Dear american football...

[xc84]

I'm done. We can revive this again in 4 years.

 

[jekelish]

I'm done. We can revive this again in 4 years.

Darn. You were adding so much to the intelligent discussion on display in this thread.

 

[djcon57]

I think at the end you cut right to the heart of it. At the end of the day, ESPN is going to dictate what is and isn't a popular sport more than any other factor.

Agreed...and ESPN just paid 45 mil a year for MLS

Granted they are going to lose World Cup, but I wouldn't be shocked if they go after EPL after seeing how well NBC Sports did with it.

 

[Guinness]

Agreed...and ESPN just paid 45 mil a year for MLS

Granted they are going to lose World Cup, but I wouldn't be shocked if they go after EPL after seeing how well NBC Sports did with it.

Do you know if MLS is commercial free like the WC was? I ask because as a sports viewer in general that is a huge freaking selling point.

 

[jekelish]

Do you know if MLS is commercial free like the WC was? I ask because as a sports viewer in general that is a huge freaking selling point.

Yes it is.

Also, ESPN can't go after EPL can it? (Not in response to you, but I'm on an iPad and don't wanna do multiple quotes)

NBC just signed a $250m deal for EPL last fall. Now, ESPN could certainly go after Bundesliga or La Liga, of course.

 

[Millhouse]

he managed to make me smirk once or twice which is a good acoomplishment for him

 

[Millhouse]

Yes it is.

Also, ESPN can't go after EPL can it? (Not in response to you, but I'm on an iPad and don't wanna do multiple quotes)

NBC just signed a $250m deal for EPL last fall. Now, ESPN could certainly go after Bundesliga or La Liga, of course.

nbc has no programming. what is espn going to boot for bayern hasselhoff vs bayern rammstein

 

[texascpa]

Also - because I'm always curious to see what international fans think of the USMNT I was on a Manchester City board earlier, and there is a 5 page thread legitimately debating how quickly MLS will catch up to the European leagues, and hardly a snide comment to be found. Many of them legitimately think MLS is going to pull even eventually.

These are the fans of the team that won EPL last season.

What was the reasoning? Money? Popularity? Media?

 

[Upstate]

OK -- that's great. We got hammered by Belgium. It ended up close by some act of God but we got completely destroyed. It's OK and I'm not knocking soccer but the amount of growth needed to be a real threat remains massive.

Then explain how we completely destroyed Portugal?

 

[OttoMets]

I am a Philadelphia Union season ticket holder.

The soccer stadium is great.

The place sells out.

The game is fun to watch and lasts two hours - no need to spend the entire day at a sporting event.

This is underrated.

Baseball's handling of the time concern has been a disgrace; this is probably the #1 reason I now watch 40 baseball games a summer instead of 120 (the #1b reason is that I root for the Mets).

College sports aren't much better; television timeouts have hurt my enjoyment of football games, and the NCAA, in classic fashion, has effectively changed the rules of the game in prostituting itself for more hoops money in exchange for giving 20-minute halftimes and longer timeouts during tournament games.

Soccer's the big winner here. I hope they stay strict about this.

 

[TheCusian]

Favorite part of the thread: "More people watching does not equal more participation."

There is no way that's true.

If you want to say this: "more people watching does not equal more participation from elite athletes."

Okay, maybe.

 

[jekelish]

nbc has no programming. what is espn going to boot for bayern hasselhoff vs bayern rammstein

Bundesliga is Saturday mornings. Have you seen ESPN Saturday morning programming outside of college football and basketball season?

 

[Millhouse]

Favorite part of the thread: "More people watching does not equal more participation."

There is no way that's true.

If you want to say this: "more people watching does not equal more participation from elite athletes."

Okay, maybe.

what post are you quoting there?

 

[jekelish]

What was the reasoning? Money? Popularity? Media?

Standard of living and what they expect to be rising salaries. Similar to what I heard a few people saying on ESPN a few days ago, players would love to live and raise their kids in America. It's really that simple, apparently.

 

[Millhouse]

Bundesliga is Saturday mornings. Have you seen ESPN Saturday morning programming outside of college football and basketball season?

but that's when the bundesliga plays

i don't know this but i'm guessing corso putting on fuzzy heads is cheaper and gets better ratings.

 

[Millhouse]

Standard of living and what they expect to be rising salaries. Similar to what I heard a few people saying on ESPN a few days ago, players would love to live and raise their kids in America. It's really that simple, apparently.

but that's what they can do in their 30s when they're all washed up.

soccer stars are idiots if they're getting married with kids in their twenties. it should be 10 years of models and hookers and hookermodels. i suppose there are hookers and models here but they're still better off in europe where they're gods

 

[Scooch]

Favorite part of the thread: "More people watching does not equal more participation."

There is no way that's true.

If you want to say this: "more people watching does not equal more participation from elite athletes."

Okay, maybe.

If you're going to mock quotes you should at least not get them entirely wrong.

The point is that more or less kids playing a sport does not necessarily lead to more or less adults watching a sport on television.

 

[Pyle]

Ok I actually read all 10 pages. I'm not going to pick on any one individual but am going to address some points that were brought up that I find ridiculous or at least need to be dealt with.

1. FIFA video games are popular so soccer will be popular. No way. Call of Duty is massively popular by gamers, doesn't mean the Marines are recruiting any better than they did 10 years ago. Know what else is popular? Forza and Gran Turismo however I don't see Rally racing catching on with today's youth. Just because a video game is fun doesn't mean the actual real life activity is gaining popularity. This argument is ridiculous.

2. Viewership. It was a National Team competing in an Olympic type atmosphere against the world as huge underdogs. Nuff said. Report back to me how the semi-finals do now that we're out.

3. Kids popularity. Youth sports mean nothing. Kids also like skateboarding, bubble yum, Yu-Gi-Oh(?), Disney singers, and the midway at the state fair. Tell me how many of those kids will be doing any of those activities as adults.

4. Commercials. Somebody said the lack of commercials is a positive but it's not. Sorry I like bathroom breaks and a chance to grab some chips and a beer. Part of the SuperBowl's popularity IS the commercials.

5. Vs other sports. Americans LOVE football, that won't change. The NBA is a poor comparison, college BB is far more popular. NBA is a bit boring. MLB killed itself with steroid scandals. NHL won't lose anything to soccer. Fans of a sport that moves 5x as fast and includes pads, hitting, fighting, and razor sharp blades will not suddenly embrace such a slow sport, doomed by no offense, and constant flopping. And the talent in the NHL won't be touched by soccer's alleged growing popularity, mainly because 1/2 the NHL is either from Canada or Europe anyway.

Oh yeah it doesn't help either when the sport's biggest star is kept off the American team. Before you soccer lovers chastise me, understand that I tried to watch. I found it ridiculously boring. If not for the players wearing the US emblem I wouldn't bother. All I saw was alot of back and forth passing, and the defense kicking the ball back to the goalie so he would boot it 2/3 the length of the field so that the other team could grab the ball, pass it back to their goaltender so he could do it the other way. I put Soccer's TV viewability right up there with Golf, Marathon's, and Nascar. Yes they all have their fans but are INCREDIBLY boring on TV.

If you like soccer great, enjoy it, I like Aussie rules football. But please stop pretending that is is overtaking the US. Compared to the rest of the world, soccer is about as popular here as the dorky kid at a junior high dance.
As a father of a multi-sport kid, here are the sports watchability ratings: Basketball, Baseball(but i coach so i'm invested), Lacrosse(they aren't good enough yet so lots of ball scrums and bad defense), soccer. I'm not saying it to be an ***. Watching soccer games on Sat mornings is horrible. I usually spend the time reading SU gameday stuff on my phone since we usually leave soccer to go tailgate. Maybe that's why it's so horrible, because I know what comes after. FOOTBALL BABY!!!!!

 

[jekelish]

but that's when the bundesliga plays

i don't know this but i'm guessing corso putting on fuzzy heads is cheaper and gets better ratings.

But are the games not like 8AM in the US? Throw it on ESPN2 like we do with EPL.

 

[djcon57]

The NBA is a poor comparison, college BB is far more popular.

Didn't finish rest of post because this isn't true.

 

[shandeezy7]

So because it's big for a couple of weekends in March makes it a national sport. Got it.

Horse Racing is a national sport too when the triple crown comes around.

Daytona? Indy 500? Yeah. People like picking brackets, but CBB is simply not discussed on a national level outside of that one month.

CBB's final four ratings are lower and lower every year

I disagree with that. College basketball is absolutely discussed on a national level outside of March. Definitely moreso than soccer. Sure it gets overshadowed by NFL and college football, but that's just how things go.

 

[jekelish]

Ok I actually read all 10 pages. I'm not going to pick on any one individual but am going to address some points that were brought up that I find ridiculous or at least need to be dealt with.

1. FIFA video games are popular so soccer will be popular. No way. Call of Duty is massively popular by gamers, doesn't mean the Marines are recruiting any better than they did 10 years ago. Know what else is popular? Forza and Gran Turismo however I don't see Rally racing catching on with today's youth. Just because a video game is fun doesn't mean the actual real life activity is gaining popularity. This argument is ridiculous.

2. Viewership. It was a National Team competing in an Olympic type atmosphere against the world as huge underdogs. Nuff said. Report back to me how the semi-finals do now that we're out.

3. Kids popularity. Youth sports mean nothing. Kids also like skateboarding, bubble yum, Yu-Gi-Oh(?), Disney singers, and the midway at the state fair. Tell me how many of those kids will be doing any of those activities as adults.

4. Commercials. Somebody said the lack of commercials is a positive but it's not. Sorry I like bathroom breaks and a chance to grab some chips and a beer. Part of the SuperBowl's popularity IS the commercials.

5. Vs other sports. Americans LOVE football, that won't change. The NBA is a poor comparison, college BB is far more popular. NBA is a bit boring. MLB killed itself with steroid scandals. NHL won't lose anything to soccer. Fans of a sport that moves 5x as fast and includes pads, hitting, fighting, and razor sharp blades will not suddenly embrace such a slow sport, doomed by no offense, and constant flopping. And the talent in the NHL won't be touched by soccer's alleged growing popularity, mainly because 1/2 the NHL is either from Canada or Europe anyway.

Oh yeah it doesn't help either when the sport's biggest star is kept off the American team. Before you soccer lovers chastise me, understand that I tried to watch. I found it ridiculously boring. If not for the players wearing the US emblem I wouldn't bother. All I saw was alot of back and forth passing, and the defense kicking the ball back to the goalie so he would boot it 2/3 the length of the field so that the other team could grab the ball, pass it back to their goaltender so he could do it the other way. I put Soccer's TV viewability right up there with Golf, Marathon's, and Nascar. Yes they all have their fans but are INCREDIBLY boring on TV.

If you like soccer great, enjoy it, I like Aussie rules football. But please stop pretending that is is overtaking the US. Compared to the rest of the world, soccer is about as popular here as the dorky kid at a junior high dance.
As a father of a multi-sport kid, here are the sports watchability ratings: Basketball, Baseball(but i coach so i'm invested), Lacrosse(they aren't good enough yet so lots of ball scrums and bad defense), soccer. I'm not saying it to be an ***. Watching soccer games on Sat mornings is horrible. I usually spend the time reading SU gameday stuff on my phone since we usually leave soccer to go tailgate. Maybe that's why it's so horrible, because I know what comes after. FOOTBALL BABY!!!!!

Thank god you came along to let us know your opinion is fact. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[ImperialOrange]

Also - because I'm always curious to see what international fans think of the USMNT I was on a Manchester City board earlier, and there is a 5 page thread legitimately debating how quickly MLS will catch up to the European leagues, and hardly a snide comment to be found. Many of them legitimately think MLS is going to pull even eventually.

These are the fans of the team that won EPL last season.

I was reading comments on a liverpool board in regards to our new signings and random convos about DeAndre Yedlin popped up.

 

[billsin01]

Then explain how we completely destroyed Portugal?

You mean the portugal team that lost 4-0 to Germany?

 

[Millhouse]

But are the games not like 8AM in the US? Throw it on ESPN2 like we do with EPL.

but soccer fans already watch the EPL

there are only so many foreign leagues that anyone is going to watch. probably better off with some cheap counterprogramming on espn2 like fishing or kiana tom's bolt-ons or whatever else they put on