Commentaries

U.S. football fans have a new chance to embrace soccer
 August 25, 2006

 I desperately need someone to listen to me. I know that something of major importance in the sporting world is happening - something of incredible significance - and no one wants to listen. There is a nuclear fusion happening in world sport as I speak - and only I see it.

I'll state it simply: Randy Lerner, the owner of the NFL Cleveland Browns is buying the English soccer team Aston Villa.

See? You don't get it do you? Nobody I know gets it!

This is so frustrating! The only reason I can sleep of a night is that I think Randy Lerner gets it, and he's the most important factor in the whole equation. I've got to assume that Randy gets it. He has to get it!

Okay. So if I accept the fact that there are only two people on this earth who immediately get it, then it is up to me to inform and educate the masses - since Randy is way too busy with managing his American football team and purchasing his English football team. And anyway, I've read that Randy shuns the limelight. So, it's up to me.

If Randy Lerner is successful in purchasing Aston Villa he will own two of the worlds greatest sports teams with the most loyalist of supporters. The Cleveland Browns have the largest organized fan club in professional sports. That's the largest fan club in professional sports for a team that has not had any major success on the field. The last time they won the league was in 1964. This is obviously a team that has a bond with its fans that goes beyond the fragility of the fairweather fan base of other, more winning teams. They have some sort of loyalty gene in their DNA.

Aston Villa is a premier English soccer team that is rife with honors and tradition but has not seen much glory for quarter of a century. The loyalty of the clubs' fan base was severely put to the test the last two decades by Deadly Doug, the soon to be gone chairman, but is still regarded as one of the most steadfast and loyal in England and around the world. Another fan base with the unique loyalty gene in their DNA.

Randy Lerner has endeared himself to the fans of the Cleveland Browns. He understands that the fans own the team and he is the custodian. The stories told by the fans about Randy are legendary. He has endeared himself to the fans of Aston Villa through his approach to purchasing the club. Everything he says about the club is respectful of the history and tradition of the club and said with reverence.

His approach is so dissimilar to that of Michael Glazier's purchase of Manchester United. Glazier is the owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and his purchase was an aggressive takeover funded by plunging the club into debt. There were riots outside Manchester's stadium requiring police protection for the Glazier family. Every English soccer fan, not just Manchester United fans, hates the Glaziers. The disrespect they have shown for English football reinforced the disdain the English hold for anything touched by America. So for an American to be overwhelmingly preferred by Villa fans (deathly protective of the club) over other English contenders is miraculous. It is not a coincidence that the term savior is quite often used in Villa fan blogs when the topic is Randy Lerner.

Okay. I've given you the background but I'm aware that I haven't said anything that would convince you that something of incredible significant - a nuclear fusion - is happening in world sport. This is going to make Randy Lerner, already a very wealthy man, an exceedingly wealthy man, and change the world of sport marketing forever.

I am seeing that because of the size of the Browns and the Villa fan base around the world and the pure till death do us part loyalty of those fans, the bond that Randy Lerner is forging between the two organizations will detonate support for each team in each country. The synthesis of the fan base will spur interest in each others teams. It's happening already on all of the supporters' blogs. Villa fans conversing with Browns fans, each asking about what to look for in a game, who are the best players on the team, where to buy each others team apparel. The fans on either side have that loyalty gene in their DNA, and anything associated with their team is worth being equally loyal to, regardless of how alien it seems right now. They will put the effort in to learn about the game through learning about the team, its history, it players, and the hopes of the fans.

The nuclear fusion will take place in Cleveland and in Birmingham. The first visible signs will be Villa fans wearing Brown shirts in the Holte End, the sanctified section of the Villa stadium where the most loyal fans sit. You'll see the Union Jack flags at Cleveland games with "Aston Villa" emblazoned across them.

Soccer was never going to retain a foothold in the U.S. while the fans needed their moms to drive them to and from games. You'll be witnessing, at long last, the acceptance of soccer by the working masses who live and die for their team. It is not a coincidence that both teams' cities are heavily industrial and working class.

Will Randy Lerner's ownership of Aston Villa bring back the glory years to the club? That expectation is held by every Villa fan. After all, he is the savior. And that is all I expect - nothing less.

It won't do anything for the success of the Browns on the field however, but it will take the popularity and value of the franchise to a level unimaginable.

The Browns and the Villa will become synonymous and a sports marketing dream, and yet remain two distinctly separate dynasties. It's a fusion of nuclear proportions.

Now do you get it?

Ted Osborne
Minneapolis, MN
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