| Andrei Markovits |
The following is an interview with Andrei Markovits, author (with Steven Hellerman) of Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism.
Soccer is the most popular sport globally, yet in the United States it is an also-ran behind basketball, baseball, football and hockey. Why is it different here? Why is America exceptional? In his book, Markovits offers some historically-founded explanations for this “exceptionalism.” He shows parallels with other U.S. deviations from the global norm, such as the absence of socialism.
Markovits was born in Romania into a multilingual family. He attended secondary school in Vienna, Austria, before enrolling at Columbia University in New York, where he received a doctorate in 1976. He is a social scientist and professor of Comparative Politics and German Studies at the University of Michigan. He has published 19 books, including writings about one of his specialties, the comparative sociology of modern sports cultures. Former Kalamazoo (Mich.) College coach and current Soccer Journal Editorial Committee member Hardy Fuchs recently sat down with Markovits for an interview about the issues raised in this book.
You were trained as a social scientist, and you write a book that focuses on soccer. What moved you to write on this topic?
I was born in the Western part of Romania and in the 1950s, my father would take me to watch professional soccer games regularly – the local squad playing against teams from Bucharest and others. Once, there was a big game against a team from Stockholm, Sweden. Once, I remember my father saying that I would remember the 4th of July, that day would be important in my life [It was the day Germany beat Hungary in Switzerland in a sensational upset during the 1954 World Cup – Editor].
In 1988, you published an article titled “Why Is There No Soccer in the USA?” and answered your own question in 2001 with the book on “Soccer and American Exceptionalism.” The key word is “exceptionalism.” Could you paraphrase the title and summarize the agenda of the book?
Let me give you a little bit of a genealogy. As a sociologist, I use my eyes and ears as my tools. I remember being stunned by the fact that colleagues of mine in the States and around the world were quite similar, with one exception: the ones in America knew all the American sports icons but had no idea who Puskas and Helmut Rahn were. The internationals friends knew something about the American sports scene, and all of them knew everything about soccer worldwide. In 1986, I was teaching a course on a boat going down the Danube; it was the year of the World Cup in Mexico. I led a schizophrenic existence on that boat: during the day, I was on the upper deck with my American audience, chasing down the news between classes (this is before the Internet!) about how the Celtics had done against the Rockets. Late at night, I descended into the bowels of the ship and watched World Cup games at 1 a.m. with Ukrainian, Russian and Bulgarian sailors. We didn’t speak each other’s languages, but we understood one another because we “spoke soccer.” I returned home and wrote about this experience in the 1988 article. Later, in the late ‘90s, I was a fellow at the Wissenschafts-Kolleg in Berlin and decided to expand the article into this book.
“Why is there no soccer in the USA?” must refer to soccer as a spectator sport, because as a participation sport it is very much a success here.
Exactly. But the people here don’t “speak soccer.” Ironically, the United States is the second oldest country after England with organized soccer. There were leagues here in 1891. The game has been “played” here for quite some time, but not “spoken.” That’s the dilemma.
When the average American is asked why soccer has little appeal in the States, one hears a number of reasons: Not enough goals; no visible structure; no coaching during a game; no time-outs; it is a foot sport and somewhat “foreign;” the best U.S. players go overseas. Your comment?
All nonsense. It has everything to do with history. People here don’t mind low-scoring baseball games; in fact, the true baseball fans love these games the most. It has to do with what you learn growing up. Between 1880 and 1920, in Western Europe and the United States, the major “sports languages” were learned. My European friends find American sports boring because they didn’t “learn” them and they don’t understand them. Once they speak these “sports languages” they don’t find them boring anymore. And it is the same with Americans. In general, Americans have not learned this language. Also, in this world of globalization, the Americans are the best in their major sports, and athletes from overseas want to play here, such as hockey players from Russia and Europe dreaming about the NHL. Conversely, and logically, American soccer players want to play in Europe. And they should. But the consequence: the best soccer is not played here. This conflict is not easily resolved, obviously. Encouragingly, MLS attendance is up, TV ratings unfortunately not.
On occasion, another theory suggested for soccer’s second-class status here is that there is a conspiracy on the part of those entities that are heavily invested in the major U.S. sports, such as franchise owners, equipment manufacturers and media, and they are eager to suppress the rise of the competitor “soccer” that wants a piece of the monetary action. Your thoughts on this?
Nonsense. I don’t believe in conspiracy theories in this context. And it is factually not true. The various sports are not mutually exclusive. There are actually multiple sports franchise owners; e.g. (Robert) Kraft owns the Patriots and the Revolution. The godfather of soccer franchises was Lamar Hunt, whose name graces the American Football Conference’s trophy. No, no conspiracies here…
It all goes back to what happened at the end of the 19th and the first two decades of the 20th century: A sport that was not successful in entering the sports space during the time would find no room later within the culture. But – and here I am optimistic – sports space can expand. Soccer has come into the United States; basketball is played in Europe. But basketball will not displace the Bundesliga in Germany, no matter how many (Dirk) Nowitzkis should play basketball there.
We know that soccer families in the United States are above average on the socio-economic and educational scale. Is that fact related to the minor status of the game here?
Yes, there is a connection. If you look at the background of the typical German or British soccer player, it is similar to that of the American football, basketball, and baseball player and the Canadian hockey player. And, conversely, basketball in Europe is upper-middle class, just what soccer is here. The game is “a new language,” not widely spoken – yet. The difference-maker could be the Hispanic population. One of the MLS’s most difficult tasks is that it has to appeal to two fundamentally different markets; on the one hand, to upper-middle-class fans; on the other hand, to male Latinos. Overall, MLS is doing a fine job in this regard. I am a fan of the MLS.
Speaking of the MLS, its predecessor, the NASL, tried in the 1970s to bring soccer into mainstream America, but was not successful. What did the NASL do wrong?
First of all, they completely overexpanded financially; the whole thing was built on mirrors. On the other hand, the New York Cosmos were truly years ahead of their time. They became the first global team, and it was what Chelsea and Bayern Munich are today. But the NASL was awfully planned (by the way, there were lots of football people among the franchise owners). During that time, the early 70s, soccer was really foreign; it was a niche sport.
Today, it is different. The word “soccer” is as American as apple pie. It is a very different sports world today in the United States. Soccer is not strange anymore, even though it still is not discussed on sports radio, and ESPN doesn’t have forums about whom various teams are recruiting. Let’s say soccer here has become “Olympicized.” Every four years, the World Cups have become big, and people follow them.
For a historic perspective, in 1970 the World Cup was held in Mexico, and I had to go to some obscure sports bar in New York with closed-circuit TV to watch the Germany-Italy semifinal. Even during the 1978 Cup in Argentina, one had to go to a theater to be able to see games. Today, you can watch all the games at home. Before, even the New York Times didn’t have much coverage other than wire service stories. Now it sends two full-time reporters to cover the World Cup, as does the Los Angeles Times. The World Cup is like the Olympics. Those in the United States who do not follow the MLS still follow the World Cup.
That sounds like progress, but it also shows no more than a sporadic success of the sport in this country. Every four years, the circus is in town, and everyone goes to see it. When the circus is gone, so is the interest.
That’s true, but changing. The MLS is changing it. For sure, there still isn’t much discussion when the Revs play the Dynamo. The Revolution will not rival the Red Sox, not in our lifetime. The Revs don’t have the same history, but they produce pretty good attendance overall. And the Boston Globe covers the team very well; the paper has a real beat-writer and that’s what’s needed: daily coverage. Fox Soccer Net has 750,000 viewers, not close to a NFL broadcast, for sure. But there is a ripple effect, and here is an indicator: On ESPN’s SportsCenter, at the end of their top-10 list, they now include some marvelous soccer goal, rarely from MLS but the viewers get to see a spectacular score.
Equally important is the fact that sports journalists are learning “soccer language” and using it. Here is the golden key for soccer to become in our lifetime what hockey is now: no way close to the big three sports, but a real presence. People talk about it – the radio guy about who should play up front. The next step would be cars driving around Kalamazoo with a Fire flag on their car. This will happen, but only this way: the national men’s team either wins a World Cup or plays a glorious semifinal and loses to Germany, 3-4, in a great match that gets tremendous coverage and two U.S. players become super-stars, soccer personalities who are recognized worldwide.
Fortunately, MLS knows what it is doing. They are in for the long haul, and they understand soccer is a global sport. Beckham will be a plus and should have a better season. He has already gotten a lot of headlines in the States and overseas while hardly playing last season.
In your book, you write about American “exceptionalism” in areas other than soccer. Please explain.
It is a very Eurocentric view of U.S. history; the Germans call it “Sonderweg.” Among other things, the United States developed much less through state development, much more through markets; the country never had to rebel against a king; it was the first republic. It also developed religion differently, as well as the relationship between state and society. The United States is the only advanced industrial society with no major socialist party. It’s because in the United States the ties to ethnicity are stronger than class. In Europe, a person identified himself as a worker in those formative years, in the United States as a Pole, for instance.
So there are many dimensions in which the United States developed differently from Europe, and the status of soccer here is part of this overall “exceptionalism.” The United States created its own sports, apart from the rest of the world, at the same time that soccer emerged in Britain.
What kind of reception has your book received?
It has gotten some great reviews. The best actually came out in Germany, and there were very positive assessments in the scholarly literature. The soccer community here also embraced it; there was a special presentation at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, N.Y. Gerard Houllier, former Liverpool coach, sent me a hand-written note – on Liverpool stationery! – about how much he loved the book.
Soccer is played everywhere. What features have made it the global sport?
That’s a tough one. Look, it’s a simple sport. We could move the tables out of the way here, put down cups as goalposts and have a one-on-one. It is truly a “democratic” game. You don’t have to be particularly big or tall or fast. You don’t have to be anything particular. Look at some of the soccer greats of the past: Pelé, Maradona, George Best. Why isn’t rugby the global sport? Well, rugby rules are much more complex, and the game requires considerable strength. Beckenbauer could not have been a rugby player.
Finally, what is your formula for soccer to succeed as a spectator sport in this country? What does the future look like for soccer?
Unlike food and music, a team sport cannot be transplanted that easily. There are hopeful signs, as mentioned, such as soccer on ESPN’s SportsCenter. A solid showing soon in a World Cup, let’s say by 2018, will be critical. I hope FIFA will decide to have it in the USA. When guy one says to guy two at the water cooler, “Should Donovan play outside mid or as a striker?” we will be witnessing the beginning of a soccer culture.
The Coach Emeritus at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Mich., Hardy Fuchs conducted this exclusive interview for Soccer Journal. He is a frequent contributor to the magazine and can be reached at fuchs@kzoo.edu.
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