FanPost

American Soccer Fans Ranked by Tier (Reverse Order)

We've seen team rankings in every sport and every league across the world, and we've even seen fanbases ranked based on their passion for the game and other criteria. What we haven't seen are attempts to rank the subgroups within the American soccer landscapes.

Before I get started, I need to set up a foundation for my project. The first assumption I am working with is that there are recognizable types of American soccer fans. Also, I'm not addressing specific fan groups, like the American Outlaws or whatever the membership on the US Soccer website grants you access to. Within those groups are different types of fans and those are things I'm interested in examining. The second assumption is that these types can be ranked for their contribution to American soccer fandom.

Let's have some fun, shall we?

Tier V: Not helping

"I don't root for the US during the World Cup"

Go ahead, root for France four years after you rooted for Germany. Tell me how you didn't feel any different about the USMNT not qualifying for the World Cup. Tell me again why you're talking to me?

Never MLSers

MLS is the cause for every bad result the Men's team has had since the league's inception, apparently. Never mind that we beat Mexico more than they beat us, MLS is the millstone around our collective neck. Nobody said the league is perfect, not by a longshot, but is it really the reason we failed on a cold rainy night in Couva?

"I don't care about women's soccer"

Here's the proverbial door, you can leave.

Tier IV: *Sigh*

Pro/Rel-ists

Pro/Rel for America! We need to be on par with the rest of the world and leave behind the franchise system that has driven major American sports leagues for the past 100 years. Believe me, I get it. I wouldn't mind pro/rel. It can be a preventive against mediocrity and tanking. It can also open doors to investors from lower leagues. It can even create an extra incentive for some young players to sign with an ambitious lower division side and use that as an avenue to the first division. There are benefits.

There are also practical things that need to be considered. Second division teams outside of the Big 5 and perhaps a few other countries do not make much money. Some teams, as Shaq Moore is now learning, struggle to pay their players on time. Also, in the nations where it works best, there are soccer teams within a few blocks from each other. The number of teams in the London area alone is insane.

The United States is at the stage where we need smart, well-funded expansion (and the jury is out whether we are getting that in certain markets). The foundation is still being laid and progress might appear frustrating slow at times, but that's how it works sometimes.

The pro/rel bunch want their relegation battles and they want them now! They are also often associated with the Never MLSers and that earns them relegation to the third tier.

Eurosnobs

Oh yes, the largest collection of Uncle Sam's twitter army. There is even an Urban Dictionary citation for them:

"A pretentious prick that is born and raised in the United States, but does not support their local Major League Soccer, North American Soccer League, or USL club. Instead, they cheer on a European giant, preferably of the G-14 clubs (i.e. Manchester United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, etc.) that they have little to no connection to. Often, they will refuse to go to their local MLS team's matches and watch their favorite European teams play on TV.

"Eurosnobs have sheer ignorance towards MLS because they are under the false impression that anything American soccer is supposedly bad..."

I, myself, will admit to rooting for Borussia Dortmund, but that's because of Christian Pulisic. But let's not forget about where most American players are being developed - within our domestic confines. Also, can we not just say that "Europe" is better than MLS for our players. Some leagues might offer better paths to first-team minutes, but let's not get too excited about someone signing for a club in the Norwegian second division or someone like Junior Flores, who has been buried in Dortmund's reserves for eons.

And yes, it's called soccer.

Tier III: I mean, sure

Youthers

If you're 27 and having a solid year, we don't need you. If you're a wily 32-year-old who can do a job when the chips are down, you're too old bucco. If you're 19 and getting a handful of minutes in the Eredivisie, we need you right now! Oh, and get Alex Mendez senior minutes now!

Whoa there, calm down, just because Gio Reyna lit up the Nike Friendlies [he was alright like the rest of the team] (read this please), he's not quite ready yet.

While we do have some talented youngsters coming through and many of them were handed their first caps during the past year, the team needs balance. Most of our up and coming stars are not regulars for their clubs. Even Pulisic is in a fight for minutes with a legitimate shooting star in Jadon Sancho. Let them develop, let them build consistency, and then bring them in when they have a little seasoning under their belts against adult competition.

If 2018 showed us anything, it's that the kids aren't quite ready for the biggest and brightest lights.

"Only the women's team is good"

These fans aren't exactly wrong. The USWNT is the most successful women's soccer team in the world. The problem with this crowd is that they use it as an excuse to say that the men's team will forever be relegated to a second- and third-rate program. It's a one-sided way of framing American soccer and not the most productive bunch.

By all means, though, cheer the women's team on in France next summer.

Tier II: Almost there

"MLS must be a league of choice"

If we can't attract and keep the game's biggest stars, how we are ever going to become a top league? There is some truth to this. I wouldn't mind seeing the two (eventually three?) Texas teams have some top players and win some trophies.

Don Garber towed this line for some time and only recently started to shift away from it. Why the change? Transfer fees. The league needs to get to a place where the teams can support themselves through multiple revenue streams. One stream is selling. FC Dallas, in that respect, is sitting on a gold mine. The LA Galaxy have Efrain Alvarez coming through, despite losing Alex Mendez, Uly Llanez, and others. Real Salt Lake has also lost some players to the siren calls of Europe.

Those casualties, if we want to call them that, came during the "league of choice" era. If youth isn't choosing to sign with MLS clubs because they don't offer enough incentive or believe they'll be stuck in MLS for their entire careers, then it isn't a league of choice. It's something that needs to be worked towards.

Also, the concept is a bit faulty. While we can call the Big 5 leagues in Europe, leagues of choice, there is constant movement between countries and leagues. Ousmane Dembele went from Ligue 1 to the Bundesliga to La Liga in a three-year stretch. The game is global now. Players move around. Just because they played two seasons and left for other pastures, doesn't mean the league has problems.

It's just how the game works now.

"I only watch during the World Cups"

Men's World Cup and Women's World Cup; those are the only soccer events I follow. I root for the USMNT (how come they didn't make it again?) and the USWNT with all my heart, then I do it again four years later. These people are just American sports fans. They watch the big events and don't feel the need to dig a little deeper.

They're passionate and they care. I've got no problems with them.

They could suffer with us through a few friendlies and CONCACAF World Cup qualifying though.

Tier I: Now we're talking

"MLS must evolve"

This sounds like a reasonable assumption from a reasonable person.

I won't go through the reasons again, but Major League Soccer is young. There are some good things about it and there are some not so good things that need working on. Expansion is good, let's keep doing that. Let's create more incentive for teams to use their academies. Will there be more growing pains? You better believe it. Will there be risks? Of course.

But please, please, please don't play to it too safe.

In case you're wondering, I'm in this group. Yes, I'm patting myself on the back.

The Traveling Crowd

America is a big country. If you can make it to more than one game in a year, you deserve some kudos. If you head overseas to support the team, wow. That's some serious dedication. Also, what kind of job do you have? I could use that kind of spending money.

The Everygamer

If the game is on Fox or ESPN or Univision, you find a way to watch it. You sit in the back of the classroom while the professor drones on about the research he is doing into insect mating habits and let out an involuntary cheer when a goal is scored. You ignore weird looks from classmates and the professor's excitement that someone else out there cares.

Let's be honest, you have to be a masochist to be in this group. You have to be willing to suffer the lowest of the lows (Couva) and the highest of highs (the USWNT smacking Japan in the 2015 WC final), sometimes back to back. It's torture sometimes, but it can also be awesome. You're all in.

This is a FanPost written by a member of our blog's community. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the feelings or beliefs of the blog itself or the staff.