Comments on: Why Americans Hate Soccer

By: Edward Royce

Edward Royce — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:15:26 +0000

Soccer isn’t popular because it’s boring.
It’s like reading ‘Moby Dick’. It’s a classic. Many people like it. It’s also boring.

By: Triumph

Triumph — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:19:00 +0000

The Jim Rome-type soccerphobes are part of a dying demographic.
As the US becomes more cosmopolitan (both with more immigrants here and with more “natives” being exposed to global culture) soccer has gotten more popular. Hell, the Seattle Sounders are out-drawing the Mariners this year!
The play in the MLS is about on par with the English Football League Championship (one step below the EPL).
MLS has taken a good approach towards growing the game–building soccer-only stadiums, not expanding too quickly (a la NHL) and cultivating strong supporters groups.
This is only going to help the sport develop here in the long run. The main thing the US is missing is a strong developmental program. All the top European clubs have extensive developmental teams and even campuses to cultivate talent. In the US, junior soccer is more of a suburban thing that requires parents to have money to shell out to travel; thus, the sport misses out on top junior atheletes.
It would also do wonders for the sport here if ESPN got the US broadcast contract for the Premiership. I think Fox Soccer plays the games, but not too many people get that channel.

Once you watch the Premiership, you realize how cool the sport really is.

By: B. Minich

B. Minich — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 03:48:03 +0000

I must say that I recently watched some of the Chealsea vs. AC Milan game on ESPN – the one at M&T Bank Stadium. After getting over the weirdness of seeing soccer played in a stadium I watch football be played in once a year (being a Steeler fan), I really appreciated it the most out of any soccer match I’ve seen. This had to do with two things: first, learning the nuances of defense and offense and the strategies used by each side to advance and move the ball, and watching a fair bit of hockey over the last few years.
Hockey has a lot in common with soccer (there is also a lot of differences, obviously). But one of the similarities is how each team tries to gain the zones, and you can see who is doing better by watching which end the ball stays in. After finally understanding hockey, I now have a much better understanding of soccer.

By: fester

fester — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:59:50 +0000

Rick — I especially agree with your middle conclusion — US soccer really is not that good at any level, so the game can be quite ugly. I referee soccer and I consider myself lucky if 10% of my matches are actually good matches. And that 10% is from the “best” clubs in Western PA, Ohio, New York, Michigan, West Virginia and Western Maryland. Sunday morning rec-travel league is almost uniformly atrocious where I am mainly trying to get out of the players way instead of actually facilitating a good match.

By: Steve Hynd

Steve Hynd — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:28:30 +0000

“Gary Schmitt of AEI is a clueless git.”

Rick, for once we agree wholeheartedly on something. John Burgess is doubtless correct with his “follow the money” cynicism.

But I do wonder whether the antipathy of the likes of AEI’s Schmitt and former Heritage fellow Moore arises because soccer doesn’t favor all-out, frontal, grinding assaults. Their preferred neocon foreign policy/military strategy may show a mindset predisposed against soccers attacks down the wings, slowly developed offenses and tactical withdrawals in order to to try another route to the goal.

Warmest regards, Steve @ Newshoggers

By: John Burgess

John Burgess — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:16:43 +0000

I’ll be ultra-cynical and say the reason soccer isn’t popular in the US is that it’s unpopular for TV networks because it cuts into advertising revenue. Soccer is not adorned with myriad times-out for dropped passes, out of bounds plays, or contracts between the NFL and TV.
If advertisers could put ads on the screen during uninterrupted action, they might be happier to support the sport.