The first telecast is done and in the can now for the A-League and Fox Sports World so what did we all learn? Well, for starters there are still many, many A-League fans that did not know about the national schedule. Most of you out there in internet land did know this and I have to admit that even I took it for granted that everyone would or should know about a deal this big. Unfortunately, I've seen in more than a few cases in my small neck of the soccer woods several fans who a) had no idea the A-League would be on their cable package this year and b) just happened across it while flipping the channels on Friday night.
So what does that tell us? Well, for one thing it shows that there are still many people who aren't surfing the Internet all day to find out what the latest news is concerning the world of soccer. Another thing we can learn from this is that there are people out there who would be watching if they only knew. Then you have to ask yourself how you should go about solving the problems that lead to the previously mentioned circumstances?
One thing that could be done would be for the individual teams to take a more concerted approach to helping the league market in their areas by getting televised games mentioned in the television section of their local paper. Some teams might even want to consider encouraging some of their front office staffers to get into the community more and line up mini-events for the televised games in an area bar or restaurant. Then there's something a bit simpler like handing out a schedule of the televised A-League and USL matches to fans that come to the stadium.
As fans some of the blame should fall on us as we should know well enough that there are many soccer fans who don't spend so much time on the 'net. We tend to take things a bit for granted in our little cyber world because we know the news is out there and all it takes is a little effort to locate on your nifty home computer. Yet there are those among the multitudes, believe it or not there are a few multitudes out there, of soccer fans who don't have access to the Internet and don't hang on every single pronouncement about a telecast for a soccer match. These are the fans that say, "Darn, I missed that? I wish someone had told me. I would've liked to have seen that. Oh well." Then they go on their merry way and don't really worry about it. All I'm trying to suggest is that when we see this happen try to inform this particular type of fan that there's going to be a game on or better yet inviting for a drink in a bar or at someone's home where the game will just happen to be on.
I'm sure it sounds a little simplistic and idealistic to suggest these things are measures that would succeed in informing the many fans who don't know that there is going to be a USL game shown every week of the season. Then again what would it possibly hurt? Obviously there are some simple and rudimentary things that one can do to help alleviate this situation so why not do them? If someone says that they missed something because they didn't know why not make it a point to remind them of their next opportunity? Why not print out a flyer to hand out to fans that has a television schedule so they can watch the games that they can't get to the stadium for?
I realize this is breaking things down to such a degree that is seems fairly obvious but that's the point. If we examined some of the things that we could and maybe should be doing as fans who are trying to promote the game we'd see that there are some really simple ways to try to get more people to give the beautiful game a chance. I have said it before and I'll say it again, if you can't charm them, bribe them. On a day in the Summer when the mercury's rising how many of you wouldn't like someone to offer you a cold beverage and a spot in an air conditioned place where you can chat with friends and maybe, just maybe, watch a game? Then again I'm known to be somewhat unscrupulous when it comes to conning people into watching soccer but is that a bad thing? Either way I will be watching with interest on Friday and Saturday as Atlanta takes on Toronto in the first game and Portland gets to take on archrival Seattle. By the way, before I forget, happy Cinco de Mayo!
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