Why don't Americans like soccer?

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I know that some people do, especially Latino Americans. And of course, all the parents with children involved with soccer like to watch their kids play. I’m not sure if they like to watch the big teams play.

But most people I know, including me, absolutely loathe the game. No kidding, I would watch a fundamentalist television evangelist who was selling pieces of his sweaty shirts for healing purposes rather than a soccer match, even if game was U.S. for the World Championship. Actually, I would watch a blank screen and pretend that I was watching something before I would watch soccer. I think it’s the dumbest game. Hours and hours of play, and the score doesn’t even break 5 points, even though the goal is the size of Rhode Island. And then after all that running and sweating and head-bumping, if there’s a tie, the whole game is decided by a few place kicks. That makes no sense at all. And then the spectators get all violent and stampede. :rolleyes:

Why do a lot of Americans feel this way about soccer? Why don’t we like the game like we like football, baseball, basketball, or hockey (which is similiar to soccer, but played on ice, so it’s good to watch).

And do you think this will change in the future since so many kids are involved in soccer?
 
Well with indoor soccer they have tried to make the game TV friendly. For Americans whose sports were sold on radio then TV soccer is just to slow.

It is an endurance contest as everyone waits for a strategic advantage when suddenly there is activity. However with no time outs to have an opportunity to break away and sell beer it is possible to miss the entire game when the broadcaster finally cuts away to make money.

To make it friendlier for TV. Allow the play to stop when the ball goes out of bounds. You can then sell stuff without the fear of missing the entire game. Allow liberal subsitution like a line in hockey. Then players can go full speed and take chances without the fear that their efforts will leave them too tired and their team vunerable as they have to cover for a player as he recovers from the extreme burst as he tried a score or tackle.

However realize that if any changes occur the sport’s puriest will react like baseball fans did with the designated hitter rule and not like basketball fans reacted to shot clocks, three point shots and three second lanes.
 
Actually I think football (soccer) will be huge in 15 years or so.

Many young kids playing now will actually develop a love for the game that will carry over into adulthood and sports interests. With people in this country, who come from other countries with a love for soccer, becoming more numerous in our country, it’s safe to say that there will be more fans of soccer overall in the states.

European soccer is becoming more available in people’s homes, and if you show someone the best teams, fans, etc., people will get interested. With ticket prices at the other big four sports getting too high for the average family, lower-cost tickets for MLS matches suddenly become a viable alternative. And if they aren’t going to any games, they might catch one of the exciting matches on TV and get hooked.

When you watch an NFL, MLB or NBA game, the can take forever. 3 1/2, sometimes four hours for college football games. With soccer? Two hours, no matter what match it is. Plus, there are no commercials except for halftime and pregame. Which means you get 45+ minutes of game time.

Pure, uninterrupted action. Some will say that soccer isn’t high scoring enough. But I think that’s a positive: The goals mean more. It’s harder to score. And when someone does score a goal, it’s an epic rush of pandemonium. A soccer goal ranks as one of the most exciting scores in all of sports.

Plus, with a looming lockout (read: no NFL on Sundays) in the NFL and NBA in 2011, many people could get disgusted by those sports, and turn to something else. That could very well be soccer.

Speculative I know. But it seems like all the pieces are in place for it to turn into a sport with a huge following in the states.
 
4Squarebaby said:
Well with indoor soccer they have tried to make the game TV friendly. For Americans whose sports were sold on radio then TV soccer is just to slow.

It is an endurance contest as everyone waits for a strategic advantage when suddenly there is activity. However with no time outs to have an opportunity to break away and sell beer it is possible to miss the entire game when the broadcaster finally cuts away to make money.

To make it friendlier for TV. Allow the play to stop when the ball goes out of bounds. You can then sell stuff without the fear of missing the entire game. Allow liberal subsitution like a line in hockey. Then players can go full speed and take chances without the fear that their efforts will leave them too tired and their team vunerable as they have to cover for a player as he recovers from the extreme burst as he tried a score or tackle.

However realize that if any changes occur the sport’s puriest will react like baseball fans did with the designated hitter rule and not like basketball fans reacted to shot clocks, three point shots and three second lanes.
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that is why you reserve a half hour or so time for commercials before and after the game, to get advertising time in without disrupting the flow of the game
 
Montalo, I hope you don’t type in yellow very often. Hurts my eyes trying to read it 🙂
 
American football never caught on in Europe, and cricket never caught on in the USA, either.
 
Well, there is always NASCAR!

[What would happen if they had a NASCAR race that turned to the right?]
 
fultonfish said:
Well, there is always NASCAR!

[What would happen if they had a NASCAR race that turned to the right?]
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They have had a couple of road races on the schedule for years. If you mean turning right on the oval… then probably the same way global track and field fans would react to the same thing.
 
Cat said:
I know that some people do, especially Latino Americans. And of course, all the parents with children involved with soccer like to watch their kids play. I’m not sure if they like to watch the big teams play.

But most people I know, including me, absolutely loathe the game. No kidding, I would watch a fundamentalist television evangelist who was selling pieces of his sweaty shirts for healing purposes rather than a soccer match, even if game was U.S. for the World Championship. Actually, I would watch a blank screen and pretend that I was watching something before I would watch soccer. I think it’s the dumbest game. Hours and hours of play, and the score doesn’t even break 5 points, even though the goal is the size of Rhode Island. And then after all that running and sweating and head-bumping, if there’s a tie, the whole game is decided by a few place kicks. That makes no sense at all. And then the spectators get all violent and stampede. :rolleyes:

Why do a lot of Americans feel this way about soccer? Why don’t we like the game like we like football, baseball, basketball, or hockey (which is similiar to soccer, but played on ice, so it’s good to watch).

And do you think this will change in the future since so many kids are involved in soccer?
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I can only speak for myself when I say it bores me to death. I know that many people throughout the world find it exciting and perhaps if I grew up in the same cultures as they did, I too might enjoy it. But for me… it ranks right up there with badminton. 😃
 
celticsfan1983 said:
Many young kids playing now will actually develop a love for the game that will carry over into adulthood and sports interests
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Suburban parents have been putting their children in soccer programs since at least the 70s. The change you predict hasn’t happened yet, and I doubt it will.
 
Back in the 1970s you didn’t have as much access to European and other international, top quality leagues like you do now (watching those leagues makes the game more fun). And with the U.S. becoming more and more diverse culturally, it seems that love of different sports will become more diverse as well, which means football could become more popular here.
 
For me, it’s the other way around. I LOOOOVE soccer, in my opinion it is the only real sport out there. I don’t care for baseball, basketball, and I loath american football with a passion. It just bores the snot outta me. I annoy my father and brother whenever it’s on. I’ll just keep saying “what, ANOTHER break!?” or" but they hardly even moved?". It’s just so pointless to me.
 
I’m Italian American…I don’t follow soccer closely, but I do like it very much. Especially the world cup games.

What I don’t understand is, “How can it be boring?” there is constant action.

But I think it is slowwwwly becoming popular, especially with the world becoming smaller because of internet.

In my area there are immigrants from latin america and also europe. My ex neighbors were from Ireland, and their boys would play soccer in the yard with my DS. Sometimes the dad would play also…and he was pretty good too. DS was fortunate to learn from him. But they moved away.😦
 
There was an episode of the Simpsons. It started off with a soccer match where the action consited of passing the ball back and forth as the players waited for an opening so that there would be action.

The immigrant characters of the Simpsons then started a soccer riot to provide the action sought by the fans. After that the episode turned into Homer gets a gun.
 
There’s a little of the same attitude here in Australia - we have not one but THREE different football codes (rugby league, rugby union and Australian Rules football) that are more popular overall than soccer.

It’s turned around enormously since Australia qualified for the last World Cup after a 30-odd year drought, in a thrilling penalty shootout, won a few games whilst there. Having since joined the Asian confederation, we have had the benefit of many more international games and became one of the first teams to qualify for South Africa 2010. Now our A-league (the domestic competition) is growing in leaps and bounds.

Personally I can’t stand cricket, except for the so-called limited overs forms of the game. This is where each team is given a few hours and must make the highest possible score within that time limit regardless of how many players get to bat or bowl. OR baseball,which could perhaps benefit from a similar new form of the game.

By the way … sad but true, I never have found out what ‘double header’ means in sporting terminology - can anyone enlighten me?
 
LilyM said:
By the way … sad but true, I never have found out what ‘double header’ means in sporting terminology - can anyone enlighten me?
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It’s two games played in one day, usually to make up for a canceled game earlier in the season.
 
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