Colin Cowherd: "Soccer is a Big Four sport."

[joelef]

look i hate colin cowherd but he right . Its hard to defend the NHL ratings anymore

https://streamable.com/r13n

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[TheCLAM]

I agree its inevitable.. Soccer is the most viewed sport in the world.. Immigration of Europeans over the past 60 years has undoubtedly created a spillover soccer culture.

Who cares? Hockey has it's market, it's hard to compete with land-sports that have minimal equipment cost.

 

[jj cale]

Can't argue with him.

Football has things going for it that hockey will never have so I guess it was inevitable. Took a long time but it's happened with the world becoming so much smaller.

 

[Ugmo]

Big four sport maybe. Big four league not yet, unfortunately.

Although I'd rather see MLS replace one of the other borefest leagues than the NHL.

 

[ghostnights]

I'm really starting to sour on the NBA and NFL. For me it's hockey and soccer.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

If you include Spanish language broadcasts, it may already be 3rd.

 

[Chloraflora]

Big four sport maybe. Big four league not yet, unfortunately.

Although I'd rather see MLS replace one of the other borefest leagues than the NHL.

He does specifically say "soccer, not MLS", and lists a lot of reasons why he's right.

Hockey is doing fine, just not as fine as football.

 

[Ugmo]

He does specifically say "soccer, not MLS", and lists a lot of reasons why he's right.

Yep, was obvious from the thread title and I didn't mean to dispute it.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

I agree its inevitable.. Soccer is the most viewed sport in the world.. Immigration of Europeans over the past 60 years has undoubtedly created a spillover soccer culture.

Who cares? Hockey has it's market, it's hard to compete with land-sports that have minimal equipment cost.

In the last 50 years immigration from Europe has arguably been at its lowest level since the first Europeans set foot on American soil. There's still a trickle but it's not a demographically relevant element. I highly doubt that has played a huge role in popularizing soccer.

The main factors have been Latin American immigration coupled with the advances in global communication and resulting pop cultural globalization.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

I think he's right. I love hockey, but I live for football, and beyond even personal opinion, going to an MLS game is generally speaking a lot more fun than going to an NHL game. And usually is also a *LOT* cheaper as well.

 

[cgf]

How could the biggest sport not be a big-4 sport?

 

[DaveG]

Yes and no on this one. I honestly think the USMNT and the Olympic Hockey Team are easily more popular then their Basketball and Baseball sides... and probably by a good margin when it comes to baseball. And the USMNT is very likely the more popular of the two.

BUT I don't think we'll see a soccer league more popular here then the NHL for a while if ever in my lifetime. US was just too far behind the game to start with in the sport for that to happen IMHO.

 

[cgf]

Doesn't the EPL get better ratings than the NHL in america?

 

[bluesfan94]

Yes and no on this one. I honestly think the USMNT and the Olympic Hockey Team are easily more popular then their Basketball and Baseball sides... and probably by a good margin when it comes to baseball. And the USMNT is very likely the more popular of the two.

BUT I don't think we'll see a soccer league more popular here then the NHL for a while if ever in my lifetime. US was just too far behind the game to start with in the sport for that to happen IMHO.

Hard to compare for baseball because there's no best on best tournament.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

Doesn't the EPL get better ratings than the NHL in america?

Never really thought about it, but that actually would not surprise me.

 

[Vamos Rafa]

The NBA, NFL, MLB, and MLS all have something in common: the most populous state, California, translates to the biggest producer of players in each of those leagues (I think Florida is right up there with California in the NFL). So while we understand that the NHL is mostly Canadian by a wide margin, California isn't even a top 5 state in producing American NHL players. I'm not sure if it's just a coincidence but from the way it looks, California has to be heavily involved if you want your sport to be popular in this country.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Doesn't the EPL get better ratings than the NHL in america?

Hard to compare given the different time slots. In absolute numbers the NHL drew significantly more viewers on average though. I don't think a single Premiership game had more than 1 million viewers.

 

[Halladay]

Goodell is slowly ruining the NFL, Im starting o grow away from it.

 

[cgf]

Hard to compare given the different time slots. In absolute numbers the NHL drew significantly more viewers on average though. I don't think a single Premiership game had more than 1 million viewers.

In total figures you are absolutely correct, but I meant how the EPL did relative to competitors for their time slots.

 

[Live in the Now]

It's a big four sport in my mind as well, especially with the NHL turning into a borefest league of late. The NHL is borderline unwatchable and I know I'm not the only one on this forum who thinks it. The lack of rule enforcement has completely killed my enjoyment of the game.

For me, if basketball, both footballs, and MMA were the only sports to exist I think I'd be perfectly able to live with myself.

 

[cgf]

For me, if basketball, both footballs, and MMA were the only sports to exist I think I'd be perfectly able to live with myself.

Spoken like someone who's never watched Olympic curling

 

[Edo]

Hard to compare given the different time slots. In absolute numbers the NHL drew significantly more viewers on average though. I don't think a single Premiership game had more than 1 million viewers.

The EPL regularly averaged more than a million in the USA during the 2015-2016 season.

http://www.socceramerica.com/article/68858/tv-report-epl-outdraws-nhl-in-2015-16.html

The numbers would be greater if the West Coast didn't have to get up at 5 in the morning to catch the better match-ups.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

It's a big four sport in my mind as well, especially with the NHL turning into a borefest league of late. The NHL is borderline unwatchable and I know I'm not the only one on this forum who thinks it. The lack of rule enforcement has completely killed my enjoyment of the game.

For me, if basketball, both footballs, and MMA were the only sports to exist I think I'd be perfectly able to live with myself.

Being a fan that has sutter as the HC would do that to you.

 

[Live in the Now]

Being a fan that has sutter as the HC would do that to you.

Yeah, even with the two Cup runs...I had stopped watching non-Kings games a long time ago. The Kings have a boring style as well, so it's hard to be attached to the sport. I can't get over the lack of calls anymore. The coaching has also removed all creativity. The game was supposed to be different after the lockout and that only lasted for two seasons.

I've given a lot of my money to the NHL (if I added it all up, I think I'd be sick) over a long period of time but I can't get any enjoyment from the sport anymore.

 

[hatterson]

Hard to compare given the different time slots. In absolute numbers the NHL drew significantly more viewers on average though. I don't think a single Premiership game had more than 1 million viewers.

The EPL regularly averaged more than a million in the USA during the 2015-2016 season.

http://www.socceramerica.com/article/68858/tv-report-epl-outdraws-nhl-in-2015-16.html

The numbers would be greater if the West Coast didn't have to get up at 5 in the morning to catch the better match-ups.

That link says they averaged 514k per "match window" which includes multiple games at once.

On a single game basis, the NHL still outdraws the EPL, although that may change in the near future.