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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With Chris Cotter
Aired June 22, 2002 - 08:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Host country South Korea will play Germany in the semifinals of the World Cup Soccer event. South Korea won today on a penalty kick against Spain. The U.S. team, as I'm sure you're aware, was kicked out of competition yesterday, defeated 1-0, I think that's what the term they use on the football pitch. Germany beat them.
Now, Chris Cotter is here. He's with the, what is it, Sport, 790 The Fan, right?
CHRIS COTTER, 790 THE ZONE: Sports Talk 790 The Zone.
O'BRIEN: The Zone! The Fan, The Zone, that's -- the fans up in New York, I think.
COTTER: That's correct.
O'BRIEN: Anyway, it's good to see you, Chris.
COTTER: Thanks. Good to be here.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's for a moment here not get too swept away by this frenzy of this, you know, excellent showing by the U.S. team. How popular is soccer? Are you really getting a lot of calls about it or are they still just calling about blast Bobby Cox and the Braves?
COTTER: It's mostly baseball right now. I mean soccer does have its popularity, but it's -- the fact of the matter is this. People will get into it for the World Cup. In '94 when the World Cup was here in the States, people got into it. They got excited about it. Four years later it's in France, a little less excitement. This year a little bit more excitement because the U.S. team did so well.
I think the U.S. team is on the road to being much better and much more competitive. I think they are competitive right now on the international scene. However, they don't have the star power that people recognize. You know, the NBA, the NFL, Major League Baseball, they have the stars. Major league soccer and the professional soccer stars that are North American born, many of them playing in Europe, they just don't have the star power right now that people recognize.
O'BRIEN: Now, for years and years there have been predictions that soccer would somehow finally come of age in this country and become a truly bona fide major league sport because you've got all these kids playing. I mean we all drive our kids around on Saturday mornings for a soccer game.
COTTER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: It doesn't turn into a spectator sport here. Tell me why.
COTTER: Well, the biggest reason, two reasons. First of all, the MLS, which is the top league here in the States, is having a hard time financially in generating revenue and thus being able to pay their players a high salary. So many of the top European professionals and South American professionals aren't coming to the States to play.
So the best leagues are in Europe. Therefore, the MLS is somewhat of a, not necessarily a minor league, but compared to the European teams, the talent is a little bit less.
Second of all, you have so many of the top American players, probably 75 percent of the World Cup team, playing their professional football in Europe. So four years until the next World Cup, you don't really hear a whole lot about them.
O'BRIEN: But, you know, it seems to me this is something that money could fix if you promoted it properly. Is it just that Americans don't like this sport?
COTTER: I think that has a big thing to do with it. I think that Americans like scoring. I mean, even in hockey...
O'BRIEN: And we're talking 1-0 they get knocked out.
COTTER: Right.
O'BRIEN: One lousy score.
COTTER: And a 1-0 soccer game can be a very, very fun soccer game to watch. I do think that this World Cup has helped because it has helped educate a lot of even sports fans on soccer and some of the artistry and some of the nuances in the game so that they can enjoy a 1-0 game and they don't have to see a lot of scoring to really be able to see a fun sporting event.
O'BRIEN: What do you think of my theory? My theory is the reason soccer hasn't taken off well is because corporate America doesn't like it because there's no place to put commercials in?
COTTER: Well, I think that's a big thing, too. I mean you see in the World Cup coverage where the large corporate sponsors will buy time and they'll be able to bring it to you commercial free, the entire half commercial free, but they can't have several commercials thrown in there. I mean you talk about an NFL broadcast, commercial after commercial after commercial. The TV rights alone, even for NCAA basketball, it's huge. And that's where all the revenue is coming in. Soccer just doesn't have that. Even hockey doesn't have that, but soccer is much less than hockey.
But one other thing, too, I'll say about MLS is that a lot of these kids, junior high school aged kids, you know, millions of them in the country in the United States play soccer. But by the time they get to junior high school, high school age, they start to see the NFL stars. They start to see the NBA stars, the money, the fame, TV. Soccer doesn't have that.
If you're one of the elite athletes in your state, your county, whatever the case may be, you're going to maybe opt to play one of these other sports because you see a future there whereas maybe in the States you don't see it in soccer.
O'BRIEN: No big endorsement contracts there.
COTTER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Chris Cotter.
COTTER: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: 790 The Zone, not The Fan, although I'm a fan of The Zone.
Anyway, good to have you.
COTTER: As long as you're that, that's fine with me.
O'BRIEN: Good to have you with us. We appreciate your insights on the world of soccer.
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