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Why hasn't soccer caught on in America? (1 Viewer)

wazoo11

wazoo11

Footballguy
:shrug:  I think spending an hour and 45 minutes is enough for consuming something. I can't no longer sit through a 4 hour baseball game.

 
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Three main reasons IMO:  American sports fan does not like the concept of a tie game. There is not enough scoring.  The diving and faking of injuries. 

Only the 3rd reason bothers me. And I love the sport. 

 
wazoo11 said:
:shrug:  I think spending an hour and 45 minutes is enough for consuming something. I can't no longer sit through a 4 hour baseball game.
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Do the hair and clothes look funny where you are?  Is Bill Clinton President?

Is Kurt Cobain still alive?
 
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Because we have better sports with the best athletes in the world playing those sports. 

If the NFL, MLB, and NBA all went bankrupt tomorrow, soccer would become just as popular as everywhere else.  Simple answer.

 
hagmania said:
I wonder if the disparity in number of games keeps it "fresh".
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I don't think so but happy to be wrong.  Those numbers will probably stay roughly the same - I think there will be about 50% the number of games but I'm willing to concede that most of those are weekend - maybe it would be a more fair comparison to do Braves weekend games attendance but I'm not going to bother to look.  Also, I'm not claiming it's more popular - I was just pointing out the idea that soccer hasn't caught on is ridiculous.

 
If you like soccer, then welcome to America. See, our country already has entertainment so watching people chase a ball for four hours to end 0 - 0 is not enjoyable -- unless, of course, the bleachers collapse and half of Europe dies.
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- Daniel Tosh

 
I think it's because you can't use your hands (I'm being for real) and there isn't enough direct action.  Plus, soccer isn't as readily available to watch on tv as the other big 3 and therefore people can't learn the game as readily.

I used to be firmly in the no like camp but now I enjoy watching it very much. 

 
Our best finish in the World Cup was 3rd in 1930.  We didn't even qualify for it from 1950-1990.

in the fall, it's soccer or football.  Now that youth participation in football is dropping, soccer would seem to be the natural beneficiary. Better atheletes choosing soccer = more competitive Team USA.

If USA ever won the World Cup the sport would explode in popularity.  

 
Because in soccer you can't go to a commercial every 2 minutes. Less advertisement revenue. Probably not sustainable. 

 
It's like listening to a retro radio station in here.  These arguments are all well past their expiration date.

Another 5 years like the last 5 and the only people not watching soccer will be the ones who think Anne Coulter is speaking truth to power.

 
Did I wake up and it is 1988 again with this thread title?

MLS has a higher attendance average than both the NBA and NHL (yes with less games)

The EPL and Liga MX both have higher US TV ratings than the NHL

MLS team values and expansion fees have sky rocketed.  There are 12 cities battling for the next few expansion slots

Soccer is on TV almost all the time.  Yesterday ESPN and ESPN2 had 14 hours of soccer broadcasting alone.

To say soccer has not caught on in the US means you basically live in a cave or have your head buried in sand.   A sport does not need to be the most popular in a country to have caught on.

 
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If I am going to watch professional keep away I will watch a much better version in which they play on ice, have weapons in their hands and are encouraged to have actual fist fights. 

 
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Lots of people don't like soccer and that's cool.  It's a big world, different strokes, and etc.  

But it's already caught on in the US.

 
Dinsy Ejotuz said:
Lots of people don't like soccer and that's cool.  It's a big world, different strokes, and etc.  

But it's already caught on in the US.
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right, we are a huge country.  there are a ton of people who don't like any specific sport.  

Maybe I don't understand what the original posters qualifications are for catching on but when you look at attendance, TV ratings, the massive amount of soccer on TV, escalating franchise fees, escalating team values, I am unsure how you could say the sport has not caught.

You might have an argument 7-10 years ago but now it makes no sense.

Then when you combine this growth with soccer's demographics in the US, the future looks incredible.

 
James Daulton said:
I think it's because you can't use your hands (I'm being for real) and there isn't enough direct action.  Plus, soccer isn't as readily available to watch on tv as the other big 3 and therefore people can't learn the game as readily.

I used to be firmly in the no like camp but now I enjoy watching it very much. 
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James, I think you would be surprised how much soccer is on tv.  There is more soccer and more leagues on TV in the US than in any country in the world now.  And that has all happened in just the past ten years.  I don't know how it compares to the big 3 but that really does not matter.   The amount available is more than any person could ever watch.

 
NewlyRetired said:
James, I think you would be surprised how much soccer is on tv.  There is more soccer and more leagues on TV in the US than in any country in the world now.  And that has all happened in just the past ten years.  I don't know how it compares to the big 3 but that really does not matter.   The amount available is more than any person could ever watch.
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My son disagrees with that last sentence...

 
NewlyRetired said:
James, I think you would be surprised how much soccer is on tv.  There is more soccer and more leagues on TV in the US than in any country in the world now.  And that has all happened in just the past ten years.  I don't know how it compares to the big 3 but that really does not matter.   The amount available is more than any person could ever watch.
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We've come a LONG way from mid-late 90's-early 2k's, where the best way to follow the EPL was through hopefully finding a UK internet radio stream, or watching David Beckham's World Cup clinching free kick winner for England in 2001 on Pay-Per-View (that's if you didn't want to pay a $20 cover at a bar who had the satellite feed).  And maybe one champions league game a week on TV with Tommy Smyth bulging the ol onion bag, that is if it wasn't pre-empted.

Last year you could theoretically watch every single EPL game, the entire Euros, the entire Copa America, just about every Real Madrid/Barca match, a ton of Bundesliga and MLS and so much more with a basic cable/dish subscription.  

But still, just when will soccer make it here?!?1?

 
The FFA is a wonderful microcosm of how the sport has caught on in the US.

In 2007 someone started a soccer thread on here and even one of the few soccer fans around at that time laughed saying that no one would be interested.

Now every day there are multiple highly active soccer threads running, full of people who were not fans of the sport 10 years ago.

 
NutterButter said:
Soccer fans are a very sensitive bunch and maybe rightfully so.  Their sport has been persecuted for far too long.
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How dare you!!  Who are you to judge?!?

 
To be fair to soccer...it's not like football, baseball and hockey are "edge of  your seat" entertainment from the moment the game starts.  Lot of boring #### in those three sports as well. 

 
NewlyRetired said:
and as Rob noted earlier, it fine not to like the sport.  If that is the posters angle, then run with it.   So yeah, the entire premise really seems out of date.
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Yeah, and I'm not a huge fan. I appreciate some of the European club teams, but I'd live just fine, sporting-wise, if soccer were relegated back to those old PBS Saturday games and halftime highlights from around the EPL.

 
Short Corner said:
This has to be one of the most idiotic arguments I have seen on this board.
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I am not arguing that soccer is more popular than those sports, I am arguing that plenty of people attend soccer games in the US as a counter point to the sport not catching on.

 
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