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You obviously haven't seen my lawn!
Why isn't Soccer popular in America?
- Thread starter Straight Shooter
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You obviously haven't seen my lawn!
Yes... seriously. Amongst several other things. (And about the "draw," and "match," thing, I personally don't care what its called, its just the smugness of people who always feel compelled to correct everyone else who calls it a "tie" or a "game.")
Sports isn't about winning? How do you figure? The reward is "the competition?" That sounds like something people say when they don't win. You'll never hear someone win a championship of any kind (including in soccer) and say "Well its nice to win, but we were just here to compete, so if we hadn't won we would have been equally happy."
Its a catch 22? So, first you tell me that "sports isn't always about winning," but then you imply that I don't like soccer because teams from my country aren't any good, and don't win? Which is it?
Yes the object of the game is to win. But some people are making it sound like soccer players go into a game thinking that they have to get a draw and that far from the truth. They play to win the game period but with that being said a draw will occur from time to time.
I understand that completely, although I would simply suggest that a "draw" is included on my personal list of why I believe that soccer is more or less unpopular in the US. A tie is something that simply doesn't exist in major American professional sports (aside from the ever-so-rare tie in the NFL, of which some NFL players (See: Donovan McNabb) aren't even aware of), so the possibility of such can be somewhat to blame for the lack of interest for the sport in the US IMO.
I think soccer is more popular than you think. After the big three(MLB,NBA,NFL) would say hockey comes in fourth? I dont know because hockey is still coming back from that lockout a few years ago and the sport is dead in some cities and hugely popular in some cities. So after those four, I think you can put soccer in along with NASCAR, Golf, Tennis, MMA/Boxing.
Boring!
Its the same as why isn't American Football popular in Europe and i dont think either ever will be tbh i know Germany play American Football but its no where near Football (Soccer).
Also another sport Formular 1 is huge in Europe yet America and Canada (i think although the F1 was there the other week) seem to prefer Nascar whcih tbh myself i dont know alot about myself.
SOme countries play Cricket and some don't its not real big problem i dont think.
Also another sport Formular 1 is huge in Europe yet America and Canada (i think although the F1 was there the other week) seem to prefer Nascar whcih tbh myself i dont know alot about myself.
SOme countries play Cricket and some don't its not real big problem i dont think.
PlasmaTwa2
The Second-Hottest Man in my Mother's Basement
The big four sports in North America are (in order) the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL. Soccer and MLS is far behind those four in revenues, fans and ratings. For example, the only two profitable teams in MLS are Seattle and Toronto; Toronto being there because the city is 50% immigrants and going to the games are an excuse to party and get drunk (And if we are talking about only-American sports it doesn't count anyway). "Sports" like NASCAR and golf are not very comparable since they aren't team sports, but both are far ahead of soccer I would assume.
It's just like any other thing: people bad-mouth shit when they have no background in it. There are a few reasons the NHL hasn't taken like some other sports in the States. There are basically three areas you can play the game outside in the winter; it's racially imbalanced in the white area, which is a double standard because blacks are imbalanced in the NBA; it's THE most expensive sport in the world to play, partly because ice time can be hella expensive (also a piece of lumber can run upwards of $300 dollars now); also, it was invented by a Canuck, among other reasons.
I don't expect some lard ass to understand games - any games - for that matter. Sure they can be a couch-quarterback and know quite a bit, but unless you have had the fortune of the comradery of being involved with some of the sports we're talking about it's hard to fully understand.
I don't know about hockey. To me its still a niche sport. Like I said earlier, In some cities hockey is non-existent while in other cities, like my town Chicago, hockey is very popular. If anything I would say that the two sports are about even. I don't consider hockey as part of the big four, I think there is only a big three.
PlasmaTwa2
The Second-Hottest Man in my Mother's Basement
In terms of the sports themselves, soccer is easily more popular. But MLS and the NHL are not comparable. The closest league in North America that MLS could compare to is the CFL. The NHL is a league that has billion dollar revenues every year, and even their terrible TV ratings are much better than any MLS game. The games themselves are comparable, but on a professional level soccer cannot compare to hockey in the US, let alone North America, and it probably won't till either the Latin American immigrants overrun the US or until MLS draws the top talent away from Europe.
As far as viewership is concerned, I'm not so sure that soccer would be in the same tier as NASCAR, MMA or the PGA Tour. Millions of Americans watch pretty much every NASCAR race (both Nation Wide and Sprint Cup), and MMA has grown exponentially over the past decade garnering huge pay-per-view numbers for their monthly events. And at least 4 times a year the viewer ratings for the PGA Tour are very, very high for the Tour's "majors," not to mention the spike in ratings every time Tiger plays an event. And then, of course, there are all of the NCAA sports to choose from, all of which carry varying amounts of the whole as far as viewership is concerned. Though, tennis and boxing are both on the decline somewhat as far as I can tell. I would say the rankings in the US probably follow along these lines:
-Football
-Baseball
-NCAA Football
-Basketball
-NCAA Basketball
-Hockey
-NASCAR
-PGA
-MMA
-NCAA Lacrosse (maybe a bit of a stretch, but definitely gaining in popularity.)
-Soccer
-Boxing
-Tennis
Just my opinion, of course. And accordingly, if I'm wrong I am able to accept that. I would be interested to see some raw data as far as the actual numbers are concerned.
Lacrosse? Really? :1orglaugh I'm sorry, but that is way a strech to say the TOUR and boxing is below that. Absolutely no way in hell. Tiger alone is the most famous athlete on the planet. :2 cents:
PlasmaTwa2
The Second-Hottest Man in my Mother's Basement
Someone really should start a "why isn't lacrosse popular everywhere?" thread. That is one hell of a fun sport.
Ok, ok, ok. Mayyyyybe a bit of a stretch. But as far as coverage goes, NCAA Lacrosse seems to get more time (on ESPN at least) than soccer in non World Cup years. But seriously, when did lacrosse even become so popular? When I was in high school, it was an intramural sport that only stoners played simply to have some sort of extra curricular activity and an excuse to get stoned and not have to go home.
(Though, just for reference, I had the Tour above NCAA LAX :1orglaugh)
Maybe so, but that is so far out of the mainstream it's totally a strech. I know they were giving the tickets away to the NHL season ticket holders to my team. I almost went to a game, once. I will definitely go when I get the chance next year.
I did read an article on what the players make and they really make crumbs. They have to have a day job in the NLL.
PlasmaTwa2
The Second-Hottest Man in my Mother's Basement
Yeah, I remember reading that a team's star player was a teacher during the weekdays. According to the MLS player's union, only three (If I counted correctly) players make more than a million dollars; Beckham, Landon Donovan (LA) and Julian de Guzman (TFC). That puts the league more on the level of the CFL than one of the big four leagues.
Also, this (year old) article from Forbes says the average team is worth $37 million dollars, and that the LA Galaxy are worth the most at $100 million; significantly less than that one Coyotes team that was considered to be dead in the desert a year ago. Not only that, but three teams for the 2008-09 season (LA, Toronto, Dallas) had a combined profit of $6.7 million. In comparison, the Saskatchewan Roughriders (probably the CFL's most profitable team) had a profit of $3.1 million last season. I think it is clear that MLS has far to go till it can be compared to the NHL, let alone any of the other big leagues.
Is it just me, or has Beckham actually spent more of his time at Laker games than Galaxy games since he's been in the states?
PlasmaTwa2
The Second-Hottest Man in my Mother's Basement
Last time I heard any news about him in LA, he was given permission to go play in Europe. :dunno:
I was referring to what pro lacrosse players are making. They make next to nothing.
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