Why is soccer (football) not as popular in America than the rest of the world?

Question

I am not a big fan but it really is a gret game, I mean maybe it is because the mls teams are nothing compared to some of the other teams.

Settingemstraight · Accepted Answer

Because American football gained popularity as a television sport.

Before Afootball became the major American sport Baseball was king, Baseball was popular because the American culture was just creating the Idea of a wealthy middle class that had time and money for leisure activities. Baseball was a game that could be watched casually, with enough breaks in the action to allow for conversations, and various "meta" at the ball park.

Going to a baseball game was a family affair, and especially in the 20's family outings were the rule for most middle class entertainment. Kids were playing outside, teens were dancing at night, but Baseball brought every member of the family together for something they could enjoy.

The meta of soccer, is completely different (well was) it was much more about pride in your region and drinking beer. Beer was not allowed at many baseball games early on. So the type of fan was different.

So in the end we have a different breed of sports fan. Sports are a social event with more emphasis on the social then on the event.

Fast forward to the age of sports tele-casts.

We have two sports vying for supremacy on the air waves. Baseball and American football. Being that it's T.V. it's very democratic, the one that people like better will get more air-time.

Football wins out. Why? Because it's perfectly suited for television. There are enough breaks and they are long enough that you can have a conversation or get something from the fridge. And you have the benefit of knowing that if something exciting happens, You will have warning. A guy will break clear and people start yelling and you know to cut your words short in time to see the amazing catch or whatever.

Soccer is different, You look away at the wrong time, and you'll miss something good. So you have to pay attention. And American viewers don't WANT to pay attention.

Wait you say. Baseball has breaks too. why isn't it king? Because it's complicated, you have to really know the game for it to be interesting. Which is different from Football. Everyone can see a great tackle or block or a touchdown. You might get more enjoyment out of the game if you know it well, but it's not required.

Baseball, is too complicated to really appreciate at a surface level. I just looks like a bunch of idiots standing around. Home runs are obvious and exciting but they aren't very common. and again they have the same problem that soccer has. If you're not watching at the critical moment you'll miss it.

That is why football is so much more popular. It conforms to the culture of the U.S.A. and give the people what they want.

Personally? I find both soccer and football boring.

I prefer Basketball and Hockey.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

most Americans are dumb lol and this is coming from an American! soccer is a great sport!

pingupassion · Accepted Answer

It's not popular in Australia or New Zealand, it's not popular in India or some other Asian countries. Depends where you grow up. In Britain we have three main sports, football (soccer), rugby and cricket. In Australia I believe it's rugby, cricket and aussie rules football. In India it's cricket, cricket and cricket. You get the idea.

PunkLadyOfDeath · Accepted Answer

Because I've been around sports my entire life and I see it as a sissy-sport, like basketball. I don't think it takes much skill and the plays all fall down over nothing. It's lame. One point at a time. It's popular bc anyone can play it...like basketball.

Doodlebobgirl · Accepted Answer

Because america sucks. We focus on football(egg shape ball game) as our main sport. There are alot of things us americans do that makes no sence to other countries.... If it was up to me i would be born in canada, or britain, or sweden something like that

Prof_Don · Answer

Imo, the reason why "the beautiful game" is because the game is low-scoring compared to basketball (where a team scores on average, no joke, every 30 seconds) or football (which has more scores in a game than "the beautiful game".

The excitement created off the OFFENSIVE production is what sells in American sports.

That's why baseball is decreasing in popularity.

That's why the rules in the NFL (the national American football leagues in the country), has shifted the rules to allow for more offense and less defense so there's more scoring, so there's better television views.

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Me, being a technical and defensive-minded person in every sport I either play in real life or play in video games (as well as my life philosophy), can appreciate "the beautiful game" more than the average American can.

I remember watching my full match for the first time; the 2006 World Cup, Italy vs USA. I was in college and I remember the complete buzz (literal and figurative lol) my apartment complex (which housed a lot of international students), and I was a complex-wide party during that time.

The buzz about the World Cup by all of the international students was so contagious; it was impossible not to catch it. Good times (although the USA didn't win).

johnny_hustle · Answer

I've never been a fan of watching soccer, but I do enjoy playing it. The same goes for most sports to be honest. I can't watch hockey or baseball unless I'm actually at the game or it's the playoffs. The main thing here in America is that soccer is seen more as a childs sport than anything else, since the professional level isn't all that big and isn't televised as often. Most athletes out there have at least played soccer as a child, but as they get older the more popular sport, be it basketball, football, or baseball will take precedence. A big incentive for guys is that most teenage girls find football players more attractive than soccer players simply by the sport they play. This isn't to say that they think that soccer guys are ugly, not by any means, but they are more likely to want to be with the football guy since football is the more popular sport, and a lot of teenage girls are attracted to guys that are popular. Where I was from, all the "hot" girls played soccer, and soccer was seen more as a feminine sport, and football was seen as a masculine sport.

In my life I have played soccer, football, baseball, tennis, and I ran cross country. Each one of these a person has to be fit to play. So, I never really understood why people tend to call football players all fat and lazy. I guess they've never actually played this sport at a competitive level.

With this said, I love all of these sports, but soccer not being publicized in the media is one of the main reasons I think it's not all that popular. It's gaining popularity the more and more ESPN airs it on their network, but it would take a looooong time before it ever gets considered to be one of the top sports here in America. If it ever does.

BeMuse · Answer

It’s popular when we are kids… A lot of people play the game. A lot of people also like watching the Olympics and World Cup. There just aren’t big money offers within the USA to convince a lot of people to play it professionally as a career. Thus most people that are good go to college and get a job. That all comes down to corporate advertising and in the USA corporations are more focused on other sports markets. I played as a kid and won the mayor's cup. Maybe it’s just really big in Florida due to the Hispanic population, but I remember It being very popular… Anyway, a friend of mine actually went to Turkey to play professional soccer for two years. So some of us do go pro, but in general the incentives aren’t there if we want to stay in our home country and the USA is a pretty awesome country to have to leave.

TurbulentDan12 · Answer

We aren't exposed to it in the same way as other countries. We grow up with others sports as being the most popular amongst our friends, amongst our family, and on television.

It's kind of a cyclic chicken or the egg thing. Kids don't want to play soccer when they get to high school because sports like American Football, Baseball, and Basketball are more popular. So the best athletes go to those sports. Then there is a lack of talent across the country playing soccer and there aren't any stars to make the sport popular in the country to get kids wanting to play in future generations.

I'm not sure exactly where this lack of interest/interest in other sports started but at this point it seems impossible to get out of this cycle. There are few reasons WITHIN the country to get excited about the sport and because of that kids are going to be picking the other sports almost every time

aMuse · Answer

Manly because we don't have that many teams, and it's not covered on television all that often. Tons of people play when they are a kid, but after that there's not really a developed professional league, so no one's all that inspired to go on to be a pro. I watch soccer when I can. It's one of my favorite sports to watch.

KittyLink · Answer

Because America is retarded and they worship a retarded game they retardedly named "foot"ball, which is played in a retarded way considering they don't even use the foot to play with. They should have named it "rage" or "attack of the monsters" or "rabies". Super Retarded! Anyway, what a shame to be born here. Soccer is and always will always will be the real and original FOOTball, only Retarded America calls it "soccer" which makes no sense!

gonyr · Answer

Because we are a dumb country who needs high scoring to think anything is good. We have no attention span and can't pay attention to things.

Soccer isn't my favorite sport, I play (keeper) and watch a little (Arsenal) but its always on at obscure hours here and MLS is garbage (besides Henry for the NY Redbulls)

I like hockey a lot though. Hockey is a GREAT sport

lifes_curve_ball · Answer

In America it's offense that sells. The die hards will follow a sport regardless of whatever really happens but the casual sports fans will find it hard to follow a 1-0 game, the only reason they'll follow that in baseball is if 1. it's their local or favorite team, or 2. if it's a no-no or perfect game that's being thrown. Also the MLS just isn't as big a league as say the NFL or NBA and there isn't as much of an elite level of play either.

martyfellow · Answer

It's perceived as 'foreign' so many people won't pay attention. Also, our media prefers to sell soap operas and propaganda programs dressed up as news.

But it's gradually gaining ground in the US as well, and will someday be up there with baseball. In the suburban areas, for example,it's already more poplatar than US style football.

OpenClose · Answer

Yeah, I'm curious myself. Football (Rugby) and Basketball are great games, but honestly soccer has interested me more.

But if I flip on ESPN or any of my hundreds of sports channels, it's all football and basketball.

Why the heck to we even call it football in the first place? I say we go with "rugby" for American football and "football" for soccer. That makes the most sense to me.

douchebag4eva · Answer

Its popular... we have our own league between Canada and USA, just like Europe has UEFA, Euro Cup etc... But there's only two countries here, and not enough publicity... Plus extending the States and Canada into UEFA would be a pain for everyone... 12 hour flights prior to games etc... So they dont.

Anonymous · Answer

In North America soccer is seen as a feminine sport. It's something more popular with girls. Guys prefer football, baseball and hockey which are all more masculine. European soccer players are notorious p******. It's probably so popular in Europe because European men are more feminine in nature

ThatBritishLad · Answer

Rugby>Football>US Pansy Rugby (American Football :P)

Meh, I've always assumed that it was the same reason that they don't play Cricket like the rest of the Anglosphere: They're trying to show theirselves as a different culture :O

DutchAtheist · Answer

Low scores, draws, low impact, not enough intermissions. Plus, they don't have the quality to become number world champion, which makes it automatically 'not a real sport' or maybe even 'unAmerican'.

Anonymous · Answer

Who knows. The excitement from people running back and forth is truly amazing. The amount of scoring also is massively intriguing to me. I also enjoy the flopping of the guys faking getting hit when some guy barely touches them as they run by. I am shocked it has not caught on like the other sports in America.

TouchTheSky · Answer

I think maybe because most of the people in USA are overweight and this is hard for socess but not that hard for American football?

Ki-Ki · Answer

I'd say because football american, basketball, hockey and baseball are the more popular in that nation

Anonymous · Answer

All I know is that handegg (amurikn football) is steroid freak stop and go nonsense, and boreball (baseball) is more dull to watch than a comatose church sermon. Most pro sports are boring steroid showcases.

indian_empress_91 · Answer

Well at least it's famous everywhere else, if not in America then whatever lol

Anonymous · Answer

I don't think it's a great game but it sure is better than American football and baseball. And I don't know why the hell it is called football. It has nothing to do with the foot, and the ball is not even round.

Anonymous · Answer

Because america plays by it's own rules and not other countries. But soccer is getting more popular here

Anonymous · Answer

America is the greatest nation on the planet.  Perhaps you are asking the wrong question...

Italiano312 · Answer

Because American sports model is based on communism/socialism and that doesn’t work for soccer tbh

Anonymous · Answer

The sports that America invented are Football and Basketball. People spend more money and time on these sports than soccer. That's the many reason why the US Soccer team isn't the best.

Anonymous · Answer

Because Americans r Americans lol the rest of the world loveeee soccer

Why is soccer (football) not as popular in America than the rest of the world?

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Why soccer is not popular in the USA?

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