Newcastle Losing The Battle For America

If it's not in the mainstream already, the Premier League is about to hit the US in a major way this season. Thanks to a generous new TV deal, every single match is scheduled to be televised live on these shores - a major shock for our English readers who have to make do with incredibly poor live coverage. A giant potential audience in the States could mean a financial windfall for those clubs willing to take advantage of it. For whatever reason, Newcastle has been reluctant to do that, and it will pay a big price for its timidity.

Every would-be follower of English soccer is aware of the league's leading lights, even if they'd struggle to locate Manchester or Liverpool on a map. But for clubs like Newcastle, which don't have name recognition, some sort of plan to cater to new American fans is crucial. Typically, there are two ways to do this: buy a US international player or make a trip over here.

On the transfer front, Sunderland's American owner, Ellis Short, has been quick to recognize the value of the US audience - hence the move to buy Jozy Altidore for a fairly reasonable £8.5 million. No matter how Altidore actually performs for Sunderland, Short will likely recoup his investment thanks to the exposure his club will now receive. If he manages to bring Clint Dempsey in from Tottenham, our rival club has essentially positioned itself as Team America - the easy choice for any stateside fan who doesn't want to be a frontrunner.

Maybe Graham Carr isn't enamored with Altidore, and Dempsey doesn't fit Newcastle's transfer strategy (though I bet he'd be a great fit behind Papiss Cissé). Fine. But why, then, wasn't the club pushing harder to arrange a US tour at this particularly opportune moment?

For most of the new fans looking to find a English club to follow, Newcastle basically has nothing to offer - no recent history of success, no big names for the casual viewer to latch onto. The 2011 tour, in typically disorganized Newcastle fashion, at least exposed this wonderfully crazy club to supporters over here, picking up a few new fans along the way. Because the Premier League's profile has been raised so much in the last two years, a repeat visit would have earned even more converts. Instead, those people who would have followed Newcastle will probably end up supporting Sunderland or Everton instead.

In what has become a disturbing pattern of late, it's puzzling that Mike Ashley's vaunted business acumen failed to seize the opportunity this summer presented. Every time I head to a pub full of red-and-white Altidore jerseys this season, I'll shake my head and think of what might have been.

Comments

[Mr. Hocho]

I know for a fact a tour was scheduled. Newcastle put everything on hold when it looked like they were going to be relegated. Then decided to scrap the whole thing after the coast was clear. Why, I'm not sure.

Sorry to say but the verdict is still out on Altidore. No doubt he's hot right now but the kid still has to prove himself. And it's not like this club has had good success with Americans in the past. And I hope that's not always the case. Keep up the good work on here. Love the site.

[bmw]

Great article. Unfortunately very true. I am dreading walking into a pub and seeing a Sunderland jersey, but it's going to happen.

[Trevor]

"For most of the new fans looking to find a English club to follow, Newcastle basically has nothing to offer - no recent history of success, no big names for the casual viewer to latch onto."

What about the beer...we have name recognition there. :)
Though, I agree...would rather have it be Altidore or Dempsey.

[Jaeger]

i dont think jozy would have been a good choice for us anyways, just sucks he agreed to come there. and we wont bid for dempsey because of age. can't think of many yanks that would fit well in the squad, maybe zusi to play on a wing but thats about it.

our management/executives are so disorganized, soooooo frustrating. im thinking we'll MAYBE get one starter this transfer period, and probably not going to be a game-changer.

hope for the best, plan/expect for the worst.....

[Phil K]

Ive been to Orlando twice in the last 7-8 years and always found a British bar showing the match. Loved it. Great atmosphere, and mixed pretty well without other Brits watching. Americans didn't show much interest, and we showed zero interest in what the Americans were interested in ! So levelled out !

[Yeager]

That picture is the worst one of what has been a terrible offseason.

[Matt B]

I'm an "English" import to the USA so I can see where you're coming from, but who would you advocate we buy? Demspey too old for our profile, too expensive in terms of wages. Altidore is a total waste of money at $8.5M no way will Short recoup that sort of money plus his wages. He's hot in the Dutch league so what?

IF you're purely basing the idea on bringing in a marque name signing the ONLY player we should consider (and I know he doesn't fit the profile either)is Donovan! He proved himself in his two loans spells at Everton that he's a Premiership quality player can play wide, through the middle or support a striker- but we won't sign him or anyone American as they don't fit transfer policy. I'd love Holden in the squad but he's injury prone.

[JeffC]

I'd love to see Holden as well. As far as the injury prone portion, he hasn't been helped by DeJong (breaking his tib/fib in a FRIENDLY) dirty A$$ player and Jonny Evans destroying his knee following his first comeback.

[Dana]

There is a large Toon Army in America and we are chomping at the bit to watch all the matches. Right now we watch Fox Sports and the quality is horrible (blurry and can barely make out the players)...please bring Newcastle matches to the US...at least give it a try FFS!!

[MNTOONARMY9]

One of the ways that "big" clubs have generated so much revenue is with international exposure and sales. If Newcastle United want to find new revenue streams, and you can't squeeze much more of out the gate, advertising, etc., one way to do it is to develop a loyal and affulent American following. I totally would believe that NUFC was coming to America before the bottom fell out of the season...that makes sense that they'd focus on staying up rather than how much fun I would have watching them in a pre-season friendly in the Midwest.

As for Jozy...this may not be as big a deal as we think, folks. True, he had a great year for AZA, but it isn't like he has a long history of success and playing in the EPL will be a different story in terms of intensity. Given that most of Sunderland's signings tend to be flops (pretty much everyone in the last 2-3 years except Seb Laarson) I imagine we'll see 'ol Paulo stroking out when Jozy misses a few nets and disappears in big games while top flight center backs lock him down.