How old are you and do you like soccer?

[THE DEUCE]

I can see why people have no interest and I also see why people love it!


{I love getting up early on the weekends to see my gunners}

 

[ONW]

soccer is like the metric system

In that it makes much more mathematical sense?

 

[wakephan09]

24. I sort of love how it isn't the US's sport. Follow it religiously, but only played it competitively until the 9th grade.

 

[61raddeac]

40 and love it.

Started really watching in 2004. I watch way more soccer than any other sport.

Love Arsenal, Spain, and USMNT. Go to a few FC Dallas games a year.

Went to the first FC Dallas (formally the Dallas Burn) game at the Cotton Bowl in 1996 vs. San Jose.

Saw Pele play against the Dallas Tornado 1976 (don't really remember much)

Saw South Korea Spain 1994 WC in the Cotton Bowl with S. Korea getting a 90th minute equalizer.

 

[vadimivich]

I'm 31 - still play regularly (multiple times a week) and fairly competitively. Love the sport, follow it at both the club and international level.

 

[DeacHead]

I'm in the second age tier and I selected "like". I'm sure I'm on the low end of "like", I basically only watch the World Cup, though I did watch Barca-Man U the other day. I do want to see the sport succeed but it's competing for 4th place with hockey on my sports list. Both hockey and soccer are trending up for me personally, with potential to take over baseball in the near future.

 

[GreenDeac]

Interesting results in the poll so far, supporting the idea that soccer is generally more well liked by younger generations.

 

[GreenDeac]

And it looks like keeper might be wrong as usual...

 

[MBDeac08]

25. Don't really care for it. I'll keep up a little with Wake soccer and pay more attention to them when the tournament comes around, but that's mostly because its a Wake team. I honestly find baseball to be more exciting and I rarely watch it on TV. Played pick up games in elementary school, but found other sports more interesting.

The thing I wondered is why some posters on here pull for a certain team. Why FC Barcelona or Man U or whoever it is you cheer for?

 

[Deadbolt]

25 and only really ever interested during the World Cup. It has grown on me as I find less and less interest in the traditional powers of sport (basketball and football). My favorite sport to watch has been hockey for a while now.

 

[MBDeac08]

And it looks like keeper might be wrong as usual...

Not sure he's is entirely wrong. I think his point is that soccer has always been touted as the next big sport in the USA, but never makes that jump into one of the big 4. Whether its kids just give up the sport at a certain age or their interest ends at playing is hard to tell. I coach tennis and most of my players love to get out there and compete, but they have no interest in watching it on TV or in person.

So far, soccer has been the sport of the future though that may change. But the high number who play does not necessarily correlate to increased audience numbers who are going to spend money buying tickets or watching on TV.

 

[deacvision7]

Viewership for the Champions League (the premier club competition in the world) in the US was up 91% this season over last season. Soccer's following is unarguably growing in this country.

 

[bullets]

Take your soccer, lacrosse, and tennis and shove it.

I will be busy watching real sports.

27. No soccer love.

 

[thebishop]

26. Love it.

 

[HCF3]

39, coach - started playing when I was 6.

 

[GreenDeac]

Not sure he's is entirely wrong. I think his point is that soccer has always been touted as the next big sport in the USA, but never makes that jump into one of the big 4. Whether its kids just give up the sport at a certain age or their interest ends at playing is hard to tell. I coach tennis and most of my players love to get out there and compete, but they have no interest in watching it on TV or in person.

So far, soccer has been the sport of the future though that may change. But the high number who play does not necessarily correlate to increased audience numbers who are going to spend money buying tickets or watching on TV.

Good points. First, I don't know why it has to only be the "big 4." In another decade or so I see there being a place in the American sporting landscape for all of Football, Basketball, Baseball, Hockey, AND Soccer to be well represented.

Also, the World Cup had very strong TV ratings in the US and I believe the most tickets to the World Cup were sold in the US (aside from the host country South Africa). Obviously there are economic factors at play and a large international population driving TV ratings, but to think that even two decades ago the US would have the following:

1) A thriving and growing national soccer league. I say thriving because most of the teams are moving into Soccer specific stadiums that are selling out. The league is also financially stable and looking to continue to expand.
2) Youth soccer's massive expansion into all areas of the country so it has become one of the primary sports played by young Americans.
3) Regularly televised MLS, USMNT, and European soccer games on the World Wide Leader (as well as multiple channels devoted just to soccer now often on the lowest level cable subscriptions).
4) The USMNT selling out stadiums across North America. Yes, there are large numbers of opposing teams fans at these games, but the number of Americans turning out is impressive.

I think the above factors say a lot about where soccer is headed in the US. I'm not even a Soccer homer and I see the game becoming a part of the big 4 with the continued expansion of the game in our country,

 

[DaDeacs]

I think this poll needs to be clarified. I enjoy playing soccer, but watching it is a different story. I will watch the world cup (which I think everyone does, it's like the Olympics), but I don't watch or follow any of the european leagues or the MLS at all.

I voted no, because I thought that was what the thread was asking. I would rather watch DII College football than an mls match.

 

[DCDeac]

Meh soccer. Like football.

And by that I mean I never liked soccer until I lived in Europe and saw what it was meant to be. First game I went to a guy took a dive and got a yellow card for it. Action was at a much faster pace, the skills on display just a huge leap forward over anything I'd seen before, and it finally made sense to me why football was so popular elsewhere in the world.

Americans think they get a glimpse of that in the World Cup, but the methodical, dive-filled, trying-to-avoid-a-mistake play still comes up short based on what I saw watching Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Liverpool, etc. There's more at stake obviously, but I don't think the matches are as exciting.

I've tried getting into soccer here, have been to a bunch of games here in DC... It's just nowhere close. College basketball and American football are still much more fun to watch live here, and I'd even give the edge to baseball, hockey, and the NBA, sadly.

 

[w84it]

I'm 29, lived in Europe as a child, and have been to numerous soccer events, and I simply cannot stand it.

 

[MBDeac08]

I've tried getting into soccer here, have been to a bunch of games here in DC... It's just nowhere close. College basketball and American football are still much more fun to watch live here, and I'd even give the edge to baseball, hockey, and the NBA, sadly.

I think this is a major reason soccer hasn't caught on in America quite yet. Americans (and really any sports fan) wants to see the best players play against each other and you don't get that with MLS.

Its not really profound, but the best leagues get the best ratings.