Bonus: Soccer in the USA - from More than the Score

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1:00Cup. And one of the stories he's been looking at is the growth of soccer or football, if you prefer, and whether it's become more popular in the US. So as you know, the country's hosting the World Cup right now during Donald Trump's presidency, but the president himself has largely stayed away. He hasn't attended any matches, as we're recording this, but he did ask the world governing body FIFA to review US striker Fularen Balogun's one match suspension for a red card because he, quote, didn't think it was a foul. FIFA made the shock decision to suspend the ban for 12 months and that led to widespread criticism and left for some people the integrity of football at stake.

1:44So what does this presidential intervention say about interest levels in the sport? This is all about soccer's growth in Trump's America, and we hope you enjoy it.

2:20bringing nationwide, worldwide together. And just being part of this, involved with all the fans, I can't even, I don't know how to explain it. I'm having the best time of my life. In many countries around the world, football is the major obsession. It dominates the national conscience. When big matches are played, it stops nations. The same can't be said about the World Cup co-hosts the USA. American sports have a longer history and dominate the media coverage, the sponsorship deals and the national conversation. But has this World Cup changed that now that the president himself is heavily involved?

2:56We're going to look at how soccer, as it's known in the US, has made big strides in the country since it last hosted the men's tournament in 1994. This is soccer's growth in Trump's America. Let's speak first of all to the CBS broadcaster Lisa Carlin, who's been following the US team during this tournament. As someone who works in soccer and covers it for American networks, I had anticipations and hopes and expectations that hosting a World Cup would expand the minds of Americans to say like, hey, this is such a cool sport. Once the World Cup started and we were getting our first group stage matches that were happening, I'm based in New York, so talk about watch parties, talk about stadiums that were filling up with fans.

3:40There was this very cool ripple effect that happened where I had friends, my husband, saying, people are really into this World Cup. So many U.S. jerseys everywhere I went, the grocery store, to games, to women's soccer games. They were still wearing U.S. jerseys. We just celebrated July 4th, which is the birth of our country here. People were wearing USA kits, not just American flag shirts. So the ripple effect has been greater and farther than I ever could have imagined or hoped. And it's only going to start a new tidal wave of love for this great sport here in America. Yes, because coming into the tournament, the World Cup was in danger of being defined by expensive ticket prices, visiting fans, even officials being denied visas.

4:26There were worries over the actions of U.S. immigration officers and law enforcement. But we have seen packed state-of-the-art stadiums, plenty of goals and a real feel-good factor for the U.S. team. And then they ran into Belgium. Now, if they had won that, soccer would have gone into the stratosphere. What's just the assessment, though, of where it is right now after the defeat? Yeah, I mean, still fresh. Like, my wounds are still open after that loss to Belgium. I was drinking the Kool-Aid. I thought we were going to win this game. And then, you know, what would happen against Spain is a whole different story.

5:00But the fact that the performance was as poor as it was for the United States against a Belgian side that frankly had struggled throughout this World Cup that really grew into this tournament is disappointing to see. I don't think it will deter people, though. I think they have to remember the fun we had in the first three weeks and how on top of the world this U.S. team was for a time being. I mean, Lee, you spent time here on the East Coast and in the United States and Canada. You could feel the energy of the fans, the American people, wanting to love this sport, wanting to know everything about it.

5:35The ins and outs, the club teams, who's great, what competitions are there? What are these rules that we're doing? They were just learning so much about it. The backdrop, of course, to the Belgium game was all about the star striker of the team, Valerie Maladine, and his one-match suspension, which President Donald Trump, who had been largely conspicuous by his absence at the World Cup, got involved with and asked FIFA to review the suspension after his dismissal against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Now, many in football watching that would say it was an unlucky red card, but rules are rules. Now, it's been much debated.

6:11But what does it say, Lisa, about soccer's place in the nation and that the president felt he should intervene and get involved in this? I'm going to be honest, it's a little crazy that that happened, right? It's two separate entities, the politics in the United States and football and our governing body of U.S. soccer that, frankly, I think is the ones that should have spoken to Gianni Infantino and spoken with FIFA and said this was a very unfair red card. I mean, there's so many different layers to this situation. the red card never should have been given however it was and that is also an injustice of this sport that is one of the reasons we love it because things go bad and go wrong and they don't go your way I think we would have been fine without Balogun and it's maybe easier to say that now in hindsight knowing that we lost no matter what but I think there would have been a grit and a fight for this U.S.

7:06side if they knew okay we were wronged in this red card and what's going to happen now moving forward we all have to step up the same way they did when they were down 10 men in the Bosnia game they all stepped up and gave an extra 10 percent which allowed them to finish out that game and even score an extra goal but the way that everything unfolded the red card being suspended it's not usual or common for a red card to be suspended and then on top of it to have the president of your country intervening to say hey can you look at this again can you go restack this and maybe rescind it. It is very bizarre, I'm going to say, but we lost in this World Cup and we are no longer moving on.

7:51That becomes the bigger story. It was a humbling exit in the end in terms of the scoreline and for the US president after his intervention. Do you think in a way it can have undone some of the good work that we've been speaking about that the US team have had during this tournament? How do you sort of reflect overall then it's left a sour taste hasn't it at the end it definitely has I mean for me as someone who loves this sport and covers it daily I'm so disappointed in how this result ended to be honest I think time will tell what happens because the ripple effects that are conclude after a world cup and how the country responds to a sport how the youth are inspired is not going to be known right now right give me five and ten years but I still think that hosting a World Cup and doing that in America was a chance for young players young sports fans to fall in love with this sport to fall in love with maybe it wasn't all the U.S.

8:50men's national team players but big superstars like Kylian Mbappe, Erlen Holland, Lionel Messi that yeah everyone knows Messi but when you really get to see him perform at this level and see the hype around the Argentinian fans walking through your streets, waving TIFOs and flags and banners, the Norway Ro chant, you get energized to want to be part of something that is happening around the world. And that I think is going to be the bigger picture after this one, because frankly, the U.S. weren't expected to go and win this World Cup. But as a nation that wants to grow our footballing, that wants to develop youth players, that wants to compete at a World Cup stage on our men's side and win World Cup titles, that's not good enough.

9:35And that's where we fall flat in not being able to compete with a top European nation like Belgium. Thanks to the CBS broadcaster Lisa Carlin. Well, interest in football in the US is clearly on the rise and will have been boosted by the World Cup. But it still faces stiff competition from the other professional sports, such as American football and basketball. Let's find out what these fans have made of the tournament then and the USA's exit. I do think the controversy played a big part. I think maybe we could have done better if he still kept the red card. I think because of that, the world was rooting against the U.S.

10:07tonight. I think the U.S. took that to heart because this was a game and a tournament where the U.S. could have made soccer a huge thing in this country. Like a little politics got into it and it just didn't help the team at all. They should have just kept him off. They brought him on. The pressure was on him and he couldn't do any work. I guess this is why Europe makes so much fun of us. Like, we just can't handle any European teams, bro. I'm proud of them for making it this far. Listen, they're going to be back. They'll be back. You know, I have full belief. I have full belief they'll be back.

10:36Let's focus now on the major developments in both the men's and the women's games in the United States. As we assess soccer's growth in Trump's America, we have to go right back to the first time the USA hosted the Men's World Cup in 1994. I think the real key thing was FIFA's desire to crack open the treasures, if you will, of the U.S. market. I'm Alan Rothenberg. I was the chairman and CEO of the 1994 World Cup. At the same time, I was the president of the United States Soccer Federation all through the 1990s. The World Cup and international soccer was basically unknown to the average American sports fan, let alone the American public.

11:20And so bringing the event to the United States where attention could get focused was really important, not just for FIFA to break open the market, but for us to show the American sports fans and indeed all Americans what was special about the World Cup and international soccer. The real challenge was making it successful in the United States. Alan Rothenberg is the chief architect of the 1994 World Cup. This former lawyer embraced what the World Cup actually was in the US at the time, a fringe curiosity. He turned it into a huge commercial success by knowing that Americans love a big event. So he made it all about the big show.

12:05Knowing that we didn't have broad support or interest from soccer people, if you will, in the United States, we focused on the fact that the Americans love a big event. And boy, we were going to make this the biggest event you can imagine. There were celebrities from Hollywood. Huge global music stars like Dinah Ross performed. although we can only remember her penalty miss at the opening ceremony. There was some hype generated around ticket sales, hospitality packages, major corporations bringing in sponsorship. Rothenberg sold it, literally. This is George Vesey, retired sports columnist from the New York Times.

12:42I remember Seth Blatter coming over here about a year. Now, he was the head of the FIFA in those days, and he came over here to look at the United States in 93, And I sat with him somewhere or other, maybe lunch. And he just didn't understand how we could possibly hold a World Cup where a stadium in New Jersey was standing for New York. And I said, well, that's our problem. But don't worry about it. They'll find a way to hold it. It'll be on television. Americans like a show. And Americans put on a good show. So the people, Alan Rothenberg and the people with him, will know what to do to get attention.

13:21And I think he was a little bit dubious about it, but the sport was being promoted very well for them. USA 94 was a festival of attacking football with many memorable moments, from Brazil's first win in 24 years to Diego Maradona being sent home in disgrace after failing a dope test. From the unlikely successes of Romania and Bulgaria to the tragic murder of Colombian defender Andres Escobar following his own goal against the hosts. The United States would confound expectations and reach the knockout stage, eventually losing a closely fought game to the eventual champions, Brazil. But before the tournament kicked off, the idea of the USA hosting the World Cup still seemed incongruous.

14:05Hey there, Eric Winalda, World Cup veteran, 90, 94, 98. Our team was in a very unique situation. We did not even have our own professional league in this country. So the majority of the players that were going to play in the World Cup had just spent about a year in a camp in Southern California playing games and getting to know each other and being around the coach. I was playing in Germany, so I came back. The expectations were immediately put upon us. The second that I got off the plane, the first thing somebody said to me was, do you think you'd be the first home side to ever be eliminated in group play?

14:45And we were like, what? So we already had this like negative stigma attached to the World Cup because there were so many people that were putting so much money into it on the marketing side and the commercial side. And their greatest fear is that we were going to suck and we were going to go out there, lose three games and it was going to be over. Let's not forget this was a nation where there was no live English language coverage of the 1990 World Cup finals and didn't have a professional outdoor league or recognisable players. Eric Warnoldo was one of a handful in the squad to play overseas, having become the first American-born player to score in the German Bundesliga, which was a great contrast to what was there in the United States.

15:26It wasn't really a proper football league. It was called the APSL. There were several good teams in there, but we played at high schools. We played on fields that had football lines, like American football lines. It didn't look anywhere near or have the professionalism. I mean, even when our national team would play in the 90s, you know, prior to the 94 buildup, we were playing at St. Louis Soccer Park, which, you know, England plays at Wembley. We were playing at St. Louis Soccer Park. If they sold the stadium out, that would be 5 ,000 people. There was so much money that wanted to come into the game and wanted to be a part of the progression of the sport.

16:04But there was just this fear of we're not ready. We obviously didn't represent ourselves well in 90 in Italy. And when I went to Germany, that was what I always wanted, what I always dreamed about. I went from being just a guy that played soccer in the United States to being the only American playing in the Bundesliga, who are the current champions of the world. you know becoming famous was was really difficult for me i didn't understand what why everybody knew who i was and and i had to alter the way i acted i had to do a lot of things differently it was night and day to go from america uh in in 90 1992 to to germany um that was was was quite the eye-opener the efforts of alan rothenberg and the organizing committee were a spectacular success.

16:55USA 94 is widely regarded as one of the most commercially and financially successful tournaments in sports history. It still holds the record for the best attended World Cup, with an average of 68 ,991 fans per game, a record-breaking 3.58 million spectators in total watched the matches, and it generated substantial profits for both FIFA and the host cities. But there was one thing they still didn't have. The United States needed a league of their own. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the MLS. This is Major League Soccer. It was one of the reasons for giving it to the United States. FIFA required the establishment of a Division I.

17:39We didn't have one at that time. The old North American Soccer League had gone out of business. When I came in, FIFA's expectation was that that league would be developed, concurrent with the World Cup. It was so clear that we had so much to do that we couldn't be doing both at once. And also, I felt unless the World Cup itself was successful, it would be hard to put a league together. And so what we had to do is focus on putting on a great World Cup, and then there'd be an interest in the creation of a professional league. But it worked out perfectly. The World Cup was so good. Two things. One is we ended up with a$50 million surplus that we used to create the U.S.

18:19Soccer Foundation, but they offered the original seed money to get the development of Major League Soccer underway because of the interest that was created as a result of the World Cup. The World Cup provided the spark with the idea that investors would buy into the vision and deliver a pro league for football's final frontier. They had a vision. It was a bold vision. And ultimately, they delivered because Major League Soccer is the legacy of World Cup 94. Hello, I'm Dan Kordamanch. I am the Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer for Major League Soccer. The league started with 10 clubs.

18:57We now have 30 clubs. The league started with zero stadiums built for our clubs. We now have 27 stadiums built for our clubs and three more on the horizon. We didn't have any training facilities, we didn't have youth academies, and it's been a massive shift. Major League Soccer isn't like Europe's top leagues. It has a salary cap to maintain its financial health and an unconventional single-entity structure, with the league essentially owning all teams and player contracts. And crucial to the plan was to recruit the top US players who had captured the imagination at the World Cup in 1994. Here's defender Tab Ramos.

19:35So I was the first player signed by the league, by the whole league. So when I signed with MLS, it didn't even have team names. I'll sign, but with the condition that I will only play at either the New York team or the DC team. And that's all I knew. I didn't know names or anything. And those names and team kits were wild. The Kansas City Wiz anyone? Dallas Burn? Tampa Bay Mutiny? So would this new venture work? Would the crowds that had supported the US national team in 94 now care about a club that had never existed before? Would the fans come out to watch the Metro stars? Well, one young girl did go along and support her local team, and she would go on to represent the USA over 200 times and win three Olympic gold medals and the World Cup.

20:23Hi, my name is Heather O 'Reilly, former player with the US women's national soccer team. I think 94 really kicked things off, and then from that, the MLS was born. And that was very exciting time for our country to have professional league playing in the States. And the Metro Stars were the team that I supported being in the New York, New Jersey area. And I just remember as a young kid, just I mean, at that point, you're not interested in team composition and stuff like that. You're more interested in what are the colors? What does the kit look like? The logo and just the general feel around MLS.

21:03right and um we had season tickets for a number of years kind of high up there giant stadium you know we didn't have a ton of money but still pretty cool that my parents got season tickets and we just tried to support the game in the country and i felt like even then knowing that as a soccer fan in america you sort of felt like an underdog you felt like you were this niche group of people that kind of stuck together to try to advance the game. And it was a lot of times out of pride that we tried to support things. There was a few of us, but we were doing some good work to try to support the game of soccer.

21:44We had 10 major league teams in 10 cities across the United States. The players had been picked by a new system, the MLS Draft, and it was all set for the big kickoff on Saturday, April 6th, 1996. Eric Wijnaldum, who had scored the USA's opening goal at the 94 World Cup, had left Germany to join the San Jose Clash, and they hosted DC United at a packed Spartan stadium. To be honest, we looked like a bunch of complainers when we came back because we just wanted it to be better and professional. People don't realise that the inaugural game with DC United, which was John Harkes' team against my San Jose squad.

22:26We played that game on a 61-yard wide field. 61 yards is a bowling alley in football. So sometimes the game wasn't terrific. I think anybody trying to play on that small field would struggle with that. So everybody would say, well, the football wasn't great or it wasn't that appeasing. I was very fortunate. I scored the game winner the last two minutes of the game, which thank god that that the game didn't go zero zero like the world cup final that we would have been a terrible message uh first phone call back when we had phones the actual phones that were in you know next to your bed and jordan klinsman called me and and wanted to be the first one to congratulate me and the first thing he said was this goal was a lot more important to a lot of people i don't think you realize how important that goal was congratulations and i was like wow Thank you.

23:17We're still friends to this day. He's a good dude. Professional top division football had arrived in the USA, but there really weren't any other leagues like this around the world. It has conferences and playoffs with a one-off game to decide the inaugural league championship. DC United, who trailed 12 points off the top spot in the league phase, were the first champions after winning the MLS Cup final with a golden goal scored in extra time. Yes, the MLS did come with its fair share of quirks and gimmicks. George Vexy covered the first season for the New York Times. They tried some gimmicks at first and realised they didn't have to.

23:54It was sort of playing down to the real fans who said, what's this gimmick? You know, go play. And of course, you can't play forever, but they would have an extra period in there and then they'd have a shootout, which is fair enough. But play by the rules that they're playing in the other countries so it doesn't look like it's just gimmicky in the United States. There were several Americanised gimmicks designed to cater for the domestic sports fans. Stadium clocks counted up to 90 minutes and stopped at the final whistle. And there were no draws. Tied matches were instead decided with a shootout.

24:27Players had five seconds to dribble from 35 yards out and score past a charging goalkeeper. Teams were awarded three points for a regulation win, one point for a shootout win. And these weren't the only gripes some of the players had about the new league. Here's Eric Wijnaldum again. We just constantly were saying, this has got to be better, this is going to be better. Here's how it needs to get better. At some point, I guess people were like, dude, just stop complaining about everything. But we genuinely came back and gave up a lot of money and a lot of, gave up our careers to a certain extent to help build this thing.

25:01We just wanted it to be better than what it was in that moment. So that early MLS environment compared to what the players now experience is totally different. There's a guy, I think he plays in Kansas City, who hasn't even scored yet this year, who makes twice as much money as the entirety of the budget for the first year. So that just gives you an idea of what that... I mean, look, I'm not bragging, but I certainly was making... I was a millionaire in Europe and I came back to sign a contract that was one third of what I was making in Europe. I mean, my coach at Bochum told me I was making a massive mistake, stepping away to go play in these small stadiums because my heart was invested in the growth of the game.

25:47The gimmicks were eventually scrapped and despite some dark times, the league has grown. Here's the MLS vice president, Dan Kortemunch. Well, I started with Major League Soccer in November of 1995. So I lived through some of those gimmicks and key stakeholders and journalists and fans wondering if the league would survive. And we faced some challenging times. We expanded probably a little too early and went from 10 clubs to 12 clubs in 1998. and then we hit some rocky roads and weren't having as much success. At the end of 2001, the league almost went bankrupt. We had bankrupt attorneys meeting with our owners, but our commissioner, Don Garber, came up with a new plan, convinced our owners to double down, build stadiums, invest in players, invest in training facilities, invest in marketing, and we were able to pivot from some of those dark days to now, nobody's asking whether or not Major League Soccer is going to survive.

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