Are Americans Beginning to Embrace Soccer?
Written by illadelphFan, Tuesday June 29 2010
Throughout the entire world, there is one sport that dominates all of the others; it is a sport, which requires stamina, strategy, and fans with undying devotion to their teams. It is known throughout the world as football.
However, in one averaged sized country with the population of just over 300 million, it is known as soccer. Unlike many European and South American countries, the United States does not have a rich soccer history and is often looked down upon by much of the world. In recent years, the US has begun to write more and more chapters in their history and has begun to rank high among the world teams.
Being led by players like Landon Donovan, Carlos Bocanegra, and Jozy Altidore the US won the Group B of the opening round of the 2010 World Cup for the first time since the inaugural tournament back in 1930. Winning with two draws and a little late bit of Donovan magic the U.S. made it to the knockout round. Despite losing to Ghana the sport received its highest rating ever for a men’s game with 17.6 million viewers.
Now that the World Cup is over for the United States, many think soccer is going to fade away as a second tier sport, where it will remerge again in four years when the tournament returns, almost as a sideshow attraction, a break from ‘real’ sports, if you will. If you are one of the American’s with this belief, you could be in for a rude awakening.
It is almost the middle of the season for Major League Soccer, or MLS here in the US, and the league is more popular than ever. Having formed in 1993 the small 10 team league has managed to keep its head above water, over what has been a very up and down history. These days though, the 16-team league is not only gaining more popularity, but also slowly starting to lure in the kind of player talent the rest of the world has known for some time.
By 2012 MLS will have 20 teams in the league, including two Canadian clubs. The highest average attendance comes from the Seattle Sounders with just over 36,100 for 2010. That average is better than 22 Major League Baseball clubs. Smaller arenas and diluted talent can also be somewhat to blame, when noting the 2010 league attendance average is just over 16,300.
Soccer also has a TV contract with ESPN, which is the nations largest sports outlet. Though they do not show every game, they have a Thursday game of the week and have helped propel the leagues marketing, which is significantly smaller then Americas four major sports. With these growing numbers it seems only logical as though the sport has no intentions of fading away for another four years, but rather continuing to grow.
Americans want, fast paced, high scoring sports though, and that is where soccer has failed to catch on. Not to mention regular season games can end in a tie. Many find it boring, with not enough action. Also, learning the rules can drive some away.
Only time will tell if Americans embrace the sport, or still don’t count it on the same hand with the four major sports. So if you are one of those “does anyone even watch soccer” people you might soon find yourself in the majority of that conversation. Take a trip to your closest MLS game, take it in, and then after reevaluate your decision, who knows you just might enjoy this football game as much your normal football game!
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