Posh Spice to LA.
So David Beckham has decided to end his career playing for the LA Galaxy (who I have never heard of) in the MLS (which I could care less about). Some foolish people will now write that Beckham playing in LA will kick off wild enthusiasm for soccer in North America. News flash for you people - it is never going to happen. Every few years some great player comes to play in the US and everyone says soccer will take off. They have been saying that for 30 years and it hasn't happened. Why? Because soccer sucks that's why. The reason it is so popular in Europe is because it is dirt cheap to play and there aren't many other good sports played there. In NA there are too many other sports to play and things to do.
posted by Skeelo @ 1:23 PM
9 Comments:
Hate to tell you, soccer took off in the US in the 70s. Back when Pele was playing for the old New York Cosmos. Since then it exploded at the youth level for the reasons you outlined. It is cheap and easy to play.
The US team has made every World Cup since 1990. They are now a serious contender for the biggest sporting event in the world. And, professionally, the MLS gets solid attendence at matches
It's still as boring as Harry Reid. Andrew Coyne summed it up nicely this summer this summer:
"There is more action in five minutes of hockey than in your average 90-minute game of soccer, whose fans live for the moment when, by some mischance, the ball strays within fifty yards of the net."
Right on David.
Webber - the game is big at the youth level but kids stop playing once they get older. As for Pele playing for the Cosmos the league went tits up shortly after he left the league so the boom did not last.
Everybody keeps saying that TV ratings will go up and soccer will be the next big thing. It will never happen.
Seriously, David Beckham is joining a team that averages 24,000 fans in a league that averages only 15,000 fans per game. He’ll increase attendance, but by how much and for how long?
With repsect to the soccer "explosion" in the U.S., recreational participation in the game in America plateaued after 2003 at 18 million (up from 14 million in 1987). Contrast this to the 28 million who play baseball/softball, the 32 million who play recreational basketball, and, of course, the 45 million Americans who bowl.
18 million is not bad, considering it only started to be played after WWII. The other sports you mentioned have much more of a footprint in the US.
BTW, the NASL went bankrupt in 1984. Pele left the Cosmos around 1977/78. The biggest attendence was after he retired. Pele was the catalyst, and it grew from there. The boom did last.
As for excitement. Go to a bar with passionate soccer fans to watch their national team play (England, Italy, Brazil) and you will see how passionate it gets. I have never seen a Canadian hockey game in a bar with that much passion. The 02 Olympics was a high school volleyball game in comparison.
You've obviously never seen me watch the Pepsi 400.
Once again, we see that the Webber's Rule Britannia side is coming out.
Webber, How can you say the boom lasted when the league went tits up in '84? It barely lasted longer than Disco for Christ's sake.
You are assuming the league went bad due to lack of interest in soccer. It went bad because the league was managed poorly.
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