Abstract
Major League Soccer (MLS) is puzzling, as the sport is growing in popularity and stadium attendance even as television ratings remain dismal. Why? This paper presents the nineteen major elements of the global game that generate fan support and television viewers. The conceptual tools of critical junctures and path dependency explain how choices made when founding the league constrain fan support, television ratings, and potential growth of Major League Soccer. While the choices made for the founding of MLS were rational at the time and contributed to many of the successful elements of the league, the resulting path dependency results in prohibitively high costs for rectifying these constraints.
Presenters
Kirk BowmanProfessor and Rise Up and Care Term Chair in Development and Identity, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Sporting Cultures and Identities
KEYWORDS
SOCCER, IDENTITY, JUNCTURES, CULTURES, MLS, EXCEPTIONALISM
Digital Media
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