# In which countries is football (ok, soccer) not the biggest sport? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 15, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829 "2009-06-15T14:09:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/101 "2009-06-19T14:22:58Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > Heck, hockey wouldn’t even come in third in Norway. Cross-country skiing would rank much higher in both participation and spectatorship (if that’s a word). Ice hockey is gaining popularity in Troll Country, but it’s still not a BIG sport, which helps to explain why Norway’s hockey team, ahem, fails to excel 😛 > > More people probably xc ski recreationally here than play football, although most of those people don’t do organized races. But for TV viewership, football is definitely biggest. On a related note, I know soccer/football is bing in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but isn’t hockey also a big time sport in those places? Also, based soley on the amout of players from this region that seem to come from the NBA, I’m guessing basketball is #1 in the Baltic countries (Latvia, Estonia, etc.), right? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/102 "2009-06-19T14:25:36Z")
No, they’re still soccer first. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/103 "2009-06-19T14:33:32Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > According to Stephen J. Gould, the only thing we really know for sure about the genesis of baseball is that it had absolutely nothing to do with Abner Doubleday or Cooperstown. Some new stuff has come to light in the past couple of years. They found a reference to baseball in either Williamsburg or Northhampton, Mass. (I can’t remember which one) from around the time of the American Revolution. I think even more recently, somebody found a reference to it from prior to that somewhere in England. However, if the Brits are going to claim soccer/football on the basis of the fact that they wrote down the rules, when people were playing a football-like game for long before that, than baseball remeains safely in the hands of us Yanks thanks to the efforts of Alexander Cartwright. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/104 "2009-06-19T14:40:12Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Where I grew up, soccer was incredibly popular from about age 7 to 14 for boys and a couple extra years at the end for girls. Outside of that it’s like it didn’t even exist. Once you got to be 12 or 13 you started getting made fun of for playing soccer. I’m not saying that’s right, just that it’s how it was. > > But baseball, football, and basketball (especially basketball in my neck of the woods) were popular from birth to death. Its weird, we have soccer playing culture for kids here in the U.S. that nobody bats an eye at. But when it turns to adults playing soccer or professional soccer many people act like it is some weird foreign ritual they have never heard of. The complete disconect in these people’s mind is truly bizzare to watch in action. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/105 "2009-06-19T14:44:56Z")
> [@MichaelQReilly](#): > > However, if the Brits are going to claim soccer/football on the basis of the fact that they wrote down the rules, when people were playing a football-like game for long before that, than baseball remeains safely in the hands of us Yanks thanks to the efforts of Alexander Cartwright. It’s not whether or not you wrote down the rules, it’s whether or not the game being played now is directly descended from what you played then. The football-like games played in China and elsewhere did not contribute anything to modern football, because they died out. The football-like game played by English street kids directly led to the development of the modern game. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/106 "2009-06-19T15:02:20Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > the meme that soccer/football is an all-consuming, world-dominating juggernaut outside the US and we’re assholes for not liking it. > [@RedFury](#): > > Don’t know where you get that “meme” from. > [@chowder](#): > > Well it’s pretty much established that soccer is the number one sport. > > Followed by, in no particular order, Rugby and Cricket. > > So why is it that you Merkins persist in ignoring the rest of the world and stick to Baseball and American Football? > > Resistance to soccer is futile and you know it There ya go. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/107 "2009-06-19T15:04:12Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It’s not whether or not you wrote down the rules, it’s whether or not the game being played now is directly descended from what you played then. The football-like games played in China and elsewhere did not contribute anything to modern football, because they died out. The football-like game played by English street kids directly led to the development of the modern game. Right. And the point is the same for baseball. Surely there was a baseball-like game around for quite some time. But the modern game grows out of the version set down by the New York Knickerbocer Baseball Club in the 1840’s and later adopted by the National Association of Baseball Players. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/108 "2009-06-19T15:10:24Z")
> [@MichaelQReilly](#): > > Right. And the point is the same for baseball. Surely there was a baseball-like game around for quite some time. But the modern game grows out of the version set down by the New York Knickerbocer Baseball Club in the 1840’s and later adopted by the National Association of Baseball Players. Rounders isn’t just a “baseball-like game”. It _is_ baseball for all intents and purposes, other than the different bat and ball size. ---
**Author:** ![TastesLikeBurning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@TastesLikeBurning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TastesLikeBurning)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/109 "2009-06-19T15:17:06Z")
> [@BigNik](#): > > Actually, it’s by far the biggest sport by participation, full stop. > > Cricket is the national game, rugby league is the number one football code in half the country, Aussie rules is number one in the lesser half of the country, but in terms of participation it’s netball first and daylight second. This is hardly true about AFL (Australian Rules Football) and NRL (Rugby League). AFL dominates in WA, SA, NT, VIC, and Tasmania, whereas NRL controls QLD and Sydney (and Canberra). ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/110 "2009-06-19T15:30:38Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Rounders isn’t just a “baseball-like game”. It _is_ baseball for all intents and purposes, other than the different bat and ball size. I don’t know enough about Rounders to comment. But prior to the adoption of the “New York Game,” what was being played in the U.S. wasn’t functionally the same as what we play today. For instance, the “Massachussetts Game” didn’t have foul territory, you could throw the ball at someone to get them out, a team pitched to itself, the batter didn’t bat from home plate, the bases weren’t diamond shaped, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/111 "2009-06-19T15:40:31Z")
It doesn’t matter- I’ll take that back, anyway, since they’re different evolutionary branches. Otherwise I’d have to call rugby “football” since it’s descended from that street game. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/112 "2009-06-19T15:42:54Z")
> [@FrWindyShephardHenderson](#): > > In Ireland Gaelic Football would be the largest sport followed by Hurling. Rugby Union would probably beat soccer at this stage. > > Of course in Ireland at least, soccer is the sport of choice for a kick around (Pick up game???). But in terms of attendences and number of organised clubs/players its the above order. There is no way Rugby Union is more popular in Ireland than soccer. Even with the GAA sports it should be noted that while indigenous GAA clubs do better than indigenous soccer clubs this can be partly attributed to the woeful state of many of the Irish clubs. British Premier League teams are hugely popular here and in Dublin I would guess (although I could be incorrect) that soccer is a more popular sport than Gaelic football if you take into account television viewing et al. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/113 "2009-06-19T16:07:15Z")
> [@MichaelQReilly](#): > > I don’t know enough about Rounders to comment. But prior to the adoption of the “New York Game,” what was being played in the U.S. wasn’t functionally the same as what we play today. For instance, the “Massachussetts Game” didn’t have foul territory, **you could throw the ball at someone to get them out** , a team pitched to itself, the batter didn’t bat from home plate, the bases weren’t diamond shaped, etc. – bolding mine. Now see, if you brought that back, I might actually give baseball a chance. As it is, I’d rather watch paint dry. 😉 * * * **Cisco** , point made. But I’d hope that was more of a ribbing (as mine above re baseball) than an actual dig. Because if it was the latter, I think it rather dumb. After all, I’m an all-around sportsnutter and even if footie is by far my biggest passion, I was a much more successful competitive basketball player than a soccer player – made the Spanish Nat junior team early '70s. So to this day I still keep abreast of the NBA, though I don’t think anything will ever approach the nirvana of the Magic/Bird era. I mean, sure, I’d like to see the US become more involved with the game just because, but at the end of the day, really, I don’t care what anyone choses to play and/or watch. For instance, I just found out about this “netball” thing on this thread, got interested in seeing what it was and looked at some vids on youtube. Looks like a really really shitty/wimpy version of basketball to me and yet it appears to have an enormous following in any number of places. And if baseball puts me to sleep as is, don’t even get me started on cricket, please. No accounting for taste I guess. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/114 "2009-06-19T16:29:20Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > For instance, I just found out about this “netball” thing on this thread, got interested in seeing what it was and looked at some vids on youtube. Looks like a really really shitty/wimpy version of basketball to me and yet it appears to have an enormous following in any number of places. And if baseball puts me to sleep as is, don’t even get me started on cricket, please. No accounting for taste I guess. Go figure. You, my dear sir, need to become a fan of 10-pin bowling. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/115 "2009-06-19T20:26:19Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > You, my dear sir, need to become a fan of 10-pin bowling. 😛 Those guys still wearing the maroon pants and the white shoes? And the blue haired lady fans? Yeah, that’s what I want to get into alright. Grabs cane, runs (sorta) after **DS** … Bastid! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/116 "2009-06-19T21:40:46Z")
I’d try to outrun you, but my walker is over \>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\>\> 😛 ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829/117 "2009-06-20T13:52:24Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > – bolding mine. > > Now see, if you brought that back, I might actually give baseball a chance. As it is, I’d rather watch paint dry. 😉 Haha. According to the book I read, the proponents of the Massachusetts game argued that that their version was more exciting and wide open than the New York game. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-countries-is-football-ok-soccer-not-the-biggest-sport/499829.md?page=5)