Bryant Gumbel...On The World Cup

[Proper Bo]

Transfer value?

rod?

The amount the player is valued at when it comes to selling him to another club.

[manker]

The players that play in the World Cup, and play well, get millions added to their transfer value. The global nature of the competition and the transfer market make this competition totally different from the other team sports that the US compete in.

There would be enough money to be gained by playing in it to keep even the most ultra-capitalist, non-patriotic US soccer player breaking his neck to star in it.

OIC....somewhat. Transfer value?

To your last, there has to be enough interest in soccer first. That starts at the US market level first.

No, it definitely doesn't.

The US teams wouldn't be able to afford to buy, say, Freddy Adu if he was a little older and if he lit up the world cup with his exceptional talent. A European club, however, would be able to buy him.

The club he is currently at would want a big transfer fee. Most of that goes to that club, but a percentage will go to the player and his agent, provided he doesn't request a transfer (that's the way it normally works). The player will sign a contract with the European club and earn far in excess of what he could in the US.

So, you see, there really doesn't have to be interest above the current level in the US market for the best US players to want to play at the World Cup in order to gain financially.

[Busyman]

OIC....somewhat. Transfer value?

To your last, there has to be enough interest in soccer first. That starts at the US market level first.

No, it definitely doesn't.

The US teams wouldn't be able to afford to buy, say, Freddy Adu if he was a little older and if he lit up the world cup with his exceptional talent. A European club, however, would be able to buy him.

The club he is currently at would want a big transfer fee. Most of that goes to that club, but a percentage will go to the player and his agent, provided he doesn't request a transfer (that's the way it normally works). The player will sign a contract with the European club and earn far in excess of what he could in the US.

So, you see, there really doesn't have to be interest above the current level in the US market for the best US players to want to play at the World Cup in order to gain financially.

Oh I gotcha. That's if they want to play in elsewhere. Funny enough, Freddy said he wants to play elsewhere.

We don't have the market here. As far as transfer value, we just call that a player's stock. It's best when a player wins a championship or plays exceptional especially when he's in his last year of a contract. When I talked about transfer value in the US market, I was referring to a player playing in the US. If our market is shit for the sport in the first place, a nice World Cup performance means very little in comparison to the European market.

If the US placed better in the World Cup it would have boosted the sport here. People simply would have took more notice (besides the fact the Disney stations televised it).

[Proper Bo]

If they had fireworks n stuff, you'd all watch it

[manker]

Yeah, the football transfer market is very different to the way in which I understand players move from club to club in US sport.

That's the thing, players playing in the MLS - or indeed any league outside of England, Italy, Spain or Germany will always be looking to get a transfer to one of those leagues.

That's why World Cup performances are so important. It's the only time many players there will get to play against top class opposition and prove themselves worthy of a place in one of the top leagues.

[Cheese]

It would take at least 50 years for a soccer obsessed USA to be a genuine contender for the World Cup, I think.

A quicker plan would be to abduct all the children of the best footballers and raise them as an uber-team, that would take you around 20 years.

Or clone good footballers.

Or invade a country that is good at football and steal all their football resources.

Or they could make a film about the 1966 World Cup but change it to the USA team winning it. Like what they did with that submarine film.

[manker]

It would take at least 50 years for a soccer obsessed USA to be a genuine contender for the World Cup, I think.

A quicker plan would be to abduct all the children of the best footballers and raise them as an uber-team, that would take you around 20 years.

Or clone good footballers.

Or invade a country that is good at football and steal all their football resources.

There's an element of risk there, far better to arrest the top fifteen footballers in the world, detain them in Gitmo and make them take seventeen pledges of allegiance every day until they think they're American.

Then plastic surgurise them all to look like Franck Ribery while telling the rest of the world that the puntsphere boys are still being held

[Busyman]

If they had fireworks n stuff, you'd all watch it

We gotta win first.

[Busyman]

It would take at least 50 years for a soccer obsessed USA to be a genuine contender for the World Cup, I think.

Or they could make a film about the 1966 World Cup but change it to the USA team winning it. Like what they did with that submarine film.

[Busyman]

Yeah, the football transfer market is very different to the way in which I understand players move from club to club in US sport.

That's the thing, players playing in the MLS - or indeed any league outside of England, Italy, Spain or Germany will always be looking to get a transfer to one of those leagues.

That's why World Cup performances are so important. It's the only time many players there will get to play against top class opposition and prove themselves worthy of a place in one of the top leagues.

It's similar to the NBA here. Players make the most money in US basketball 'cause the market is bigger. Yao Ming makes 10 mill a year, of which, the Chinese gubment takes half.

He should just learn Engrish and deflect to Amarryka.