This soccer tournament could use some star power

This time the traffic didn’t have to do with people trying to get to Aloha Stadium. It was typical weekday afternoon rush-hour traffic, exacerbated by an accident.

It took about 45 minutes from my home near Ala Moana to Mapunapuna. Finally, once past the H-1 entrance off Nimitz, smooth sailing. Everyone was headed home, not to Halawa for the 6 p.m. soccer match between teams from Australia and Korea, followed by MLS champ Colorado and Yokohama of Japan.

Around 3,500 people ended up in the cavernous 50,000-seat stadium to watch international pro soccer competition.

Of course, the knee-jerk reaction is to blame the game itself, soccer, for the low attendance. Everyone either overestimates or underestimates its popularity. It takes more than the game itself to draw casual fans, largely because of its low-scoring nature.

It takes star power, like in 2008 when a similar event here featured David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Brian Ching. The announced crowds of 15,128 and 23,087 were inflated, but there was plenty of buzz, especially for Beckham, whose transcendant popularity was at its height, and Ching, the prodigal son.

There is no such big-name attraction this time; the MLS sent its 2010 champion, the Colorado Rapids. Not the L.A. Galaxy, Houston Dynamo or hugely popular Seattle Sounders.

Unless you’re a soccer fanatic, the most recognizable name on the Rapids’ roster is Marvell Wynne — and that’s only because his father of the same name was a major league baseball player. There’s more fame by association — substitute forward Andre Akpan was college friends with Jeremy Lin.

Here’s something else that cut into attendance: Thursday. Thursday is a school night, and kids are a key soccer demographic. Most parents aren’t going to bring their children out to a sports event that goes until way after 10 p.m. when they have school the next day.

Also, sports fans in town had several other choices that night: University of Hawaii baseball, UH women’s basketball and the state high school basketball tournament. None of these events by itself took away a lot from the soccer attendance. But all other things being equal, no one’s going to want to brave the traffic to the stadium.

Tonight’s crowd for the championship and third-place matches should be much better, with an earlier start time and no school tomorrow.

The competition Thursday was excellent, one match coming down to penalty kicks and the other decided by one goal. At least once every couple of minutes we were treated to a “wow” moment of athleticism. These guys do things with their feet and a ball that other athletes can’t do with their hands. I used to believe that the hardest thing to do in pro sports is to hit a baseball. I’ve revised that, to scoring a goal at soccer’s highest levels.

But soccer is a game where what makes it special makes it difficult for so many to watch, unless it’s the World Cup.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority is funding this annual event with $1.7 million over the course of three years, and there’s plenty of corporate support.

ESPN is behind it, and executive director David Matlin has had recent success with the Hawaii Bowl and the Diamond Head Classic. But does what works in football and basketball translate to soccer?

“Our goal is to build something sustainable,” Matlin said. “And we’re definitely looking into making it Friday and Sunday (next year).”

That would be a good start. And some real star power is needed for this event to have any chance at staying power.