If you are a soccer maniac (like me) and live in the United States (like me), you might be suffering from the same pain I suffer from and completely understand my question. For those of you who don't understand, I'll ask you a simpler question: Why in the hell is soccer the most famous sport every else in the world, except the United States?
According to John Neves, a former PR representative for the New York Red Bulls, football, baseball, and even hockey have been around for longer and the people with the money in this country grew up in those sports. “There is just simply no room for soccer” he said.
The media in the United States needs to focus on the sports that people watch. They need to keep their ratings up. The fact that soccer is not a sport in demand makes the media overlook it. This way, soccer has a difficult time getting promoted.
“The majority of people want to read more about the Yankees than about the Red Bulls” Neves said. “Soccer’s recognition is growing because the longer that soccer sticks around, the more fans they’ll get.”
And that seems to be true. I spoke with Petar Rakovik, captain of the NCAA Division I Stony Brook Seawolves, about a year ago. He is a guy that has seen the way soccer is lived here and in his native Serbia. He is optimistic about the growing popularity of soccer and he argued that because of the effects of globalization and the advances of technology, people in the States are more connected with soccer. That may be true as well. I mean, back in the day people did not have access to Serie A games or the Premier league. Nowadays we can catch those games from our couch thanks to Fox Soccer Channel, ESPN, and GoalTV. From that point of view, the future of soccer in the U.S looks promising.
Still, there are those who are more skeptical.
My coach (ex-coach?) Dima Kamenshchik from Baruch College, an outstanding Division III team said, "[soccer] will probably never reach the popularity that football and baseball enjoy." He might be right also.
I really do wonder. I wonder if I will ever see soccer become a very popular sport here in New York. If it does, it might take some time. An MLS game brings in crowds of 17,000 people (sometimes), while an English Premier League game can easily double that amount. It's a long way to go...
In any case, do you believe that soccer will be very popular in U.S someday? Do you believe it will happen in our lifetime? Will soccer reach the American Dream? I sure hope so. What do you think?
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9 comments:
someday it will, but there's still a long LONG way to go
Hey Edgar A. This is a very interesting question you pose, however I think that you already have your answer. It is going to take a lot of effort to have soccer played on any of the major television networks. Now, I have a question for you, (I don't know if there's any facts behind this but) isn't there more money backing sports, such as, football and baseball?
The majority of this country is "all-American" and may see soccer as a more European based sport ergo, not embracing the thrill of the kick.
The answer to your question is yes. Sports such as football and baseball have way more money. You can see that just by the number of people they bring to their stadiums or better yet, by comparing players' salaries. The difference in pay is huge and that's another reason why great american soccer players leave the States.
Edgar, I have been your teammate and have had to abandon this year soccer as player probably for life because of work and life. Still, I think have the same concern as you but I did find a good reason of why soccer isn't and won't be part of the American Dream, and that is because Americans enjoy and love sports at which they can be clearly the best and have created popularity around sports at which they can claim themselves as the best. Its like the spoiled rich kid which is not the best so he creates his own sport to claim himself the best. They love sports such as American Football, Baseball, and Ice Hockey leaving aside other sports such as Rugby, Badminton, Soccer and Field Hockey; In all these other sports, they would have to invest years of development where the rest of the world clearly has better teams and tradition. Soccer ( Better known as Football around the world), Badminton and Rugby are ten times more popular in the world than the American Sports but still they will only pay attention to at what they are good at. Basketball is the only clear exception.
Soccer will never be as popular as football, baseball, hockey etc. Americans have trouble making changes in society as it is! So I think that the chances of the World Cup to rival with the Superbowl in the United States is merely impossible. If anything, I probably won't be living the day soccer shares equal airing time on ESPN with baseball.
And yes, the money factor plays a major role in the issue.
Soccer has the potential to reach the American Dream. It can be accomplished by generations to come. The amount of little kids playing soccer seems to be growing tremendously. These kids will have the power and passion to make this possible. Let's face it we are a capitalistic country and the only reason baseball,basketball,and football are All-American sports is because they generate the most money. Just look at how much these players get paid compared to the earning salary of an MLS player. If a massive boycott is enacted or an accesible channel is bought to air soccer then demand for the sport will grow. The more Americans come to embrace the sport then maybe one day we will fill up stadiums like the good Lord intended.
Soccer is a growing sport within the United States, but at a very slow rate. Certain states embrace the game more than others, but the general consensus is that the popularity of soccer is still far away from other "American" sports. Slowly, soccer will start picking up, especially if they keep recruiting big names like Beckham. I believe that it is our generation that will be the start of bigger things for soccer.
Together with you, Edgar we follow different leagues and championships in different parts of the world.
There is no doubt that soccer has become more popular in the United States and in New York. The Red Bulls are on his way to a first title. All that will make soccer in NY even more popular. However there's still a long way to go before it can be compared to sports like football or baseball. It is an issue that goes beyond money. Nowadays US soccer clubs are spending a lot more money in their roasters and stadiums than they did before. It is also a matter of culture. Americans are proud people and they like success they haven't found in soccer.
To answer your question clearly I do not think soccer will reach the American dream anytime soon.
Soccer will never reach the "American Dream" aka Daniel Perez because he is a disgrace. I love him though.
- Espy
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