When Freddy Adu debuts professionaly for DC United this Saturday, he will become the youngest professional athlete in American Sports since some guy in baseball a long time ago. Already, the lower bowl at RFK is practically sold out and United’s management has decided on keeping the upper bowl closed to increase demand. It’s a move which should pay off in the long run even if it may inconvenience fans used to purchasing tickets the day of the game.
“It’s the right thing to do,” team president Kevin Payne said. “We’ve already begun to see a lot of [ticket-buying] activity for the second [home] game, and that was exactly the point: to get people to understand that they need to buy their tickets in advance.”
With the upper deck closed, capacity will be 24,603 at the 52,000-seat stadium for the nationally televised game against the defending champion San Jose Earthquakes.
Tom Knots, a Washington Times columnist, points out that there has not been the same outcry of indignation over Freddy Adu’s step into the pro ranks.
It is so terribly sad to be a 14-year-old millionaire, with no father and a mother who once worked two jobs to feed and clothe the family.
Or it would be so terribly sad if Adu were an 18-year-old multimillionaire in the NBA.
Soccer fans are probably more used to this phenomenon than your average American sprts fans. Clubs around the world routinely sign up promising teenagers to professional contracts in the hopes they work their way up the reserve teams and result in a good first team player.