CBA deal progressing

[iamme33]

LOL are you serious that it "will never grow"?

Yeah you're right. Nobody will watch, there will never be a major league, it'll never overtake any of the other sports in popularity.

Except not LOL.

yeah you are right I should not of said never grow. i should have said minimal growth because of little commercial time. look at the nfl and how many different net works cover them that because they have so many commercial break. not saying soccer won't grow but imo it will never have massive tv coverage unless it changes the rules to play more commercials.

 

[OldSchool]

I can wait because 90 minutes of running up and down the grass to a 1 - nil score just bores the shit out of me.

This is a common problem with people though in regards to soccer. Are the only good plays in the NFL touchdowns? Far from it. For us soccer fans the only things worth watching aren't the goals. The lead up the passing the breaking a guys ankles the nutmegs everything is fun to watch. You watch an NFL game and see 5 touchdowns and 4 field goals or a baseball game with 13 runs scored and think because there is only a handful of goals that soccer is boring. That's just not being willing to learn and enjoy the sport. Not faulting you or blaming you for all the people who think this way (actually get the mother effing pitchforks out!). But it really is a great game to play and watch.

 

[RamFan503]

This is a common problem with people though in regards to soccer. Are the only good plays in the NFL touchdowns? Far from it. For us soccer fans the only things worth watching aren't the goals. The lead up the passing the breaking a guys ankles the nutmegs everything is fun to watch. You watch an NFL game and see 5 touchdowns and 4 field goals or a baseball game with 13 runs scored and think because there is only a handful of goals that soccer is boring. That's just not being willing to learn and enjoy the sport. Not faulting you or blaming you for all the people who think this way (actually get the mother effing pitchforks out!). But it really is a great game to play and watch.

I realize it is fun for some to watch. I'm not one of them. I also realize that fans of soccer tend to get fucking rabid about it. I lived in Portland and other areas of Oregon up to a few years ago, there were a couple pubs that had the games on. Pretty raucous crowd when the Timbers were winning and especially when they played the Seattle team. The stadium is also pretty loud during games. But it still seems to have a very distinct and tight following. It doesn't seem to carry broad interest like other sports even though you can't waive a stick without hitting a guy playing soccer in that town.

One of the owners of the tavern group that now owns Jox has been trying to get a soccer club going in their bars but has had pretty much zero success. He has season tickets to the Reno club and has friends that are die hard soccer fans but even though he has offered to reserve the table section for them and give them drink and food specials, we have only had two times where we had more than 5 people back there to watch what I understand was a pretty big match.

Anyway... I don't really care. If it becomes a real popular spectator sport, that's fine. I'd just rather see it happen than constantly be told that it's coming.

 

[Corbin]

It grows every year den.

In fact it's growing quickly.

5 years ago (or so) there were no Premier League scores on ESPN's home page. Now they have the entire scoreboard. MLS is planning to expand to 30 teams in the near future.

Soccer is thriving especially in the younger demographic.

Think about this...........in a recent (ESPN I think) poll people were asked what their favorite sport was. Here's the breakdown.

Football 37%
Basketball 11%
Baseball 9%
Soccer 7%
Hockey 4%

In the 12-24 demo soccer was #2.

I've read an article that basketball and soccer may someday be #1 and #2 with either possibly taking the top spot.

Baseball is now behind basketball and barely ahead of soccer. Who would have thought that even 10-15 years ago?

Your 100%. Soccer is getting bigger and bigger and more specifically in the last 10-12 years in the US. As the demographics change of the US so is the fan bases of sports and naturally soccer is going to increase with it. Not to mention interesting new fans to the sport.

So many smaller soccer clubs now, the one here in New Mexico took the state by storm last year. Going to be I retesting to see where this goes.

 

[LesBaker]

I realize it is fun for some to watch. I'm not one of them. I also realize that fans of soccer tend to get fucking rabid about it. I lived in Portland and other areas of Oregon up to a few years ago, there were a couple pubs that had the games on. Pretty raucous crowd when the Timbers were winning and especially when they played the Seattle team. The stadium is also pretty loud during games. But it still seems to have a very distinct and tight following. It doesn't seem to carry broad interest like other sports even though you can't waive a stick without hitting a guy playing soccer in that town.

One of the owners of the tavern group that now owns Jox has been trying to get a soccer club going in their bars but has had pretty much zero success. He has season tickets to the Reno club and has friends that are die hard soccer fans but even though he has offered to reserve the table section for them and give them drink and food specials, we have only had two times where we had more than 5 people back there to watch what I understand was a pretty big match.

Anyway... I don't really care. If it becomes a real popular spectator sport, that's fine. I'd just rather see it happen than constantly be told that it's coming.

I totally understand not enjoying watching. I'm the same way with hockey and baseball. I've turned down free tickets many times over the years. I never watch it on TV either. Not even the title games unless I happen to be out and its on one or more of the TV's. t doesn't matter how compelling the match up is I have no interest. The last baseball game I went to was because I had to since it was part of a company function. Probably 20 years ago.

I played in HS, but only watch some of the World Cup and nothing else, not the Premiere League or MLS. It just doesn't interest me that much.

But..........

It's going to be fun to watch the US men's team become a global force in soccer. As large as this nations population is and as sports crazy as we are as a nation it's inevitable that a World Cup will be won.

Lionel Messi is 5' 7" and 159 pounds. He probably couldn't make the team for any High School sport, other than soccer obviously. He's just too small. There are exceptions but they are really, really rare. There aren't a lot of Spud Webb's out there!

When you think of all of the kids that after Jr. High can't play a sport because of their size that number is BIG. A lot of them are going to start playing soccer earlier in life and that's going to create a pool of talent that's going to have other nations wondering how to compete. This is sort of what happened with women's soccer, except in that case there were lots of athletes but too few options to play. When schools began adding girls soccer to the menu in Jr. High and High School it was OVER for the rest of the world.

 

[RhodyRams]

I would imagine it depends on the part of country you are in. Here in RI, hockey is much more popular than soccer, and it's probably the same for the rest of New England.

 

[1maGoh]

This is a common problem with people though in regards to soccer. Are the only good plays in the NFL touchdowns? Far from it. For us soccer fans the only things worth watching aren't the goals. The lead up the passing the breaking a guys ankles the nutmegs everything is fun to watch. You watch an NFL game and see 5 touchdowns and 4 field goals or a baseball game with 13 runs scored and think because there is only a handful of goals that soccer is boring. That's just not being willing to learn and enjoy the sport. Not faulting you or blaming you for all the people who think this way (actually get the mother effing pitchforks out!). But it really is a great game to play and watch.

I think the difference is that on order to enjoy a non scoring parts of soccer you have to be really into it. You have to try. The NFL had parts that appeal to everyone all throughout the game.

For diehard fans, everything is enjoyable.

For fans with middle interest (which is the bulk of viewers) scoring is a big deal, but the NFL also offers sacks, fumbles, interceptions, or big gains. Soccer offers... No one knows because you have to be super freaking interested to figure out what the hell is happening.

For casual/social fans, scoring is pretty much the only exciting thing. The NFL offers plentiful scoring. Soccer offers maybe 1 score a game if your lucky.

I used to love soccer because I could play it and it was fun. But it lost its charm around age 12. I can't casually watch a game and I don't care enough to invest however many hours it would take to figure out all the crap I need to know to be interested at even a middle interest level.

The only people I've ever met who like soccer are people who played in college. And that fits the theory above. Those people know the rules and plays and action inside and out, they are heavily invested in viewing it as worthwhile since they spent so much of their time doing it, and they feel like they're a part of an experiment club of the enlightened elite (just my experience, not a commentary on you).

 

[kurtfaulk]

I think the difference is that on order to enjoy a non scoring parts of soccer you have to be really into it. You have to try. The NFL had parts that appeal to everyone all throughout the game.

For diehard fans, everything is enjoyable.

For fans with middle interest (which is the bulk of viewers) scoring is a big deal, but the NFL also offers sacks, fumbles, interceptions, or big gains. Soccer offers... No one knows because you have to be super freaking interested to figure out what the hell is happening.

For casual/social fans, scoring is pretty much the only exciting thing. The NFL offers plentiful scoring. Soccer offers maybe 1 score a game if your lucky.

I used to love soccer because I could play it and it was fun. But it lost its charm around age 12. I can't casually watch a game and I don't care enough to invest however many hours it would take to figure out all the crap I need to know to be interested at even a middle interest level.

The only people I've ever met who like soccer are people who played in college. And that fits the theory above. Those people know the rules and plays and action inside and out, they are heavily invested in viewing it as worthwhile since they spent so much of their time doing it, and they feel like they're a part of an experiment club of the enlightened elite (just my experience, not a commentary on you).

It's not hard to follow at all.

However who wants to watch jags play the sport? You want to watch the best players play. That's why the EPL is so popular.

It's the same here in Australia. All the people watch the epl. Only the diehards watch the national league.

.

 

[OldSchool]

However who wants to watch jags play the sport?

Me but then I'm a season ticket holder to the USL, the MLS's minor leagues.

 

[Riverumbbq]

It's the same here in Australia. All the people watch the epl. Only the diehards watch the national league.

Is American football growing support consistently, or is it pretty much a hit & miss here and there kind of thing ? Are high schools & colleges taking it seriously and forming competitive leagues with full seasons ? Do you get a full schedule of NFL games on TV or do you need a special subscription ? I imagine there are some expat Americans interested, but are the natives taking a liking as well ?

 

[PressureD41]

I understand where you're coming from but just disagree. I also think it's one of the ways the owners use to try to get out of raising salaries league wide. If they put more people on the active roster those players get league minimum instead of what they get on the practice squad thereby the players get a larger share of the revenue without the majority of players getting a raise. I also don't like the inactive rule but that's been beaten to death here in discussions

Furthmore how many times in mid season do you hear teams only able to dress 5 DBs or getting 2 back up OL
Pat Kirwan talks about the need for a slightly larger game day roster size so teams can be more competitive on game day

 

[kurtfaulk]

Is American football growing support consistently, or is it pretty much a hit & miss here and there kind of thing ? Are high schools & colleges taking it seriously and forming competitive leagues with full seasons ? Do you get a full schedule of NFL games on TV or do you need a special subscription ? I imagine there are some expat Americans interested, but are the natives taking a liking as well ?

The NFL gets a couple of games on free to air tv. 5 games per week on espn on pay tv. The majority don't know anything about it and only think about it when the news shows a 30 second highlight of the superbowl game.

All the kids here love the nba for some reason. All of them have basketball jerseys. Don't know if it's a rap thing or something else. I certainly can't see the appeal in it.

There are local comps but not a great deal of participation. I don't think the nfl can ever break the market here as it is too stop start for the local's liking and way too many stoppages for commercials.

.

 

[Vapor]

how did this turn into a soccer thread?

 

[Riverumbbq]

The NFL gets a couple of games on free to air tv. 5 games per week on espn on pay tv. The majority don't know anything about it and only think about it when the news shows a 30 second highlight of the superbowl game.

All the kids here love the nba for some reason. All of them have basketball jerseys. Don't know if it's a rap thing or something else. I certainly can't see the appeal in it.

There are local comps but not a great deal of participation. I don't think the nfl can ever break the market here as it is too stop start for the local's liking and way too many stoppages for commercials.

.

Thanks, i'm always curious how others see us outside our sphere here, appreciate you filling me in.

 

[Riverumbbq]

how did this turn into a soccer thread?

Good question, also how did the McDaniels to Cleveland thread get turned into a donut thread ?

Not to worry though, there is no doubt that a pineapple pizza will hijack another thread very soon.

 

[kurtfaulk]

Me but then I'm a season ticket holder to the USL, the MLS's minor leagues.

Like i said, diehards.

Do you disagree with what i said, that the mls will never break the big time as it doesn't showcase the best players in the world.

Funny thing, the epl was drowning in mediocrity until Rupert Murdoch came into the scene. He paid an outlandish amount for the rights to broadcast it with the requisite being the games can only be shown on his pay tv company. Everyone laughed at him and said it wouldn't work. However the money that he pumped into the league allowed the clubs to sign nearly over the hill superstars. But that's all they needed to pike the public's interest and they lapped it up, signing up for the pay tv subscriptions. More money coming in, more money to spend on players. Slowly but surely the clubs began signing superstars in their peak creating more interest and money. Billionaires began buying teams and turning them into elite teams. That's how the epl became the most popular league in the world.

We all saw what an over the hill Beckham did for la galaxy but they need to sign a lot more than that to become relevant in the sports public conscience.

.

 

[OldSchool]

Like i said, diehards.

Do you disagree with what i said, that the mls will never break the big time as it doesn't showcase the best players in the world.

Funny thing, the epl was drowning in mediocrity until Rupert Murdoch came into the scene. He paid an outlandish amount for the rights to broadcast it with the requisite being the games can only be shown on his pay tv company. Everyone laughed at him and said it wouldn't work. However the money that he pumped into the league allowed the clubs to sign nearly over the hill superstars. But that's all they needed to pike the public's interest and they lapped it up, signing up for the pay tv subscriptions. More money coming in, more money to spend on players. Slowly but surely the clubs began signing superstars in their peak creating more interest and money. Billionaires began buying teams and turning them into elite teams. That's how the epl became the most popular league in the world.

We all saw what an over the hill Beckham did for la galaxy but they need to sign a lot more than that to become relevant in the sports public conscience.

.

It's getting there but yes that is a roadblock. What we need is more youngsters coming up through the ranks and moving to Europe. More popular young American players will be huge.

 

[1maGoh]

how did this turn into a soccer thread?

There wasn't really any news on the CBA and someone brought up as divisive topic. As @Riverumbbq pointed out, it's helped other threads too.

 

[Mackeyser]

Good question, also how did the McDaniels to Cleveland thread get turned into a donut thread ?

Not to worry though, there is no doubt that a pineapple pizza will hijack another thread very soon.

This is the greatest pizza! Pineapple with some kind of cured meat... GENIUS! Delicious! BRILLIANT!!!

oh and...

 

[den-the-coach]

Baseball is now behind basketball and barely ahead of soccer. Who would have thought that even 10-15 years ago?

Good Points, but as people grow older IMO, they grow away from Soccer. Good example my nephew played Soccer when he was younger, however, now is into football as are many of his friends in college and he's 20. I have been to that campus several times (UNC) and never herd of or been to a Soccer party. Now I know that is just one example, but again, the 12-24 demographic does not necessarily indicate a growth.

Overall I'm not shocked over the growth in basketball, but presently the NFL Draft has more viewers then NBA Playoffs and I'm not factoring in Soccer....Egad, Soccer or watching paint dry, which is more exciting?