MISL 1977-78: From Concept to Debut [Part 1/4]
MISL 1977-78: From Concept to Debut [Part 1/4]
How Ed Tepper and Co. Built a League From Scratch and Debuted in Front of 10,386 Fans
The average human being can’t comprehend anything other than working a job with a regular paycheck. To many, “risk” is a four-letter word with no positive association.
“Too risky”…”I can’t risk it”…”That’s a risk I can’t take.”
Banality is the norm. It is comfortable to be normal. It is easy to be average. Just do the thing everybody else does. Life will go smoothly that way.
Most people take a look and decide not to leap. But a minority of human beings embrace the leap. Former MISL PR man Doug Verb has seen it for himself.
“I found out over the years that some people…never think it’s going to fail. They think it’s going to be successful and unique. They have that spirit about them: Lewis and Clark…[Neil] Armstrong,” Verb told Tim Hanlon on his Good Seats Still Available podcast.
In 1977, former Philadelphia Wings lacrosse team owner Ed Tepper figured that basketball was having its problems and hockey hadn’t quite taken off yet. The timing was right for starting something brand-new that could fit into the winter sports schedule: when people already wanted to stay inside.
“I guess it was [Philadelphia Flyers owner] Ed [Snider] that pushed me. He said, ‘If you want to be in sports you look into this indoor soccer,’” Tepper said.
The 1974 Red Army Moscow versus Philadelphia Atoms indoor matchup at the Philadelphia Spectrum planted the seed. The North American Soccer League took notice and accelerated their own plans for indoor soccer by ramping up a series of indoor tournaments. But Tepper thought it could be more.
“[Ed Tepper] surmised that indoor soccer shouldn’t be a series of exhibitions. He thought that indoor soccer could be a league of its own. He knew he couldn’t do it on his own, but he was friends with Earl Foreman, who had a successful management career in several sports,” said Dr. Joe Machnik, who became Tepper’s director of officiating and later did the same job for Major League Soccer.
Indoor soccer as a major league sport was a bit of a moonshot. It would end up costing a lot of money, but it also excited quite a few Americans who never dreamed they’d be excited by soccer.
“It’s like Ed [Snider] said to me, ‘You can see the ball, you are on top of the action.’ He says, ‘This is the way that soccer is going to sell in this country because a 1-0 game or a 0-0 game, we couldn’t relate to it,’” Tepper said.
And though it wouldn’t last forever, it burned bright for a decade.
“I happen to be extremely fortunate to have had these opportunities, just to be in some place where some guy decided he wanted to Americanize soccer,” Verb said. “And I thought it would fold in a year. But it was just an awesome, incredible experience to be able to start that thing.”
In 1977, Doug Verb reported for affiliates in The Washington Post family of newspapers. The name “Ed Tepper” didn’t yet mean much to him. But that’s the guy whose voice emerged from Verb’s telephone receiver. The lacrosse team owner was also on the line with Earl Foreman, part-owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, brother-in-law to Ed Snider, and former owner of the ABA’s Virginia Squires.
“…They started talking to me about wanting to Americanize soccer and they said, ‘We’d like to talk to you about how the media will react to it.’ I said, ‘Guys…I’ll tell you now: they’ll totally ignore you…because sports editors don’t really like soccer. They are forced to cover the [New York] Cosmos because of the celebrity aspect of it and they were getting 70-75k people a game. But anywhere else, nobody will cover it,’” Verb said.
Breaking into the media landscape with a brand-new sport would prove difficult. Not only did most sports reporters have an inherent bias against anything that wasn’t basketball, baseball or football, but they proved inherently suspicious of any new league. Rich Chere, a reporter for New Jersey’s The News summed up his thoughts on a new indoor soccer league:
“It smells of past World Football League endeavors.”
Nonetheless, Foreman and Tepper forged ahead with a news conference on November 10, 1977. New York’s Essex House, most famous for a peripheral connection to Watergate and as the official hotel for guests of Saturday Night Live, became the birthplace of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL).
Foreman announced that the new league would be composed of 12 teams (well, not quite yet) and debut in January 1979. In truth, the league would beat this deadline by a month: a rare instance of a new business owner exceeding expectations for an opening.
“Eight arenas have already agreed to make financial commitments to the fledgling league before it has signed a player, or apparently a franchise owner,” Hank Gola of the Herald-News reported.
As it would turn out, only five of the eight arenas listed in Gola’s story would sign up for that first season: Nassau Coliseum [NY Arrows], the Spectrum [Philadelphia Fever], the Richfield Coliseum [Cleveland Force], The Summit [Houston Summit], and Civic Arena [Pittsburgh Spirit]. The Omni in Atlanta fell through, never hosting an MISL franchise. The Hartford Civic Center’s Hellions would not join the league until the second season. One unmentioned franchise, the Cincinnati Kids, would eventually sign up before that first season began.
The news conference bragged of ongoing discussions with Madison Square Garden, the Boston Garden, and arenas in Detroit and St. Louis. MISL games would eventually be played at MSG, and franchises in the “Motor City” and the “Gateway to the West” would join in season two. Boston would never host a franchise.
What made Tepper and Foreman’s foray in pro sports unique was an arena-first strategy.
“The method was, we went to the arena. Earl and Ed had a background with the Spectrum in Philly. So they’d go to buddies in different cities. Here’s an idea: we’ll give you 12 dates. We will have television. Find us an owner,” Verb said.
And it worked.
It becomes clear from the newspaper coverage at the time that the nascent league wanted to focus on American players, or at least, that was their marketing strategy. Time after time, officials announced the MISL would rely on American players to fill team rosters.
“According to Foreman, the MISL is not out to, ‘pay astronomical salaries to foreign players. Our goal is to stock this league with American players,’” Gola reported.
The plan was to draw American players from college ranks and other professional leagues, like the American Soccer League. The Akron Beacon Journal echoed Gola’s reporting, saying the “development of American players” would be emphasized.
“There will be a high emphasis placed on using American players,” echoed Hartford Civic Center director Frank E. Russo.
Was this all just high hopes or a marketing strategy to engage American sports fans? There was probably a bit of both involved. Of the top 10 points leaders in the MISL’s first season, only two were born in the United States. In year two, it dropped to zero. Though American-born goalkeepers had more success than field players, foreign-born players dominated the MISL, especially in the early years. But to Ed Tepper, courting American players wasn’t just kabuki.
“American players would have the opportunity to participate. That’s something they could not do in the NASL,” Tepper said.
(TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK)
Coming Next Week: Part 2/4 of “MISL 1977-78: From Concept to Debut”
Selected Bibliography
Chere, Rich. “The Major Indoor Soccer Pipe Dream.” The News (Paterson, New Jersey). November 18, 1977. Page 35
Gergen, Joe. “Rose Takes a Header Into Pro Indoor Soccer.” Newsday (Suffolk Edition). December 24, 1978. Page 138.
Gola, Hank. “Major Indoor Soccer League In the Works.” The Herald-News. November 11, 1977. Page 22.
Hanlon, Tim, host. “EPISODE #61: Sports Promoter Doug Verb.” Good Seats Still Available (podcast). May 12, 2018. https://goodseatsstillavailable.com/listen/2018/5/12/episode-61-sports-promoter-doug-verb
Hanlon, Tim, host. “EPISODE #103: MISL Indoor Soccer's Origin Story – With Co-Founder Ed Tepper.” Good Seats Still Available (podcast). March 9, 2019. https://goodseatsstillavailable.com/listen/2019/3/9/episode-103-the-major-indoor-soccer-leagues-origin-story-with-co-founder-ed-tepper
Hanlon, Tim, host. “EPISODE #24: Soccer “Renaissance Man” Dr. Joe Machnik.” Good Seats Still Available (podcast). August 20, 2017. https://goodseatsstillavailable.com/listen/2017/8/20/episode-24-soccer-renaissance-man-dr-joe-machnik
Hanlon, Tim, host. “EPISODE #15: MISL Memories With Michael Menchel.” Good Seats Still Available (podcast). June 17, 2017. https://goodseatsstillavailable.com/listen/2017/6/17/episode-15-misl-memories-with-michael-menchel
Hoffman, Karen. “Indoor Soccer…” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. August 3, 1978. Page 55.
Jackson, Derrick. “A Fast Friend of Indoor Soccer.” Newsday (Nassau Edition). December 12, 1978. Page 105.
Jackson, Derrick. “Arrows Reach Their First Target.” Newsday (Suffolk Edition). December 23, 1978. Page 25.
Jasner, Phil. “NASL Infringing?” Philadelphia Daily News. May 6, 1978. Page 35.
King, Peter. “Indoor Soccerites Sell Americanism.” The Cincinnati Enquirer. December 3, 1978. Page 34.
King, Peter. “Cincinnati Kid Owner Rose One Excited Kid About Sport.” The Cincinnati Enquirer. December 3, 1978. Page 34.
Kolinsky, Bohdan. “Indoor League Eyes U.S. Talent.” Hartford Courant. November 17, 1977. Page 80.
Markus, Don. “Despite a Slow Start, Fans Seem to Like It.” Newsday (Suffolk Edition). December 23, 1978. Page 26.
Musick, Phil. “Launching MISL On 5 Grand, Prayer.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 9, 1977. Page 12 and 14.
Nelson, Robert T. “Kemper Suggested As a Place to Put Down a Rug for Soccer.” The Kansas City Star. January 25, 1978. Page 3.
Panaccio, Tim. “Arena Rolls New Carpet for Spirit.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 2, 1978. Page 10.
Paolercio, Michael. “Cincinnati Lands Soccer Franchise.” The Cincinnati Enquirer. October 4, 1978. Page 18.
Ratto, Ray. “Messing to Play in East.” The San Francisco Examiner. November 16, 1978. Page 68.
Staff. “Soccer at the Coliseum?” The Akron Beacon Journal. November 11, 1977. Page 14.
Staff. “Sports in Brief.” The Naples Daily News. March 16, 1978. Page 26.
Staff. “Indoor Soccer Team to be Called Spirit.” The Pittsburgh Press. Jul 27, 1978. Page 38.
Staff. “For the Record.” Tampa Bay Times. November 15, 1978. Page 10.
Staff. “Cincinnati Kids Sign First Player Van Eron.” The Cincinnati Enquirer. December 1, 1978. Page 18.
Staff. “Investor Rose Likes Soccer, But His Knees Belong to Ruly.” The Philadelphia Inquirer. December 20, 1978. Page 26.
Staff. “Arrows Victors In Opener.” The News (Paterson, New Jersey). December 23, 1978. Page 50.
Tepper, Ed. Interview by Tim O’Bryhim. December 7, 2023.
Tepper, Ed. Text message to Tim O’Bryhim. December 26, 2023.