SuperLiga tournament a rivalry in the making
While walls are being built on their border, the sport of soccer is building bridges between Mexico and the United States.
The $1.5 million SuperLiga tournament, involving four teams from Mexico and four from the US, will illustrate the camaraderie and rivalry between the countries.
Major League Soccer's Revolution will host Santos Laguna Sunday and defending tournament champion Pachuca Wednesday, then visit Chivas USA in Fullerton, Calif., July 20 in group play. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals, which will be played July 29 and 30.
"Because of the rivalry between the national teams, when these teams come here it will be a rivalry between leagues," said Revolution vice president of player personnel Mike Burns. "No one in CONCACAF would dispute that Mexico is the top league in the region. But we want to show we are the top league."
Burns played for the US national team when the Mexico-US rivalry was developing in the 1990s.
"It was a very hostile atmosphere playing in Mexico," Burns said. "But if I see guys like [former Mexico goalkeeper] Jorge Campos now, everything is fine. At the time, we wanted to win pretty badly. It's different for national team games but some of that will be there when [the Revolution] play against Mexican club teams."
Any team that's not the national team is considered a club team.
This will also be an introduction to international club competition for Revolution fans.
The Revolution have been involved in regional tournaments, but played their "home" matches in Bermuda and Costa Rica. This time, home matches will be held at Gillette Stadium.
The SuperLiga will also be a preview of the initial CONCACAF Champions League, a 24-team tournament following the European format starting in late August.
The SuperLiga was conceived by Televisa SA, one of Mexico's biggest networks, and Soccer United Marketing, which is affiliated with MLS. The winner of the Aug. 5 final will receive $1 million, the second-place team $500,000.
"This gives Mexican clubs a chance to build their brands in the US and reach their fans who live in the US," said Will Wilson, SUM executive vice president of international events. "The demography of the US has changed so much in the last 20 to 30 years in all corners of the country. You might be surprised how many Mexican fans show up. Overall, last year, we were very happy how it turned out. We found ratings for MLS games among Hispanics increased after the SuperLiga; the tournament had a positive impact on viewing."
The 14 SuperLiga games last year averaged 16,678 fans. But the strongest impact was felt on Mexican television. The title game, Pachuca defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy on penalty kicks, drew an 18.87 rating (2.29 million households), greater than the Super Bowl rating in Mexico, according to IBOPE, the Nielsen equivalent.
Group stage games at Gillette Stadium, though, are not expected to match last year's averages. Though Santos and Pachuca are among the better club teams to perform in the Boston area, they appeal to larger numbers in Hispanic strongholds such as Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and Los Angeles. Some of the largest soccer attendances in Foxborough have involved Mexico's national team, but Mexican fans were greatly outnumbered at those games.
Santos, led by goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez, won the Mexican Clausura title this year, its third championship in 10 years. Pachuca, led by Colombian goalkeeper Miguel Calero and Argentines Gabriel Caballero and Cristian "Chaco" Gimenez, has won the last two CONCACAF Champions Cup titles.
The other group includes D.C. United, Houston, Atlante (Mexican Apertura winner), and CD Guadalajara, Mexico's most popular club.
"By geography, we are neighbors, and we share the way we do things," Wilson said. "But, culturally, we are very different. And tournaments like this allow the similarities and differences to come out."
