Why isn't Soccer popular in America?

[Straight Shooter]

I get to watch the Toronto/Houston MLS match on ESPN and all you pussies can eat a dick. :thefinger

I might catch some of that game since I'm still on a soccer buzz and I need something to hold me until La Liga and the EPL season's start up.

 

[roronoa3000]

NFL cant start fast enough.

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

And the stadium is PACKED. So fuck all the naysayers. :thefinger

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

And the stadium is PACKED. So fuck all the naysayers. :thefinger

A. The game is in Canada, which is not in America, so you can't use it to say soccer is popular in the States.
B. Toronto is about 50% foreign born, so of course the stadium is packed.
C. Most non-immigrants who go to Toronto FC games just go because it is an excuse to party and get drunk.

So... :tongue:

 

[tunsty]

Why isn't Soccer popular in America?

Actually they were VERY interested at first..
Then FIFA pointed out that shooting the ball into the net, didn't require a gun of any kind and the linesmen had nothing to do with snorting heroin.

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

And the stadium is PACKED. So fuck all the naysayers. :thefinger

So your watching soccer while I'm watching your Twins and the MLB network. :dunno:

 

[Straight Shooter]

Soccer may not be one of the top sports here in the states but I don't think you can say that Americans don't care about soccer. Tell that to the 14.9 million people who watched the USA-Ghana game, which is the same number that Fox averaged over the six prime-time games for last years World Series.

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

Soccer may not be one of the top sports here in the states but I don't think you can say that Americans don't care about soccer. Tell that to the 14.9 million people who watched the USA-Ghana game, which is the same number that Fox averaged over the six prime-time games for last years World Series.

But like I've said, that rating probably has more to do with the fact it is the national team playing. Something like twenty-seven million Americans watched the Olympic hockey final. If the American team does good, people will watch. :2 cents:

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

But like I've said, that rating probably has more to do with the fact it is the national team playing. Something like twenty-seven million Americans watched the Olympic hockey final. If the American team does good, people will watch. :2 cents:

I've already said that to him at least 10 times but he wont listen. Ya gotta admire his love and persistence for the game though.

 

[Straight Shooter]

But like I've said, that rating probably has more to do with the fact it is the national team playing. Something like twenty-seven million Americans watched the Olympic hockey final. If the American team does good, people will watch. :2 cents:

That argument keeps coming up but I think its flawed because in 2006 the USA didnt win a game and got knocked out of the group stage yet the 2006 World Cup ratings saw an increase in ratings from the 2002 World Cup, one in which the USA advanced to the quarterfinals. So by looking at the numbers, one can see the TV ratings seem to increase for every World Cup since 2002. This years TV ratings have already outpaced the 2006 World Cup numbers.

 

[smoggy_ste]

For the most part, low scoring games = boring. Think about it, football, basketball and baseball usually have scores in the double digits.

Erm, thats because you get 5 points if you get a touchdown and score the free-kick, it is 5 points yeah? :dunno:

An American football game ending 20-11 is just the same as a an English Football game ending 4-2, which does happen lot in the English Premier League because the league is a high standard, whereas the MLS, which most Americans will watch the score are bound to be low [like 1-0] because the standard of the MLS is very poor.

Of course the game will be high scoring if you get 5 points for a goal :crash:

 

[Straight Shooter]

Erm, thats because you get 5 points if you get a touchdown and score the free-kick, it is 5 points yeah? :dunno:

An American football game ending 20-11 is just the same as a an English Football game ending 4-2, which does happen lot in the English Premier League because the league is a high standard, whereas the MLS, which most Americans will watch the score are bound to be low [like 1-0] because the standard of the MLS is very poor.

Of course the game will be high scoring if you get 5 points for a goal :crash:

Good point. Soccer isnt a low scoring game, it only seems low scoring because a goal is only worth one point unlike a sport like American Football where a score equals seven including the extra point. I don't think most people realize this when they say that soccer is a low scoring game. And continuing what Smoggy said, a 3-2 final in soccer is the same as a 21-14 score in American Football only in soccer the goals count as one point not seven.

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

That argument keeps coming up but I think its flawed because in 2006 the USA didnt win a game and got knocked out of the group stage yet the 2006 World Cup ratings saw an increase in ratings from the 2002 World Cup, one in which the USA advanced to the quarterfinals. So by looking at the numbers, one can see the TV ratings seem to increase for every World Cup since 2002. This years TV ratings have already outpaced the 2006 World Cup numbers.

Likewise, I think the argument about the World Cup is flawed because it isn't comparable to the World Series. People will always come and watch the World Cup, and the audience will keep growing so long as people in the States say things like "We'll be contenders in a few years" or something like that. It would be a little more impressive if the MLS Final actually matched the World Series.

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

Good point. Soccer isnt a low scoring game, it only seems low scoring because a goal is only worth one point unlike a sport like American Football where a score equals seven including the extra point. I don't think most people realize this when they say that soccer is a low scoring game. And continuing what Smoggy said, a 3-2 final in soccer is the same as a 21-14 score in American Football only in soccer the goals count as one point not seven.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the score IMO. In hockey a 1-0 game is more exciting than 7-6 because of all the amazing saves that the goalies have to make (35-40 saves each sometimes). Its lack of scoring chances.

 

[coleman_stoops]

A few theories:

• The scoring is incredibly low. It makes any other sport look like it lights up the scoreboard.
• The rules are arcane and to some extent arbitrary: in no other sport does the referee alone know/determine how much time remains.
• Too many players take a dive to draw penalties on the opposition. Diving is singularly frowned upon in hockey (except in Pittsburgh, where they've raised it to a fine art with the collusion of Gary Bettman and his minions), and soccer players could teach clinics on this dubious tactic.
• Too much of the game seems to be about maneuvering for position, technique, and looking good rather than results.
• Last but not least, part of the anti-soccer feelings are a response to arrogance and condescencion on the part of others. Here's one prime example:

Americans are not smart enough to comprehend the game.

Right. We can comprehend the intricacies of the double switch, the infield fly rule, ineligible receivers downfield, but can't figure out a game where you have to get the ball into a goal without touching it with your hands.

Or this:

Americans are too over-patriotic to care about a sport they dont have created and in wich they ain't the best.

It's now a liability to be patriotic about one's sports? OK, if that's true, tell the French that it's now nekulturny to give a red-hot rat's ass about the Tour de France.

To be sure, there's a surge of attention quadrennially, but soccer will remain like most Olympic sports in that regard.

 

[Straight Shooter]

If by your argument that the people will watch anything in which the American team does well, how come the World Lacrosse Championship doesnt get good ratings despite the USA finishing first or second in the last three Championships?

It shouldn't matter that the World Cup isnt MLS. The fact is that soccer, a sport that is at the bottom of the sporting totem pole in America, is drawing such huge TV ratings is something to marvel at.

 

[BlueBalls]

It's all Icecold322's fault.

You bastard!

 

[Straight Shooter]

It's all Icecold322's fault.

You bastard!

Haha:thefinger

 

[smoggy_ste]

coleman, the scoring isn't low, you just get 1 point for 1 goal, a 3-3 English Football game is the same scoring game than a 21-21 NFL game.

 

[Straight Shooter]

It has absolutely nothing to do with the score IMO. In hockey a 1-0 game is more exciting than 7-6 because of all the amazing saves that the goalies have to make (35-40 saves each sometimes). Its lack of scoring chances.

A lack of scoring chances? Have you watched a soccer game because there is alot of scoring chances in a game. If you saw the USA-Slovenia, the USA could have at least scored three times and had a good amount of scoring chances that they blew. Maybe you are watching MLS, a league that is still growing and in which the talent and level of play aren't on par with some of the more premier leagues like the EPL or La Liga where the level of play is much better.