley eats lunch. I’m fine with the USWNT having its own Twitter feed, but the existence of @ussoccer_wnt shouldn’t serve as an excuse for whatever person or persons runs @ussoccer to pretty much completely ignore the women’s team. It is, after all, the verified account of “U.S. Soccer: the governing body of soccer in all its forms in the United States.” Kristine Lilly is now just one cap away from 350 and breaking records on fitness tests at age 39. Alex Morgan, the only collegiate player rostered for the match, scored her first international goal. But really, tell me more about the first ever Jermaine Jones jersey and OMG!whereshouldtheplayerseatdinnerinChicago?!?! The USWNT hasn’t lost in the US since November 6, 2004. They’re the number one ranked team in the world and they’re about to head into CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifying. And then there’s the 2011 World Cup. But really, lets talk more about Bob Bradley and preparation for the 2014 World Cup. It’s right around the corner! US Soccer’s separate Twitter feeds become a case of “preaching to the converted” – there’s no chance of bringing fans of the MNT to the women’s game as well if they don’t know it’s even happening.

Trust me, the watermark isn't obscuring anyone

And speaking of that match in Kennesaw, I think by now we all know that it wasn’t on TV. As far I know, ESPN will be carrying the 2011 Women’s World Cup and FSC will be carrying the 2011 WPS season. I’m not a television executive, but wouldn’t it have made some sense for one of these channels to pick up the game, to you know, PROMOTE THEIR OWN PROGRAMMING? By the way, we should all maybe be a little angrier that seemingly the only highlight making the rounds is Abby Wambach hitting a dude and knocking a hotdog out of his hand. It’s charming and fun and silly and I’m all for all of those things, but believe it or not, the USWNT didn’t go all the way to Philly just so Abby could de-hotdog that dude.* There was also a game that happened and while it was far from the US’s best performance it did feature a pretty nice goal from China’s Ma Jun and an equally impressive late equalizer care of Alex Morgan. But to reiterate, I’m not a TV executive and ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’ was on the air for long time… But why would ESPN or FSC or whoever lug a whole bunch of equipment and bring the presumably pretty large crew required for such broadcasts out to the field to broadcast a game in a more than half-empty stadium? It doesn’t look great on TV – and beyond that, it makes TV execs in charge of making decisions about whether to carry the games question if anyone really cares anyway. There’s also the possibility of it deterring US Soccer from seeking out TV for future matches – if the only way people can see it is to show up to the stadium, that’s better right? It’s part of why the NFL has a rule that games will be blacked out locally if they’re not sold out within 72 hours of kickoff. It’s tough enough to see the WNT on TV, why make it harder on ourselves?

As fans, we’ve also got to take some responsibility. Not women’s soccer fans or men’s soccer fans or whatever, but as soccer fans. Full disclosure number one: I didn’t pay to get in, instead attending the game as a barely legitimate member of the media – covering it for a soccer site which shall remain nameless for various reasons.**

Arguments for the low attendance number include: it was cold, it was a Wednesday night, the team didn’t play that well, and of course “it was the first playoff game for the Phillies”.

As for the ol’ “it was cold”: bring a coat, people. Or a blanket. Or a bottle of the hard liquor of your choosing. Philadelphia is in the Northeast, in fall and winter it gets cold – this is a fact and has been (and will be for hopefully a few years more at least). Presumably people who are spending the money to go to soccer matches in the Northeast own coats or if you’re me and have an issue with sleeves*** and refuse to wear a coat, own the requisite long-sleeve layers and perhaps a winter vest. (Yes, I realize I complained about the cold on The Twitter, but I also did not dress appropriately and uh, I showed up anyway.) It was probably only a tiny bit warmer at the Phillies game and people showed up. Also, it was in the 50s, not the 20s. The USWNT played a game at Rio Tinto in the snow and 3,732 people showed up. Let me say that again, THE USWNT PLAYED A GAME IN THE SNOW AND 3,732 PEOPLE SHOWED UP. Seriously.

“Okay”, you say, “I coulda sucked it up and broke out the coat. But it was a Wednesday night. Wednesdays aren’t good for me. ‘Survivor’ is on.” And then I tell you the same thing I tell my mom every time I see her and she complains about some show she missed for some reason – get a DVR! Or set-up the ol’ VCR (it’s a thing that plays and records with things called tapes – Google it, kids). I had other things I could’ve been doing too, like eating dinner at an hour that wasn’t 2:30 p.m., sleeping, drinking the fine pumpkin-related beers chillin’ in my fridge, general shenanigans, reading a book, working, listening to that Tallest Man on Earth record for the 50th time, interacting with other human beings, calling my sister who just got back from Syria (Syria? I don’t know, either), etc. Instead, I ate dinner at an hour that even a senior citizen would say was too early, hopped in my car and drove the two-plus hours to Chester. I’m sure the people that did show up for the match probably had other stuff they could’ve been doing too, but they decided that this was more important or that the laundry or sleeping or whatever could wait a few hours. Or maybe it was like last week’s ‘Modern Family’**** and they were blackmailed into it by a kid who threatened to tell mom that the reason she was trapped in the bathroom for so long was because dad forgot to anchor the cabinet to the wall. Whatever. They still showed up.

As for the general Philles playoff game argument, I don’t buy it. Full disclosure number two: I’m a Devils fan/born-and-raised Mets fan*****- and a proud North Jerseyite – and thus predisposed to hating Philly and its related teams. But I say this with as little bias as possible. I don’t buy the baseball argument for the same reasons I don’t buy any of the other arguments for the low attendance number. I’ve been to a playoff baseball game, by the way (game six of the 2006 NLCS – Mets vs. Cardinals) so I understand the allure of it. But baseball isn’t going anywhere – the jury is still out on Women’s Soccer. And the NLDS is a five-game series which means there was another playoff game, like two days later. Not to mention the fact that WPS’s Philadelphia Independence drew just 2,378 people for their playoff game, which was on a Sunday in warm weather – when the Phillies weren’t playing a playoff game.

More importantly on the topic of the Phillies – the game in question had an attendance of 46,411. Do baseball fans just not care about things like the cold or having other stuff to do?

I’m going to just dismiss the “well Roy Halladay was throwing/threw a no-hitter for the Philles – just the second time that’s happened in the post-season” and the “well the team didn’t play that well” arguments. Unless there are 3,00 psychics in Chester and its environs – basically some Cassadaga North – these two specific arguments are plain ridiculous. Miss Cleo, The Amazing Kreskin and Paul the Octopus obviously get a pass. How often does the WNT play in any given city? Not very. Before this match, the last appearance for the WNT in Philly was in 2008. Attendance for that one was 13,176, by the way – where did you all go? Average attendance for the three previous WNT matches in Philly – all played at Lincoln Financial Field (2003, 2004, 2008) – is 19,847.****** In fact, this match was the lowest attended match the USWNT have ever played in the entire state of Pennsylvania. Through 2009 there have been just 17 domestic matches with lower attendance in the entire history of the program (for which attendance numbers were available, which is all but a handful of matches) – and all those happened in the early to mid-nineties. The idea that baseball playoffs are a “once in a lifetime” deal doesn’t hold much water[ice] when considering the relatively small number of opportunities we have to see the full USWNT in any given year.

Jeff Kassouf at The Equalizer wrote a great piece about stadium size, but even at a place that holds 5,000 people the stands still would have been half-empty. If we’re the soccer fans we claim to be, if we claim to love the game, to want to see it grow, it’s time for us to step up. There’s always going to be something else. Some other game we could be at or some other thing we could be doing. And while no one should be attending games purely because they feel obligated, making small sacrifices, like skipping a baseball game or DVRing ‘Survivor’ or putting on a damn coat won’t kill you. We’re supposed to be showing the world that we’re becoming a soccer nation – and collectively, we’re not doing the best job. These players [almost] all just came off of a long WPS season and went pretty much right into training for these friendlies/WWC Qualifying – don’t we owe it to them to stop making excuses and at least show up? And yeah, the team didn’t play that well, but when no one shows up to your party, you’re not going to play Pin the Tail on the Donkey by yourself, now are you?

*For the record, I’m not at all opposed to Abby going around de-hotdogging people. Unless it’s a veggie dog.

**Mainly bitterness.

***I think my short arms, which I feel like are arms like a T-Rex has but are probably not that short in real life, contribute to this issue.

****Which they couldn’t have seen, because they were at the game.

*****Obviously, because no one becomes a Mets fan by choice.

******The one in 2003 was a World Cup match, which surely skews the number a bit, but attendance for the other two was still 14,812 and 13,176.

View Original Post at allwhitekit.wordpress.com

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• Soccer, Sports, SportsPLUS, Media/Marketing, WNT

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