Yep, another ESPN thread (MOD: Soccer popularity)

[spintheblackcircle]

People that can't see that soccer is becoming massively more popular is the states are wearing blinders.

The games are beating night baseball games in the ratings, and they are being played during the afternoon, many fewer eyes available to watch. The fact that womens soccer is the most competitive of all the pro womens sports also helps.

I watched the game Sunday and was absolutely riveted. I am DVR'ing the game today and a bunch of friends are getting together this weekend for the Gold Medal game.

It's great stuff.

 

[Bakayoko Ono]

Lots of insecure hockey fans here, eh?

 

[Shwag33]

People that can't see that soccer is becoming massively more popular is the states are wearing blinders.

The games are beating night baseball games in the ratings, and they are being played during the afternoon, many fewer eyes available to watch. The fact that womens soccer is the most competitive of all the pro womens sports also helps.

I watched the game Sunday and was absolutely riveted. I am DVR'ing the game today and a bunch of friends are getting together this weekend for the Gold Medal game.

It's great stuff.

I played for 15 years... still can't watch it on tv aside from world cup/olympics. That's because of the event not the game. Kind of like people that dont like football but watch the superbowl because of the event.

I've been hearing soccer is going to take off my entire life. It never does, even with ESPN pushing it so hard for years its still strugging.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

ESPN HASN'T been pushing it for years, that's the thing.

 

[Rhodes 81]

To be honest Chastain's PK in 1999 will probably be more memorable to the average American than ANY hockey moment.

i don't know about that. miracle on ice is one of the major moments in u.s. history, not just sports history but history period. it's in us history textbooks.

those two plays really stick out as the pinnacle of u.s. team sports though

 

[Rhodes 81]

If you can't see why a 1-0 (or 0-0 tie for that matter) soccer game is exciting you are insane.

assuming you're sarcastic, two things wrong with this

one, i most certainly CAN find a 1-0 soccer game exciting.

two, you really don't think one guy beating 9 others three times each is exciting?

it's like if you let one time choose their nine best skaters and let them have at the goalie until he makes 3 saves three times each. it's insane that 287 people sense 1876 have been able to do it

 

[Shwag33]

ESPN HASN'T been pushing it for years, that's the thing.

It's been atleast a few years.

 

[Kane One]

i don't know about that. miracle on ice is one of the major moments in u.s. history, not just sports history but history period. it's in us history textbooks.

those two plays really stick out as the pinnacle of u.s. team sports though

The Miracle on Ice was rated the best sports moment ever in North America.

 

[Harry22]

Lol at a women's soccer goal being more dramatic than what Kirk Gibson did. When watching women's sports people should come to expect last minute collapses as the quality of play is so much lower, just like you would expect a peewee hockey team to inexplicably cough a game up to their opponents more than an NHL team.

You're really comparing apples and oranges. I'm not a soccer fan and am a baseball and football fan so to me while the pace of play and action in baseball and football is slow when the play is on something is actually happening. In soccer it's far from a rare occurrence for a team to register zero shots on night. I can enjoy and appreciate a pitcher shutting a team down or seeing a really good NFL team stifling the opposition. I don't get the same satisfaction watching a soccer team get held to zero shots. Just my personal opinion, soccer is the world's most popular sport so some really enjoy it obviously. I'm also a golf fan where the pace of play and action is the slowest.

I was not a big soccer fan until recently but I enjoy the sport now. The way the players construct the plays to get chances and the skill associated is awesome. I am still a fan of baseball and I could tell you that soccer has a faster pace by far. I do agree that the diving and acting in soccer is absurd but it is a great sport IMO.

 

[hatterson]

The Miracle on Ice was rated the best sports moment ever in North America.

I was assuming this was an American vote. The Miracle on Ice would obviously ranked far behind 1972 in Canada.

 

[Kane One]

I was assuming this was an American vote. The Miracle on Ice would obviously ranked far behind 1972 in Canada.

Well that's the Canadian vote. There was probably more people who rated the Miracle on Ice higher, since we have a 10x bigger population than Canada. I'm not saying it was better, since I don't really know anything about the 1972 Canada Cup, or any of the Canada Cups.

 

[VaSabresFan]

I will never understand the insecurity some hockey fans have with soccer. My 2 favorite sports are hockey and soccer (and it isn't even close). In fact I would argue that not only in the US but worldwide the fanbases cross quite a bit. It should be embraced that both hockey and soccer are growing in the US.

Soccer just happens to be getting a lot of attention right now, because the 2 best (and proabably most memorable) sporting moment in the US over the last year have both been soccer related; Landon's goal against Algeria and the Abby's goal the other day against Brasil. As a sports fan, if you watched the US/Brasil game and weren't riveted, you are either 1. lying or 2. not breathing. Combine all that with some of the MLS teams supporter groups gaining steam, it isn't just Barra Brava/Screaming Eagles anymore, and you have a nice niche beginning to form.

 

[MayDay]

football is the most popular sport on the planet by some distance and for good reason.

And as we all know, what is most popular is always the best.

This is how we know that McDonalds is the finest restaurant in the world, and Budweiser brews the best beer. Starbucks makes the best cup of coffee, and American Idol is the best show on TV.

 

[New Jersey]

So many haters.




Soccer is fantastic, and should be more popular.

 

[MayDay]

I will never understand the insecurity some hockey fans have with soccer. My 2 favorite sports are hockey and soccer (and it isn't even close). In fact I would argue that not only in the US but worldwide the fanbases cross quite a bit. It should be embraced that both hockey and soccer are growing in the US.

As I said earlier in the thread, I don't inherently have any problems with soccer or the MLS, and wouldn't say anything negative about that league, if the soccer supporters would stop obsessing about "passing the NHL" as North America's fourth major sports league, and putting forth asinine and flawed arguments claiming that they have, when it's not even close. Just sick of seeing ignorant articles like the one linked in the OP.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

I was assuming this was an American vote. The Miracle on Ice would obviously ranked far behind 1972 in Canada.

True, but that's a game Canada was favored in to begin with.

Imagine if Canada wins the Soccer World Cup over Brazil in the quarters, England in the semis and Italy in the finals....Miracle on Grass.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

And as we all know, what is most popular is always the best.

This is how we know that McDonalds is the finest restaurant in the world, and Budweiser brews the best beer. Starbucks makes the best cup of coffee, and American Idol is the best show on TV.

The McDonalds argument is the one I use all the time when someone talks about the popularity of something over something else.

 

[VaSabresFan]

Single best moment I have seen in sports

On a side note Ian Darke may be the best commentator in any sport.

 

[1865]

And as we all know, what is most popular is always the best.

This is how we know that McDonalds is the finest restaurant in the world, and Budweiser brews the best beer. Starbucks makes the best cup of coffee, and American Idol is the best show on TV.

Fair point, but in this case football is the finest and most popular at the same time. Much as i love hockey, it can't match.

 

[hoss75]

Here's the thing, every professional 'niche' sport is becoming 'more popular' with cable and the webernet giving people more outlets to follow them. And the outlets giving opportunities for private organizations to field professional teams and not loose money on them. Rugby, lacrosse, cricket, are all 'growing'.
Soccer marketing people shouldn't be talking a big show given that the majority of Americans have played organized soccer at some point between the age of 4 and 30 in the last 60 years. More people have played organized soccer in America than any of the 'top 4' and it still hasn't caught on fire.
Every 6 years I hear how soccer is blowing up in America and going to take over the major markets. And I believe soccer can if it can solve the pesky TV timeout problem while televising druing prime-time on a major network. But that hasn't happened yet, so I have no reason to believe soccer fever is going to stick this time.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

It's beating baseball in the ratings. That has never happened before.

 

[Kane One]

Here's the thing, every professional 'niche' sport is becoming 'more popular' with cable and the webernet giving people more outlets to follow them. And the outlets giving opportunities for private organizations to field professional teams and not loose money on them. Rugby, lacrosse, cricket, are all 'growing'.
Soccer marketing people shouldn't be talking a big show given that the majority of Americans have played organized soccer at some point between the age of 4 and 30 in the last 60 years. More people have played organized soccer in America than any of the 'top 4' and it still hasn't caught on fire.
Every 6 years I hear how soccer is blowing up in America and going to take over the major markets. And I believe soccer can if it can solve the pesky TV timeout problem while televising druing prime-time on a major network. But that hasn't happened yet, so I have no reason to believe soccer fever is going to stick this time.

I don't know anyone who plays soccer or any sort of organized soccer. Everyone I know has either been in a hockey or baseball league.

 

[hoss75]

I don't know anyone who plays soccer or any sort of organized soccer. Everyone I know has either been in a hockey or baseball league.

You don't know anyone that played peewee or youth league soccer?
I don't know anyone that hasn't.

 

[His Beardliness*]

Here's the thing, every professional 'niche' sport is becoming 'more popular' with cable and the webernet giving people more outlets to follow them. And the outlets giving opportunities for private organizations to field professional teams and not loose money on them. Rugby, lacrosse, cricket, are all 'growing'.
Soccer marketing people shouldn't be talking a big show given that the majority of Americans have played organized soccer at some point between the age of 4 and 30 in the last 60 years. More people have played organized soccer in America than any of the 'top 4' and it still hasn't caught on fire.
Every 6 years I hear how soccer is blowing up in America and going to take over the major markets. And I believe soccer can if it can solve the pesky TV timeout problem while televising druing prime-time on a major network. But that hasn't happened yet, so I have no reason to believe soccer fever is going to stick this time.

This already ruined hockey. If it happens in soccer I'm joining al qaida.

 

[Mr San Diego Hab]

I like watching all sports…
Yes, some get me going as a fan more then others, but I love the theater of sports in general.