Why do Americans not care about Soccer?

[jonks]

for the "soccer sux" crowd, you should know more youths play soccer in america than any other sport. they're not doing it because it bores them.

it hasn't caught on in the last 50 years because there's no breaks for commercials so networks don't push it cuz it doesn't make them the money that other sports do. Anyone who says soccer is boring because nothing happens but can sit through 3 hours of a bunch of guys standing around a baseball field needs some perspective.

 

[Anubis]

for the "soccer sux" crowd, you should know more youths play soccer in america than any other sport. they're not doing it because it bores them.

it hasn't caught on in the last 50 years because there's no breaks for commercials so networks don't push it cuz it doesn't make them the money that other sports do. Anyone who says soccer is boring because nothing happens but can sit through 3 hours of a bunch of guys standing around a baseball field needs some perspective.

on the boring argument the NFL is an hour long game that has ~10 minutes of real action with 50 minutes of standing around woven into a 4 hour commercial block

 

[AMDZen]

for the "soccer sux" crowd, you should know more youths play soccer in america than any other sport. they're not doing it because it bores them.

it hasn't caught on in the last 50 years because there's no breaks for commercials so networks don't push it cuz it doesn't make them the money that other sports do. Anyone who says soccer is boring because nothing happens but can sit through 3 hours of a bunch of guys standing around a baseball field needs some perspective.

I've already covered both of those and so did 2 dozen other people in this thread.

There were lots of things I liked doing as a youth that I grew out of. Most people actually grow up.

 

[JD50]

for the "soccer sux" crowd, you should know more youths play soccer in america than any other sport. they're not doing it because it bores them.

it hasn't caught on in the last 50 years because there's no breaks for commercials so networks don't push it cuz it doesn't make them the money that other sports do. Anyone who says soccer is boring because nothing happens but can sit through 3 hours of a bunch of guys standing around a baseball field needs some perspective.

playing a game as a kid != watching a game as an adult

 

[aldamon]

on the boring argument the NFL is an hour long game that has ~10 minutes of real action

That's still 9 more minutes of action than a soccer game.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I've already covered both of those and so did 2 dozen other people in this thread.

There were lots of things I liked doing as a youth that I grew out of. Most people actually grow up.

Exactly, once kids hit middle school or high school, most quit playing soccer and move on to something else.

And frankly, I don't buy the TV argument being put forth either. It does make some sense, but soccer has been shown on TV numerous times if I'm not mistaken. If the ratings were there, MLS and the major broadcast companies would make it work in order to get commercial time worked into the games.

 

[Anubis]

Exactly, once kids hit middle school or high school, most quit playing soccer and move on to something else.

you can make that argument for pretty much any sport because they are all structured the same way.

TONS of youth teams -> 1-2 MS teams -> 1-2 HS teams (JV and V)

youth football is very popular in many place but many of those kids stop playing in MS and HS as well

 

[gimmewhitecastles]

Exactly, once kids hit middle school or high school, most quit playing soccer and move on to something else.

And frankly, I don't buy the TV argument being put forth either. It does make some sense, but soccer has been shown on TV numerous times if I'm not mistaken. If the ratings were there, MLS and the major broadcast companies would make it work in order to get commercial time worked into the games.

The best way for soccer to put in advertisements is to turn the players into NASCAR stock cars and put a ton of corporate sponsers on their jerseys. Thats what all the other soccer leagues do. The clock doesn't stop when a ball goes out of bounds or the ref blows the whistle. It's meant to be a continuous free-flowing game. Thats why there is no time-outs either and a maximum of 3 substitutions throughout the entire game. Stamina is a big part of the game.

 

[xSauronx]

Exactly, once kids hit middle school or high school, most quit playing soccer and move on to something else.

And frankly, I don't buy the TV argument being put forth either. It does make some sense, but soccer has been shown on TV numerous times if I'm not mistaken. If the ratings were there, MLS and the major broadcast companies would make it work in order to get commercial time worked into the games.

espn regularly plays UEFA championship series games, iirc. I want to say they play some premier league games but that may just be fox soccer here, i dont remember.

it gets some air time, not much. ill watch it over any sport but hockey or ACC basketball

 

[SR1729]

for the "soccer sux" crowd, you should know more youths play soccer in america than any other sport. they're not doing it because it bores them.

it hasn't caught on in the last 50 years because there's no breaks for commercials so networks don't push it cuz it doesn't make them the money that other sports do. Anyone who says soccer is boring because nothing happens but can sit through 3 hours of a bunch of guys standing around a baseball field needs some perspective.

Holy hell man read the thread. Welcome to last week.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

you can make that argument for pretty much any sport because they are all structured the same way.

You can, but we're discussing why soccer is not popular in the US and soccer advocates keep bringing up how popular it is with kids as proof it is "popular." The point many of us are making is that kids seem to completely lose interest in soccer by middle school or perhaps a little later, whereas with other sports, perhaps they don't participate in high school but the interest is still there in terms of watching/following pro sports.

Also, some of these soccer advocates make it sound like kids playing soccer is a recent development. It is not. Kids played soccer when I was in grade school in the early 80s and now that my generation is nearing 40, you'd think we'd be at the vanguard of bringing it to the mainstream. This obviously is not happening.

Every decade since the 70s, American sports fans have heard "This is the decade soccer becomes big in the US!" And every decade, the prediction is horribly wrong. No one can dispute that, as it is a fact; you might debate the reasons, but it isn't a popular sport among adults in the US. If you like it, that's fine, but the people here insulting Americans (they have no attention span!) and their sports (NFL players are fat brutes!) in general as some sort of defense of soccer is pretty lame. We just don't find the sport exciting for the most part. Now, if you took away some of the rules or lessened them (like the offsides), THEN maybe it would be a little more exciting.

 

[Atheus]

I didn't really read this whole thread but for those guys that are saying NFL players are slow, didn't Chris Johnson challenge Usain Bolt recently to a foot race?

I don't know who's faster...

I do...

Also, the straight-line speed of American footballers is not comparable to football footballers as the latter might run 10 miles over the course of a game, much of it in 40-60m sprints. American footballers do not cover a fraction of that distance so many carry more weight.

 

[Atheus]

We just don't find the sport exciting for the most part. Now, if you took away some of the rules or lessened them (like the offsides), THEN maybe it would be a little more exciting.

Yes but then it wouldn't be football would it...

I believe the game will become popular in the US as your economic/military dominance of the last 50 years fades away and American isolationism becomes less tenable. At the moment Americans love American sports BECAUSE no other countries play them - after all why would you want to compete with other countries when you are so demonstrably superior to them in every way? The British Empire used to think like that - we refused to enter the World Cup in 1930 because we didn't believe other countries could possibly compete with us. As Britain became 'just another European power' though we began to see the value of sending sportsmen to other countries rather than gunboats. I suspect the US will go the same way.

 

[gimmewhitecastles]

Every decade since the 70s, American sports fans have heard "This is the decade soccer becomes big in the US!" And every decade, the prediction is horribly wrong. No one can dispute that, as it is a fact; you might debate the reasons, but it isn't a popular sport among adults in the US. If you like it, that's fine, but the people here insulting Americans (they have no attention span!) and their sports (NFL players are fat brutes!) in general as some sort of defense of soccer is pretty lame. We just don't find the sport exciting for the most part. Now, if you took away some of the rules or lessened them (like the offsides), THEN maybe it would be a little more exciting.

This could be the decade that soccer does make a signifcant leap. With the increased distribution of hi definition tvs, you are able to enjoy the game more.

You notice how dunks, diving catches, etc. look so much cooler close-up, slo-mo and in hi-def?

You'll get the same effect for flying goalie punch saves, bicycle kicks and headers.

 

[AMDZen]

This could be the decade that soccer does make a signifcant leap. With the increased distribution of hi definition tvs, you are able to enjoy the game more.

You notice how dunks, diving catches, etc. look so much cooler close-up, slo-mo and in hi-def?

You'll get the same effect for flying goalie punch saves, bicycle kicks and headers.

I was willing to give it a chance. Vuvuzelas already ruined it for many of us that were willing to try and watch these games. I can't have it on for more then 30 seconds now without getting a headache, I can't even be in a bar with it being shown and on the speakers at the same time.

 

[Anubis]

the proliferation of HDTV will have a bigger impact on Hockey then soccer in the US IMO, actually being able to see the puck is an amazing thing

 

[Anubis]

I was willing to give it a chance. Vuvuzelas already ruined it for many of us that were willing to try and watch these games. I can't have it on for more then 30 seconds now without getting a headache, I can't even be in a bar with it being shown and on the speakers at the same time.

forget the world cup, give it another chance and start watching the EPL when it starts up again this fall. If you get Fox Soccer channel they show 2-4 games every weekend and there is no stupid horn noise, ESPN2 also randomly has the bigger matches on as well as the champions league

 

[SP33Demon]

Simple answer: If MLS was as big as MLB, NFL, NHL, and NBA I guarantee you it'd be big here. So it's not big for the reasons that MLS isn't big yet. Once MLS starts getting smarter then, and only then, will soccer take off in the US.

 

[SR1729]

At the moment Americans love American sports BECAUSE no other countries play them - after all why would you want to compete with other countries when you are so demonstrably superior to them in every way?

Seriously, take your straw man and burn him. He failed you. You sound like a complete fool. Quit trying to speak for an entire nation you obviously know very little about. This country goes apeshit over the Olympics BECAUSE we're competing with the rest of the world (and we seem to hold our own quite well, wouldn't you say?). Why is it so hard for some of you blockheads to accept that soccer isn't popular here simply because we don't like the game itself? Instead of telling us Americans why we don't like soccer, how about you shut the hell up for two seconds and LISTEN to us Americans tell you why we don't like soccer. It's already been said, but let me reiterate:

• It's not a thinking-man's game. The level of strategy in soccer pales in comparison to that of football, baseball, and hockey.
• It's uneventful. Oftentimes you have teams playing to tie, and that's just not fun to watch. Baseball has been declining in popularity in the US for similar reasons.
• The game is as much about drawing penalties as scoring goals. Sorry, but the American viewership would rather see 22 men colliding on the football field rather than pretending to be tripped on the soccer field.

Quit trying to invent a bunch of nonsensical reasons that serve no other purpose than to disingenuously insult an entire country. There's no foundation for the idiotic claims being levied here. Give it up. Americans just don't like the sport. It has nothing to do with one country's superiority or inferiority, and claims/inferences to the contrary are nothing more than bigotry.

 

[AMDZen]

forget the world cup, give it another chance and start watching the EPL when it starts up again this fall. If you get Fox Soccer channel they show 2-4 games every weekend and there is no stupid horn noise, ESPN2 also randomly has the bigger matches on as well as the champions league

Sorry but even though they are 10x worse and 10x more obnoxious with these damn things there in South Africa, I can recall the world cup last time (2 years right?) having the same damn horns on the TV. Except instead of a constant droning sound like it is now, it was a more sporadic blasting of the horns in the crowd.

The fans ruin the game as much as the boring lack of action.

 

[KeithTalent]

Please elaborate. As I said, I would bet that an NFL cornerback is more than likely faster than a pro soccer player. I'm referring to averages, of course. I might be wrong, but then again, I might not be.

The soccer defenders calling NFL players "fat" are the ones talking out of their asses. Some guy actually said an NFL cornerback was fat. Seriously?

For the first point I actually doubt that is the case, but even it was true, that is what, maybe 1% of the NFL versus the multitudes of Soccer players?

Calling an NFL CB fat is absurd; overal fitness of all professional Soccer players (from the major leagues) is probably better when compared to the overall fitness of all NFL players, but a different skill set is required, so it's not really a fair comparison.

Saying Soccer is too simple is a silly argument though. It is more reactionary, but you need to react very quickly and predict how things are going to play out. The precision passing is amazing, as are the quick turns in tight space to make things happen. To call something simple just because they use less equipment is pretty ridiculous.

I'm a fan of both sports though, so I can see the merits for both.

KT

 

[AMDZen]

• It's not a thinking-man's game. The level of strategy in soccer pales in comparison to that of football, baseball, and hockey.
• It's uneventful. Oftentimes you have teams playing to tie, and that's just not fun to watch. Baseball has been declining in popularity in the US for similar reasons.
• The game is as much about drawing penalties as scoring goals. Sorry, but the American viewership would rather see 22 men colliding on the football field rather than pretending to be tripped on the soccer field.

Don't forget:

Nonsensical time keeping - why can't we just count down so we know WTF is going on or how much time is left? If there are "penatly minutes" or Whatever the fuck is going on how about stop the clock so we know WTF is going on and how much time is left?

 

[Marinski]

Its gotta be about the money.

 

[Anubis]

Sorry but even though they are 10x worse and 10x more obnoxious with these damn things there in South Africa, I can recall the world cup last time (2 years right?) having the same damn horns on the TV. Except instead of a constant droning sound like it is now, it was a more sporadic blasting of the horns in the crowd.

The fans ruin the game as much as the boring lack of action.

WC is every 4 years, same as the Euro champs but they are offset by 2 years
and there was no constant annoying buzz in the euros in 2008

 

[AMDZen]

WC is every 4 years, same as the Euro champs but they are offset by 2 years
and there was no constant annoying buzz in the euros in 2008

I specifically said it wasn't a constant buzz, but the horns were there and they were still annoying.