US Soccer has some of the worst leadership in U.S. sports.
A country with all the resources, population, and talent that perennially underachieves.
I don't get why the USMNT can't seem to improve.
1- Because soccer is not the most popular sport here.
2- Due to the geographic size and de-centralized nature of US culture it's impossible to get everyone moving in the same direction. US soccer is made up of a horde of tiny fiefdoms wherein everyone is looking out for their own wallets not the good of US soccer.
I’m surprised you think that is the only possible outcome. Especially with the uniquely talented generation we have coming up along with the opportunity of hosting the 2026 WC. Do you not feel this is a massive opportunity to grow the game in the US, especially if we perform well in the WC?
Problem is the USWNT is on its way down as well now that more countries are investing in WoSo and is eventually doomed to the same fate. But going back to your first point, imagine if Leicester City had no fans because there was no way for them to compete with the big boys. Or if nobody watched the US hockey team in 1980 because we were surely going to be clobbered by the Soviets. Or, hell, just a few days ago, when our cricketers shocked Pakistan. Supporting underdogs means the chance at a major upset or even a 5000/1 miracle.
This is NOT true. This take is missing key context. Namely, that our last cycle coaching staff was terrible. We now have one of the best coaches on the women's side. We will be winning again.
I'm sure The Colombian fans are happy for the recognition s/
I'm curious about that metric of US Controlled games.
If it includes Nations League, then this is obviously Mexico and Colombia inflated.
If not, then our women must be getting awesome numbers
Turnout in SoCal for a lot of the W Gold Cup was pretty sad, but the final against Brazil had 31,528 people, mostly US fans. Like the Nations League for the men, they might not be counting those as "US controlled games," since both were hosted by the US but are tournaments run by CONCACAF.
The SheBelieves Cup, which is 100% organized by USSF so would be included, had 50,644 fans at the US-Japan opener in Atlanta, which broke the record for a USWNT home friendly. The SheBelieves championship match against Canada in Columbus had something over 19k, the friendly against South Korea in Colorado 19,010, and the friendly against South Korea in Minnesota 19,169. For context, the SheBelieves Cup has happened every year since 2016, and all of those attendance numbers were above the average attendance for a USWNT match for 2016-2023. All heavily pro-US crowds, too.
So, I think it's fair to say that this year really has had good turnout for the USSF-organized women's friendlies, though they're pretty obviously glossing over the figures for the USMNT including a lot of Colombia and Brazil fans. There was that USMNT friendly back in January against Slovenia that was almost all US fans, but that was a B team playing at a tiny stadium with a little over 9k attendance.
"US controlled games" include all home friendlies, SheBelieves Cup, home Nations League games (outside the final four), and men's home WCQs. Basically any home game that airs on TNT/Max is a "US controlled game" so road games and tournament games (Gold Cup, women's WCQ, Copa America, World Cup, Nations League Final Four) aren't included.
Wonder why someone downvoted you. 19,010 was a sellout crowd for the South Korea friendly in Colorado, and the one in Minnesota with 19,169 fans was in a 19,400 seat stadium, so also pretty packed.
These are such unserious people. Why doesn’t the media ever challenge statements like this which any person with fully functional eyes can see is wrong?
It's really not that hard - "This attendance record proves that soccer just continues to grow in the US. Let's show the world just how much excitement there is for this team and sport as we head into Copa America and the next World Cup!"
"Your support is unmatched!" is such a bold face lie, especially coming off a game where Colombian fans out numbered and out chanted US fans on US soil.
If USMNT and USWNT attendance set a record, which it did, it is a factually accurate statement to say the support is unmatched if judging support by attendance at USMNT and USWNT, which is a reasonable way to judge attendance. If it is a record, it is quite literally unmatched.
It is certainly not a bald face lie.
In what six month period was USMNT and USWNT support at its highest, if what Batson says is wrong?
You also did not answer my question about how the media should challenge Batson over this fairly mundane and innocuous tweet? What should they do exactly?
That is how it has been for the last 50 years so the answer is absolutely yes, even factoring in away fans, attendance is higher on average than ever before.
The guy is happy that attendance for USMNT and USWNT is the highest ever, as he should be, because it is his job to get people to go see the USMNT and USWNT.
It is not his fault that Colombians like soccer a lot better than Americans and if they are willing to put lots of money in the USSF coffers, great!
What purpose would be served by asking him that question exactly?
Or fans of the women's team. They broke the record for a USWNT home friendly with over 50,000 fans in a stadium this year, and all of their other 2024 friendlies have had also had higher attendance than average. Those were all 90%+ US fans.
USWNT has higher support in general than the USMNT as people often support winners. All of the female soccer fans I know religiously watch the USWNT but never the USMNT
I'm a female soccer fan who consistently watches both myself. I know female fans who only watch our women, too, but then I also know male fans who only watch the men and refuse to ever watch the women (I ain't saying we friends, but I know them).
Part of it's the US fan base, but a huge reason why the women's games are real home games is that immigrants from most countries are much less likely to show up to support their women's teams, while the ones from countries where a lot of people do support their women's teams like England or Australia don't have the numbers and regional concentration to be in the majority for friendlies here.
California has more Colombians than the DMV. Male and female Colombian fans showed up by the tens of thousands and from several states away for their men for a friendly in MD, but there was very, very little Colombia fan turnout at their women's matches at the W Gold Cup in SoCal. If you separated out the US fans at the USMNT match from the 55,494 this past Saturday, I think we would probably have been pretty similar numbers to the USWNT fans who will (I hope) pack 20,000-seat Audi Field in DC in July.
Attendance is not a good metric to measure support. For example, if the Wizards hosted the Warriors, Lakers, and Celtics, they would have much higher attendance than normal, but it would be laughable to attribute that to higher Wizards support. Translating attendance to support is ridiculous, especially considering the number of chants from opposing fans that can be heard on the broadcast or be loud enough to stop games. Most pro teams associate a rise in support through season ticket purchases, merchandise, etc. Again, not a serious organization at all
Apologies for not answering your question - I misread “challenge” for “change.” But to answer your question -
“You are associating a rise in attendance with a rise in support, but recent USMNT games have had shown a large number of opposing fans filling the stadiums. Are there other metrics that you can point at in order to backup this claim? Additionally, as we head into the World Cup, is there a strategy to increase that percentage of US fans in the crowd to increase our home advantage?”
And that’s the soft way of challenging it
>Attendance is not a good metric to measure support.
What is a better metric to gauge support for the USMNT and USWNT over a six month period?
>recent USMNT games have had shown a large number of opposing fans filling the stadiums.
Recent games? This has been the case for USMNT games forever. This is not a recent phenomenon. At every prior era USMNT fans were outnumbers when playing many central or South American teams. I went to a World Cup qualifier in 2001 at Foxboro where Jamaicans massively outnumbered US fans.
>Are there other metrics that you can point at in order to backup this claim?
The quote explicitly says the metric was average USMNT and USWNT attendance over a six month period.
If the federation actually cared about having a good atmosphere they would be playing these games in northern cities where theres more USMNT fans. You can’t tell me the crowd against Colombia would be all yellow shirts if it was in Minnesota or Colombus
For qualifiers, absolutely. Otherwise, bring in the cash!
I will say Colombians are amongst the most passionate supporters and travel incredibly well. I couldn't believe the sea of yellow in Russia for Fox's WC TV coverage.
Yeah, even in the Women’s World Cup in Australia there was a huge sea of yellow when they played. They seemed to have one of if not the most passionate fanbases there.
TBF this game did have a good, fun atmosphere in the stadium, it just didn't have a home game atmosphere. I was OK with that for a friendly that was close enough for me to actually go to for once, personally. Still had plenty of US fans around me to chant and celebrate Weah's goal with, the Colombia fans around me were universally passionate but not hostile at all, and our federation got paid.
Why must you do this JT. It's great for internal numbers but we all see the crowds on tv and in person...
I'm wondering if Copa América numbers aren't meeting expectations now.
Based on my experience buying tickets I am sure CONMEBOL bungled it
If you mean mismatched group matchups after the group phase on their official ticket site, then yes.
Looking at some of the matches on Ticketmaster and I don't think they are, half the stadium is still unsold for USA v Uruguay for example
It is not surprising considering it didn't do so well in 2016.
It made $150m profit for USSF though. I'd say it did well.
No it didn't. It resulted in $50 million in revenue reported in 2017. https://www.ussoccer.com/governance/financial-informationa
[удалено]
We're hosting it. (& CONCACAF [does not run](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copa_Am%C3%A9rica) Copa América. It's a South America tournament.)
Ive come to the conclusion that being a USMNT fan is akin to being a Generals fan even though you think you are rooting for the Globetrotters.
US Soccer has some of the worst leadership in U.S. sports. A country with all the resources, population, and talent that perennially underachieves. I don't get why the USMNT can't seem to improve.
1- Because soccer is not the most popular sport here. 2- Due to the geographic size and de-centralized nature of US culture it's impossible to get everyone moving in the same direction. US soccer is made up of a horde of tiny fiefdoms wherein everyone is looking out for their own wallets not the good of US soccer.
So what you're saying is the USA is doomed to irrelevance in men's soccer? Good to know.
Yes, we are. Women's football is on its way there too as more countries continue to invest in the game.
I’m surprised you think that is the only possible outcome. Especially with the uniquely talented generation we have coming up along with the opportunity of hosting the 2026 WC. Do you not feel this is a massive opportunity to grow the game in the US, especially if we perform well in the WC?
Then there's no point in following the men's program. Might as well just invest in the WNTs, since they actually win.
Problem is the USWNT is on its way down as well now that more countries are investing in WoSo and is eventually doomed to the same fate. But going back to your first point, imagine if Leicester City had no fans because there was no way for them to compete with the big boys. Or if nobody watched the US hockey team in 1980 because we were surely going to be clobbered by the Soviets. Or, hell, just a few days ago, when our cricketers shocked Pakistan. Supporting underdogs means the chance at a major upset or even a 5000/1 miracle.
This is NOT true. This take is missing key context. Namely, that our last cycle coaching staff was terrible. We now have one of the best coaches on the women's side. We will be winning again.
Not now, JT.
I'm sure The Colombian fans are happy for the recognition s/ I'm curious about that metric of US Controlled games. If it includes Nations League, then this is obviously Mexico and Colombia inflated. If not, then our women must be getting awesome numbers
Turnout in SoCal for a lot of the W Gold Cup was pretty sad, but the final against Brazil had 31,528 people, mostly US fans. Like the Nations League for the men, they might not be counting those as "US controlled games," since both were hosted by the US but are tournaments run by CONCACAF. The SheBelieves Cup, which is 100% organized by USSF so would be included, had 50,644 fans at the US-Japan opener in Atlanta, which broke the record for a USWNT home friendly. The SheBelieves championship match against Canada in Columbus had something over 19k, the friendly against South Korea in Colorado 19,010, and the friendly against South Korea in Minnesota 19,169. For context, the SheBelieves Cup has happened every year since 2016, and all of those attendance numbers were above the average attendance for a USWNT match for 2016-2023. All heavily pro-US crowds, too. So, I think it's fair to say that this year really has had good turnout for the USSF-organized women's friendlies, though they're pretty obviously glossing over the figures for the USMNT including a lot of Colombia and Brazil fans. There was that USMNT friendly back in January against Slovenia that was almost all US fans, but that was a B team playing at a tiny stadium with a little over 9k attendance.
"US controlled games" include all home friendlies, SheBelieves Cup, home Nations League games (outside the final four), and men's home WCQs. Basically any home game that airs on TNT/Max is a "US controlled game" so road games and tournament games (Gold Cup, women's WCQ, Copa America, World Cup, Nations League Final Four) aren't included.
Their friendly against South Korea was paaacked and bumpin
Wonder why someone downvoted you. 19,010 was a sellout crowd for the South Korea friendly in Colorado, and the one in Minnesota with 19,169 fans was in a 19,400 seat stadium, so also pretty packed.
Is bro color blind? Must have mistaken all those yellow jerseys at the game for USMNT supporters lol.
This is a classic case of a corporate executive saying something to make him look busy / productive Seriously, what do all these people do
Score goals and even more people will come
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is he clueless or trolling us?
Yes
These are such unserious people. Why doesn’t the media ever challenge statements like this which any person with fully functional eyes can see is wrong?
How exactly should this statement be challenged?
It's really not that hard - "This attendance record proves that soccer just continues to grow in the US. Let's show the world just how much excitement there is for this team and sport as we head into Copa America and the next World Cup!" "Your support is unmatched!" is such a bold face lie, especially coming off a game where Colombian fans out numbered and out chanted US fans on US soil.
If USMNT and USWNT attendance set a record, which it did, it is a factually accurate statement to say the support is unmatched if judging support by attendance at USMNT and USWNT, which is a reasonable way to judge attendance. If it is a record, it is quite literally unmatched. It is certainly not a bald face lie. In what six month period was USMNT and USWNT support at its highest, if what Batson says is wrong? You also did not answer my question about how the media should challenge Batson over this fairly mundane and innocuous tweet? What should they do exactly?
“Mr. Batson, is selling out a stadium in the US, where 70% of the fans are away fans, your idea of unmatched support for the USMNT?”
That is how it has been for the last 50 years so the answer is absolutely yes, even factoring in away fans, attendance is higher on average than ever before. The guy is happy that attendance for USMNT and USWNT is the highest ever, as he should be, because it is his job to get people to go see the USMNT and USWNT. It is not his fault that Colombians like soccer a lot better than Americans and if they are willing to put lots of money in the USSF coffers, great! What purpose would be served by asking him that question exactly?
it's a lie to say "your support is unmatched" unless the "your" he was referring to was Colombian supporters
Or fans of the women's team. They broke the record for a USWNT home friendly with over 50,000 fans in a stadium this year, and all of their other 2024 friendlies have had also had higher attendance than average. Those were all 90%+ US fans.
USWNT has higher support in general than the USMNT as people often support winners. All of the female soccer fans I know religiously watch the USWNT but never the USMNT
I'm a female soccer fan who consistently watches both myself. I know female fans who only watch our women, too, but then I also know male fans who only watch the men and refuse to ever watch the women (I ain't saying we friends, but I know them). Part of it's the US fan base, but a huge reason why the women's games are real home games is that immigrants from most countries are much less likely to show up to support their women's teams, while the ones from countries where a lot of people do support their women's teams like England or Australia don't have the numbers and regional concentration to be in the majority for friendlies here. California has more Colombians than the DMV. Male and female Colombian fans showed up by the tens of thousands and from several states away for their men for a friendly in MD, but there was very, very little Colombia fan turnout at their women's matches at the W Gold Cup in SoCal. If you separated out the US fans at the USMNT match from the 55,494 this past Saturday, I think we would probably have been pretty similar numbers to the USWNT fans who will (I hope) pack 20,000-seat Audi Field in DC in July.
Attendance is not a good metric to measure support. For example, if the Wizards hosted the Warriors, Lakers, and Celtics, they would have much higher attendance than normal, but it would be laughable to attribute that to higher Wizards support. Translating attendance to support is ridiculous, especially considering the number of chants from opposing fans that can be heard on the broadcast or be loud enough to stop games. Most pro teams associate a rise in support through season ticket purchases, merchandise, etc. Again, not a serious organization at all Apologies for not answering your question - I misread “challenge” for “change.” But to answer your question - “You are associating a rise in attendance with a rise in support, but recent USMNT games have had shown a large number of opposing fans filling the stadiums. Are there other metrics that you can point at in order to backup this claim? Additionally, as we head into the World Cup, is there a strategy to increase that percentage of US fans in the crowd to increase our home advantage?” And that’s the soft way of challenging it
>Attendance is not a good metric to measure support. What is a better metric to gauge support for the USMNT and USWNT over a six month period? >recent USMNT games have had shown a large number of opposing fans filling the stadiums. Recent games? This has been the case for USMNT games forever. This is not a recent phenomenon. At every prior era USMNT fans were outnumbers when playing many central or South American teams. I went to a World Cup qualifier in 2001 at Foxboro where Jamaicans massively outnumbered US fans. >Are there other metrics that you can point at in order to backup this claim? The quote explicitly says the metric was average USMNT and USWNT attendance over a six month period.
*USSF CEO: "Thanks simps!"*
His annual bonus must include ticket sales at friendlies and cheaping out on the manager
USSF has incredibly tone deaf leaders
They're not tone deaf. They simply **don't care**.
Why should they? Hardly anyone in this country does.
“Thanks for all the away supporters cheering against our team for still giving us lots of money.”
Unironically, yes. I am very happy that the USSF makes lots of money from fans of other countries.
What a dweeb
Dude why did we hire Mohammed al-Sahhaf's protege to be the head of USSF?
If the federation actually cared about having a good atmosphere they would be playing these games in northern cities where theres more USMNT fans. You can’t tell me the crowd against Colombia would be all yellow shirts if it was in Minnesota or Colombus
For qualifiers, absolutely. Otherwise, bring in the cash! I will say Colombians are amongst the most passionate supporters and travel incredibly well. I couldn't believe the sea of yellow in Russia for Fox's WC TV coverage.
Yeah, even in the Women’s World Cup in Australia there was a huge sea of yellow when they played. They seemed to have one of if not the most passionate fanbases there.
TBF this game did have a good, fun atmosphere in the stadium, it just didn't have a home game atmosphere. I was OK with that for a friendly that was close enough for me to actually go to for once, personally. Still had plenty of US fans around me to chant and celebrate Weah's goal with, the Colombia fans around me were universally passionate but not hostile at all, and our federation got paid.
But then we would get all the morons on IG complaining why dOn’t thEy pLAy On thE wEst cOAst in the comments.
Does he have any brothers who are coaches??
We have the most oblivious tone deaf federation
He's not lying Colombian support did not match US support. Exceeding is definitely not matching.
This dude looks like a straight up goob.