Dear american football...

[SU2NASA]

that game yesterday had some pretty ugly concussions. and FIFA makes the NFL look ahead of its time in evaluating them. and i think soccer concussions are overstated by some people. but that game didn't help. that wasn't a great advertisement for the safety of soccer

I wish soccer would do something about all of those snipers taking out innocent players.

 

[Pyle]

because they're rare. when baseball stopped scoring runs in the 1960s they did something about it (lowered the mound, strike zone, eventually let guys take horse pills, ok that last part wasn't so smart)

Exactly. Sometimes a 10-7 game in football is exciting too if there are alot of turnovers, sacks, etc. But the game wouldn't survive if it lived on that philosophy. Same with baseball, the expectation isn't a no hitter or a perfect game so when it happens it's like HOLY CRAP! Do you think anyone watching in min 103 was like OMG I didn't see this coming! Quite the opposite, The over-under for the game was 2.

 

[Pyle]

Also Seattle v Portland last night out drew some NHL Playoff games this year...but whatever...no reason to get worked up about it. We'll see where it goes from here.

Does not surprise me. I said I like Hockey better but never said it had good ratings. There's a reason ESPN dropped it completely and it went to VS. and then NBC Sports. NBC? What sports do they really get? Tour De France? Nascar? Soccer...I mean uh...

 

[djcon57]

Does not surprise me. I said I like Hockey better but never said it had good ratings. There's a reason ESPN dropped it completely and it went to VS. and then NBC Sports. NBC? What sports do they really get? Tour De France? Nascar? Soccer...I mean uh...

Ok? :noidea:

 

[nzm136]

I'd be a bit worried if I were you. This wasn't some "oh, how cute a soccer game is on" moment for the american sports fan. This was a "holy cow, this is freaking great" tournament.

Add this to the concussion issue and I think there's legit reason for concern.

Some 10 year old future Bo Jackson might choose soccer with a nudge from mom and dad.

In America, "American football" is called "football."

 

[rrlbees]

Exactly. Sometimes a 10-7 game in football is exciting too if there are alot of turnovers, sacks, etc. But the game wouldn't survive if it lived on that philosophy. Same with baseball, the expectation isn't a no hitter or a perfect game so when it happens it's like HOLY CRAP! Do you think anyone watching in min 103 was like OMG I didn't see this coming! Quite the opposite, The over-under for the game was 2.

And again, why is 1-0 bad?

 

[jekelish]

that game yesterday had some pretty ugly concussions. and FIFA makes the NFL look ahead of its time in evaluating them. and i think soccer concussions are overstated by some people. but that game didn't help. that wasn't a great advertisement for the safety of soccer

You're right. At the college where I work, we had higher concussion numbers last year in soccer than in football.

 

[Millhouse]

And again, why is 1-0 bad?

it's not bad when it's rare.

if golf was scored only by holes in one, unless orangeyes was getting one every round, it'd be pretty boring. even though it happens, it's pretty rare.

the competition between defense and offense is better when the offense has a little success once in a while.

messi is a magician and argentina stopped scoring. the best offensive player ever should be able to score. otherwise what's the point.

 

[Pyle]

Ok? :noidea:

I guess my point was I know Hockey's place. It's bottom of the barrel in popularity, I won't argue otherwise. The other part was a joke that no real sport ends up on NBC.

 

[jekelish]

I guess my point was I know Hockey's place. It's bottom of the barrel in popularity, I won't argue otherwise. The other part was a joke that no real sport ends up on NBC.

Except for the NFL on Sunday nights of course, right?

 

[Pyle]

And again, why is 1-0 bad?

Because it's the norm, standard OP, modus operandi, etc, etc. You wait 2 hours for 1 score. Again just not my thing, to those who enjoy it have fun. I love my hockey but gave up a long time ago trying to convince others that it's one of the fastest games on the planet. Some shots generate speeds up to 100mph. The guys are on skates. Goals are scored on average every 11 min. It's a very fast moving game, but alot of people still don't like it. I don't like watching a game for 110 min without a score.

 

[Pyle]

Except for the NFL on Sunday nights of course, right?

As I highlighted before...it was a joke. AS in not meant to bear any actual truth. NBC also gets the Olympics so I know they get real sports. Just having some fun. The part about ESPN dropping hockey was not a joke. It was a bit of an eye-opener, NHL has a dedicated fan base with very very little expansion into that casual fan base many other sports enjoy, including Soccer. I wouldn't be surprised at all if MLS does surpass hockey in the next decade. I don't think it comes close to catching the big 3 though.

 

[jekelish]

As I highlighted before...it was a joke. AS in not meant to bear any actual truth. NBC also gets the Olympics so I know they get real sports. Just having some fun. The part about ESPN dropping hockey was not a joke. It was a bit of an eye-opener, NHL has a dedicated fan base with very very little expansion into that casual fan base many other sports enjoy, including Soccer. I wouldn't be surprised at all if MLS does surpass hockey in the next decade. I don't think it comes close to catching the big 3 though.

I think it's closer to baseball than people realize, but you're right, it's not coming close to football or basketball anytime soon. And the reason I mention that about baseball is based on some conversations on Mike and Mike this morning. They were talking to Tony Clark, who, as the head of the MLBPA, called baseball a "regional sport" and that stance floored Greenberg. They also talked at length about how, back in the day, the most famous athletes in America were all baseball players. Now, it's football and basketball, and baseball players who become true household names and superstars are becoming more and more rare.

Look at some recent national polls...ESPN recently conducted one about the most popular athletes in America, and while I can't find a direct link to the poll I found this: http://nesn.com/2014/06/espn-poll-tom-brady-nations-5th-favorite-athlete-peyton-manning-2nd-photo/ ...which shows that the only baseball player more popular than Lionel Messi in America is Derek Jeter. The same poll shows that international soccer (not MLS) is more popular in the US than college hoops, NASCAR, and the NHL. That one surprises me a bit.

This also shows that MLS is as popular with 12-17 year olds as MLB, the first time that's ever been the case: http://www.espnfc.com/major-league-...hes-mlb-in-popularity-with-kidssays-espn-poll

 

[DeGrozz]

going from 1 subscriber to 4 is a 300% increase. Sorry, but the percentage increase doesn't tell you much unless you know the numbers that support it. Working in financial data every day, there are time where 300% +/- means nothing, while a 5% +/- means a hell of a lot.

You're right, I bet you it's a three subscriber increase.

As someone that "works in financial data every day", I'm surprised you wouldn't consider a 300% subscription increase in what is essentially a growth product "doesn't tell you much".

I get that it doesn't tell you if the league when from 800 to 3,200 subscribers; 3,000 to 12,00, or 40,000 to 160,000 (MLS doesn't release exact subscription numbers, per the article), but for a business whose focus is expanding market share, it's a pretty positive sign.

 

[texascpa]

You're right, I bet you it's a three subscriber increase.

As someone that "works in financial data every day", I'm surprised you wouldn't consider a 300% subscription increase in what is essentially a growth product "doesn't tell you much".

I get that it doesn't tell you if the league when from 800 to 3,200 subscribers; 3,000 to 12,00, or 40,000 to 160,000 (MLS doesn't release exact subscription numbers, per the article), but for a business whose focus is expanding market share, it's a pretty positive sign.

You know what I mean. I used an exaggeration to make a point. Sometimes, percentages don't tell the real picture. You also know that a one-time +/- is not a trend. Let's see what it does over the next couple years. If it continues to increase year over year, then, yeah, I'd say it's a pretty positive sign. But, it falls way off next year, then it was a one-time interest blip.

 

[Millhouse]

NFL has TDs 38% of possessions
Baseball has .46 runs per inning
NBA average ORTG (points per possession 1.067) divided by 3 (ignoring 4 pt plays, 3 pter is the best you can do - not perfect) = 36%

Hockey and soccer are just different. but however you want to define a possession, the offense fails so much more.

i don't think it's an accident that the three most popular sports have offense succeeding between 36% and 46%.

this is just crude quick google searching

 

[SU2NASA]

And again, why is 1-0 bad?

Because way too many games end 1-0 and 0-0.

And some of those 1-0's take a free throw shooting contest to even get that.

 

[xc84]

Because way too many games end 1-0 and 0-0.

And some of those 1-0's take a free throw shooting contest to even get that.

You are just a dumb American and don't realize how exciting that is.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I think it's closer to baseball than people realize, but you're right, it's not coming close to football or basketball anytime soon. And the reason I mention that about baseball is based on some conversations on Mike and Mike this morning. They were talking to Tony Clark, who, as the head of the MLBPA, called baseball a "regional sport" and that stance floored Greenberg. They also talked at length about how, back in the day, the most famous athletes in America were all baseball players. Now, it's football and basketball, and baseball players who become true household names and superstars are becoming more and more rare.

Look at some recent national polls...ESPN recently conducted one about the most popular athletes in America, and while I can't find a direct link to the poll I found this: http://nesn.com/2014/06/espn-poll-tom-brady-nations-5th-favorite-athlete-peyton-manning-2nd-photo/ ...which shows that the only baseball player more popular than Lionel Messi in America is Derek Jeter. The same poll shows that international soccer (not MLS) is more popular in the US than college hoops, NASCAR, and the NHL. That one surprises me a bit.

This also shows that MLS is as popular with 12-17 year olds as MLB, the first time that's ever been the case: http://www.espnfc.com/major-league-...hes-mlb-in-popularity-with-kidssays-espn-poll

Unless you have kids involved, I don't think people understand how huge youth soccer is, for both boys and girls. The explosion for soccer viewing will be when the next generation (my kids) have kids who are also playing soccer. They will watch that together, over football, which a very boring tv sport.

 

[billsin01]

because they're rare. when baseball stopped scoring runs in the 1960s they did something about it (lowered the mound, strike zone, eventually let guys take horse pills, ok that last part wasn't so smart)

Really? I enjoyed the steroid era.

 

[suloyalfan]

Doesn't soccer have its own concussion issues?

No, they ignored it in the World Cup... they don't pull players out if they suspect a concussion because they only get 3 subs for the entire game. In one of the games the player got kneed in the head and blacked out... after a couple minutes he got up and kept playing... he talked about having concussion symptoms after the game, but stayed in anyway.

The rules about substitution make things interesting and strategic, but apparently they don't have the same rules and/or concern about players suffering head injuries as american football has started addressing in the recent years.

 

[xc84]

Unless you have kids involved, I don't think people understand how huge youth soccer is, for both boys and girls. The explosion for soccer viewing will be when the next generation (my kids) have kids who are also playing soccer. They will watch that together, over football, which a very boring tv sport.

SportsMediaWatch.com has compiled a list of the 50 most watched sporting events in 2013 and 46 (92%) of the events are NFL games including a whopping 35 regular season games.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/nfl-tv-ratings-2014-1#ixzz37XBC3j5z

 

[Upstate]

American Football isn't going anywhere, and I really love it and become absolutely obsessed with SU throughout the season, but I'd personally love it if soccer was mentioned in the same breath as the NBA in time. The more growth it has in the States, the better the players become and the more we can consistently beat the crap out of everyone else, people love a winner. The USMNT is still a top-12 to 15 national team, and it probably won't take much to jump into that top 10 at the rate things are going.

 

[Millhouse]

Unless you have kids involved, I don't think people understand how huge youth soccer is, for both boys and girls. The explosion for soccer viewing will be when the next generation (my kids) have kids who are also playing soccer. They will watch that together, over football, which a very boring tv sport.

can you please give the other side a little bit of credit. kids playing soccer is nothing new. plenty of people who don't think soccer will be as popular here go watch their kids play all the time. some of those people who disagree with you were youth soccer players themselves.

 

[cuseinchina]

What I found to be very interesting, if totally anecdotal and there for not that meaningful, so many of my friends in their 30's and 4o's continued to watch the world cup all the way through even after the Americans were out. They were leaving work early and taking the kids out of summer camp to watch these matches. They were asking questions about the game, they knew some of the history of some of the players on most of the teams, they were engaged supporting one side of the other with fervor. This is not 20-something Hispanic people who we know are driving a lot of the growth - this is people who weren't watching the world cup the last time around. In our town on the coast of Maine, which swells with tourists in the summer, all five bars opened early for the world cup games after US elimination and had specials etc. For the final, the bar we were in was packed to capacity by 2 pm with people locally and visitors from around the country taking time out of their vacation on what was a near perfect summer day. I don't think that place has ever been packed to capacity. The interest level is just very different this time around.