More than 80,000 fans are expected to watch Mexico play Ecuador on Friday in a pre-World Cup exhibition in New Jersey’s Meadowlands. In March, on a chilly Wednesday night in Charlotte, N.C., 63,000fans watched the Mexico take on Iceland. Three weeks before that, 90,000 fans packed the Rose Bowl to watch El Tri play New Zealand. Matthew Futterman points outthat by comparison, the USA has played two exhibitions in the USA this year, in Tampa, Fla., and in Carson, Calif., and drew about 40,000 fans — combined.
Since 2006, Soccer UnitedMarketing Inc., a wholly-owned unit of MLS, became the Mexican national team’s official agent in the USA. It has staged as many as five Mexico games in the USA each each year. For MLS, El Trirepresents one of its most important businesses ventures.
“Our mission is to grow a soccer nation,” said MLS commissioner Don Garber, who serves as chief executive ofSoccer United Marketing. “Our goal isn’t to convince them what country to root for but to convince them to give us a chance and convert them into MLS fans.”