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

[RaychelSnr]

#482578987 / gettyimages.com

The World Cup is setting ratings records left and right, the US Men's National Team seems poised to possibly move onto the elimination round of the World Cup, and football (soccer) is on the minds of more people in America today than ever before.

Of course, this isn't the first time Americans have been excited about football. In fact, it's not even the first time we've heard that the sport is on the rise here. But perhaps, just maybe, the grand old sport of football is finally catching a break here in America.

The English Premiere league is on NBC, the MLS is drawing once thought impossible crowds, and more people are watching.

Sound off: Is this it? Is football finally on the rise in America? Will there be any maintenance at all of the momentum the sport has generated with a (thus far) fabulous World Cup?

[malky]

The fact that there are not many comments on this topic sort of shows soccer still has a long long way to go lol

As far as popular in the USA , I've been saying it for years , the mls has to get rid of the ties and make the rules benefit more scoring and you actually might have a shot to move up to 3 or 4 in the top major sports

Other than that , most people are right now are just supporting the nation as a whole, nothing more to read into it

[razorkaos]

I'll repeat myself here (i posted this on another thread)

About the growth of soccer in the US...

The first WC i watched was the one hosted by the US, in 94, i was 8. I remember the people saying that the US was trying to popularize soccer there, even talking about Pelé playing for the NY Cosmos. I remember some american players, like Lalas and Meola. I honestly don't remember the USA's campaign in the WC 98 in France (i'm still traumatized by that final), but since 2002, i keep saying that i don't see another country that evolved their soccer like the US did. Maybe Japan, but they were in love with the sport even before the 90's. That match in the confederations cup, when you guys played against us, was the best example of how much you guys evolved in the sport technically.

If we look behind, the growth of soccer in the US was huge, even if it was not as fast as it could be, probably by cultural differences (as stated before, the relegation/promotion system and the draft are not part of soccer outside the US). Your league is growing, you guys are gradually getting better on an international level, it's just a matter of time. Also, the US is probably the only country with 4 strong, big leagues of different sports, so there's this competition as well.

[abclefty12]

Coverage of soccer is more available and better than ever here in the US. I've been following the Premier League since 1999 and it's amazing how accessible it is these days. I can't say enough about how great NBC's coverage is and how thankful I am for it! To answer the question, soccer is certainly on the rise in the US, however I feel the fate of soccer long term in the US rests on the MLS's ability to compete with other top sports in the country. While effective, I don't feel the World Cup and European club soccer alone will build sustainable long term soccer growth in America rivaling that of the big four sports in the US.

[Radja]

soccer is never going to go nuts here like the rest of the world. regionally it will have good support though. i live in sac and there is a desire for an mls team. it is a perfect example of what will happen in the right area.

the new minor league soccer team packed 20,000 in their first few games here in a community college football stadium. they just built a soccer only stadium and sold out again. they only built it for 8,000 which is about what every other minor league team stadium size was but if they get the mls and a bigger venue, they will sell out. however, we have a ton of soccer played here and a sizeable mexican community who love soccer. so regionally it will catch fire and work here.

this wont happen in every area. there might be parts of the south where american football is king that will almost feel it is an insult to the usa to support soccer.

unlike the nfl, nba and mlb, which are the top leagues in the world, even if the mls became popular, it would still be minor league on the world soccer scene. it would take a long time before any mls team could compete with the bottom teams in spain, england and italy consistently. that in itself will keep it from ever competing for the $$$ that go to the top american sports.

i hope we get an mls team here. soccer live is a very fun sport. the games are relatively short compared to others. they whole game is usually over in under two hours. i owned season tickets to the kings for years and it took over your entire evening to go to games as they often took 2.5 hours if no overtime.

[msuhockeycj]

This debate is tired. The question has been asked for a decade. The evidence is clear. Soccer is rising in the country. More people watch it. More people play it. More people follow it, both domestically and internationally.

To what extent is the real question and something that people get all too worked up about. Soccer has its place in the American sports culture. Thats a fact. It may never top football or basketball, but it has a place, and a growing one at that. To claim otherwise would be ignorant of all the data (rising tv ratings progressively over a decade, rising attendance over time, 2nd most followed sport among youth).

[inkcil]

No. Every 4 years we have this same discussion and most people aren't even interested in the discussion, much less the sport.

The reason our other major team sports (namely the Big 4) are so popular is because the best players from all over the world come to play in this country's leagues. As Americans, we are used to watching the best talent in any given team sport.

The globes best players in soccer take their talents across the pond.

As a matter of fact, what is the MLS, the 9th or 10th best soccer league in the world? Would we watch the worlds 9th best football, basketball or baseball league? Of course not.

And we will never buy into the Premier League because it holds no geographical significance for us.

[dubcity]

I'll be convinced that it is rising when people decide that this debate is worth having in a non World Cup year. Maybe if the MLS rises from irrelevancy. I mean, just watch most of the World Cup ads. The one with the Cinderella song, for example. It's clear that women and children are the key demos. When more 25-40 year old men in America decide they give a damn, then we'll be on to something.