Alexi Lalas is on record as calling the U.S. Men's National Team's inability to make the 2018 World Cup an "incredible failure." But the Fox Sports soccer analyst still thinks American TV viewers will tune in for the world's biggest sporting event, which begins less than two months from today and will air from June 14 to July 15 on Fox.
In the leadup and coverage of the tournament, he promises no self-serving banter about how Team USA missing the World Cup for the first time since 1986 is really a blessing in disguise.
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"We are not going to sweep the proverbial elephant in the room under the rug. No. It’s part of the story — that the United States isn’t there," said Lalas, the former World Cup and MLS star in an interview with Sporting News. "Now, we [at Fox] are not going to keep shoving it down everybody’s throats. But it informs a lot of the things that we’re going to see. We'll talk about why the U.S. isn't there. How does this not happen again?"
With Team USA out of the picture, Fox will play up El Tri, the Mexican national football team. Not to mention global superstars such as Lionel Messi of Argentina and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, while also keeping tabs on the new video assistant referee system.
On the offside of history? https://t.co/QmN96JLz29
— Alexi Lalas (@AlexiLalas) April 13, 2018
There's just no way for Fox to spin the PR debacle from Team USA missing the World Cup without looking foolish. Everybody expected the U.S. men's team to qualify before its shocking 2-1 loss to tiny Trinidad and Tobago in October. The glaring absence is bound to impact Fox's TV ratings, particularly in early round coverage. Fox will lose an estimated $10 million to $20 million due to Team USA's absence, estimates financial analyst Brian Wieser of Pivotal. To add insult to injury, Fox is paying $400 million for English-language TV rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup (Telemundo has Spanish-language rights in the U.S.).
But we're still talking about the world's most important sporting event, noted Lalas. Team USA or no Team USA, millions of U.S. soccer fans will tune in for the matches as defending champion Germany seeks its fifth World Cup and Brazil tries for a record sixth.
To keep viewer interest burning, Fox has several tricks up its sleeves.
For one, the network will air all 64 matches live, including a record 38 on broadcast TV and 26 on the FS1 cable channel. Group stage action kicks off with host nation Russia playing Saudi Arabia on June 14 (11 a.m. ET). Look for Fox to heavily promote matches featuring soccer's biggest stars, including Messi's Argentina vs. Iceland on June 16 (9 a.m. ET); Ronaldo's Portugal vs. Spain on June 15 (2 p.m. ET); and Germany vs. Sweden on June 23 (2 p.m. ET).
There's a seven-hour time difference between New York, the largest TV market in the U.S., and Moscow. Nevertheless, Lalas is all for Fox's strategy of showing all matches live. The days when TV networks could wait hours to show global sporting events are done, he said. The world is too connected, too wired and news travels too fast. Lalas is confident soccer fans will tune in — no matter what time it is.
"If it means getting up in the middle of the night, people will do that. If it means, in this case, getting up and having breakfast with the World Cup, that’s what's going to happen. I have a really hard time watching a sporting event that’s already recorded and the outcome is already known by a percentage of the world…When it comes to the soccer people, they will watch it in bed, or watch it in their cubicle, or have breakfast and a beer. It becomes almost a romantic notion."
Last but not least, Fox has Lalas, the former-ESPN analyst with a well-deserved reputation for telling it like it is.
Even before the U.S. men's team blew its World Cup chances, he scolded the group as a bunch of "soft, underperforming tattooed millionaires." That included 18-year old "wonder boy" Christian Pulisic.
Hey #USMNT , @AlexiLalas has a message for you. pic.twitter.com/xzXfOywU22
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) September 11, 2017
Yes, there will be no U.S. team in the World Cup. But in a diverse country like the U.S., soccer fans will find somebody for whom to root.
"To a certain extent, this is uncharted territory because the U.S. men’s team isn’t there. But it also provides different opportunities here and there. I’m not going to be disingenuous and say it doesn’t matter. But we have a job to do — and a responsibility to a country that loves the game," he said. "Soccer is no longer niche. Soccer is no longer underground. It is above ground, it is vibrant, it has a wonderful soccer community that wants to watch the World Cup. The fact that the U.S. men’s national team isn’t there? Yes, it sucks. But it’s part of the story and doesn’t in any way mean that people aren’t going to watch this tournament this summer."
