Scorecard October 6, 1997

Sophomore Slump

A 16% drop in attendance. A 17% to 25% dip in television ratings. A failure to import a bevy of buzz-making stars. A diminished presence in its two major markets. Call it a sophomore slump, an adjustment period, a bout of the terrible twos, but this year Major League Soccer failed to build on its surprising rookie campaign, when crowds averaged 17,416 a game and the league's future, like a Roberto Donadoni corner kick, seemed to hold abundant promise.

MLS's cryptic slogan—This Stuff Kicks—never caught on during the regular season that ended on Sunday. Teams played in football stadiums, which made crowds seem even punier than they were. Salary-cap constraints prevented the league from luring high-profile players from abroad who might have made headlines. One of the few name imports, New England Revolution goalkeeper Walter Zenga of Italy, cited the chance to live in obscurity as a primary reason for joining MLS.

Still, there were a few good signs. Sponsorship revenue increased by 25%; at $20 million, the price tag on the Fort Lauderdale expansion franchise was four times that of the 10 original teams; the quality of play was better than in 1996; and fan bases in many cities coalesced. For instance, during a nine-game losing streak the Revolution drew more than 20,000 a game at home, buoyed by a rowdy booster club called the Midnight Riders. The league will reportedly sign a six-year deal soon with ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 that will, among other things, guarantee 12 regular-season games on ABC in '98; this year no regular-season games were broadcast on an over-the-air network (ESPN and ESPN2 showed 29). The contract should not only send a signal of the league's stability but also enable it to get free promos on network TV.

Yet just as MLS tries to build interest next year, the World Cup, set for June 10 to July 12 in France, will cut into the heart of the league's schedule. "I have my hands on the tiller of an enterprise that's being challenged," MLS commissioner Doug Logan says, "but the mandate I've got is for a very long term. We need to have patience."

Wait for Volume II
Marv Albert's 1993 autobiography, I'd Love to But I Have a Game, written with SI's Rick Reilly, chronicles his first 27 years as a broadcaster, but it's not as revealing as it might have been. In the opening chapter Albert recalls a major leaguer's coming to bat with nothing on beneath his uniform pants. Then he adds in parentheses, "This is easily the best underwear story we have in the whole book, folks."

Yeah, That's the Ticket

A ticket for a club-level seat to a Capitals or a Wizards game at Washington's new MCI Center goes for $48. At least that's the price printed on the face of the ticket. However, the 3,000 club seats are being sold only in season packages, which at $3,500 for either basketball or hockey, works out to $85.37 per game. The $48 on the ticket, critics charge, is an attempt to get around the U.S. Senate's 1996 rule prohibiting members and their staffers from accepting any gift worth more than $49.99. By printing tickets with a price under that limit, the teams are free to market club seats to corporations and lobbyists eager to ingratiate themselves with sports-loving lawmakers.

"Straight-out cheating" was the term used by Ann McBride, president of the nonpartisan citizens' lobbying group Common Cause, in describing the price on the ticket to The Washington Post. Thomas Susman, a lawyer writing a manual on the gift rule for the American Bar Association, told the paper that "there appears to be gamesmanship to get the number down a hair below the legal limit."

A split hair below. Matt Williams, spokesman for the MCI Center, denies that the ticket price was set in an attempt to circumvent the Senate's rule. "The seats below club level go for $50 to $60, the seats above for $40," he says. "The figure of $48 is right in scale." Of course, says Williams, all amenities-club-seat lessees enjoy indoor parking privileges, waiter service and access to the club restaurant—were "factored out" when determining the ticket price.