Sound Off: Is Football (Finally) on the Rise in America?

[Suntan Superman]

Americans like commercial breaks too much for soccer to be relevant in the US.

Not only that, it doesn't really fit the typical American male psychological profile.

[dubcity]

Quote: Originally Posted by Suntan Superman

Americans like commercial breaks too much for soccer to be relevant in the US..

Yeah, makes me wonder if big business in America really wants soccer to catch on. TV in Europe (particularly England) is so much different than America. Compare the obscene amount of commercial breaks in the NFL and NBA (or even the ridiculousness of NASCAR advertising), to the 45+ minutes of uninterrupted game time in soccer. And yet many Americans mock the ads on soccer uniforms. I will take that trade.

[sparkdawg777]

First off let me say that I now enjoy soccer a lot, I have never played but I have grown into a fan the last 4 years. I'm still no where near as interested compared to football but I still enjoy it if there is a good match up. Personally I would like to see it grow and see the US become a powerhouse but in my opinion there is one big problem that I see..

Soccer is not cool

I am from the south and grew up with 3 sports Football, Basketball and Baseball. I grew up being taught to hate soccer along with many of my friends who were also the best athletes in high school, soccer was not cool.
Baseball is though and you can't play baseball and soccer because they both fall in the spring. This could be the first reason soccer is frowned upon, things could be different now, but I mean my classmates would choose to run the track than play soccer in PE. Soccer has this label that it is for wimps, no offense to anyone who plays it. I don't see it that way anymore now because I understand the game, which is the source of this problem, parents grew up not playing or watching so they don't understand it except that there is hardly any scoring and players fake injuries. So they teach their kids that the sport is dumb (which is ridiculous).

Because of this our best athletes don't play the game and who are the most popular kids in school? What I mean is social status is one of the most important things in high school (unfortunately) and most people don't see soccer players as cool or good athletes. Don't get me wrong the US national team and many college/pro players are still exceptional athletes but they are the best out of the smallest sample of athletes to choose from in America. In high school if you can't play football you might play basketball or baseball. But most football players who don't play 2 sports run track in the spring instead of playing soccer. My point is we have the largest sample of athletes in the world but because of this bad label of soccer not being cool the sport has a tough disadvantage to grow in my area.

What I'm saying might be controversial but I believe it's true at least where I am from. I am sure there are some places around the US that don't think this way but I coach high school football now and still see this by kids here in the south. Again I don't won't to sound like this is all over the US but just in my area, I'm interested if anyone else sees this?

[asu666]

I believe soccer is past the years of struggling to exist at all in America and in a lasting upward trend that should take the next decade to really begin to firm up as a lot of young kids are playing soccer now and sticking with playing longer. America is seeing more high school teams and the rise of college soccer program importance now that the MLS represents a viable long-term domestic league.

I for one hate commerical breaks, so I'd always prefer to watch soccer over American football, which breaks every couple of minutes for ads. Soccer never had much support from major television networks in America because there's no place to break in with ads every few minutes, but the groundswell of support from a now sizable fanbase has made not televising soccer too risky because the support continues to grow and all of the networks want to have a toe in the pool if the NFL, NBA, MLB, etc. begin to slide in popularity.

Additionally, the MLS app is awesome. Like the other major sport ads there are matches, but the MLS app goes further with shows and player-centeric content. Plus, there's no ultra-annoying commerical break music like on say the NBA app.

[asu666]

Quote: Originally Posted by sparkdawg777

First off let me say that I now enjoy soccer a lot, I have never played but I have grown into a fan the last 4 years. I'm still no where near as interested compared to football but I still enjoy it if there is a good match up. Personally I would like to see it grow and see the US become a powerhouse but in my opinion there is one big problem that I see.. Soccer is not cool I am from the south and grew up with 3 sports Football, Basketball and Baseball. I grew up being taught to hate soccer along with many of my friends who were also the best athletes in high school, soccer was not cool. Baseball is though and you can't play baseball and soccer because they both fall in the spring. This could be the first reason soccer is frowned upon, things could be different now, but I mean my classmates would choose to run the track than play soccer in PE. Soccer has this label that it is for wimps, no offense to anyone who plays it. I don't see it that way anymore now because I understand the game, which is the source of this problem, parents grew up not playing or watching so they don't understand it except that there is hardly any scoring and players fake injuries. So they teach their kids that the sport is dumb (which is ridiculous). Because of this our best athletes don't play the game and who are the most popular kids in school? Don't get me wrong the US national team and many college/pro players are still exceptional athletes but they are the best out of the smallest sample of athletes to choose from in America. In high school if you can't play football you might play basketball or baseball. But most football players who don't play 2 sports run track in the spring instead of playing soccer. My point is we have the largest sample of athletes in the world but because of this bad label of soccer not being cool the sport has a tough disadvantage to grow in my area. What I'm saying might be controversial but I believe it's true at least where I am from. I am sure there are some places around the US that don't think this way but I coach high school football now and still see this by kids here in the south. Again I don't won't to sound like this is all over the US but just in my area, I'm interested if anyone else sees this?

Anyone who thinks soccer is not cool should be shown a WAGS photo site. Let's face it, American football is a lot of practices for a few games. Why do most high school guys play? Because girls tend to dig football players.

[RipCityAndy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Suntan Superman

Americans like commercial breaks too much for soccer to be relevant in the US. Not only that, it doesn't really fit the typical American male psychological profile.

American male psychological profile? Is that the thing where I don't want to watch professional flopping for 90 minutes and have it end in a draw?

I kid. I kid.

But in all seriousness I've seen the soccer fan base grow fairly dramatically over the last couple years in Portland.

[sparkdawg777]

Quote: Originally Posted by asu666

Anyone who thinks soccer is not cool should be shown a WAGS photo site. Let's face it, American football is a lot of practices for a few games. Why do most high school guys play? Because girls tend to dig football players.

I'm not going to necessarily disagree with that because we do have players that are that way. I'm not sure if you've ever played football before on Friday nights but I would gladly practice 20 more times for just 1 game. There's nothing like it.

I could be in the minority though but in my opinion most American athletes like football for the sport. We didn't play out in the yard as kids because the girls were watching, we did it because that's the game we knew and loved.

[braves_94]

When I was a kid, youth soccer leagues exploded. This was in the mid to early 90s. Shortly after that, the MLS started up. So soccer has enjoyed a pretty steady rise for going on two decades in America. But I don't know why you're questioning soccer's rise. I'd call any increase in popularity a rise. I imagine as the latino heritage in America grows, so will the sport's base. Which means by default it'll get more exposure to our youths across the spectrum.

On the otherside, I think the NFL is setting itself up for a monster decline. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are in the twilight of their careers. They might have 2 or 3 years left in the tank. And I don't see where the draw will come after them. The players are getting more and more unrelateable. You could have a situation not unlike the NBA when MJ hung it up. Starting to figure out why all those rules are in place to keep QB's upright. Brady and Manning are viewed as the life blood of their sport, and the longer they're around the better for the NFL.