Looking back at the World Cup in Brazil, it’s difficult not to be impressed with the performance of the four CONCACAF teams. Of the four participating CONCACAF teams that qualified for the tournament, three reached the round of 16, and one (Costa Rica) advanced to the quarterfinals. Considering that CONCACAF is the third smallest member of all FIFA confederations and has never really been considered as one of the “powerhouse” confederations of the soccer world, the performances of Mexico, Costa Rica, and the United States are quite remarkable. Now, after the World Cup, the big question is whether the success of their national teams can also translate into increased popularity for the domestic leagues of the region, most notably the U.S.’s Major League Soccer which, up to now, despite sizeable investments into infrastructure, marketing, and veteran players from Europe and South America, has failed to attract lasting attention from fans and media alike.
The World Cup was, undoubtedly, a step into the right direction and increased interest in the sport. To turn this short-term fascination for soccer into a lasting love relationship with the game is a different question.
But there are good reasons to be optimistic:
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American supporters purchased almost 200,000 tickets, which was second only to the Brazilian contingent.
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During the Portugal vs. USA match, 20 million Facebook posts were made.
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Compared to South Africa – 4 years ago- the viewing audience in the U.S. increased by more than 50%
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In the last quarter of 2013 alone, Nike saw their soccer-related merchandise sales increase by 10%.
In many ways, the World Cup, confederation soccer, and the MLS are inextricably linked. It was the promise of creating a competitive and attractive domestic league that initially won the United States the right to host the World Cup in 1994. While, unfortunately, the United States didn’t advance past the group stage, the World Cup provided the platform to launch the new league. Thankfully, in the following years, the MLS has been able to grow and expand by establishing a solid fan base while slowly but steadily adding new fans due to promising U.S. performances at the World Cup (notably 2002) and other international venues such as the Gold Cup and the Confederations Cup.
Considering CONCACAF’s showing in Brazil as well as the ability of a solid World Cup showing to help grow and further invigorate a fan base, there is a real opportunity for the MLS to come out of its shell now. In order to fully capitalize on this opportunity, the MLS needs to increase its outreach as well as marketing potential to the often overlooked countries of CONCACAF and turn itself into the logical destination for CONCACAF talent. While expansion to Canada’s population centers (Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal) and certain cross-border relationships between Mexican and American teams (Chivas) are a great opportunity for the MLS to grow into new markets, there haven’t been many attempts to develop relationships with CONCACAF members outside these two obvious places.
As America’s developing relationship with “the beautiful game” continues to grow, so do the possibilities for sports marketing firms and advertisers to chart a new business course in the population centers of the CONCACAF region.
At EVS Translations we bring more than 20 years of experience in sport marketing, advertisement translation to the table. Paired with our experience in cooperating with globally operating sports organizations and federations, EVS Translations can help your company to stay in the game.
Call our Atlanta office now at +1 404-523-5560 or send us an email: quoteusa(at)evs-translations.com.
