Dear american football...

[jekelish]

The actual viewership was 18.2 million as the official number per article below.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/world-cup-ratings-usa-portugal-714017

Again, you can't compare it to the WS because nobody cares about the WS unless you are a fan of one or both clubs playing. The WC the entire country gets involved.

My wife is a perfect example, could care less about any sport that does not involve the NFL or our kids. She follows world cup soccer because the roots for the team and her country. After the cup is over you can't pay her to watch a sport unless it's the NFL which she watches every game on TV that she can.

Until of course, 4 years from now the WC is on. This is the average US soccer fan.

In my previous post, the numbers I looked up states that there were 13 million soccer players in the US of all ages and levels. Why are there not at least 13 million people watching each MLS game when they are on?? Hockey ratings are better and there are only 600K registered hockey players and coaches. Why?

That was only the viewership for the ABC broadcast. I said I was including Univision, which was an additional 6 million American households.

 

[Upstate]

And to all in this thread who have the audacity to suggest that the MLS is out-drawing the NBA -- please f-ing stop. Holy cow. Average attendance for 34 games (vs 82) does not equal out-drawing, particularly when tix cost a fraction of nba tix. If you want to argue that the MLS draws well enough to warrant respect as a pro sports league, I'm fine with it. If you want to argue that the nba is awful and bland, fine. But arguing that they out-draw the nba is about as intellectually dishonest as it gets.

Remember when the Sixers were selling tickets for a dime?

 

[IthacaMatt]

gg

No. No sport without stats will ever be popular on the professional level in the United States

There are tons of stats in soccer, trust me. Blocked shots, tackles, aerial duels won, shots, time of possession, passes completed, passes completed in the attacking third, key passes (creating a goal scoring opportunity), fouls, yellow cards, saves, etc. Hopefully you get the drift.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I've hated soccer my whole life. Refused to watch a minute of it, called em all panzies, ect.

I was forced to watch the first game of this years cup (My espnradio feed cut to it, and I said "what the heck, if I have to listen to it, I might as well watch it") and was hooked. US winning a few certainly helped, but even if we had lost every game, and was knocked out last week, I would still be glued to this cup. It's insanely exciting. I was on the edge of my seat for 120 minutes today. No commercial breaks. Anything can happen. Straight awesomeness.

Bring on more Soccer. I need to find an EPL team, and an MLS team.

No commercial breaks is huge from a viewing perspective. It's what makes it unique among sports on TV in America.

 

[xc84]

Remember when the Sixers were selling tickets for a dime?

League
U.S. TV contract revenue (per year)
NBA
$960 million


MLS
$27 million

 

[IthacaMatt]

When does the next TV deal co me up for MLS? It seems like they need some help from both a media and a marketing perspective. you need to get salaries up to convince good players to play here...that takes media money not just ticket sales. I agree the sport is surging and in 20 years it will probably be no. 3 sport...but that timelien could be accelerated by 10 years with some intelligent maneuvering on the tv front.

They just renewed it. They got a 5X increase in rights fees. That's going to improve salaries across the board, which in turn will improve the talent level.

 

[xc84]

No commercial breaks is huge from a viewing perspective. It's what makes it unique among sports on TV in America.

The Queensbury Town Hall meetings on TWC has no commercials either.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I don't believe soccer in this country will ever, ever overtake the popularity of football by any means. But I do imagine that over time it will rank near the popularity of basketball as both a spectator and player sport at the expense of baseball and to a lesser degree, hockey.


So you tuned in today to what? Watch the crowd?

Come on.

It has already passed hockey and the NBA in terms of attendance.

 

[dasher]

There are tons of stats in soccer, trust me. Blocked shots, tackles, aerial duels won, shots, time of possession, passes completed, passes completed in the attacking third, key passes (creating a goal scoring opportunity), fouls, yellow cards, saves, etc. Hopefully you get the drift.

you really think those stats are going to do it for the crazed roto players. Good luck with that.

 

[IthacaMatt]

That's bold. The head injuries in football could easily make it a replaceable sport. Moms don't want their kids playing a game that leaves them mentally impaired in 20 years.

That issue is going to be what eventually brings about the demise of football in the US in maybe 25-50 years. Boxing used to be huge in this country, too, and it's seen as barbaric now. It will start at the youth level, then reach the high schools. If you cut off the feeder system, where are the future pros going to come from?

 

[IthacaMatt]

you really think those stats are going to do it for the crazed roto players. Good luck with that.

There is fantasy soccer already. The ESPN game is lame, but UK sites have a more sophisticated version tapping into those stats.

 

[dasher]

That issue is going to be what eventually brings about the demise of football in the US in maybe 25-50 years. Boxing used to be huge in this country, too, and it's seen as barbaric now. It will start at the youth level, then reach the high schools. If you cut off the feeder system, where are the future pros going to come from?

boxing lost it's appeal for a lot of reasons other than it is barbaric. Look at the popularity of MMA.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Oh God, not the every-four-years pro-soccer idiocy.

At least we won't have to listen to it for another four years.

Rinse and repeat.

EPL broadcasts are getting really big, plus the MLS is getting to the point that it can compete with other summer sports offerings - golf, tennis, baseball? Geez, those are all hideously boring compared to soccer - and NO COMMERCIALS during play.

 

[IthacaMatt]

MLS averages close to 20,000 spectators. That is an impressive number that illustrates the growth of the league and the sport. The "MLS out draws the NBA" nonsense needs to stop however. It is a silly and meaningless statistic. By the same standard, Syracuse football out draws Syracuse basketball. What does it tell you? Nothing.

Soccer is experiencing increased interest and the trend will continue. I think some of the "soccer hate" is a reaction against the soccer fan that cites meaningless stats and makes bold predictions that "soccer will overtake X sport in X years." Why is it so important to soccer fan that everybody like what he/she likes?

On an unrelated note, changing demographics should also help baseball.

Well them, we should discount football attendance because there are only half the games that MLS or EPL play, right?

 

[donniesyracuse]

It has already passed hockey and the NBA in terms of attendance.

Please stop it with that meaningless statistic. There is plenty of real evidence for soccer's growth. You don't need to rely on misleading statistics.

 

[Millhouse]

There are tons of stats in soccer, trust me. Blocked shots, tackles, aerial duels won, shots, time of possession, passes completed, passes completed in the attacking third, key passes (creating a goal scoring opportunity), fouls, yellow cards, saves, etc. Hopefully you get the drift.

stats will improve with tracking technology. same with basketball and hockey. will start measuring things that used to be seen as intangibles.

 

[TheCusian]

There is already 13 (13 million)times more Soccer players in the US than there are HS football players (as of 2/14 1.08 million) why has this participation not equaled ratings?

Huh? Have you seen the ratings for the World Cup?

I'm not arguing that it will supplant Football (nor do I want it to), but that it's growth is undeniable. Those predicting a wave will be wrong. It will be a slow boil over the next 20 years, passing Baseball, then Hockey.

The big 3 will be: Football, Basketball, and Soccer (in that order). If concussions start to be a bigger issue in football or soccer - who knows?

 

[Millhouse]

We're a nation of 315 million. Belgium is at 11 million. Even if every great Belgian athlete plays soccer, America still has multiple X more playing.

Our development system is still in its infancy.

our 315 million people are spread out over a way bigger area. the best soccer players in belgium play each other.

if you want to pick a comparably sized state in the US, I think my point still holds true that those soccer kids in that 11 million person state aren't facing the quality that belgium is.

 

[Millhouse]

Huh? Have you seen the ratings for the World Cup?

I'm not arguing that it will supplant Football (nor do I want it to), but that it's growth is undeniable. Those predicting a wave will be wrong. It will be a slow boil over the next 20 years, passing Baseball, then Hockey.

The big 3 will be: Football, Basketball, and Soccer (in that order). If concussions start to be a bigger issue in football or soccer - who knows?

the popularity gap between olympic hockey and NHL hockey applies here. let's not go too crazy. i'm sure there are plenty of articles about the US hockey team in 2008 and how maybe that kickstarts the sport and it didn't

 

[Millhouse]

As long as folks are piling on about the merits of soccer, it boils down to one simple fact for me. You can't use your hands in soccer (apart from the goalie). Take away the part of the human body that makes it so interesting, sure. Great idea. So you get 90+ minutes of people running around, and not much happening. Not a big fan of games that are so stacked against the offense that you get miniscule scoring.

soccer fans dismiss that as 'murica silliness but it's true. europeans like track and field much more than we do.

but scoring is up in soccer, i think. players are getting better at finishing. maybe they should just multiply goals by 7 or give partial credit field goals so some 2-1 game becomes like a 20-10 nfl football game

 

[FAL]

WOW! This is like the Rutgers dumpster fire thread on steroids!

 

[Millhouse]

one problem with soccer is that the talent is too spread out over the world

people complain about parity in US sports, these other leagues are a joke. the nba, mlb, and nhl get the all the best players concentrated here. soccer has all the best players spread all over the world and none of them are here. balotelli in italy, zlatan in paris, messi and ronaldo are in spain together but that's one of the most top heavy leagues, robben and all those german robots in the german league. maybe we're selfish but we already have sports where the cream of the crop come here where we can see them live. with soccer, you have to work so hard to see all the best in their club leagues and most of the time they're playing some worthless team of scrubs.

the champions league is great but that still excludes some great players

MLS is going to be minor league sport played in big markets. you can watch and enjoy it but you can't get that invested in something when you know it's inferior

MLS's attendance is surprisingly high compared to the other soccer leagues. we b!tch about SU football attendance and it's better than most soccer leagues avg (I know there are many more games)

 

[Millhouse]

boxing lost it's appeal for a lot of reasons other than it is barbaric. Look at the popularity of MMA.

mma has the benefit of looking more barbaric while being safer. best of both worlds compared to boxing. when you're in real danger in MMA, the fight's over.

 

[Millhouse]

As long as folks are piling on about the merits of soccer, it boils down to one simple fact for me. You can't use your hands in soccer (apart from the goalie). Take away the part of the human body that makes it so interesting, sure. Great idea. So you get 90+ minutes of people running around, and not much happening. Not a big fan of games that are so stacked against the offense that you get miniscule scoring.

a lot of soccer fans think this is unfair criticism but i don't. we like throwing better than kicking.

 

[billsin01]

Not a bad idea... Although, would these lacrosse like rules go over well with the europeans?

No, I'm pretty sure they'd think I was a complete moron. And they may be right