This Is American Soccer, US Soccer, MNT, WNT, and MLS - Tackling the subject of Soccer in the US, and worldwide.

Chicago Fire signed on a Mexican personality that also happens to play a little soccer and the general prognosis seems to be – here we go again – that Blanco will draw crowds in force to his games. It’s said of nearly all the recent Designated Player signings in one way or another: they put butts in the seats. So, ok, while Blanco might pull in a few of his countrymen - though even that looks suspect - and Beckham no doubt will draw some rubbernecking, are you buying it. Are you buying a ticket just to see Claudio Reyna play?

Go ahead and throw in the other big names in the league. Donovan, Adu, DeRasario, Twellman maybe. Anybody else? Someone from DC? Landon can pull in a few, and between him and Beckham, the LA Galaxy games should draw larger crowds – a season-long documentary on the team could be really nice by the way – but I just don’t think more than family and friends are coming out to see specific players after you accept a few hometown discounts for players returning to cities that hold personal significance in some way. Maybe, maybe, I could concede that an ardent fan who’s on the fence deciding whether or not to go to a game might be swayed by the appearance of an individual player, but I still would argue that list is shorter than some would like to think it is, and new fans just aren’t showing up to see anybody but Beckham; and even that is overestimated.

In a column about the disinterest in Kasey Keller from MLS clubs, coming after this topic bounced around various message boards, Steve Davis writes:

“Keller would instantly join an elite fraternity of ticket-selling MLS powerhouses. Adu, Landon Donovan and Reyna would be his contemporaries in capacity to attract fans. (David Beckham resides in another stratosphere altogether when it comes to building fan support this year.)”

Really? Kasey Keller? All due respect to the best goalkeeper in American soccer history, no one is going to a game just because he is on the team. You might even argue whether or not any goalkeeper could draw a crowd, much less a DP spot. If Davis’ summation is correct, wouldn’t a MLS club be willing to open their wallets for Keller, even if no goalkeeper in MLS makes more than Joe Cannon at $170,000, as Davis concedes? Surely all those extra ticket sales would make up for his salary demands. Add in the fact – Davis covers his tracks here – that “Borussia could be relegated, which could toss the club into salary chaos. Keller, astutely monitoring the horizon, may simply be positioning himself to receive the best offer possible from MLS,” and the argument is all but toast. By the end of the column it almost sounds as if Davis has convinced himself that the very point he is making is wrong. Meanwhile, Keller can’t be making any new fans voicing his “disappointment.” If fans and continued success were truly what Keller wanted, taking a smaller salary in order to maintain a DP spot and free more cash for solid players like himself, all the while helping to build a better team should be copasetic for a man who has made his millions (and literally lives in a castle in Germany).

And a great team, more than any single player, will put butts in the seats.

4/4/07 update: it’s come to my attention the comments feature is not working properly. It is being fixed, but in the meantime, feel free to e-mail me at thisisamericansoccer@gmail.com with your comments. If the problem persists, I’ll post the comments in their own space.