SUMmer of Soccer Events

SUMmer of Soccer Continues

The ‘Summer of Soccer’ which began on June 20, rolls on. As of now, over 1,455,000 have attended SuperLiga, the Gold Cup, the World Football Challenge and a variety of club and international friendlies.

Since my last post on the SUMmer of Soccer, an International Friendly doubleheader was played and a few more friendlies were scheduled …

Summer of Soccer
Opponents	Venue	Date	Event	Att
RSL v  Chivas de Guadalajara	Rio Tinto Stadium  Sandy, UT	Wed, Oct 07	Friendly
FCD v New England  Mexico v Colombia	Cotton Bowl  Dallas, TX	Wed, Sep 30	MLS Friendly
Chivas USA v  Chivas de Guadalajara	Rose Bowl  LA, CA	Wed, Sep 23	Friendly
Club America v  Chivas de Guadalajara	Arrowhead Stadium  KC, MO	Wed, Sep 16	Friendly
San Jose v CD Aguila(SLV)	Buck Shaw Stadium  San Jose, CA	Tue, Sep 08	Friendly
Colombia v Venezuela  Ecuador v Jamaica	Giants Stadium  E Rutherford, NJ	Wed, Aug 12	Int’l  Friendly	23,523
			total	23,523
			average	23,523

Summer of Soccer Attendances as of Aug 12
Event	Dates	Games	Att	Avg per Date
International Friendlies	3	4	105,262	35,087
Club Friendlies	10	12	430,302	43,030
World Football Challenge	6	6	336,813	56,136
Gold Cup	13	25	468,688	36,053
SuperLiga	12	15	114,163	9,514
	44	62	1,455,228	33,073

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SUM, MLS Coffers Filling Up Before CBA Negotiations Get Serious

More ch-ching for Soccer United Marketing(SUM). This was the first year of the 3 year agreement between Barcelona and SUM. They’ll return next summer, especially given the report that they took home over $8.5 million for their little USA preseason excursion. SUM would be hard pressed to have a bigger treasure chest increase than the one they are collecting during the ‘Summer of Soccer’. In one form or another SUM earned revenue from the events listed below.

SUMmer of Soccer Events
Event	Dates	Games	Att	Avg per Date
International Friendlies(Mexico)	2	2	88,878	44,439
Club Friendlies	8	10	413,918	51,740
Gold Cup	13	25	468,688	36,053
SuperLiga	12	15	114,163	9,514
	35	52	1,085,647	31,018
Club Friendlies include matches with Chivas de Guadalajara, Barcelona or an MLS team

Add to that 150 million on the books in expansion fees since 2007, the savings from the elimination of the reserve league(where is that money?), and you have the ingredients for interesting Collective Bargaining Agreement discussions.

Note: Don Garber has already stated that the SuperLiga will be back in 2010, a World Cup year. It’s a sure indication that live attendance and wide distribution of English language coverage in the US are irrelevant. It demonstrates where the real money comes from; sponsorships and Spanish language TV. SuperLiga in August or September next year?

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Where Am I Going With All This SUMmer of Soccer Stuff?

I’ve been struggling with this piece off the ground for several months now. All of the SUMmer of Soccer posts have been leading up to offering some observations on issues and obstacles that stand in the way of MLS becoming a better league.

With the summer coming to a close, the coffers are bulging. At least the ones at Soccer United Marketing, and by virtue of profit sharing, the corporations that own MLS franchises.
The first event that will effect the direction of MLS is the Collective Bargaining Agreement(CBA). Ideally, a deal will be worked out by the time MLS Cup ’09(Nov 22) rolls around.

In my next post, I will discuss what I believe to be the main element that could hold MLS back from achieving significant gains in the quality of its product.