By Judith Langowski
SAN FRANCISCO, June 5 (Reuters) - For years, Jorge Bejarano has been one of the San Francisco Bay Area's most passionate soccer fans, banging a drum for the second-tier Oakland Roots. With the World Cup coming to the U.S., he and others are counting on their cheers for local soccer to resonate across the nation.
Soccer fans are a minority among sports supporters in the United States. Despite its strength as a youth sport, soccer still lags other major sports in viewership, especially
American football. Interest is also low compared to global averages. According to the latest Ipsos poll, around 36% of Americans plan to watch the World Cup.
But fans are betting that the tournament will lift the relevance of soccer and its importance for the community. In California's Bay Area, Santa Clara will host six games.
"Now that we get the World Cup here in the Bay Area, we definitely do see interests of tourists and soccer fans around the world just digging into what other teams are there around that same area," said Bejarano, who leads the official Los Roots supporter group. "What I hope people take is just how diverse Oakland is, how special, how fun and how welcoming."
The Roots were founded less than a decade ago, and quickly filled a gap for local sports fans, as Oakland's major American football, baseball and basketball teams relocated to other areas. Attendance skyrocketed when the Roots took over the empty Coliseum stadium for home games.
Previously a longtime season ticket holder for the NFL's Oakland Raiders, Bejarano went all in for the Roots. "Having a team here that dedicates their passion and their love for the city – I can only respect something like that," he said.
WORLD CUP BOOSTS LOCAL INTEREST
For Roots head coach Ryan Martin, the World Cup games being held at Santa Clara's Levi's Stadium are a huge statement about the interest in soccer in the Bay Area. He hopes that the attention during the World Cup will bring out more people to watch Roots games as well.
Beyond organizing community watch parties for World Cup games, the Roots will be hosting the Australian national soccer team at their training facilities. They are also partnering with local restaurants to bring Australian-inspired items to menus.
The Bay Area is home to diverse soccer leagues and teams: the Roots play in the lower-tier USL Championship league, while San Jose in the south is home to Major League Soccer's Earthquakes and the National Women's Soccer League's Bay FC. The latter broke the single-game record for NWSL attendance, with over 40,000 people watching at San Francisco's Oracle Park. Semi-professional and amateur teams also abound.
"We have so much grassroots soccer that happens here," said Aaron Mansfield, a volunteer who oversees membership organization for the San Francisco City soccer club. The semi-professional team has a member-ownership model, with members having the right to vote on the club's direction and be elected to the board of directors.
Mansfield hopes that the World Cup will be an opportunity to show how they do things locally.
"General interest in soccer culture is good because we get to explain what we do differently and why that matters in the context of both local, national, and global football," he said.
Shelley and Josh Estelle have been fans and members of SF City for three years. They attended a recent game, together with their daughter, on an unusually sunny day at historic Kezar Stadium, where there is a view of San Francisco's landmark Sutro Tower.
"I really like the community-supported club here," said Josh Estelle. "It's not corporate and it feels like just the people in my neighborhood watching soccer together."
While they plan to watch broadcasts of World Cup games as a family, they didn't get tickets to see a game at Levi's Stadium. "It's very expensive," said Shelley Estelle. "We can watch much more affordable soccer right here at Kezar."
(Reporting by Judith Langowski, additional reporting by Nathan Frandino. Editing by Frank Pingue and Rosalba O'Brien)
