Let’s get real about the state of football or soccer in the United States:
Soccer, as a sport, amatuer or professional product, is overly complicated and inaccessible to large swaths of the population for no logical reasons other than the impacts of racism, driven by white supremacy struggle dreams and classism. The first and latter are symptoms of the visions of the second, but still all the same.
The lack of access comes from systems within this sport developed from a place to support the perpetual need to keep whiteness centered that corresponds with the fear of losing the majority power we are witnessing play out in politics. As a result, short sighted and illogical decisions continue to be made in this sport, on marketing, media and community building fronts, which stifle the growth of franchises and have leagues running on monopoly money struggle dreams and broke.99 fumes.
If we think about this on a basic level, the game of soccer requires only a ball-like entity, some sort of ground to be the “pitch” to play on, and goals made by just laying down sticks. As the ball is tapped by either foot, the world transforms into a magical experience of launching or stopping goals, or even embarrassing people along the way.
The simplistic beauty of this game allows people to come together and celebrate the poetry on grass canvas. Essentially, the game of soccer is for everyone: Whether you live in the Florida swamps or the Mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Whether you have monopoly money or you have enough that you can print your own currency. Whether you have soccer knowledge of a FIFA PS5 gaming super star or community rec league legend , or even if you just learned what soccer was today – The game is for any and everyone, so you and me too.
Unfortunately, Soccer entities here, in the United States remain flustered on how soccer “struggles to take hold” as a American sport like the National Football League (NFL) or College Football. However, it is not surprising. Soccer in the United States is mostly marketed to, perpetuated in media for and supporter groups cater to the existence and comfort of white people. This sole white focus has caused the restriction of access of this sport in tandem with the pay for play philosophies and ideologies at all levels at the expense of the majority non-white and immigrant population that encompasses the USA. Hence the “elusive success” of the game of soccer in USA will only come when everyone within this country has the ability to access this sport.
Marketing teams to front offices and executives in this sport continuously wonder “Why can’t ‘we’ can’t fill those stadium seats or why will people not come to support these star studded NWSL/MLS teams?”
There needs to be a collective deep dive on all fronts exploring the problems that arise when the focus is to solely uplift whiteness all the time. We need to explore how the corresponding reflective gatekeeping to keep this sport uplifting or catering to white people has hampered the growth, and re-evaluate the USA perception of playing/enjoying “proper” game from a truly diverse, equitable and inclusive lens.
Playing soccer in this country requires insane amounts of money on the youth levels in the USA,and the investment increases as one treks to consider making it to the professional levels. The barriers to accessing this game to play on a basic youth and fundamental level leave various communities , particularly non-white, feeling like this global sport is only for white people. This notion may seem like a jarring sentence but welcome to the repeated questions I, a Black woman, have received about playing soccer in my youth and in response to me being a super fan as an adult.
“Why try to play or support this super white sport?…. What’s the point?”
“Yea I see a few Black people playing this game, but that sport is clearly just for the white folks!”
“It’s easier to play lacrosse and rugby than soccer ,so why are you even fooling with it”
Honestly I can go on and on.
I have had many similar thoughts myself at times wondering “Why do I care about this sport?” when I am sitting in overtly white stadiums in an extremely Black or brown city.
So I get it. Briana Scurry had me feeling like I could be a goal keeper when no one else was trying to dive on the ground in high school. However, if had asked me and most my teammates, on my ALL BLACK high school soccer team in the early 2000s, if WE genuinely thought we too could suit up one day and be on the USWNT: mostly everyone would not just say no, but first say
“How? And what exactly is the path?”
You see unless you were white and had money it was not happening because the gates to the access were smothering and seemingly fruitless . Despite the Atlanta Beat being in our backyard, we could not see the dream or hell even get the damn key to access it because it wasn’t attainable with our melanated skin.
With all that said, in my fanaticism for this sport as an adult, I have been met with varying sentiments of “Why do you soccer so hard for a sport so white?” sentiment from my own friends and family to random Black people I have met.
Can you blame them? Look at how many Black women or men have capped for the USWNT/USMNT from the state of Georgia, a state with sooo much athletic talent within its Black and brown residents. Not any from my memory. For a state with the biggest Black city in Atlanta and large population of it existing in the upper socio-economic classes. In 2022 you can’t count more than hand full?
Why? Well hello USA soccer and it is not addressing the racism engulfing itself. It’s frustrating that still in 2022 nearly 37 years of my life this game has not been accessible. As a result, the sport has struggled mightily on the women’s and men’s sides to fill stadiums at any time. We must talk about the access issues of playing soccer in this country and then how corresponding structures encompass and utilize gatekeeping to create mad problems in the quality of the soccer experience and cause the epic fumbling of the global billion soccer money.
Marketing in white
Look it has been hard to play this damn game. It also has taken mad energy and resolve to watch when you are not white in this country. This falls on death ears without digging into this notion with some examples. When the structures limit your ability to play, you must know the viewing experience is going to be on the plane of the same exhausting energy and nonsense. You see it from marketing strategies that make no sense to the unwelcoming cliquey behavior in various supporter groups to the overly white media access and lens that it hurts everything.
Marketing approaches with this game are steeped in whiteness ,and actually defy any logic in relation to ethinic and cultural populations in cities within this country. Marketing teams have done things such as blatantly marketing only white players in non-white markets , or refusing to market’s non white superstars because they do not think they will connect with their “perceived” white fanbase. The fear of marketing non-white players at the expense of losing white fans seems to be unsurmountable even when said market’s nonwhite players are the Defensive/Offensive Player of the Year, MVP of the league, or whose shirt sale out in 2 seconds flat globally. The active drive to cater to white presence without realizing there other markets who ALSO can come fill your stadiums remains short sighted.
Then again there is the active marketing to only white families and soccer moms in the suburbs strategy (white soccer mom strategy) that is copy and pasted like assembly line vanilla wafers getting ready for shipment. It seems like waves of marketing and branding are done to make the white families comfortable no matter the cost. Even while steadily ignoring the 20 to 40 year old people of varying relationship statuses and ethnic background whom flood the sports bars around said team’s stadium to watch insert global professional league and anything WOSO..
The same head scratching logic comes into play when I watch the marketing strategy that is focused on deploying all the resources to market in the white suburbs near and far for a team, but their games are played in a very Black or brown city with a rich history of soccer within said city and even island nations, in which said identifying people love this game. However, with the white soccer mom marketing strategy the marketing team steadily still ignores the Black population and does not deem them “worthy of marketing or money generation” so they target every white neighborhood and every PTA meeting. This same marketing team then wonders why they can’t get Black people in the stands consistently, or its efforts for community building deemed performative. They continue to try to market to white party goers or families in the city 1.5 hours away but forget to market and connect with the fanbase next to where the stadium is located.
Honestly I feel too many marketing teams seem to wonder on a higher level why there are empty seats or missing populations without digging into the problem. Most soccer marketing offices never have a strategy that considers the actually full panel of demographics of a city including the non-white populations, the impacts of racism on said populations and throughout the history of the city, and anticipate how this racism could have impacted the access of the game within the city. All these factors are important in understanding how the lack of access to playing soccer may have shifted the perception of what soccer is seen as in the city. There may be populations who play recreationally and watch in mass at home. There may be people who may have never seen it or had access to this perceived“ white sport” as it has never been made available for them. The are levels to the marketing strategy must account for the reality of the barriers persistent in this game and across every city in the USA.
Marketing and Community teams must connect , genuinely with non-white communities and listen to their voices and learn how to market and build community in THEIR city. To be honest all these marketing entities, which tend to be overtly white and white focused, would have to do some extensive work in strategizing that could seem overwhelming without doing the work to have an anti-racist and genuinely inclusive mindset. For all the strategy and community building plans required, there is a major return in investment to be seen through the power of diversity. Hence why it is important to diversify your marketing team and be aware of the demographics and history of your city.
It is important to know who is in your city in terms of populations and their relation to soccer. Learn history of racial dynamics and hurdles to know what barriers you may have to help bridge the gap on. Even simply marketing to the neighborhoods and communities around you and building community. Basic bare minimum awareness of the non white humans in the communities around your stadium. Simply put, to stop just seeing value solely in the experiences of white people, but value ALL people. Everyone is important in growing your soccer culture, so you must see the value in their humanity.
See the Black brothers playing soccer like your white nephews playing in the Sunday league after church. See the Black woman hopping up and down cheering on her NWSL team as you do your white sister excited her favorite player scored. Genuinely, value the beauty of diverse humanity and diversified joy as you do your own. When you reach the value of seeing humanity in everyone then the gates of marketing soccer fly open and the white soccer moms strategy becomes an effort to get the white soccer moms AND all the non white people to frequent your team’s stadium to the point they become full on supporters of your team and brand
Supporter Culture, a complicated experience
When we speak of supporter culture then we truly have to also explore the gatekeeping in this aspect of the soccer world on levels people may or may not realize. The last few years of my life have left me with the opportunity to build community and connect with some amazing people with passion for soccer in the realm of supporter group culture. However, there have been quite too many times I have been annoyed by the soccer phi soccer sorority and fraternity gatekeeping mindsets running afoot in this space. I have witnessed and have heard the stories of friends encountering people being so caught in this toxic mentality that can be in supporter culture and seems hell bent on enforcing “proper supporting of soccer” law and order.
Lord they tend to white and loud and wrong. It is always wild to me to experience this dictation of soccer, when literally we are all here to just “watch soccer and nerd the Fuck out as balls going into nets’ as one friend would say. In my mind, no one should be dictating how you dress, what music you listen to, how chants should sound, what other sports teams you support and any other controlling nonsense when you are literally at a soccer game to watch soccer. Your identity as a person should not get so lost in the process of this supporter culture and nor should you be forced to move to some monolithic supporter beat for the sake of soccer phi soccer supporter group laws. Who in their free time wants to deal with that gatekeeping nonsense? I do not and neither should you.
What is the point of a supporter group when we think about it in an inclusive space?
I am not an expert, but in a basic vision, a supporter group should exist to grow, connect and empower some soccer community to come together and support a team(s) to all enjoy the beautiful game. The point is for us to come together to be big ole nerds together however we all are and litty/hype for a city supporting whatever teams as they play.
Where in the previous description, does it become logical to control how people move to enjoy soccer, what they need to wear, what other sports team they can support or what they look like when they are at soccer supporter activities? Also why must people be carbon copies of the same supporter group logic to come together? The point is to come as you are. Whether you are a soccer guru or a soccer newbie. Be a supporter of fifty eleven clubs globally or just the one you are here for. The space should be here to welcome those differences and varying walks of life, and not to be one of power trips and exertions “proper visions of soccer”
Honestly, if the varying opinions of diverse supporters bother you, you need to learn to lean into embracing what makes you uncomfortable and not just focusing on making yourself only happy. To be real, the overarching approach of support group culture has long been set up to embrace and make white people feel comfortable. It is beyond time to actually get open to welcoming non white people and their corresponding cultures that may do soccer in ways you are not used to. There is so much to learn.
Media Impacts
You can definitely learn by listening. Let me tell you as a Black fan it has been a struggle to not steadily be reminded of my Blackness watching the micro and macro aggressions players experience. Like what you may ask? From questioning if Black players are capable of playing positions they won Hermann trophy and MVP award and other elite accolades for, to hearing pace and power as they play as a fullback as their fifth position or do some high soccer IQ feat , to diminishing their black greatness to uphold white soccer mediocrity,and to the slaughtering name pronunciations.
It’s a journey to watch a game that is supposed to be a space of peaceful relaxation, but tends to constantly remind me I am Black supporting an overtly white centered sport in the USA. The monolithic interviews by the same media outlets with Black players. These outlets, they all treat all black players the same or ignore their blackness all together if they are on lighter melanated end like myself, or are quick to ask darker complexion players to explain how white supremacy nonsense is fucking over their Black life.
All of this aggression from the media happens with Black players, whilst white players are given opportunity to have wide ranging interviews that are multilayered. White players interviews show depth of research and exploration. They also are fun and light hearted.
Then I, Black fan, sit there thinking “ Well damn these Black players got to be Hall of Fame great with their play on the field to be treated half decent and still aren’t respected and on top of that not seen worthy to connect with.” Then I am reminded of my daily fight as a Black woman engineer. I myself have to stand on my head and drive over burning bridges to be seen as worth a damn in Corporate America so this all tracks. It sucks to be constantly reminded I am Black daily while watching soccer on TV or reading an article in the media when I come home to watch people who look like me play and experience the same foolishness whilst playing soccer.
Stadium Experience whilst Black
Hence then it can be even worse as a fan physically at a game to experience some of the aggression play out in real time. From experiencing the overt racism when a white person sees a friend wearing shirt full of Black players names listed and being told “ well USA would’ve won the bobsled event with more black people” Or having friends get asked why do their supporter group/soccer crew need to talk about racial related incidents, or hearing the whitespaling essay 23450 on why so and so refuses to kneel. Or being asked to calm down and not be loud while having a good time at a soccer game as my Black joy and celebration tendencies are not deemed okay. Or being madly uncomfortable as people go silent or stare at me as I sit in stands while being Black, and sharing the knowing glance with the Black family walking to their own seats as ALL of us Black people all feel like fish in the fish bowl in a sea of non-black people.
How hard it is trying to explain these feelings and experiences to white people and they are met with apathy or misunderstanding. How frustrating it is to feel ignored when wanting to talk about Black issues and inequities in a community and with soccer. How isolating it can feel when you are genuinely seen and your Blackness valued outside a performative Month or holiday. Black and other non-white supporters groups come into existence to help cultivate community and safe space in spite of the violence and isolation experienced in these white spaces. White people have a tendency to question Black support group existence and push back on why these groups need to exist.
When we Black people would just like to find genuine inclusiveness in community building and peace to just breathe and enjoy this game, as the gatekeeping and beacons to whiteness make that difficult.
As I have heard and seen the push back of Black Supporter Groups and their movements, I wonder what is the reason? There is no one right way to develop a supporter group. In that same vein there should not be this drive to only have solely one for your team.
If the goal is to support a city and team, what does it matter how many supporter groups exist or why is there this desire to have a limitation of the addition of new one?
Logistics may be an issue, but every group has a purpose and vision for coming into existence. Honestly, sometimes you do not fit the group you initially join or you may have affinity and feel connection across many. There should inherently be a way for these supporter groups to exist in tandem with shared members. The push back to do otherwise comes from a narrow minded crab in a bucket scarcity mindset, and usually with a push to consolidate power.
Bring it all together…
This quest to be the WOSO chosen entity should not be the driver for how you move within a supporter group, as a media entity or even the approach to marketing. There is no sole source to all things WOSO as there is not solely one group of people to cater to. There are many stories to tell, several voices to be heard and to be seen, and many people to reach. There is space for everyone.
The landscape of a city is prettier with each new color, hue. Therefore the power and depth of this soccer landscape or portrait intensifies with increases in saturation; Soccer is more beautiful as more people get into it. With each new stroke of the canvas there is more a different view of the game that is brought to life.
As different types of media representative all cultures and walks of life get the access to connect with players and figures within this soccer space, then there is more exposure to varying audiences and power in representative storytelling. When people begin seeing themselves on screen and on the pitch, they can also see it worthwhile to support said player’s team and go watch the teams in person and join the soccer culture that is for them too. The more supporter groups embrace diversity with an inclusive focus then the connections built foster stronger and extremely diverse fan bases and cultural vibes in the stands.
Honestly a soccer game should be a vibrant cultural festivus like no other in this country where the stands are rocking with mad culture , fits flaunted all over and partying long after the final whistle.
Eventually this quest to be welcoming to all walks of life then reaps mad dividends in marketing and branding and sponsorships. The opportunities to connect with cultures and those seats are not only full, but also representative of the community and its diverse beautiful portrait encompassed. Then we eventually will get to see what actually United States Soccer looks like not just in your city, but from coast to coast because it then starts becoming accessible.
A time where the strange looks you get in the stands are for a crazy explanation you had defending that skied penalty kick and not the melanin content in your skin. When a random podcast crew can ask your favorite player to recreate the celebratory dance move in the middle of FIFA press conference and the craziest of fun questions are asked to anyone no matter what they look like when they come to the podium.
When the Black player is treated with the grace and love as someone’s white sister or brother or parent. Maybe I am dreaming for a future of mad diversity when the gates of white supremacy based gatekeeping swing open and fall off , and let the real soccer culture of the United States come through in its fully colorful landscape and not the current monocolor white focused view.
Maybe that’s far off, and a long journey and paint supplies away. Either way, the gates of access need to come off or be taken down. And it will happen in some form of fashion, so let’s get to building , de-gatekeeping and painting this inclusive view.
More to come and building in your city and in front of you and behind the scenes….
Staying Black with it Always,
SkyE (Your Eye in the SKY and Knower of All thangs whilst crossing you out your shoestrings like Jordan)
