Soccer in the USA?

[absolu7]

they already got Figo coming, and working on Beckham and Ronaldo with a busted knee.
is it possible to get it up the say basketball popularity or even baseball? with proper sponsors/marketing? or Americans just not ready?

i know MLS salary cap is 20million per team which is pathetic and no good player can be bought, not the case obviously in europe.

 

[TheoPetro]

man I wish. Thats one of the reasons I wanna move to europe for a few years.

 

[RagingBITCH]

No. It's boring as hell to watch. It's a niche sport to watch.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: absolu7
they already got Figo coming, and working on Beckham and Ronaldo with a busted knee.
is it possible to get it up the say basketball popularity or even baseball? with proper sponsors/marketing? or Americans just not ready?

i know MLS salary cap is 20million per team which is pathetic and no good player can be bought, not the case obviously in europe.

you sure it's $20M per team? i've seen MLS guys get 30million/6 year deals.

 

[TheoPetro]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
No. It's boring as hell to watch. It's a niche sport to watch.

Its a hell of alot more fun if youre at a game. Baseball is boring as hell to watch on TV too but if you go to a game its a blast.

 

[irishScott]

A lot of people view soccer as a less-manlier sport (compared to football/baseball/basketball) that requires less skill. Anyone's who played it knows they're obviously wrong but that's the stereotype. Another stereotype is that it's European (and it is to a large degree), and given our current cold-sholder political policy to most of Europe, the association doesn't help much. DC United's not bad though, and the only team NOT to lose to Italy in the last world cup was the US

 

[KB]

It did for a short time: they made a movie about it : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489247/

Unfortunately it will never rival the popularity it has in Europe.

 

[TheoPetro]

Originally posted by: irishScott
A lot of people view soccer as a less-manlier sport (compared to football/baseball/basketball) that requires less skill. Anyone's who played it knows they're obviously wrong but that's the stereotype. Another stereotype is that it's European (and it is to a large degree), and given our current cold-sholder political policy to most of Europe, the association doesn't help much. DC United's not bad though, and the only team NOT to lose to Italy in the last world cup was the US

It really blows that it has those sterotypes. Honestly I played soccer, baseball, lacrosse, and a bit of rugby and baseball definitely took the least effort. I cant get my mind around why people find baseball a "manly" sport. It does take some skill but you dont have to be as in shape to play as you do soccer or lacrosse.

 

[absolu7]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon

Originally posted by: absolu7
they already got Figo coming, and working on Beckham and Ronaldo with a busted knee.
is it possible to get it up the say basketball popularity or even baseball? with proper sponsors/marketing? or Americans just not ready?

i know MLS salary cap is 20million per team which is pathetic and no good player can be bought, not the case obviously in europe.

you sure it's $20M per team? i've seen MLS guys get 30million/6 year deals.

well thats 5/yr, there goes 1/4 of the budget. it is true though.

 

[iamaelephant]

Originally posted by: irishScott
A lot of people view soccer as a less-manlier sport (compared to football/baseball/basketball) that requires less skill. Anyone's who played it knows they're obviously wrong but that's the stereotype. Another stereotype is that it's European (and it is to a large degree), and given our current cold-sholder political policy to most of Europe, the association doesn't help much. DC United's not bad though, and the only team NOT to lose to Italy in the last world cup was the US

I certainly consider football/soccer less manly than other sports, but certainly there is no less skill. Soccer is among the most highly skilled games in the world. Probably the only reason I find it less manly is because I'm a huge rugby fan.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

In order of popularity in the US:

Football = Lots of action - plays last 5 seconds
Baseball = Occasional action - plays last 5-8 seconds
Basketball = Lots of action - plays last 40 seconds
Hockey = Lots of action - plays last 2-4 minutes
Soccer = No action - plays are timed with a calendar

Note the length of a play. The popularity of a sport falls off exponentially with the amount of time we have to pay attention to it to follow the action. Soccer is an affront to the average american's attention span. If you can go make a sandwich and not miss anything... why bother?

Five seconds
5-8 seconds
40 seconds
Couple minutes
Ages and ages

Hard to imagine Soccer being big in the US.

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
In order of popularity in the US:

Football = Lots of action - plays last 5 seconds
Baseball = Occasional action - plays last 5-8 seconds
Basketball = Lots of action - plays last 40 seconds
Hockey = Lots of action - plays last 2-4 minutes
Soccer = No action - plays are timed with a calendar

Note the length of a play. The popularity of a sport falls off exponentially with the amount of time we have to pay attention to it to follow the action. Soccer is an affront to the average american's attention span. If you can go make a sandwich and not miss anything... why bother?

Five seconds
5-8 seconds
40 seconds
Couple minutes
Ages and ages

Hard to imagine Soccer being big in the US.

BS. The strategy in football and baseball involve thinking. People like to think what the next play should be. People try to manage and coach in their heads. The true fans anyway. Soccor doesn't really have that. Sure, there are plays drawn up, but not nearly on the football and baseball scale.

 

[jtvang125]

The only time I watch soccer is during the World Cup. It has the best soccer players in the world so that brings a little more action to the games. I'd rather watch Tiger Woods play golf than watch a soccer game playing on some Sunday afternoon.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
In order of popularity in the US:

Football = Lots of action - plays last 5 seconds
Baseball = Occasional action - plays last 5-8 seconds
Basketball = Lots of action - plays last 40 seconds
Hockey = Lots of action - plays last 2-4 minutes
Soccer = No action - plays are timed with a calendar

Note the length of a play. The popularity of a sport falls off exponentially with the amount of time we have to pay attention to it to follow the action. Soccer is an affront to the average american's attention span. If you can go make a sandwich and not miss anything... why bother?

Five seconds
5-8 seconds
40 seconds
Couple minutes
Ages and ages

Hard to imagine Soccer being big in the US.

BS. The strategy in football and baseball involve thinking. People like to think what the next play should be. People try to manage and coach in their heads. The true fans anyway. Soccor doesn't really have that. Sure, there are plays drawn up, but not nearly on the football and baseball scale.

Um, what strategy in baseball?

 

[absolu7]

mls = shite players for the most part, if we had 3 beckham caliber players on each team it is possible that people would actually watch?

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
In order of popularity in the US:

Football = Lots of action - plays last 5 seconds
Baseball = Occasional action - plays last 5-8 seconds
Basketball = Lots of action - plays last 40 seconds
Hockey = Lots of action - plays last 2-4 minutes
Soccer = No action - plays are timed with a calendar

Note the length of a play. The popularity of a sport falls off exponentially with the amount of time we have to pay attention to it to follow the action. Soccer is an affront to the average american's attention span. If you can go make a sandwich and not miss anything... why bother?

Five seconds
5-8 seconds
40 seconds
Couple minutes
Ages and ages

Hard to imagine Soccer being big in the US.

BS. The strategy in football and baseball involve thinking. People like to think what the next play should be. People try to manage and coach in their heads. The true fans anyway. Soccor doesn't really have that. Sure, there are plays drawn up, but not nearly on the football and baseball scale.

Um, what strategy in baseball?

You must not be a baseball fan.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Whoozyerdaddy
In order of popularity in the US:

Football = Lots of action - plays last 5 seconds
Baseball = Occasional action - plays last 5-8 seconds
Basketball = Lots of action - plays last 40 seconds
Hockey = Lots of action - plays last 2-4 minutes
Soccer = No action - plays are timed with a calendar

Note the length of a play. The popularity of a sport falls off exponentially with the amount of time we have to pay attention to it to follow the action. Soccer is an affront to the average american's attention span. If you can go make a sandwich and not miss anything... why bother?

Five seconds
5-8 seconds
40 seconds
Couple minutes
Ages and ages

Hard to imagine Soccer being big in the US.

BS. The strategy in football and baseball involve thinking. People like to think what the next play should be. People try to manage and coach in their heads. The true fans anyway. Soccor doesn't really have that. Sure, there are plays drawn up, but not nearly on the football and baseball scale.

For the hard core fans you're right. Hard core soccer fans will watch for the same reasons. I was referring to the casual fan who likes the game but doesn't get too deep into it.

Football is easy to follow. Line up, run the play. So is baseball. Pitch, hit, run. Even if you're not that into it you can follow along. Basketball to the casual observer tends to look more chaotic than planned if you don't know what you're looking at. Even moreso with Hockey, and the chaos drags out longer. Then there is soccer. Soccer to me looks like a bigger slower version of Hockey. I'm sure there is strategy involved, but as a casual fan (well, maybe not a "fan") it's hard to see why things happen the way they do and it takes a looooong time for those things to happen.

Guess I could have elaborated more in my first post.

 

[wheresmybacon]

I'd like to see it get bigger but I don't think it will ever attain the popularity of the big 3 in america. I'd say big 4 but hockey has done so much damage itself with the ridiculous strikes that it's no longer on par with the others.

What I find amusing/confusing about average Joe America who knows nothing about soccer is the contentious nature with which they approach it: "it's a pussy game!" "it's boring!" I still don't understand the hate...

In any case, I've given up trying to educate folks or introduce them to it. Either you like it or you don't.

 

[Ilmater]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
No. It's boring as hell to watch. It's a niche sport to watch.

Exactly. Americans need more immediate action. It's too hard to understand (the offsides rule is about 100x more difficult than it needs to be), and games ending in 0-0 ties are exactly the type of things that will keep Americans from ever liking the sport.

 

[FoBoT]

it is like watching a marathon being run on a field instead of a road course

 

[absolu7]

who got american's used to instant gratification?

good job access hollywood/et/mtv

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

I wonder if a lot of this heldover fondness for soccer in Europe is like it is for baseball in America. It's kinda the nostalgia and historical context of baseball that makes it a somewhat compelling.

It seems clear that basketball is the new world's sport.

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: absolu7
who got american's used to instant gratification?

good job access hollywood/et/mtv

Uhhh, a soccer match last's what, 1 1/2 hours?
A football game lasts more than double that.

 

[Rastus]

Soccer is a player's sport. I've never played it so I'm not interested in watching it. As more children play it and mature, it will find a larger American audience.

American Football is a spectator sport. You don't have to have ever played it to enjoy watching it.

Football also has had rule changes to make it more watchable, mostly due to television. Maybe this will happen to soccer over time.

 

[absolu7]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: absolu7
who got american's used to instant gratification?

good job access hollywood/et/mtv

Uhhh, a soccer match last's what, 1 1/2 hours?
A football game lasts more than double that.

yes but the plays are like 5-10 seconds each.