Larry Fedora losing his mind?

[Finwad32]

why?

Because it's misleading and presents no thought other than growth per capita. Even the references to strengthen the argument aren't really verified.

Hey, semi-pro football teams are popping up in every other small county in the country, was that growth accounted for?

 

[Finwad32]

The point isn't to dismantle your point about fastest growing sport. Just saying there's more than one way to skin a cat.

And, inevitably football will fall, as referenced earlier in the thread. But I'll say this, football is still, by a wide margin, the sport driving the bus, next closest being basketball, even with youths now who aren't playing.

 

[cuse309]

Because it's misleading and presents no thought other than growth per capita. Even the references to strengthen the argument aren't really verified.

Hey, semi-pro football teams are popping up in every other small county in the country, was that growth accounted for?

I assume semi pro football teams would fall under the "football category". According to the 5 year study it didn't make the cut, because it only listed sports that have actually grown in participation.

 

[Ish88888]

Meh. More kids will play soccer and lacrosse. I love soccer more and more each year. The World Cup was awesome. If football fades, other sports will grow.

While I am an absolute die hard SU football fan - I'm fading big time on the NFL.

I like what he said. He expressed what many are thinking. He is right, the game will look different if we continue on this path. Soccer? Far more concussions in soccer, especially in the adolescent years when kids learn a proper header. Fedoras mind is in the right place, he is just looking out for our game.

 

[cuse309]

The point isn't to dismantle your point about fastest growing sport. Just saying there's more than one way to skin a cat.

And, inevitably football will fall, as referenced earlier in the thread. But I'll say this, football is still, by a wide margin, the sport driving the bus, next closest being basketball, even with youths now who aren't playing.

Yes. Football is far and away the king right now, and for the immediate future. I don't have a point to make on the subject. I just thought I'd weigh in on what statistics I found out on the subject.

 

[Alsacs]

Maybe kids should be getting some money for playing a collusion sport 12 times a year and kills their bodies while you get millions a dollars a year.

I mean wow what a dumb a$$.

 

[Ish88888]

The issue with youth soccer is between 9-14 if you can't afford the pay to play camps/program, which is around 2500 to 5000, you get left behind and kids end up not playing the sport. The number could be wrong but I beleive it's around 4.5 million kids stopped in the last 3 years.

Good point, its a very affluent and pretentious environment. There are more concussions in soccer and our game is making changes year after year. Kids need to keep playing in youth but as you stated, the mom factor is very real. Fedora isnt wrong with his assessment.

 

[elimunelson]

I love football. Hope it’s fixed maybe they figure out a way to make it like wrestling where there are weight limits to combat bigger/faster. Too much revenue and love of violence in America to let it die.

 

[MadNY3]

I like what he said. He expressed what many are thinking. He is right, the game will look different if we continue on this path. Soccer? Far more concussions in soccer, especially in the adolescent years when kids learn a proper header. Fedoras mind is in the right place, he is just looking out for our game.

Football is under attack. Facebook is under attack.

Both will make tons of money in the foreseeable future.

Participation rates are eroding rapidly. NFL studies showed that if they don’t get the kid between 8-12, they will never get him. And more parents don’t want their babies/kids to play the sport.

What doesn’t get takes about and a study couldn’t get funded was the individual and societal impact the sport - from the specific team dynamics to the role head coaches play to kids in middle/high school - which has very positive indicators.

Problem is physical issues - CTE, suicides potentially from CTE, crippling physical health - are tangible. Football makes our armed forces or better men, is not.

Fedora’s assertions aren’t wrong at all. But he delivered them in a buffoon manner at a softball-question press event. He looks ignorant. Media training failed him today.

 

[bigmike]

Kinda seems like it went like..

 

[OrangeTarheel]

When I saw what he said I thought he sounded like a member of an establishment trying to defend an old, outdated way of thinking. Maybe that appealed to someone on his board? It made him sound desperate and out of touch. Odd behavior.

 

[Cuse12]

Fedora and coach Shafer would be good buds.

 

[HOFCeluck]

I like what he said. He expressed what many are thinking. He is right, the game will look different if we continue on this path. Soccer? Far more concussions in soccer, especially in the adolescent years when kids learn a proper header. Fedoras mind is in the right place, he is just looking out for our game.

It’s not the concussions, it’s the subconcussive hits that football players take on every play.

 

[sufandu]

Which is ironic because of that E60 piece a few years ago on concussions in soccer

I heard someone say on tv recently that heading the ball in soccer has been removed at least in youth levels. It wasn't during a world cup game that I heard it. I had no desire to scratch my eyes out from watching that horribly boring sport.

 

[texascpa]

eSports are really where it's at.

Disappointed that there are not Heroes of the Storm pro matches on Twitchtv today. But, Western Clash is coming up in a few weeks.

 

[Whitey23]

The irony here is that UNC has a leading brain injury research clinic on campus. Fedora should stop in and talk with the doctors.

Matthew Gfeller Center

 

[OrangeinBoston]

I heard someone say on tv recently that heading the ball in soccer has been removed at least in youth levels. It wasn't during a world cup game that I heard it. I had no desire to scratch my eyes out from watching that horribly boring sport.

The World Cup was great. Especially when there are no sports to watch.

 

[chugg21]

Maybe not in Texas - but there's a big shift in other states. I'll give you a thumbnail from here in Arizona - my son is a 5th grader. There are 20 boys in the 5th grade at his school. Exactly 1 plays football. The rest, if they do play sports, play largely soccer and basketball. (Virtually no baseball either by the way.) Football is big time fading out here - even more so in California. And soccer is becoming very popular - certainly much more than hockey (and likely baseball). It's coming - maybe not in the southeast - but it's coming.

That's in 5th grade. Majority of kids that play football aren't at that point. Primarily because there is not a school option available until at least 7th grade. Kids can get tossed on a soccer field at like 5 years old, so of course they have a higher participation rate at children. It's like that everywhere and then it goes back to normal as they age.

 

[chugg21]

Watching video game competitions/VR will prolly be the next big thing

I go absolutely nuts when I see my step-kids watching videos of other people playing video games. It's the most nonsensical thing that I've seen from the 12 and under generation.

 

[chugg21]

Misleading if you are trying to equate it to total participants...but not if you're asking what the fastest growing team sport is. That being said, obviously Rugby has light years to go to surpass football, and it likely will never happen.
I could see soccer surpassing football in my lifetime however. We're just now getting to the point where more 18-24 year old's grew up playing and watching, and being fans of soccer. This won't change anytime soon, and those kids will be clamoring for soccer on television. At some point advertisers won't be targeting the 50-90 year olds watching football in the year 2070, instead they'll be targeting the kids that grew up watching, and playing soccer.

Been hearing this since the World Cup was in the US in what '94?

 

[chugg21]

Kinda seems like it went like..

View attachment 134336

OMG, how could that have possibly been 14 years ago already.

 

[OttoMets]

I heard someone say on tv recently that heading the ball in soccer has been removed at least in youth levels. It wasn't during a world cup game that I heard it. I had no desire to scratch my eyes out from watching that horribly boring sport.

I think heading is prohibited in U-11 (practice and games) and there are pretty tight restrictions after that. Good move by them.

 

[DeGrozz]

BTW, if you do a little digging you will find that the NFL's revenues are larger than any league in the world. Not just the US, but the world. Major League soccer is less than a 10th of the NFL and smaller than some of the Association Leagues in Europe and China. Add the revenues of college football and it's now single digits.

You gotta remember, during an NFL game you can fit in 20 commercial breaks and will on average have advertisers pay for over 100 commercial slots per game (or you can advertise your station's own sitcom lineup) because you only have ~11-12 minutes of actual gameplay.

But overall it's not as big of a gap as you may expect. NFL teams bring home on average 1/3 of a billion/year, while your EPL team brings home on average 1/4 of a billion/year (per the very trustable Wikipedia).

 

[sufandu]

The World Cup was great. Especially when there are no sports to watch.

To each there own.

 

[DeGrozz]

Been hearing this since the World Cup was in the US in what '94?

To be fair, in 1994 there was no top level soccer league in the US, this past weekend we had an MLS game with over 70K in attendance. The evidence of the progress of the popularity and marketability of the sport in this nation is obviously there if you even try to look.