The US and soccer

[RichardNixon]

Why do you think soccer is not big in the US? I'm not talking about High School kids, because there have always been teams, but why don't people in the US go nuts for soccer the way they do for hockey, baseball, football, and basketball? If you are in a bar in the US, one thing you will never see is a buch of drunks going ape-shit over soccer.

[Voodoochild]

Cultural thing, I guess? They already have their favourite sports...

[Pinball Wizard]

Because americans are crazy...that's why!! They rather see a stupid baseball game to see a soccer game!


I'm kidding!!!


I'm with voodoo...it's a cultural thing! If an american come to Brazil, all he is gonna see on sports shows is soccer, soccer, soccer, a little bit of volley and formula 1, and more soccer and more soccer!!! It sucks!! I don't like soccer, except on World cups because it has 4 years of break between one cup and another!!

[RichardNixon]

Cultural thing, I guess? They already have their favourite sports...

But why is that? Soccer is just as exciting, more so than many sports popular in the US.

[Evolution]

Cultural thing, I guess? They already have their favourite sports...

But why is that? Soccer is just as exciting, more so than many sports popular in the US.

It's all diving and acting now!

[Genesis]

All their popular games were invented in U.S itself - Basketball, Baseball... Weird.

[2NaFish]

Soccer is not big in the states for the very simple reason that it is not shown on TV. Once an advertising deal is struck that allows for the whole game to be shown (without advert breaks during the actual game) it will become huge. Couple that with the ever improving national team and i predict soccer will be as big as any other sport in the US within 25 years.

[Pinball Wizard]

Soccer is not big in the states for the very simple reason that it is not shown on TV. Once an advertising deal is struck that allows for the whole game to be shown (without advert breaks during the actual game) it will become huge. Couple that with the ever improving national team and i predict soccer will be as big as any other sport in the US within 25 years.

You couldn't be more right about that!

[Jamie]

I think it could be a geographical thing, and perhaps a patriotic thing too, and could also be historical!! Geographical: The US, are quite a distance away from Europe, where soccer is most popular, so in the past (when communication wasn't as developed as it is now) they maybe didn't have the sort of access required to Europe and to a lesser extent South America, to really build a love for the game. Patriotic: This is a bit of a stereotype, I know, but the Americans are largely a patriotic nation and are more partial to their own sports i.e Baseball, Basketball etc. Historical: This one's quite simple, the US wouldn't have even of been an established nation when the game was invented!!

[Pinball Wizard]

Brazil is also a lot far from Europe and it's the most popular sport here. Japan is also pretty far from europe and soccer is a fever there.

Brazil wasn't barely a country too when the game was invented and, either way is the most popular thing here, just so you know, we are going trought a very difficult time here in Brazil, specially with our politics...they a stealing a lot of money from us and this shit just get more smelly every single day...but no one go to streets to show what's going on on their minds...but people do go to the streets to celebrate a championship won by a team or just to trhow stones on the visitand bus while they are arriving the stadiums...

I meant, people here in Brazil cares more with Soccer then life itself!

And it isn't a brazilian game, the place where it was invented is sooo far away from us and when it was invented we weren't a country(actually, I still think we are not!!).

I still think is because of what 2NaFish said.

[sandman]

soccer will never be huge in the U.S. it is shown on TV all the time. but no one watches. and no one talks about it.   

it's primarily cultural. there's major history behind sports, and around the world people are born and raised on soccer. in the U.S., it's baseball and football.

baseball is known as "america's pastime". nothing can replace that. people have grown up watching sports with their families, and the landscape of sports is set. it is difficult to penetrate that market with something new.

and in alot of people's opinion, soccer is a boring sport to watch. i love soccer and played my whole life, and i would be thrilled to see it catch on here in the states. but even i have to admit that other sports are much more exciting.

[sandman]

although soccer is not popular in the states, there are tons of bars with people watching games and going ape shit on a regular basis. certain bars all over the country show games from europe. those places are packed - frequently around 7 or 8 in the morning - with die hard soccer fans.

and during the world cup, tons of regular bars will be packed. and if the U.S. wins some games, it will be nuts. i watched most games in 2002 from a bar with a bunch of friends. and it was always packed. the germany game was insane and it was around a 7am start on a weekday.

in 2006, the games will be on in the afternoon U.S. time, so even more people will watch.

[Voodoochild]

but even i have to admit that other sports are much more exciting.

Baseball and Football are not that exciting, and the matches could last forever.

BTW, the real football is what north-americans calls soccer.

[Izzy]

I hope America never, ever likes football

With all their idiot billionaires they'd buy every decent player and suck Europe's leagues dry

They can have their fuckin' awful basketball and we'll keep the football

[Pinball Wizard]

Look at this and tell me: isn't he great?!?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1483670761495213547

[Voodoochild]

I hope America never, ever likes football

With all their idiot billionaires they'd buy every decent player and suck Europe's leagues dry

Wrong. There's A LOT of brazilians players in Europe but we still have a kick ass national league (I mean, speaking about quality of players).

All USA would do is to take off the foreign players from the european leagues.

[jameslofton29]

Soccer is not big in the states for the very simple reason that it is not shown on TV. Once an advertising deal is struck that allows for the whole game to be shown (without advert breaks during the actual game) it will become huge. Couple that with the ever improving national team and i predict soccer will be as big as any other sport in the US within 25 years.

Bullshit. The reason americans dont watch soccer is because it sucks. The games are too long, and there's not enough action. People dont understand the rules because its never been a major sport here. No one wants to watch a 1-0 score that takes 4 hours. Soccer had its one chance at success in america in 1999 during the womens world cup. Millions watched it, and everyone thought it was the next major sport. They even got their own soccer league, which went broke in about a year. People didn't seem to realize that we were only watching to see hot pieces of ass kick a ball around. When that novelty wore off(quickly), no one gave a shit anymore. It could possibly get popular again(womens soccer). Hell will freeze over before mens soccer is popular in the U.S.

[Voodoochild]

Bullshit. The reason americans dont watch soccer is because it sucks. The games are too long, and there's not enough action. People dont understand the rules because its never been a major sport here. No one wants to watch a 1-0 score that takes 4 hours.

Hahahahaha
Dude, you don't know what are you talkin about.
Yeah, 4 hours... 

And it sucks, right. The rest of the world likes this game because it sucks.

[-Jack-]

Actually.. I think soccer is gaining popularity in the U.S....

The teams are getting better.. the MLS is getting bigger (i love the fucking home depot center!)... basically the core u.s soccer fan base is growing. the AYSO (youth soccer in america) is the fastest growing youth league.. and you'd figure that at least SOME of those kids would get hooked on soccer (its how it happened to me..)...

In 25 years I think we'll be surprised how soccer stands in the U.S.

[jameslofton29]

Actually.. I think soccer is gaining popularity in the U.S....

The teams are getting better.. the MLS is getting bigger (i love the fucking home depot center!)... basically the core u.s soccer fan base is growing. the AYSO (youth soccer in america) is the fastest growing youth league.. and you'd figure that at least SOME of those kids would get hooked on soccer (its how it happened to me..)...

In 25 years I think we'll be surprised how soccer stands in the U.S.

Apparently you didn't let my previous post sink in. Let me say it a different way: Elementary school kids seem to enjoy soccer, and shitloads of kids that age join soccer teams. 5-10 years later, they consider the sport irrelevant. If soccer is ever gonna go mainstream, they're gonna have to figure out what happens to the young athlete's mindset and feelings for the game in that 5-10 year timeframe.