Dear Editors of Soccer America:
After reading the July 6 column by USA Today Sports TV columnist Michael Hiestand, in which he referred to soccer diehards as ''special,'' I have the following response.
There is one HUGE difference between soccer and ''Olympic'' sports such as bobsled or badminton:
There are 4 US TV channels which air soccer, in ENGLISH, for at least 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year:
– FOX Soccer Channel;
– FOX Sports en Espanol (which has English-language second audio);
– GolTV (with both English and Spanish audio tracks);
– Setanta Sports USA.
As far as I know, neither bobsled, badminton, nor any other two dozen or so Olympic sports have that kind of saturation TV coverage in the US year round.
On a typical weekend in September-November or February-May, there can be as many as 10-12 soccer matches available simultaneously for those of us who have digital cable or satellite TV.
There is probably more soccer available on TV in the U.S. than in any other country in the world.
Soccer is not really that obscure a TV product in the U.S. You can just look at the Nielsen Television Index (NTI) ratings for evidence.
Mexican League regular-season matches involving lesser teams on TeleFutura routinely get DOUBLE the NTI ratings (at least 0.30%) compared to regular-season National Hockey League (NHL) telecasts on OLN (about 0.15%).
The big regular season Mexican League ''superclasico'' between Chivas Guadalajara and Club America of Mexico City on Univision on Feb. 26 at 6-8pm Eastern Time drew 1.427 million households and 2.588 million viewers based on NTI data, making it the most watched soccer match in the US NOT involving national teams in the past 10 years (The Freddy Adu MLS debut on ABC on April 3, 2004 drew 1.429 million households and 1.969 million viewers.)
In my opinion, ESPN/ABC really underestimated the amount of viewers in the U.S,. who are already familiar with international soccer television on a year-round basis.
These viewers have certain expectations for an international soccer telecast, and ESPN/ABC did NOT meet those expectations at the start of the 2006 World Cup.
For example, Univision found a sponsor in McDonald's to underwrite the presentation of the national anthems during World Cup telecasts so that Univision didn't have to squeeze in extra commercial spots before kickoff.
ESPN/ABC didn't start showing national anthems until thousands of viewers complained. The viewers complained because they felt that they were disrespected by ESPN/ABC.
To its credit, ESPN/ABC eventually made that adjustment, and I fully expect ESPN/ABC to find a sponsor for the presentation of the national anthems during the 2007 Women's World Cup and the 2010 Men's World Cup.
ESPN executives have always argued that ESPN/ABC had to change drastically its presentation for the World Cup compared to MLS or European Champions League because over 90% of ESPN/ABC viewers in the US who watch the World Cups (Men and Women) don't watch other soccer products.
But if you look at the Nielsen ratings for Major League Baseball, the NBA, College Basketball, and the NHL, you might be tempted to come to similar conclusions for those sports:
– about 70-80% of viewers who watch the World Series don't watch ESPN Sunday Night Baseball
– about 80-90% of viewers who watch the NCAA Final Four on CBS don't watch regular season college basketball on CBS or ESPN
– about 80-90% of viewers who watch the NBA Finals on ABC don't watch regular season NBA on ESPN or TNT
– over 90% of viewers who watch the NHL Stanley Cup Final on NBC don't watch regular season NHL on OLN
However, there is really no reason, in my opinion, why ESPN/ABC's presentation of the World Cup has to be that much different compared to ESPN/ABC's presentation of Major League Soccer (MLS), or that much different compared to ESPN Australia/ESPN New Zealand's presentation of the European Champions League (which is simulcast in the US on ESPN2).
After all,
– FOX doesn't present the World Series that much differently compared to its regular season regional Major League Baseball telecasts
– CBS doesn't present the NCAA Basketball Final Four that much differently compared to its regular season college basketball telecasts
– ABC's presentation of the NBA Finals is almost exactly the same as ESPN/ABC's presentation of regular season NBA telecasts
– NBC doesn't present the Stanley Cup Final that much differently compared to regular sesaon regional NHL telecasts
Why did ESPN/ABC feel that it had to make so many changes to the way it presents the World Cup compared to the way it presents MLS and European Champions League to viewers in the U.S.?
The overwhelming Nielsen data from other sports do NOT support ESPN/ABC's argument.
I sincerely hope that ESPN/ABC understands that there was no need to ''reinvent the wheel'' with each World Cup. ESPN/ABC just needs to present the World Cup to the U.S. audience by respecting the intelligence of the viewers.
For an example of how that is done, ESPN/ABC just needs to look at the way ESPN Australia/ESPN New Zealand presents the European Champions League Final. U.S. viewers are already familiar with that style of presentation because of the ESPN2 simulcasts.
Those casual viewers who don't understand the terminology of soccer will do what those viewers who don't understand the terminology of baseball, basketball, or ice hockey would do in the 21st Century: ask their friends who follow those sports or do some reading on the Internet.
My last comment is on the Dave O'Brien issue. I know that Mr. O'Brien is capable of doing great work at international sports events, such as the World Baseball Classic second round game between the Republic of Korea and Japan at Anaheim this past March. Furthermore, I understand that Mr. O'Brien sincerely wants to help soccer grow its audience in the U..S, judging by his enthusiasm.
The only thing I ask of Mr. O'Brien before he broadcasts the 2006 World Cup Final: please respect the intelligence of his viewing audience and understand that his audience has certain expectations of what a competent international soccer announcer should be doing in an international soccer broadcast.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Oliver Tse
Founder/Owner/Publisher, soccerTV.com
San Francisco, Calif.