Response to an Article About MLS and the World Cup

This is a response to an article I just read on Ad Age. The article talks about how the MLS hired Dentsu America to help generate awareness of the MLS during the World Cup. Excuse me if this post sounds a bit abrasive, but I am so tired of the MLS treating the sport I love, fútbol, like all the other American sports.

I do agree that advertising for the MLS during the World Cup and taking a 2-week hiatus is a smart strategy for the MLS. But I question its sustainability. What will happen after the two weeks when the games get really good? Come June 26, after the Group Stage, viewership of the World Cup will definitely skyrocket, right as MLS's hiatus is over. Will viewers remember MLS or the games? The strategy seems more like temporary hype than a solid brand building strategy.

In order to reach critical mass with 90%+ attendance, MLS needs to stop treating fútbol like the rest of the sports in this country–where the fans are spectators who have either never played or stopped playing the sport after high school; where fans take a seventh-inning stretch after sitting for an hour and a half; where the fans that are sitting down yell at you for standing; where there is a pause after every minute of the game; where one player can carry an entire team… this is not fútbol–it’s soccer. And we all know soccer will never gain momentum in this country.

Fútbol is not about “community” or “tribalism” at all. This statement sounds like people are going to a game to hug-it-out over some hotdogs. Never! Fútbol is a way of life! Fútbol consumes you with rage and passion. It’s not civilized. It’s not PC. Want community? Go to a baseball game. Want tribalism? Go to Burning Man. Fútbol is not for the weak and dreary. It’s for the passionate and alive.

As a person who grew-up playing fútbol (and still plays fútbol), and watching fútbol games from Latin America, I was somewhat disappointed when I went to my first MLS game. Not only was I the loudest person in the stadium, I was told by security to keep it down. The crowd felt passion-less except for one area in the far corner–the Supporter’s Club. And I thought, “there’s a section for the fans? Who are the rest of these people?” So, I worked my way to that area several times, but was kicked out because my tickets were not from that section. Then I noticed some fans were escorted out of the area for being too rambunctious–I think they had fireworks, which was awesome!

And then it hit me. It’s not the game. It’s not the fans. The problem is with the MLS. If the MLS would only recognize how different fútbol truly is, they would start on the sustainable strategy of promoting fútbol as a way of life inside the stadium.

Fausto Gortaire
Account Director
HeadQuareters Advertising Inc.