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SBI Monday Rewind: Huge crowd gives Sounders boost in derby; World Cup sets U.S. media records; and more

Sounders Timbers sunset facebook

By CAITLIN MURRAY

It was already technically Monday on the east coast when the Seattle Sounders were still reacting to their derby win over the Portland Timbers in front of more than 62,000 fans. With goals from Clint Dempsey and Marco Pappa, the Sounders found a second-half surge to continue the Timbers’ struggles this season and win 2-0. The Sunday night clash saw the Sounders continue a peculiar streak — they are undefeated in 13 home matches when the crowd is at least 40,000 strong and the Sounders were happy to give the crowd credit for carrying them to a result.

On the international stage, the World Cup seemed destined to set another television ratings record for the final and it did exactly that. Between ESPN and Univision, a whopping 26.5 million people in America watched Argentina’s extra time loss to Germany in the final, the most ever for a World Cup final in the States.

And the match set records on the smaller screen too, becoming the most discussed event on Facebook ever. Considering the social network has some 1.2 billion monthly active users, that’s something of a milestone for the tournament and perhaps the sport.

Here is a rundown of all the stories featured on SBI today:

WORLD CUP
World Cup final breaks USA TV ratings records

World Cup final smashes social media records

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Second-half blitz pushes Sounders past Timbers

Fire add to midfield depth with Cocis signing

SBI MLS Team of the Week: D.C. United

SBI MLS Player of the Week: Thierry Henry

SBI MLS Rookie of the Week: Adam Bedell

NATIONAL WOMEN’S SOCCER LEAGUE
NWSL Week 14: A Look Back

INTERNATIONAL SOCCER
Monday Kickoff: Scolari resigns; Rodriguez nearing Real Madrid move; and more

Comments

  1. I think the MLS growth strategy is proving pretty successful. The Sounders have been rewarded for their consistent fan base by the myriad of exceptions the league provides to the salary cap. As they should. If it was just spending money, where’s the creativity in that?

    Although most, including Cowboy fans, hate Jerry Jones, one point he makes that is very true…if the NFL did away with the salary cap (as some owners wanted), the Cowboys would dominate the league for years to come because no one could compete with their financials.

    Same is true in MSL. With the numbers generated from gate and merchandise, no one could compete with the Sounders. Although TV is the biggest piece for any league, using Soccer Nation/TiqIQ’s per ticket revenue figures, the Sounders are grossing at least $50M/year in home revenues. Who’s next? The Galaxy at around $33M?

    You can look at the Sounders depth and quality and intuitively know that their team is paying far more than the $3.1M cap monies + Oba Martins and Dempsey.

    The league is better off growing in a way that demands creativity from management.

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  2. Was there as a Timbers fan, had to pinch myself a couple of times at the reality of it, and on the day of the WC final.

    Now if communities outside of KC, Vancouver, and Portland can get behind the Beautiful Game. It pains me to watch highlights from Dallas, DC, and of course Chivas. . . it’s worse than a high school game!

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    • Sorry about the Timbers disease you have….it is curable.

      It is crazy how relatively few have realized how great we have it with first rate soccer in this country.

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  3. Didn’t realize it was Whiner’s Tuesday….it is weird the whiners complain about MLS not having a consistant schedule. I can’t keep of track when it is time to whine.

    That is cool they got a pic from the game on Sunday. That sunset was crazy cool.
    Almost as cool as seeing Seattle beat Portland in front of 64k.

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  4. God, look at that! Looks so fun! I wish I could go to a game there. Would be so great to catch a game at Timbers, Sounders and Whitecaps.

    Also, what Church said.

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  5. A team like the Sounders should be able to spend money freely and try and achieve international acclaim. Not a fan of the fact that a team like Chivas USA or DC United for that matter (my team) get to hold them back due to their financial ineptitude. Not a big fan of forced parity.

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    • Just look back at the old NASL days to see what happens when teams “spend money freely”. The current financial limitations placed on teams has succeeded in allowing the league to grow instead of contract. At this point would be happier if the salary cap was raised to the point where the minimum wage is 65-75K and the rosters were expanded to 35 players.
      What is hindering the league the most now is lack of quality depth to compete in multiple competitions (CONCACAF Champ League, Open Cups, etc….).

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    • Replace the salary cap with a luxury tax and modify the revenue sharing model, that way teams that have high draws and lucrative TV deals can afford to spend on marquee players. It actually gives the fans a chance to influence the success of the team. The more fans go to the game, the more merch they buy, the more the team has to spend on players.

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    • Remember people in seats doesn’t mean anything when it comes to big time sports. It’s all about TV dollars. The NBA is about to get billions of dollars and they barely sell out during the regular season. Why becausepeople watchon TV. So until MLS gets more eye balls then the WNBA consistently let’s call down on the few spending talk.

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      • Same way with baseball. Many teams play in front of half-filled stadiums, particularly during the week, yet can still pay huge salaries. TV money is massive in modern sports. Also, they talk about this constantly during EPL broadcasts when it comes to avoiding relegation/being promoted. It makes a significant difference when it comes to affording good players.

      • So true. That’s why teams who are relegated have to sell off their best players. It’s not because they aren’t selling out is because there isn’t any TV money. MLS teams can sell out in every stadium and as long as ratings are low it means nothing.

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