Alright Soccer, Here’s Your Chance To Make Yourself A Major Sport In The U.S.

“How about that men’s US Soccer game Sunday afternoon? Man! I can’t believe we blew a 2-0 lead in the second half to Brazil. I know, I know…it was amazing we even beat Spain to get to the Finals of the Confederation Cup. But we HAD that game against Brazil – we should of won it, damn it!”

When was the last time anybody ever got that excited over a U.S. men’s soccer game? I would wager that 90% of American sports fans (including myself) had no idea we were playing in the Confederation Cup in South Africa until we shocked the world with a 2-0 upset victory over Spain last Wednesday.

Even the most casual sports fan had to get excited and geared up for Sunday’s showdown with Brazil, the world’s best soccer team.

One of the most fascinating enigmas of American sports is our country’s lack of interest in professional soccer. As a participatory sport, soccer is extremely popular in the U.S. and really the best game for children and young athletes to play.

But as far as our multi billion dollar professional sports industry, Major League Soccer is considered a minor league sport – not coming anywhere close to drawing the attendance figures, advertising dollars or media coverage that the “Big Four” get.

Why that fact is so interesting is because, outside of the U.S., pro soccer (sorry, I mean football) is the most popular sport in the world.

There are many theories as to way soccer hasn’t grown into a major U.S. pro sport. But ultimately, the reason is probably a Catch-22:

No one watches or cares because it’s not covered well or promoted by the media / It’s not covered well or promoted by the media because no one watches or cares.

But, okay…Forget about why soccer has struggled in the past to emerge as a big time sport in America (especially with dumb PR stunts like bringing David Beckham to America) and let’s focus on the current U.S Men’s National Team – who just happened to have played some pretty amazing ball during the past week.

With the success on the playing field and the subsequent media attention the program has recently received as a result, the U.S. MNT has to pounce on the incredible public relations opportunity, that has now presented itself, and capitalize on it to aggressively promote their team, all soccer in the U.S., and the 2010 World Cup (June 11-July 11 in South Africa) – the world’s largest stage for a sporting event.

The U.S. MNT needs to make its head coach, Bob Bradley, and top players household names and fight like hell to make soccer relevant in the U.S.

The organization’s executives need to sit down immediately and begin devising a creative and effective PR program to not only get American sports fans interested in soccer but to get them educated about the game and its history in the U.S.

You have to make people know you’re out there so they’ll care – which, if promoted right, they will.

The U.S. MNT will have to leverage the major sports television networks and incorporate them in its promotions. Whether its media buys or feature stories during programming, the U.S. MNT has to develop a connection with the audience of media outlets like ESPN, Fox Sports and local and regional sports stations.

An aggressive grassroots effort must also be put into action, whereby coaches and players travel around the country to meet fans, host free clinics, play exhibition games, and pose for pictures and sign autographs for everyone in sight.

Players like Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Carlos Bocanegra, goalie Tim Howard and Freddy Adu (remember him?) need to start having their faces on the cover of magazines and featured in newspapers and major sports publications.

The U.S. MNT should also take advantage of the emerging digital media opportunities and create a much heavier presence in the blogs and social media outlets.

If soccer was ever going to be relevant and become a major sport in the United States – that time is now!

But for it to happen, the U.S. MNT program has to create and implement the most proactive and aggressive PR program the world of sports has ever seen.