Alan Rothenberg

Soccer's Moses:

Rothenberg Leads US Soccer to the Holy Land
by Eliot Schickler

Predicting that former US Soccer Federation President Alan Rothenberg would have a profound positive impact on soccer back when he was younger appeared to be an off-the-wall prediction. That's because he had no involvement in soccer, be it as a player, coach, or fan before his 28th birthday. But once he became an active participant in the sport as an administrator, Rothenberg changed soccer for the better, increasing its popularity in the United States tenfold.

Rothenberg, born on April 10, 1939, was interested in the four major sports in the USA (football, basketball, baseball and hockey), but didn't have anything to do with soccer until 1967 as the late Jack Kent Cooke's lawyer. Kent Cooke, who was the owner of the Los Angeles Forum, Lakers (basketball) and Kings (hockey) teams and the Washington Redskins football team, also owned the Los Angeles Wolves of the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1967.

"I was thrown into soccer because I was a lawyer and that was the first exposure I had with soccer," recalls Rothenberg.

The Wolves were a charter team in the league and folded after one season, but Rothenberg's involvement in soccer didn't end right there. Rothenberg was one of the owners of the Los Angeles Aztecs when they entered the NASL in 1977.

However, soccer didn't have the following that it has today in the USA, thus it was an uphill battle for teams in a soccer league to survive back then. Rothenberg and his group sold the Aztecs in 1980, and a few years later, the NASL folded.

"I mistakenly thought the time was right and three years later I realized that the time was wrong," says Rothenberg. "I liked soccer, thought it was a great opportunity then, and thought it was now."

One person who noticed Rothenberg's capabilities was Peter Ueberroth. Ueberroth, who ran the successful 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and went on to become the commissioner of Major League Baseball, asked Rothenberg to be the commissioner of soccer during the 1984 Olympics.

Rothenberg accepted the challenge and immensely contributed to the success of the Olympics which made a profit (one of the few in the history of the Olympics to do so). Soccer had the largest attendance of all events, including gymnastics and basketball, which historically play in front of a capacity crowd.

With soccer exceeding all expectations under Rothenberg's stewardship, the International Federation Football Association (FIFA) noticed as well. (soccer is known as football in most parts of the world). FIFA asked Rothenberg to run the 1994 World Cup, which was played in the USA, and he accepted the challenge.

One minor obstacle remained for Rothenberg in running the 1994 World Cup, the US Soccer federation already had a sitting President, Werner Fricker, and Fricker intended to run for reelection in 1990.

However, there was some discord towards Fricker among the members of the US Soccer Federation, thus Rothenberg was successful in his bid to unseat him. Once Rothenberg took over as President, soccer began to take off in the USA. Even though he's a humble man, he is pleased with his accomplishments.

"There were a number of them (accomplishments)," says Rothenberg. "We set out to professionalize the association, which we did. On a more significant basis which is measurable, we set up to improve the national teams, with the women's winning the World Cup in 1991 and the Gold Medal in the 1996 Olympics, and the men's team advancing to the second round in the 1994 World Cup, and playing in three straight world cups. Only 15 other nations can make that claim."

Speaking of women's soccer, it was virtually non-existent in the USA before Rothenberg took over as President. Now, however, USA Women's Socceris clearly the premier power of women's soccer in the world and the prohibitive favorite to capture the 1999 Women's World Cup, which will be held in the USA.

Despite failing to win a game during the 1998 World Cup, men's soccer is on the upswing in the USA, mostly because of Rothenberg's leadership. The US Men's soccer team is ranked 19th in the World by FIFA, which may not be at the top, but it's obviously made some great strides.

Other accomplishments which can be attributed to Rothenberg include more money being raised to support soccer programs, higher television revenues, the excellent 1994 World Cup, and the start of a new soccer league, Major League Soccer (MLS), which is currently more solvent than its predecessors. Even though it isn't turning a profit in its third year of existence, the leaders of US soccer are optimistic that it will be profitable in the near future.

"There are enough people interested in soccer that we don't have to compete for fans," says Rothenberg. "Our biggest challenge is to convert soccer players into spectators so we don't have to worry about taking market shares away from other sports."

Rothenberg may have stepped down as President but will remain active in soccer. Dr. Bob Contiguglia taking over on August 22, 1998. The former President of the US Soccer Federation is still on the executive committee of US Soccer, Vice President of Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean football association (CONCAF), the regional body governing soccer in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, and is active in FIFA. His future plans include heading up a group to take over the San Jose Clash of the MLS.

Even with his busy schedule in soccer and his law practice covering the sports and entertainment industry, Rothenberg has not forgotten his roots. He is a member of Temple Sinai in Los Angeles, and when his busy schedule doesn't conflict, is active there. He is also a member of the Jewish Federation Unit, Jewish Appeal, and his local chapter (Los Angeles) of the American Jewish Committee.

"Hopefully, Judaism has given me a set of moral and ethical values which I carry every day in my life in business and the practice of law," says Rothenberg.

He is married to Georgina and has three children, Brad, Richard and Danny, ages 34, 31 and 28 respectively. All of Rothenberg's sons were Bar Mitzvahed and his favorite holiday is Passover because his whole family gets together and always has a wonderful seder.

Overall, Rothenberg sees the continuing growth in soccer and a major Jewish influence within the sport. "Moral and ethical values Judaism brings to bear is important in all levels of society," he says. "Some of the values in Judaism has (sic) benefited soccer."