I can remember back in the '70’s when Chicago got its first pro soccer team, the Sting. (Named after the movie, that’s how far back this was.). Anyway, there was the usual public wonderment about why Americans don’t like soccer like the rest of the world. In a Royko column, Mike speculated that because Americans didn’t grow up with soccer, they weren’t interested in it. But with all the soccer leagues for kids springing up, because soccer’s safer to play than American football, soccer might become more popular as these kids grew up. Mike also speculated that soccer isn’t popular because it’s a stupid looking game. I agree, but set that aside for now.
So, now those league kids are grown up, is there more of a passion for pro soccer than there was back then? To tell the truth, I don’t see it. There’s more TV stations showing the games, but I suspect this is mostly for immigrants. My younger coworkers don’t seem inclined to watch or discuss it.
But then, I live in Chicago where the Cubs, Sox, and Bears drown out everything else. Occasionally there’s some hoopla for the Blackhawks or some Bulls chat but that’s it. Without looking it up, I’m not even sure the Chicago Fire still exists.
So, is pro soccer even a thing elsewhere in mainstream America? Is it an up and coming thing, or did it suffer the same fate as that other '70’s fad, the metric system?
I’m a pretty serious EPL fan, and have been for about 6 years now. Where I live (outside of Philly) the local MLS team has a lot of grassroots support even though they are pretty bad. You see lots of Doop stickers and Union car flags etc. The problem with being a soccer fan in the US though is that the local version of the sport has been pretty bad up until recently and it has been hard (again until relatively recently) to watch European football and it’s still hard to watch South American football here in the states.
But MLS is getting better, and with the new NBC TV deal for EPL game a couple years back it’s easier than ever to follow English soccer. The national team is also starting to get pretty good. So it seems like soccer is starting to catch on. It may never be the huge sport it is in the rest of the world but I can see it being as popular as hockey within 10 years.
Well, there are a few questions that can be addressed here.
Is soccer on TV growing in America in general? This is a pretty clear yes. But it appears to be mainly the English Premier League that is doing the biggest growing. I believe I read that more Americans watched the EPL this year than English did. MLS TV ratings are growing as well, but not at the same rate that EPL audiences are. One story I read points out that the playoff structure makes regular season MLS kind of pointless, especially compared to the EPL with no playoffs, and I tend to agree with that.
Is MLS a fad? Well, clearly not. It’s been around for quite awhile now, is still growing, gets very solid stadium audiences (your Fire, for example, average 16k a game even though they’ve been pretty lousy for a few years), and has solid multi-year TV deals. I think it will continue to thrive as a destination for slightly passed their prime “names” from Europe and South America, as well as up-and-coming American players.
MLS is hurt a bit by how ubiquitous European soccer is. Right when I started getting in to soccer (and might have picked up MLS even though St. Louis doesn’t have a team), broadcast of EPL games boomed, to the point where literally every match is on TV now. Why watch lower quality non-local soccer when I can watch the very best in the world (or, ya know, Arsenal…)? However, if MLS does come to St. Louis I’m sure I will adopt the team.
This summer is going to be very interesting in terms of seeing the growth of football in the US, given the triple threat of the Euro, Copa America, and Olympics, in addition to MLS. Basically, football fans in the US have never had access to as much footage of the sport.
Obviously, football will never have the same level of coverage and interest in the US as the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball. It might be nearing the NHL, though; note that I have exactly no evidence to back that up and I might be totally wrong.
I also suspect that it’s a very regional thing. I’m in New England, which has a strong tradition of high school and college soccer, so it’s probably more popular here than, say, Kansas.
Still very big in the youth leagues in areas I know about and so the fan base should continue to grow.
I never was good enough to play on any but the lowest adult teams but because of my kids involvement I became a referee and over the years I advanced all the way to a State One level with the FIFA in the US. Became too old to even be considered for a National badge, age but no quality. I did get to referee a low level semi-pro game and did as a linesman on others plus college and school leagues.
The point, I learned a lot about the game, Indoor, MSL, NASL, etc., back in the day and once I knew what was going on and the skill level and the fitness level that is required, it became totally fascinating.
If a game is not to my liking, I can always critique the officiating without any emotional involvement other than shame when they really screw the pooch.
Knowledge is the key to enjoyment. I can’t play golf, don’t like it, don’t understand it and it is on the TV all the time with many followers who are very bad players. They know what is going on and the skill needs of the game, so “Interest.”
I believe soccer will get there in this country but it will take many more people wanting it to than we have at present.
The last 5 years have been the highest 5 years in attendance in MLS. The league is expanding, tv ratings are up, national team ratings are up. The 2014 WC was very popular.
It’s still way way below the big 4 sports, but it’s definitely bigger than it used to be.
the question is “why?” what is so awesome about soccer that it is some thing we “must” embrace? We’ve come up with our own sports like baseball and (gridiron) football, and depending on region basketball and hockey. The only people I encounter talking up soccer are a handful of tryhards who wish they were European, and relentlessly lament how we’re not like Europe.
Honestly? Because it’s a really exciting game that is unlike any other sport we have in the USA. It has some common ground with both basketball and hockey, but is much larger and because of that, it operates very differently. Also, because scoring is difficult it becomes a game of tension the way baseball (and admittedly hockey) is, but with the free flowing action of basketball. (again, hockey has that too, but is much faster and has other quirks that make it a very different experience.)
Do we HAVE to care? Of course not. But once you get to know the game well enough to follow the action (something necessary for all sports but usually learned by people as youths) it’s really unique and beautiful.
Yes it is. Collegiate and high school level league have vastly higher participation rates than gridiron or baseball. There’s a difference between people who participate in sports and physically inactive spectators. Of the people who are actually active, football is one of the top choices.
Davis Quinton: Hey, Brent, who’s your favourite football team?
Brent Leroy: The Riders. Duh.
Davis Quinton: No, not Canadian football.
Brent Leroy: Oh, then the Minnesota Vikings.
Davis Quinton: No, out on the pitch!
Brent Leroy: What do you mean? Soccer?
Davis Quinton: Yeah.
Brent Leroy: Well, then, it’s a tie between the Manchester I-Don’t-Give-a-Craps and the London Not-a-Real-Sports.
Apparently the Canadian teams in MLS had pretty much the same attendance as the CFL average (24,100 vs 24,400) with the Toronto soccer team significantly outdrawing the football team.
There is absolutely zero correlation between the popularity of youth soccer and pro soccer in the Untied States, I have heard this myth bandied about for 35 years and it has yet to come true. Kids who play soccer rarely tug on their parents arms and make them take them to see a local pro game, or grow up worshipping soccer.
To give you a micro-example, we just recently acquired a farm team of a nearby MLS franchise. Based on the above theory, you’d think the stands would be full of kiddies and their parents, all cheering them on.
During the second home game of the season, on a bluff above the stadium, were youth team leagues playing!
The next week, one of my buddies in the supporters club didn’t make the game—because he was playing in adult league of his own.
HELLO??? :smack::smack::smack:
I blame the local soccer far team for part of this; they need to be or the MLS club needs to be spending resources reaching out to local youth leagues with ticket reduction incentives and events to get them to reschedule their games and come out and support them.
But, I just don’t think thats part of the youth soccer culture in America. Its, lets go out and play hard, get our 11th place trophies, drink some Capri Sun, and hope all the players will pick “real” sports like baseball, football or basketball when they grow up.
