Soccer - Gaining traction in the U.S.?

[Kodos]

Note: People from outside the U.S., please choose the trout option. I want to know how soccer is faring with United States fans.

Soccer seems to be riding higher in the U.S. right now than ever before. I'm curious what the percentage of fans is here at FOFC. To be honest, I still have little/no interest. I find myself more interested in the attempts to make it more mainstream in the U.S. than in the actual games. For instance, I read a few articles during the world cup, but only watched 5 minutes of footage while I was at dinner one night.

Poll to come.

[Kodos]

Note: Option 5 should say "I can't muster any interest".

[Lathum]

I like it and somewhat follow it but not to great lengths. I don't read about it in the off season, follow minor transactions, etc...but what it great about it is the games are on early in the morning on the weekends here so I have something to put on while we are getting the kids going, breakfast, etc...

[miked]

I like Premier League, Champions League, and all the other leagues. The MLS matches just seem to be so much lower in quality that it's tough to watch it when all the other leagues are in full force.

[cartman]

For me soccer is like college football. I love the sheer number of teams, and the ability to watch a myriad of different styles of play.

[path12]

Second only to NFL.

[DanGarion]

I prefer to play soccer. Not really into watching it.

[lungs]

I like that Premier League games come on fairly early morning on the weekend since there is nothing else on TV at that point. I play a little FIFA here and there on my PS4.

But I don't really follow it at all.

[DaddyTorgo]

Soccer #1. Above all.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I went with "it's okay" but that probably overstating it. But I read the occasional EPL article on espn.com about the major storylines of the moment/season so it's understating to say I can't muster any interest.

Aside from the EPL though, pfft. Anything else just has zero traction with me

[Izulde]

The national teams tournaments are the only ones I actually sit and watch. Club level I don't follow at all, though I have a few shirts/hats from various clubs of different countries/cities I've been to.

[The Jackal]

Second only to NHL

[JeeberD]

I'll watch the World Cup/Olympics, but that's it...

[saldana]

Second only to NFL.

this, but it is getting closer to #1

[Butter]

I love World Cup / Olympics, and follow club soccer from Europe and MLS, but am not a huge fan. I could barely tell you which players are on which teams aside from the mega stars. So, I don't know where that falls in the poll.

[Kodos]

Sounds like second tier to me.

[cuervo72]

I'll watch the World Cup/Olympics, but that's it...

I'm with Jeeber, whatever that makes me in the poll.

[Matthean]

Things I learned due to this thread. Detroit has a soccer team. It doesn't suck. Lansing also has a team, and it doesn't suck. There goes my excuses. :D

[ISiddiqui]

I picked Top 3.

Baseball, Soccer, and... College Football probably.

(I would have picked Top 2 if that was an option ;)).

I enjoy watching MLS as well. Yes, it isn't as good as the Spanish, Italian, German, English leagues, but then college football isn't as good (quality wise) as the NFL. I would say that atmosphere matters quite a bit more than most people would admit - therefore watching a game played at Portland where the stadium is always full and the fans are crazy is much more fun than watching, say, a game in Foxboro where it seems more than half empty and cavernous... even if the teams playing at Foxboro (say, New England Revolution hosting Sporting KC) are better than the teams playing at Portland (say, Portland Timbers hosting Montreal Impact).

[BillJasper]

I find nothing engaging about soccer. I've tried over and over to get into it.

My top sports are probably the NFL, college football and rugby.

[Thomkal]

Yes same as a couple others here, watch the World Cup/Olympics, this world cup the most ever. Tried to get into Football Manager, but just don't know enough about the game to stay interested for long.

[Blackadar]

Football Manager and the World Cup. That's about it.

I'll occasionally watch Premier League when it's on the tube, but since I don't have cable that's pretty much stopped.

[ISiddiqui]

This is actually very exciting for me as a soccer fan. 63.42% of voters so far (out of 41 votes) have soccer at least as a second tier sport (almost 30% having it in at least their Top 3). I couldn't even imagine it being that high a mere 10 years ago.

[Landshark44]

MSL is like watching Canadian Football to me.... I just feel like if the guys were good enough, they would be playing somewhere else... I can't watch it for that reason..


I love the Champions league games. A tournament with the best teams from every league in the World competing. That's the top competition of all sports to me...


I'll watch La Liga and EPL if the teams I know are playing.. Arsenal, Man City, United, Real, Barca..


I don't really watch the middle of the road teams all that much...

[DaddyTorgo]

Streaming 2x games at the moment - Chelski vs. Burnley & Barca vs. Leon.

Chelski have 10 mins to score 2 goals to catch up to Barca.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Soccer has exploded here in KC. Not only that, but the growth is mostly in the 18-29 crowd. They are the vast majority of the people buying tickets for the games. Sporting KC is in a great position for long-term success as is the sport of soccer in the area.

[Marc Vaughan]

Soccer has exploded here in KC. Not only that, but the growth is mostly in the 18-29 crowd. They are the vast majority of the people buying tickets for the games. Sporting KC is in a great position for long-term success as is the sport of soccer in the area.

In the short time I've lived in Florida (circa 7-8 years) soccer has grown hugely in acceptance.

When I first emigrated it was popular with kids, but adult leagues were fairly rare - fast forward to today and I play 11-a-side on a sunday, 4v4 on fridays and can also do a pick up 6v6 midweek when time permits ... its awesome :D

The turnout for the World Cup this summer really took me by surprise also, last world cup there was only very limited interest and I watched most games at home because there weren't many places with atmosphere showing them, this time around I watched most of them in packed bars full of people there specifically to watch the matches :D

[JonInMiddleGA]

This is actually very exciting for me as a soccer fan. 63.42% of voters so far (out of 41 votes) have soccer at least as a second tier sport (almost 30% having it in at least their Top 3). I couldn't even imagine it being that high a mere 10 years ago.

Could be a wee tad of selection bias here though. I'd be a bit wary of drawing much of a conclusion.

[Groundhog]

In Australia we've seen interest in soccer rise after the launch of our A-League competition and (relative) success of our National team, but I'd say interest overall increases and decreases roughly in proportion to the distance to and from the world cup each 4 years.

[cougarfreak]

Second only to baseball, but has gained considerable traction in the past year or so.

[Abe Sargent]

I like the footballs. And then I really don't have a Third Favorite Sport. Just football at 1 and football at 2. I loathe watching baseball, driving around in circles, and such. Basketball is really my thang save for College BBall near and at tourney time. Hockey? Meh. Golf is not a sport. In reality, I think my third favorite sport to watch might be volleyball. I love volleyball and I covet matches when i can find them.

[sabotai]

I went with "It's okay" because I really just don't follow it. I put it on as background noise and will watch some games (EPL are the only games aside from international competitions on TV), but I don't know the teams or know the players.

And as soon as the NFL starts up for real, all other sports might as well not exist until the Super Bowl is over.

[nol]

It could be any of those middle four answers. Probably in my top 3 by default, but I'm not going out of my way to watch it.

I've watched too much NBA to get too worked up about what goes on in college basketball other than checking out the top draft prospects' highlights and watching the finishes of close March Madness games. College football is generally the same in that I have a hard time watching when the players are so visibly worse than their NFL counterparts, but watching some innovative offense put up 50+ points on a scrub team can be fun to have on in the background.

I've really fallen off the NFL bandwagon because 1) working more often on Saturdays has me not wanting to spend my day off sitting on a couch and 2) the spectacle of it all has gotten so self-important and all-consuming that the general discourse surrounding the game is at sub-NASCAR levels of stupid.

Have never been a big baseball fan, but at some point in my life I was a big enough sports nerd to at least have a general idea of the players/stats/standings. I doubt I could even name 5 players under the age of 27 at this point.

I probably watched more World Cup matches than I did NFL games this past year, and I stopped watching shortly after America was eliminated (due to leaving for vacation shortly afterwards rather than being super depressed that we lost or anything). I'd keep tabs on it more but the European stuff is just at too weird of an hour for my limited passion; it'd probably take something like multiple American stars having a significant impact in a top league to get me watching regularly. Otherwise, I'm pretty much just all in on the NBA.

[Julio Riddols]

1. Pro Football
2. College Football
3a. March Madness
3b. Curling
4. Australian Rules Football

5. Billiards.

[Marc Vaughan]

For me 'proof' that its risen in popularity is that I'm seeing male soccer players used in adverts sporadically today which just didn't happen when I first emigrated (before you were more likely to see one of the ladies national team in an advert than one of the men).

Thought of that because a deoderant advert with a member of the Male national team popped up in this thread when I was viewing it - hows that for context sensitive advertising ;)

[EagleFan]

Football
Hockey
Baseball

Lacrosse - indoor

Soccer is somewhere below that. World Cup is great fun. EPL is a once in a while entertainment but no connection. MLS, I have tried to watch several times and sort of pull for the Union but have no real investment in the outcome. FM has spoiled me, watch a game in minutes and see only the exciting parts.

The flopping can be a major detraction.

[NobodyHere]

Soccer is definitely gaining traction in the US.

However the sheer number of flops I saw in the World Cup makes it hard for me to take the game seriously.

[miami_fan]

Second to basketball at this point. I am curious how this will change when I return to the States in a couple of months.

[CU Tiger]

1 - College Football
2 - NFL
3 - College Football Recriting
4 - MMA
5 - NASCAR
6 - High School Football
7- NBA Playoff Baskeball
8 - MLB
9 - College Basketball
10 - NBA Regular Season
11 - Curling in the Olympics
12 - Olympics
13 - Drag Racing
14 - Billiards on TV
15 - Soccer

[Marc Vaughan]

1. Soccer
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
Remind me of some other sports, there are some aren't there? (more seriously I quite enjoy playing Pool and semi-follow basketball although I don't truly 'get' the US rules for it fully - Football (US) I liked a lot as a teenager, but don't really follow much outside of my daughters University team (FSU) these days).

[korme]

I love the World Cup. It's great.

But I can't really approach any of the leagues. So many leagues, so many players. Not one 'dominant' league, which might help make a difference for me. Too hard to figure out where to begin.

[Subby]

Kind of like with hockey - I tried pretty hard to like it, but in reality it just doesn't resonate with me. I'm boring.

[ISiddiqui]

Could be a wee tad of selection bias here though. I'd be a bit wary of drawing much of a conclusion.

Well... now its 77 votes (we don't have many more on this board, do we?) :)

63.63% have soccer in at least their second tier.
35.06% say its one of their Top 3 sports.

For a board which began for fans of an American football text simulation, that's fairly high numbers.

[Pyser]

even though i play in a league every week (i actually run the team), i dont really follow or watch on tv, except for the biggest games.

[Ryche]

For me it's probably tied for second along with baseball and behind NFL. Slightly ahead of hockey.

I love that there is basically no offseason with leagues and competitions always happening. Premier League is definitely my favorite though, I've had more trouble getting into MLS although I've gone to a couple Rapids games.

[nol]

Well... now its 77 votes (we don't have many more on this board, do we?) :)

63.63% have soccer in at least their second tier.
35.06% say its one of their Top 3 sports.

For a board which began for fans of an American football text simulation, that's fairly high numbers.

It makes perfect sense considering that the most dominant text sim of the past 5-10 years has been a soccer sim.

[Dutch]

Kind of like with hockey - I tried pretty hard to like it, but in reality it just doesn't resonate with me. I'm boring.

Both are the same for me, I watched the Tampa Lightning in the playoffs and I think, "Why don't I watch this? This is awesome!" and with the World Cup, I watched the US team and said the same thing.

Then, as soon as those tourney's are over I forget about it almost completely.

The MLS sucks compared to the relegation leagues of Europe. If we did that in the States, I'd be much more drawn to it.

[korme]

Well... now its 77 votes (we don't have many more on this board, do we?) :)

63.63% have soccer in at least their second tier.
35.06% say its one of their Top 3 sports.

For a board which began for fans of an American football text simulation, that's fairly high numbers.

Still pretty massively skewed. Most of all of us who have played FOF, have played or play FM. That's a big contribution. If I were to take my 10 closest male friends, I can tell you none of them would say soccer is even on their radar. And I'm leaning toward the younger crowd.

[Marc Vaughan]

Still pretty massively skewed. Most of all of us who have played FOF, have played or play FM. That's a big contribution. If I were to take my 10 closest male friends, I can tell you none of them would say soccer is even on their radar. And I'm leaning toward the younger crowd.

I think if you broke it down by 'state/area' you'd find an interest correlation - a year or two back my wife was interested in moving up to PA because she has cousins up there she's close with, the 'killer' for me was that there is no interest in soccer at all in the local area around where they live ... the weather is really nice (well more 'English' than Florida ;) ) and I loved the area and people a lot ... but I need to keep exercising and for me that includes running around like a moron chasing a soccer ball.

[BishopMVP]

For me 'proof' that its risen in popularity is that I'm seeing male soccer players used in adverts sporadically today which just didn't happen when I first emigrated (before you were more likely to see one of the ladies national team in an advert than one of the men).

Thought of that because a deoderant advert with a member of the Male national team popped up in this thread when I was viewing it - hows that for context sensitive advertising ;)Or that's just companies capitalizing on the flavor of the month, and they'll be back to having female players in 2? years when the women's WC happens.

I think there's been a huge boost around world cup time since at least 1994, with "soccer fandom" retaining some of that boost each time. (Unlike, say, track and field or swimming which get huge boosts every 4 years and then completely disappear for 4 years.) So it's definitely growing, but nationally you won't have the same interest in a year or 3... Before it rickets back up in 2018.

[kcchief19]

I have a well known disdain for soccer, but even I will admit soccer is gaining some traction in this country, but I'm not solid on its strength and depth.

Immigration is absolutely fueling much of the increased attention on soccer. If you don't think demographics are changing, consider this -- the No. 1 broadcast network this summer among 18-49 viewers has been Univision.

Millennials are also more accepting of soccer, but I still see generally see the local soccer audience divided among the hardcore missionaries and the bandwagon riders.

I'm old enough to have lived through a soccer boomlet before, so I'm skeptical about buying in until we see how fast it develops. My bet is on the long haul -- soccer will have slow and steady growth for the next 50 years ... by which time maybe the U.S. can win a World Cup.

[JonInMiddleGA]

It makes perfect sense considering that the most dominant text sim of the past 5-10 years has been a soccer sim.

Good point.

I have more hours just with FM 14 on a single dynasty than I've spent watching soccer on television in 47 years. Many more than live attendance too, even if you count the indoor game (which I was a regular at for a couple of seasons in the Atlanta Attack era)

[ISiddiqui]

Still pretty massively skewed. Most of all of us who have played FOF, have played or play FM. That's a big contribution. If I were to take my 10 closest male friends, I can tell you none of them would say soccer is even on their radar. And I'm leaning toward the younger crowd.

That in and of itself is a massive shift. People playing an American football text sim playing a soccer text sim in such numbers? You are kidding yourself if you thought so many people on this board would be avid fans of FM in 2014, way back in 2004 (though you'd be predicting CM would be the big game in 2004 - FM didn't begin until 2005, after the split of SI and Eidos).

But that is generally how shifts happen - gradually. Pretty soon you look around and wonder how the shift even began.

[ISiddiqui]

And besides, you have tons of folks in the US who buy and play the EA Sports FIFA series as well... which is kind of crazy:

EA Sports' FIFA Video Game Helps Fuel Interest In The World Cup - Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2014/07/13/ea-sports-fifa-video-game-helps-fuel-interest-in-the-world-cup/)

Total unit sales of the series in the U.S. topped five million over the past two years, according to market research firm NPD. It still trails Madden NFL and NBA 2K among sports games in North America, but it is closing the gap quickly. Unit sales jumped 35% between 2010 and 2012 in the U.S. when they reached 2.6 million.

[nol]

That in and of itself is a massive shift. People playing an American football text sim playing a soccer text sim in such numbers? You are kidding yourself if you thought so many people on this board would be avid fans of FM in 2014, way back in 2004 (though you'd be predicting CM would be the big game in 2004 - FM didn't begin until 2005, after the split of SI and Eidos).

But that is generally how shifts happen - gradually. Pretty soon you look around and wonder how the shift even began.

Yeah, but this is primarily a board of text sim players rather than one of football fans. Even back in the Gamespy days, this board was a refuge for people to post stuff about Hattrick/EHM/FBCB when the audiences on those specific boards weren't as big. The shift in soccer's popularity is definitely positive, but it's not as drastic as this board would indicate.

I definitely have a few friends who weren't as into soccer as I was growing up who now regard the USA World Cup games on a similar level as they would March Madness, but on average it's not drastically different from what people would have thought in '94 or '02.

[ISiddiqui]

I think you are somewhat making my point about people would come here to speak about Hattrick/EHM/FBCB. The Championship Manager threads were not nearly as well populated or had as many posts as the Football Manager threads do now. I remember more than a few posts lamenting that CM, which seemed to so polished, was for soccer.

[kcchief19]

Saturday night was a trifecta in Kansas City: the Chiefs, Royals and Sporting KC all played at exactly the same time. Here were the TV ratings:

Chiefs 44.1
Royals 20.0
Sporting KC 2.6

The Chiefs number was a little low for them. The Royals number was huge. During their recent run, the Royals have been drawing in the 8-10 range. That 20 number might be a new record high for them. Sporting's number was pretty much on par for them.

Last December, Sporting KC played in the MLS Championship game versus Missouri in the SEC title game. Sporting pulled a 4.3, the SEC title game pulled a 19. And in KC is not a Missouri Tigers-dominated market, since there are many Kansas and Kansas State fans in the area.

[gstelmack]

What channels were each of those broadcast on?

[ISiddiqui]

Also, I don't understand what point was supposed to be made. Are you saying that Sporting KC is getting really bad numbers? Because I think a 2.6 rating for an MLS team up against an NFL game and a great story in the Royals is pretty great.

[RainMaker]

I'm still a very casual fan. I watch the World Cup, the US qualifiers, but that's mainly it. I do throw on a PL or CL game when it's on TV for background noise.

I'd like to get into it more but don't have a team that I feel any connection to and don't feel like dealing with the time discrepancy to watch the matches. If MLS improves I could see myself getting into that a bit more.

[ISiddiqui]

You live in Chicago it seems? Back the Chicago Fire... it's an MLS team in your backyard (well, in Bridgewater). Watch a few games and you may find the quality is far better than you expect.

[kcchief19]

What channels were each of those broadcast on?
Chiefs were on the CBS affiliate, Royals were on Fox Sports Kansas City (local version of FS Midwest) and Sporting KC was on channel 38, the over-the-air sister channel of the NBC affiliate.
Also, I don't understand what point was supposed to be made. Are you saying that Sporting KC is getting really bad numbers? Because I think a 2.6 rating for an MLS team up against an NFL game and a great story in the Royals is pretty great.
There were 30 times more people watching Chiefs or Royals than SKC. In percentages, the Chiefs had 66% of the audience, the Royals 30% and SKC 4%.

Based on their past numbers, going up against the Chiefs and the Royals had almost zero impact on SKC. In fact, their numbers are often lower than 2.6. If The Royals game had not been on, the Chiefs would have probably done 50-55 and SKC maybe a 3. Hard to say what the Royals might have done without the Chiefs game, but they wouldn't have gone up as high as the Chiefs did. SKC still would have picked up almost nothing based on past ratings.

Guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Those numbers are remarkably low to me and show that football and baseball fans aren't abandoning their teams for soccer. Soccer has a nice TV audience here, but that's it -- it's a very small niche.

[ISiddiqui]

Yeah, like I said, pretty decent numbers for an MLS game. Nothing to be ashamed about for Sporting KC fans.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Those numbers are remarkably low to me and show that football and baseball fans aren't abandoning their teams for soccer. Soccer has a nice TV audience here, but that's it -- it's a very small niche.

Well, they're low ... and they're not.

I mean, assuming that's rating and not share ... it's a decent number for a Saturday night. Especially with both another national NFL game and NASCAR in primetime both pulling at least some number in the market too.

It's also extraordinary numbers for people watching TV on a Saturday night. National (7 day) norms for this time of year in prime are about 57-59 %. You had 67 just on the three events you named alone.

[JonInMiddleGA]

After thinking about the math, I'd sure hate to the owner of a bar or restaurant without games on TV Saturday night. HUT (households using television) had to be upwards of 80% or more, not good for business at all.