Popularity of Soccer in the U.S.

[DELUCA2400]

Now I rectently watched a couple of European soccer matches on ESPN last week and I was asking myself why isn't this game popular in the U.S.?

Now I'm not saying it's my favorite sport, but it's in my in my top five, but I just want to get the opinions of people in the States as well as people from foreign countries.

Oh and please don't turn this into a "my country is better than your's" thread.

[liam]

I'm not a huge fan of football, when it's on in a pub it's quite fun to watch but I wouldn't actively go and watch a game.

[Raguel]

Americans tend to dislike sports where there can be a draw(tie) and sports where there aren't lots of points scored.

In fact, I don't think you can get a draw in the American soccer league.

[Evark]

It's not as easy to market. There're no breaks in the action like there are in other sports, so big network television stations can't place advertisements the same way.

Simple as.

[DELUCA2400]

At 3/19/09 09:57 AM, Evark wrote: It's not as easy to market. There're no breaks in the action like there are in other sports, so big network television stations can't place advertisements the same way.

Simple as.

Is that why they have all of those sponsors on their jersies? They look like stock cars.

[Gagsy]

Because a goal is only 1 point.
Goals aren't scored (usually) every few minutes so they find this boring (look at basketball and baseball).
No half time shows.
No cheerleaders.

And most importantly;

They suck at football/soccer so don't play it. They only play sports they can win at, hence them really only liking sports they, the Americans have made themselves.

[Toukeman]

At 3/19/09 09:57 AM, Evark wrote: It's not as easy to market. There're no breaks in the action like there are in other sports, so big network television stations can't place advertisements the same way.

Simple as.

^This^

Also the speed of the game is a reason it is hard to market to us americans. We, in my opinion, have gotten used to quick game changes like in football and baseball or a fast-paced game like basketball. The way they show soccer, it just seems slower than other sports.

[DELUCA2400]

At 3/19/09 10:00 AM, Gagsy wrote: Because a goal is only 1 point.
Goals aren't scored (usually) every few minutes so they find this boring (look at basketball and baseball).
No half time shows.
No cheerleaders.

And most importantly;

They suck at football/soccer so don't play it. They only play sports they can win at, hence them really only liking sports they, the Americans have made themselves.

Well the NHL is pretty popular in the United States and they don't do that much scoring either, but you're right about us not being any good at the sport. Did you see us in the World Cup?

[Rallard]

Personally, I don't like watching dudes fake injuries. Seriously, one of the few times I watched soccer/futbowl this dude got gently nudged and the next thing I know he's laying on the ground, holding his knee in pain until the ref gives the other player a card, at which point the "injured" guy stands up and runs away.

Essentially, you take aspects of sports Americans tend to dislike (no contact = bball, lack of points = hockey), and you get soccer, so that's probably why.

I'm not saying I hate the sport, it's certainly more interesting to watch for me than basketball, but yeah...

[Gagsy]

At 3/19/09 10:08 AM, DELUCA2400 wrote:

Well the NHL is pretty popular in the United States and they don't do that much scoring either, but you're right about us not being any good at the sport. Did you see us in the World Cup?

I can't remember. I always wish well though for America in the World Cup, it is just a shame that they don't care. They could be breeding some pretty awesome soccer players but they'd rather play American football or something. =(

[ViceFullbuster]

When Drew Carey owns a team you know it's not that popular.

[simon]

At 3/19/09 10:08 AM, DELUCA2400 wrote: Did you see us in the World Cup?

I'm sorry but Brits can't really talk when it comes to the World Cup.

[mightypotato]

At 3/19/09 09:57 AM, Evark wrote: It's not as easy to market. There're no breaks in the action like there are in other sports, so big network television stations can't place advertisements the same way.

Simple as.

And there's your answer. Also, the American sports market doesn't really favour the game. The American market tends to favour high impact/high excitement sports like the NFL or to a much lesser extent (seeing how its not really a sport), NASCAR.

Also, after watching ESPN whenever I'm down in the US, I notice that with the exception of the NBA, American sports markets tend to favour sports with set plays instead of fluidity. I suppose that the American market likes the brief moment of excitement then a chance to analyse everything before the next play. The NFL and MLB are prime examples of this.

[rome-lherison]

Soccer isn't popular because it doesn't involve white men hitting eachother, or black men jumping over eachother.

[Warrickneff]

I'm gonna take a stab and say it's because of the lack of youth development programs.

Kids love every sport, but since there's nowhere for anyone to develop their skills as local talent, there's no 'hometown' support for anyone playing soccer. I mean, if every U.S high school had a soccer program like they do football, the rest of the world would be in a lot of fucking trouble when the world cup comes around.

I think it's a bit of a cycle. No-one likes soccer because no-one plays soccer because no-one likes soccer.

[DroopyA]

I've always assumed it was because of our lazy culture.

We claimed to have invented baseball... the slowest and laziest sport on the planet. American football isn't much diffrent. You run a play, you take a minute or two to rest, you run another play. a 90 minutes game takes 3 hours and everybody is happy.

Soccer, not so much... it's fast paces with no stoping. I assumed that, if there wasn't enough time between plays to grab another beer and a hotdog, we weren't interested.

Basketball being the exception only because you need next to nothing to play it, making it popular in poor parts of town.

But I'm just making all of this up, I have no real sources outside of pesrsonal observation to back up my claims.

On a side note, I'm American... and I like Soccer. Donovan and Galaxy ftw!. (Piss on Beckham though, he didn't do shit but raise a fuss, make us change our colors, and suck ass the few times he played)

[devilwhitin972]

Im european and i think i sucks its very overhyped and boring

[Bruce-Wayne]

The reason it isn't very popular in the states, because it's fucking boring.

[Idiot-Finder]

Soccer was popular for a while in the 1970s when Pele joined the New York Cosmos, after leading the team to one of the two titles he retires and the popularity went down since then. That league along with the Cosmos eventually disbanded.

[All-American-Badass]

At 3/19/09 02:24 PM, Idiot-Finder wrote: Soccer was popular for a while in the 1970s when Pele joined the New York Cosmos, after leading the team to one of the two titles he retires and the popularity went down since then. That league along with the Cosmos eventually disbanded.

if thats the case, then Beckham should've made soccer popular again he didn't. Soccer is still as unpopular as it's ever been.

[BlueFlameSkulls]

At 3/19/09 09:57 AM, Evark wrote: It's not as easy to market. There're no breaks in the action like there are in other sports, so big network television stations can't place advertisements the same way.

Simple as.

The way it's done over in the UK is simple.

Adverts before the game. Adverts on the sides of the pitch. 45 minutes in and it is half time. Adverts in between that. Continue game with adverts on the boards on the side the pitch. Full time.

Though I can understand most American sports will have a LOT of ads.

[Idiot-Finder]

At 3/19/09 02:30 PM, All-American-Badass wrote:

At 3/19/09 02:24 PM, Idiot-Finder wrote: Soccer was popular for a while in the 1970s when Pele joined the New York Cosmos, after leading the team to one of the two titles he retires and the popularity went down since then. That league along with the Cosmos eventually disbanded.

if thats the case, then Beckham should've made soccer popular again he didn't. Soccer is still as unpopular as it's ever been.

Easy, Beckham is not Pele and also it's the 1970s

Only time I watch soccer is the World Cup

[TheSouthernTower]

Soccer? What is this soccer you speak of?

[Ragnarokia]

Football is crapyou don't want it being popular. All it is is some random people kicking a ball around trying to get it in a net for 90 minutes. Added to that the several hours of drama when they trip and the obnokious atmosphere from the audience and you have yourself a shit fest.

[rumerio]

We like violence, explosions, and high speeds. the most entertaining combination of the three is what we watch. soccer rarely wins out in these categories. get rid of some tackle penalties and have more zidan headbutting kind of shit and it would do much better

[moarx]

Personally I can stand to watch Arena Soccer which is actually pretty fast-paced due to lack of wasting hours throwing the ball back in. During the World Cup all I got out of soccer is the thought that soccer players are dirty players/crybabies and fake waaaay too many injuries yet get away with it.

[DroopyA]

At 3/19/09 02:30 PM, All-American-Badass wrote: if thats the case, then Beckham should've made soccer popular again he didn't. Soccer is still as unpopular as it's ever been.

The MLS wanted him to make soccer popular again but it didn't work out... mainly because he didn't play a good chunk of the games due to previous obligations he had with other teams. It seemed like everytime I turned around Beckham had yet another excuse to get a paycheck from the Galaxy without actually playing for them. He was always injured or away doing international games for his home team.

The fact that the Galaxy went on to suck complete ass and lose just about every game they played didn't help either. Especially after we changed our uniforms to please him... in the end, the whole Beckham deal looked more like a huge waist of money and a failed marketing scheme then it did the signing of a good player and the advancement of the sport.

[Idiot-Finder]

At 3/19/09 03:13 PM, DroopyA wrote:

The fact that the Galaxy went on to suck complete ass and lose just about every game they played didn't help either. Especially after we changed our uniforms to please him... in the end, the whole Beckham deal looked more like a huge waist of money and a failed marketing scheme then it did the signing of a good player and the advancement of the sport.

That too, the Cosmos were title contenders when Pele joined, that might've helped

[andhination]

At 3/19/09 10:00 AM, Gagsy wrote:
They suck at football/soccer so don't play it. They only play sports they can win at, hence them really only liking sports they, the Americans have made themselves.

They've produced some good goalies.

[The-Great-One]

I Got A Ball