Remember that dreamboat back in high school? Yeah, the one you’d would do anything for, who seemed like the very embodiment of everything that was good, right and beautiful in the world. Maybe a few went on to marry their high school honey – but most of us grew out of our adolescent infatuations. Nothing wrong with them, of course, we just evolved, learned more about ourselves and wanted something else in our partners.
Shifting calculus of the summer friendly season
I have a feeling that we’re headed that way with these ubiquitous summer friendlies. I see the landscape evolving.
Background: It is high season on European and Mexican teams touring our land, facing off with MLS and USL sides in high-profile, high-profit friendlies. I mean, these things are more pervasive right now than cool shades at Coachella.
But I suspect that the value factor of these matches is a shifting table. I wonder if the wonder of it all will fade? Maybe not next year or even the year after, but maybe soon after that.
Right now we’re all starry-eyed by our chances to see Barcelona (three stops over the next two weeks), Manchester United (making its third stop of four later tonight), Real Madrid (making its third stop tonight), etc. After all, these are reigning and potential European champions. Meanwhile, soccer supporters of Mexican heritage are frothing over their next chance to see Club America and Chivas de Guadalajara. So, clubs here pony up big guarantees for these luminary clubs, charge inflated ticket prices and (ka-ching!), fans flock and everyone’s a winner!
Well, except the next player who injures himself on one of these borderline unsafe, borderline unplayable, distinctively unbeautiful temporary surfaces. Ask Conor Casey, who is out for the year. Or until some manager decides it’s just not worth a 7-0 thumping. That’s what happened to Seattle against Manchester United in a mid-week beat down, when Sir Alex Ferguson’s men took advantage of Sigi Schmid’s halftime changes to run roughshod at CenturyLink Field.
My man Dave Clark has written passionately on this topic at his exceptional Seattle Sounders blog, Sounder at Heart. Meanwhile, here’s part of what I wrote last week at SI.com (this is specifically about coaches and their personnel choices).
The personnel calculus in this cash crop of high-profile friendlies can be quite tricky. Maybe more than you think.
These matches are more than just money making bids; the U.S. remains full of soccer snobs who won't cross the street to watch an MLS contest, but do live and die with their beloved team from (fill in the country). Valuable credibility points are always at stake these matches, and possibly a few paying fans, too.
So you play the starters, right? Who wants to get clobbered inside their own city limits? As an NFL coach famously, incredulously said, "You play to win the game!"
Only, what if you have a more important game just ahead?
I went on to cite examples of coaches dealing with the “friendly conundrum.” That’s where managers must weigh the value of playing starters in technically meaningless matches that butt up against league contests, U.S. Open Cup matches or CONCACAF Champions League matches. As I said in the SI.com piece, fans don’t forget easily when you stink it up against high-profile opposition. Of course, they aren’t very forgiving about not making the playoffs, either.
At some point, coaches hoping to protect their jobs will begin to prioritize competitive value over marketing value, and then lay out their cases to GMs and owners who are seeing dollar signs.
Right now, I think these friendlies still have some value for MLS clubs. Major League Soccer teams are still trying to educate the nation’s soccer savvy, who aren’t necessarily MLS fans. Not all of them, for sure. So these friendlies can do a lot in terms of exposure, in terms of building the MLS brand. But it won’t always be this way as the laws of diminishing returns set in. Already, I'd say they do a less to establishing MLS awareness than they did five and, certainly, 10 years ago. A certain No. 23 from Los Angeles helped accelerate the MLS awareness curve.
Currently, these things are cash cows – even when clubs cough up $150,000 to $200,000 to plant one of those woeful, temporary grass surfaces.
But I expect the balance to begin tipping as we move forward; the ability to affect a club's brand equity will slowly diminish. So will fan excitement as the same teams roll habitually through, which will reduce profit. Meanwhile, clubs could become more protective of their images, more careful to avoid perceptions of inferior quality.
(Look, in all honesty, there’s no shame in getting thumped by Real Madrid or Manchester United. So many teams around the world would do no better. Still, fans tend to forget that these global Goliaths are in the upper 1 percentile in terms of worldwide soccer clubs. So these supporters might turn their noses up at MLS for the imbalance – never mind that most other teams around the world, teams they might also support, would get similarly boxed about the ears.)
But don’t let any of that stop you from enjoying things this weekend and the splashy friendlies to come. D.C. United hosts Everton (minus Tim Howard, probably) tonight. Italian heavyweight Juventus faces Sporting Clube de Portugal tonight in Toronto. Manchester City faces Los Angeles tomorrow night. There are others this weekend, too. And then, of course, the MLS All-Stars take on Manchester United on Wednesday.
So, live it up. Enjoy!
Because five or ten years from now, when the newness of it all wears off, I suspect the summer friendly season will look a lot different.
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