US interest in "soccer". An outsiders view.

[windymiller]

I'm sure this will not be news to our American brethren, and I'm sorry if this is retreading old ground (mods - do what you've gotta do) but I've been coming to the states for years with work, and I'm currently sat in The Tam in Boston, but this is the first time that I've felt real, general interest in the sport when I've visited. Sure, the euros are on and the US are doing well in the Cops America, but the majority of yanks I speak to here have a genuine interest. I've watched more footie here than I watch at home. Travelling over here is more fun these days!

 

[SerenityNigh]

U.S. sport of the future

 

[Goat]

LOL

 

[Ramiro Funes Mori]

I remember the "this sport is stupid anyway" headline lol

 

[Rook]

Its like the Olympics for us (though a little more popular). We like it, in small easily digestible doses, and preferably in the summer where there is no NFL or college football.

 

[l4toffee]

I'm sure this will not be news to our American brethren, and I'm sorry if this is retreading old ground (mods - do what you've gotta do) but I've been coming to the states for years with work, and I'm currently sat in The Tam in Boston, but this is the first time that I've felt real, general interest in the sport when I've visited. Sure, the euros are on and the US are doing well in the Cops America, but the majority of yanks I speak to here have a genuine interest. I've watched more footie here than I watch at home. Travelling over here is more fun these days!

one of my favourite things in the world to do is being sat in a sports bar in the states watching English football , then the NFL and baseball and other sports all day. Loads of good Sam Adams on tap and boss bar food served by fit as fck waitresses with boss accents . Whenever I go to Florida I always have a couple of afternoons of doing this . Though it didn't go down too well with the ex lol . The atmosphere for the NFL games especially was fantastic with pretty much every game being shown . Yanks are hilarious when it comes to sports and celebrating a goal or touchdown lol

 

[verreauxi]

I'm sure this will not be news to our American brethren, and I'm sorry if this is retreading old ground (mods - do what you've gotta do) but I've been coming to the states for years with work, and I'm currently sat in The Tam in Boston, but this is the first time that I've felt real, general interest in the sport when I've visited. Sure, the euros are on and the US are doing well in the Cops America, but the majority of yanks I speak to here have a genuine interest. I've watched more footie here than I watch at home. Travelling over here is more fun these days!

Certainly its popularity has grown here in a few ways. Here's how I see it (my subjective opinions only) based on living\playing in a few different areas across the USA and also being alive in the USA since the 70s. To varying degrees I see the rise in popularity on US TV due to: 1) the hispanic community has gotten more integrated into neighborhoods they live in and their presence has resulted in organizing leagues as well as recruiting non-Hispanic players into their leagues (this is a shift across time as leagues in the 70s were far more insular than leagues in the 2010s); 2) the game is generally an easy, relatively inexpensive-way to allow surburban parents have "an event" to encourage their kids to join when young (relative to US football, hockey, baseball--you basically just need good footware) so this has encouraged many upstart leagues for a new generation, including the inclusion of recently integrated Hispanic families into what were largely formerly white communities; 3) independent of whether you have played the sport, there is currently a minority but market-formidable hipster attitude in the US to be anti-establishment, and this means, for whatever it's worth, to shun mainstream sports (and beer companies) and to embrace "global" sports; and the fact that matches do not have repeated interruptions of TV commercials has also attracted appeal; 4) the USA has been exemplary in developing the women's game, which has resulted in an increased enthusiasm for the game in general (subjectively, pub attendance for women's and men's World Cup games have been about the same over the last 3 world cups for me); and, 5) as a result 1, 2, 3, and 4, there is an increasing presence of USA citizens who view soccer as their "go to" sport and have found an expanding community of fans to share their enthusiasm with. And TV markets have responded.

Back in the early 80s, to be frank, the idea of soccer being mainstream in the USA was touch-and-go. Among other things there was the quality of play--still debateble relative to international terms, and flying teams 6 hours across to the country to play in a match was, and is, economically problematic. But I think we've turned a corner and soccer is here to stay. The quality of play in leagues has improved and also there are now established fan bases in many regions.

 

[Pagan_83]

Certainly its popularity has grown here in a few ways. Here's how I see it (my subjective opinions only) based on living\playing in a few different areas across the USA and also being alive in the USA since the 70s. To varying degrees I see the rise in popularity on US TV due to: 1) the hispanic community has gotten more integrated into neighborhoods they live in and their presence has resulted in organizing leagues as well as recruiting non-Hispanic players into their leagues (this is a shift across time as leagues in the 70s were far more insular than leagues in the 2010s); 2) the game is generally an easy, relatively inexpensive-way to allow surburban parents have "an event" to encourage their kids to join when young (relative to US football, hockey, baseball--you basically just need good footware) so this has encouraged many upstart leagues for a new generation, including the inclusion of recently integrated Hispanic families into what were largely formerly white communities; 3) independent of whether you have played the sport, there is currently a minority but market-formidable hipster attitude in the US to be anti-establishment, and this means, for whatever it's worth, to shun mainstream sports (and beer companies) and to embrace "global" sports; and the fact that matches do not have repeated interruptions of TV commercials has also attracted appeal; 4) the USA has been exemplary in developing the women's game, which has resulted in an increased enthusiasm for the game in general (subjectively, pub attendance for women's and men's World Cup games have been about the same over the last 3 world cups for me); and, 5) as a result 1, 2, 3, and 4, there is an increasing presence of USA citizens who view soccer as their "go to" sport and have found an expanding community of fans to share their enthusiasm with. And TV markets have responded.

Back in the early 80s, to be frank, the idea of soccer being mainstream in the USA was touch-and-go. Among other things there was the quality of play--still debateble relative to international terms, and flying teams 6 hours across to the country to play in a match was, and is, economically problematic. But I think we've turned a corner and soccer is here to stay. The quality of play in leagues has improved and also there are now established fan bases in many regions.

I'd add the popularity of EA's FIFA franchise in there. I'm not sure which was responsible for which, but the rise of the sport's popularity has paralleled the games popularity.