Logan Farrington enjoyed watching World Cup games this summer.
“It’s the World Cup,” he said. “How can you not be excited for it?”
A lot of people felt the same way Farrington did. FIFA reported that 6,810,966 fans attended games, with more than 600,000 of them doing so in North Texas.
Farrington actually had a personal tie to the tournament.
“I was able to attend Croatia versus England here in Dallas and watch one of my best friends, Petar Musa, play in the game, and he ended up scoring in that game against England, which is my family’s team,” he said. “It was incredibly special to watch him play and just experience the game live with that many people in that atmosphere.”
Farrington plays professional soccer for FC Dallas of Major League Soccer, as does Musa, so he has a perspective shared by few of the nearly seven million who joined him at matches. But the tournament’s festive and inclusive vibe attracted interest from plenty of Texans who did not have his history with association football.
“There’s two things that are going to happen with this World Cup that I expect to kind of take this to another level. One is obviously new fans – new fans exposed to games either on a TV or in a bar. Maybe they didn’t get a chance to go, but they felt the energy and they found a team to root for. Either it was USA or they found one of these superstars that they’ll latch onto,” suggested Sam Morton, chief commercial officer for Dallas Trinity FC and Atlético Dallas. “I think there’s a lot of people my age, you know, early, mid-40s, early 50s, who were around the game when they were younger, remember the ’94 World Cup, got away from the game because, like me, became a dad and started doing other things, and now that energy, I think, is back.
When I interviewed Farrington, he was actually playing soccer with own dad. They were at TOCA Social, kicking balls around on a new FC Dallas-branded Social Box simulator. TOCA Social Founder Eddie Lewis, a former USMNT and MLS player himself, has seen the presence of the fans Morton identified at their soccer-themed entertainment and dining destination.
“The casual fan who maybe didn’t really watch soccer, knew a little bit, during the World Cup bet on games that they previously wouldn’t have and now has a big renewed interest in the game,” Lewis, who also owns a soccer training facility, said. “On our soccer side of the business, we see a big pickup in adult league and pickup soccer. Here we get the same thing, which is not a traditional soccer family, but a group of guys, or a group of girls, or a few couples that really enjoyed the World Cup, and then has carried over that experience to us.”
Those involved in the sport at the club level, like Morton and Farrington, hope they can capture some of the excitement those new or renewed fans felt for soccer. For Morton, whose women’s side just started its season and whose men’s team will begin play next year, the key to success is reaching those individuals at the grassroots level.
“We’ve got to get out and meet as many people as we can,” he said. “We’ve got to set up our tent. We’ve got to shake people’s hands and invite them to a game and make it easy, make it affordable.”
Some of the domestic buzz around the World Cup tournament came when the U.S. team had a successful group phase and a knockout-stage win. Results on the pitch can affect the conversion efforts.
“We’ve got to be an enjoyable team to watch and really give it all on the field, so that fans come to the stadium and really see that we’re trying to win for them and get more points in the standings,” said Nolan Norris, Farrington’s FC Dallas teammate who has made appearances with U.S. youth national teams.
The North Texas teams combined for four points over the weekend, with Dallas Trinity FC playing to a 1-1 home draw with Tampa Bay and FC Dallas winning 2-1 in Austin (Musa scored the game-winner). Both will have into November to see if World Cup momentum has translated into success this season.
“We need to perform and entertain them the same way that the World Cup entertained everybody else,” said Farrington. “If we can just give the fans one slice of fun and happiness that the World Cup gave them, I think we’ll have a lot of fans.”
