Why America does not care about Soccer?
You cannot help but think about it. Especially when the local food court decides to show Golf or baseball over world cup soccer thus denying me a chance to catch some action during lunch.
I have heard a lot of reasons about why Soccer is not popular here and I think I just realized a big reason today. I am sure someone has thought about it also.
Let's discuss some other reasons before.
1. Soccer is boring.
Bullshit! Just because media calls it boring and Jay Leno makes jokes about 0-0 matches does not mean it is boring. I was watchig the last few minutes of Holland Vs Ivory Coast match today and although nobody scored in that duration, Ivory Coast's attempts to level the score to avoid elimination were very exciting.
Anyway, the usual complaint is there is not much variety, it is pass, keep, pass, pass, shoot cycle. HELLLOOOOO... Basketball??
2. Lead is never swapped in one scoring play.
Trust me, this is one of the reasons I have read to justify soccer's unpopularity. This can happen in basketball, Baseball and Football but not in soccer, so it sucks.
Maybe soccer should give three points for a goal scored off a free kick, two for a header, one for a penalty kick etc. I guess that is why tennis is so unpopular also and ice-hockey and golf... wait a lot of americans are interested in these sports. hmmm...
3. Americans do not get to watch live soccer
Well that is because nobody is interested in soccer not the other way round.
Anyway, I can go on and on.
Now one point that I could not argue against.
Media controls things in US. If it hypes something up, people will watch it. If it hypes something up, people will buy it. It has reached a stage that many people watch Superbowl just for the ads. Imagine how happy the sponsors are then!
And there lies the problem.
Soccer is a continuous game, there is no timeout other than the odd quick stretchering out of an injured player. And therefore, there is NO slot to show ads other than half time. Since people are also glued to TV for 45minutes they use those precious 15 minutes of halftime break to do more important stuff like standing in line for the bathroom etc. Very low returns for a potential sponsor for a live match on TV.
So nobody hypes up the live telecast as not many companies are interested in sponsoring. No ads-no hype-no interest, no interest-no sponsorship. This cycle makes a lot of sense given how sports operate in US.
And then Leno gets more matter for his jokes and rest of the world makes jokes about America and soccer. Pump more money in the sport, make cool intro videos, get US players in commercials doing funny things, build more soccer stadiums and soccer will not only be popular in US but US will have consistent good performances in the world cups.
I have heard a lot of reasons about why Soccer is not popular here and I think I just realized a big reason today. I am sure someone has thought about it also.
Let's discuss some other reasons before.
1. Soccer is boring.
Bullshit! Just because media calls it boring and Jay Leno makes jokes about 0-0 matches does not mean it is boring. I was watchig the last few minutes of Holland Vs Ivory Coast match today and although nobody scored in that duration, Ivory Coast's attempts to level the score to avoid elimination were very exciting.
Anyway, the usual complaint is there is not much variety, it is pass, keep, pass, pass, shoot cycle. HELLLOOOOO... Basketball??
2. Lead is never swapped in one scoring play.
Trust me, this is one of the reasons I have read to justify soccer's unpopularity. This can happen in basketball, Baseball and Football but not in soccer, so it sucks.
Maybe soccer should give three points for a goal scored off a free kick, two for a header, one for a penalty kick etc. I guess that is why tennis is so unpopular also and ice-hockey and golf... wait a lot of americans are interested in these sports. hmmm...
3. Americans do not get to watch live soccer
Well that is because nobody is interested in soccer not the other way round.
Anyway, I can go on and on.
Now one point that I could not argue against.
Media controls things in US. If it hypes something up, people will watch it. If it hypes something up, people will buy it. It has reached a stage that many people watch Superbowl just for the ads. Imagine how happy the sponsors are then!
And there lies the problem.
Soccer is a continuous game, there is no timeout other than the odd quick stretchering out of an injured player. And therefore, there is NO slot to show ads other than half time. Since people are also glued to TV for 45minutes they use those precious 15 minutes of halftime break to do more important stuff like standing in line for the bathroom etc. Very low returns for a potential sponsor for a live match on TV.
So nobody hypes up the live telecast as not many companies are interested in sponsoring. No ads-no hype-no interest, no interest-no sponsorship. This cycle makes a lot of sense given how sports operate in US.
And then Leno gets more matter for his jokes and rest of the world makes jokes about America and soccer. Pump more money in the sport, make cool intro videos, get US players in commercials doing funny things, build more soccer stadiums and soccer will not only be popular in US but US will have consistent good performances in the world cups.
posted by Nikhil at 11:35 PM
5 Comments:
True. The reason for such high trp ratings this time for soccer matches in India is primarily because ESPN &Star sports have been showing so many soccer matches like premier league that people have finally begun to take active interest in states other than kerala & WB. Media, sponsors thats is the combo that decides TV viewership, not the other way round in case of sports, i guess.
Which international sport do Americans really watch? They used to watch tennis when Sampras, Agassi and their American predecessors were around. From what I have heard, lately, the ratings for tennis are dropping. If so, there is an additional factor involved here: Americans have never done great in soccer.
Btw, the issue about ads applies to every country. The number of days of cricket has gone up nowadays simply because it is like heaven for advertisers. If football is popular in a country, there will be people who will want to watch it, which means it will be shown on TV; the charges for ads before and after each half would be enormous. In addition, they can always show those ads (very intrusive!) while showing replays or random game stats etc.
All good points, but the real question is, does it really matter ? Is it so bad that the US is not interested in soccer ? They have their own pastimes and interests. Let them be. The only reason you are complaining is because unfortunately you are a soccer fan living in a country of majority non-soccer-fans. Well, tough noogies. But there's still nothing wrong in Americans now liking soccer.
My pet peeve is calling the baseball finals the World Series!
I have to comment on the "boring" factor. I am one of the people that doesn't find soccer especially interesting. Maybe its because I've been raised watching football and basketball all my life. To the comparison between soccer and basketball... Its not even close. Basketball has roughly 40 "goals" per side per 48 minute game. Compare that to 2 or 3 goals in a 90+ minute soccer game and you can see why I quickly lose interest.
The closest sport to Soccer that is very popular in the US is Hockey. Hockey is basically Soccer that has been tweaked to make it much more exciting. Take soccer and add ice, skates, pads, big hits, fights, a smaller "field", and higher scoring totals... Well this is why I find soccer uninteresting.
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