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I think the problem is the lack of advertising revenue. US sports is endless commercial breaks. It’s not fan attendance. It’s lack of major network television exposure because there’s no money in it. I pay for Peacock, Sling, Paramount, and ESPN+ to watch Liverpool. I’ve abandoned US sports other than the Patriots. I can’t take the endless flood of commercials.
I used to have Revolution season tickets. I gave it up because the quality was so poor. It’s never going to get much better because there isn’t the television revenue to pay world class players. Since there’s no money in it, the best athletes in the US pick other sports.
Compared to Champions League level of play, the USMNT is very minor league. It was painful watching them in Costa Rica the other day.
For me, the problem with the Revs is lack of atmosphere. If the Revs had a 20,0000 soccer-only stadium, I would have gone all the time. I lived 25-30 mins away for years, but I just couldn't get excited about going to that cavern of a stadium. I like to see game, so sitting in The Fort was annoying. It just didn't click for me.
Soccer will never be the dominant spectator sport in the US because the major networks have no interest. There’s not enough advertising revenue in it.
I've grown to be a pretty big EPL fan, but let's not ignore the one of the biggest turn-offs of the game which the leagues and referees have refused to crack down on and that's flopping. Watching some of the sport's biggest names like Neymar, Ronaldo, Kane, Son etc constantly dive like ballerinas all over the pitch is embarrassing and makes major matches hard to take seriously for those who didn't grow up with football as their primary sport/passion.
I've grown to be a pretty big EPL fan, but let's not ignore the one of the biggest turn-offs of the game which the leagues and referees have refused to crack down on and that's flopping. Watching some of the sport's biggest names like Neymar, Ronaldo, Kane, Son etc constantly dive like ballerinas all over the pitch is embarrassing and makes major matches hard to take seriously for those who didn't grow up with football as their primary sport/passion.
It's been pointed out before that this happens in other contact sports as well. A good football ref won't be fooled by the act, and the video review system helps to minimize the effectiveness of simulation.
I think the problem is the lack of advertising revenue. US sports is endless commercial breaks. It’s not fan attendance. It’s lack of major network television exposure because there’s no money in it. I pay for Peacock, Sling, Paramount, and ESPN+ to watch Liverpool. I’ve abandoned US sports other than the Patriots. I can’t take the endless flood of commercials.
I used to have Revolution season tickets. I gave it up because the quality was so poor. It’s never going to get much better because there isn’t the television revenue to pay world class players. Since there’s no money in it, the best athletes in the US pick other sports.
Compared to Champions League level of play, the USMNT is very minor league. It was painful watching them in Costa Rica the other day.
In bold, yours mirrors mine. I haven't given up on the Mavs as of yet and I'm a Cowboy fan so I'm a huge fan of a American Football. It's my favorite sport but within the last 15 years, World Football has sky rocketed to number 2 for me. I also have all the streaming service just to not only watch Arsenal. But to watch ALL of world football. That includes the other leagues, other cups, etc. Reason? Love the flow and I know the games will end within 2 hours mostly. Whereas an American football game can last for 3 hours or more and that's the NFL. College games are even longer.
I've said it for many years, American Football games can last for two hours if they wanted to. Basketball games can finish within two hours as well. I don't know what they can do with baseball as that seems a lost cause. But the advertising thing is huge reason why the networks have not fully embraced the sport I bet. They know that announcers reading a sponsor or a you seeing it flashing for a quick second does not register the same thoughts as them playing a 30 second commercial. Manchester City and Liverpool was today and that should have been on NBC but instead, it was on USA. ESPN has la liga and you would think they could put El Clasico on at the very least, ESPN 2 or something. But they would rather put on softball game instead of that. The networks know there is potential there but they haven't figured out how they can fit it in their system.
To your second point, I do support the local which is FC Dallas but I hate how the MLS is operated but that's for another thread. But the quality of play between the MLS and the Premier League is night and day. Heck, Fulham would probably win the MLS cup. Most MLS teams would be 3rd tier in EFL system at best.
why football is not big in usa is because it is based on hype like new team in mls this year first game gets 80k people next game not even 20k because you can not hype the hype. this is sport where everything happenes on field nobody cares about some story how this guy got to mls or how this team got to be. this sport requires skill other thing american think football is running it is much more then that then just running. and what you need major network too talk about it not just for 3 minutes in week but have specific shows with people that know football not pti or ath
In bold, yours mirrors mine. I haven't given up on the Mavs as of yet and I'm a Cowboy fan so I'm a huge fan of a American Football. It's my favorite sport but within the last 15 years, World Football has sky rocketed to number 2 for me. I also have all the streaming service just to not only watch Arsenal. But to watch ALL of world football. That includes the other leagues, other cups, etc. Reason? Love the flow and I know the games will end within 2 hours mostly. Whereas an American football game can last for 3 hours or more and that's the NFL. College games are even longer.
I've said it for many years, American Football games can last for two hours if they wanted to. Basketball games can finish within two hours as well. I don't know what they can do with baseball as that seems a lost cause. But the advertising thing is huge reason why the networks have not fully embraced the sport I bet. They know that announcers reading a sponsor or a you seeing it flashing for a quick second does not register the same thoughts as them playing a 30 second commercial. Manchester City and Liverpool was today and that should have been on NBC but instead, it was on USA. ESPN has la liga and you would think they could put El Clasico on at the very least, ESPN 2 or something. But they would rather put on softball game instead of that. The networks know there is potential there but they haven't figured out how they can fit it in their system.
To your second point, I do support the local which is FC Dallas but I hate how the MLS is operated but that's for another thread. But the quality of play between the MLS and the Premier League is night and day. Heck, Fulham would probably win the MLS cup. Most MLS teams would be 3rd tier in EFL system at best.
Fulham would win everything in MLS easily. They have 6 players earning more than £3 million who would all be in the MLS top 10 payroll list. Plus another 5 players earning over £2 million. Plus Neco Williams on loan from Liverpool at age 20. I follow Blackburn. That’s not quite good enough to make the cut for the promotion playoffs. The Revs are about at that level and they had the best record in MLS last year.
I guess the MLS could change the rules to make it more TV friendly. The NHL did that. Quarters instead of halves. TV timeouts. I wouldn’t watch it if I had the option of European football with uninterrupted halves but it would create the TV revenue to buy quality players. A $100 million payroll would be middle of the pack EPL. It wouldn’t buy Manchester City wizardry but it could compete with the average teams.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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No, it's just that it's a relatively new sport to the USA still. Professional baseball has been here since 1869, and if anything, has started to wear out it's appeal lately. Football has been here since 1892, basketball since 1896. That's at least 126 years for those sports. MLS started in 1993, that's only 29 years, and the feeble attempts at soccer here prior to that were unsuccessful. In some cities, such as Atlanta and Seattle, the current MLS teams are selling out most games with as many as 43,000 fans attending. Most of them are either millennials that grew up playing in local youth leagues, or immigrants from countries where it's always been popular. It will take time to draw the kind of TV audiences, paraphernalia sales, and celebrity endorsement status as enjoyed by the 3 major sports here, but in time it could happen, especially if interest continues to fall in baseball, and football fans continue to drop out as they get fed up with the woke NFL.
The belief that the NFL fandom is dying took a hit last year. Their ratings were up all the way. That said, soccer will continue to grow in this nation. It's up to the USSF to do even more though. But I doubt they will. When I say more, I mean have the sport now become part of the culture in America. Millennials, Gen Z, and even younger Gen X under the 50 years old are choosing soccer over baseball and hockey according to a gallup poll.
This thread is so 1997. MLS is the 3rd best attended sports league in America already. And we must add big interest in the English Premier League and other world leagues.
The anti-Americanism thing is becoming a thing of the past. I've attended soccer matches in many countries and people just accept me as another fan (decades ago it was different, great arrogance especially in Britain). Besides, it's sports, sports-fans everywhere slam each other based on the teams they support, I guess sports fandom is not for babies.
Let it go dude, there's room for plenty of sports to be viable in America especially.
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