YSA Has Become American Soccer’s Boogeyman

American soccer has finally figured out what is keeping advertisers away: the YSA* chant. OK, OK, that’s not fair. No one is literally claiming that advertising dollars will just freely flow into U.S. Soccer and MLS, but it is amazing how much energy people are spending trying to get rid of a relatively harmless chant.

The USSF has taken somewhat draconian measures, not allowing their biggest supporters group, American Outlaws, to hang banners, presumably as punishment for YSA. There have been crackdowns in several MLS stadiums, most notably in New England.

But there’s a dirty little secret no one really seems to want to acknowledge: Supporters may be responsible for its existence, but YSA is now emanating from all parts of the stadium.
Just to get this out of the way, I am no fan of YSA. I find it uncreative and rather cliche. I guess it’s fun to say it once or twice, but the novelty quickly wears off.

Thing is, people obviously like doing it. I’ve seen parents with kids joyously yell YSA, only to flash a sheepish grin. I’ve seen dudes in business suits scream it at the top of their lungs. I’ve seen, gasp, soccer moms even join in the fun.

Any effort to get rid of it, then, is going to have to acknowledge this reality. Front offices can meet with supporters all they want, but my admittedly anecdotal experience is that most supporters have already moved on. They’ve begun chanting “Who are ya” or just kept singing in an attempt to rise above the calls elsewhere in the stadium. Yet, there it is, persisting.

Rather than focus their attention on getting supporters groups to buy in, maybe, if this is really as big of a deal as they’d have us believe, front offices need to put some real marketing muscle behind their efforts.

If YSA is really costing teams millions in advertising dollars, maybe it’s time for a full-blown PSA campaign. Flash a symbol with YSA crossed out on the scoreboard at every goal kick. Hand out cards to everyone walking into the stadium urging them to resist shouting YSA. Put ads above the urinals proclaiming the evils of the chant.

The other choice is to not really do anything and either hope the chant dies out on its own or just shrug your shoulders and say “fans will be fans.” Personally, it doesn’t matter that much to me. But let’s at least stop acting like this is an issue over which supporters groups bear the burden of stamping it out.

*For those who are unaware, YSA stands for “You suck, [vulgar slang term for rectum]”