Soccer is no spectator sport

Sports columnist Bob Hunter wrote in the 7/8/07 Dispatch that the Columbus Ohio pro soccer team had been averaging 12,412 fans at home games. This compares to the 100,000-plus fans per game attracted to a college football team just across town.

Normally, nobody except those lined up to make money from sports (including sports writers) would care how many attend, since games are supposed to be for fun.

But this particular sports team - the Columbus Crew - should be of interest to Newark taxpayers because it's floating a balloon over town with a proposal to locate its practice field here which, promoters said, could bring $52 million in sales, more than $18 million in wages, and more than 1,100 jobs to the region if Newark is selected.

"Conservative predictions indicate the facility would bring in at least 500,000 visitors per year, with many staying overnight" (city development director Stephen)" Fowler said.

This from a team that draws 12,000-some fans to its games?

I didn't think so when I wrote a journal entry here on 6/8/07 entitled "The world's dullest sport making big promises." If you're a taxpayer, you should read it, because I don't think any investors will bankroll such a project unless tax money is used to ensure success.

Soccer promoters and sports writers are straining their guts trying to make this sport seem like something to care about. When the Crew won a game recently (and it must have been a very dull day in sports) the Dispatch gave it about 3/4 of its main sports page. They won the game 2-0.

2-0. Imagine.

Imagine sitting through an hour-and-a-half-long game and seeing two scores. If you, like me, are reasonably ignorant about soccer (and all other sports) you might think this is weird. But I just learned that even the professional soccer players in England averaged only 2.48 points during a recent season.

They can do what they want to make this thing seem like a real spectator sport, but nothing is going to fix the kind of boredom that goes with 2 1/2 points a game.