BassNBrew said:
NewlyRetired said:
BassNBrew said:
NewlyRetired said:
Big fan.
It would have been interesting to see this exact poll in 2006 and 2010. I bet you would see a nice growth curve.
We've been hearing that for years.
You think the sport as a whole is at the same level of popularity today as it was 8 years ago?
Interesting. The facts (attendance and tv ratings) don't appear to support your theory.
I think there's more access now than then. Average and hardcore fan now have viewing options. I really believe the demand was there to some extent all along. I think you could say the same about several sports. Soccer fans have really benefitted from the explosive growth of sports networks and their need for programming.
Off course there's growth due to population increases and demographic changes in the US. IMO the Mexican national team outdraws team USA in most venues in the US.
I'm 46. I saw my first soccer game when I was 10- which happened to be the first soccer game I played in (baseball was my original sport). It was the first time my dad ever saw a game as well.
I was a soccer nerd and very good; a level below national team, heavily recruited by top 20 Div 1 schools, played at one of them, played semi-pro afterwards because there was no MLS- and I might not have been good enough anyways. I only got to see a handful of pro games live or on TV, but lived and breathed the sport in spite of that.
But it wasn't just soccer nerds who played... everybody- everybody I knew played soccer as kids. Yeah, we were coached by guys like my dad who had no idea how to play the sport, and yeah there was no soccer to watch for those who were interested. And yeah- there was nowhere for any of us to go with it. But everybody played- really for the first time in US history.
Fast-forward 30 years- not much time in the relative scheme of things (the Cubs last won when?)- and we've got a decent (not great) league that has been on a really steep growth curve the last 10 years. The USMNT is expected to beat everybody in our region including Mexico and qualify for every WC.
Native born Americans are watching the sport on all manner of media- and live (MLS numbers compare pretty well to most of our pro sports), and those of us who were part of that first wave where everybody played now have kids who are growing up from birth kicking a soccer ball and getting to watch pro, top quality soccer as much as they want. This isn't demographic changes- this is inherent growth of interest from within.
I don't see any point to comparing Mexico's attendance in the US to the US... Mexico has a rich, long history and tradition with the sport and yes- there has been an obvious demographic shift of Mexican American's to supply those numbers. Why not look only at US numbers, which have skyrocketed?
I ramble... my point was simply that for a country that has a cultural history with the sport only going back one generation, we are doing amazingly well to be consistently one of the top 32 teams in the world. it's not just soccer nerds like me and andy, and it's not just fuzzy ferners and their fern ways. It's not even my humble opinion any more: the US
can beat any team in the world on a given day... and the WC is the optimal opportunity to prove that
eta: my son is 6, and not all that interested in soccer right now- but we go out and kick around the way I used to play catch with my dad. When I watch games, he'll sometimes watch with me and I'll explain everything that's going on- tactics, strategies, etc... the way my dad did with me about baseball and football. This kind of thing can only help our country continue to grow soccer's cultural identity.
