Real football

Geoff said:

Nobody is going to be willing to televise a pro soccer league unless it's on an obscure pay-extra TV channel.

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I wouldn't say ESPN, ESPN2, NBC, or NBCSN are obscure TV channels and they all carry soccer games without commercials. Just google "mls on tv 2014". NBCSN regularly carries Premier League games live as well. As more and more kids grow up playing the game, I think you'll only see the sport's popularity grow in this country and it will become more mainstream. Regardless of what Ann Coulter says

buellski said:

I wouldn't say ESPN, ESPN2, NBC, or NBCSN are obscure TV channels and they all carry soccer games without commercials. Just google "mls on tv 2014". NBCSN regularly carries Premier League games live as well. As more and more kids grow up playing the game, I think you'll only see the sport's popularity grow in this country and it will become more mainstream. Regardless of what Ann Coulter says

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Still though for pro-soccer in the US, it's a TOUGH sell. I stayed at the hotel at Patriot Place at Gillette Stadium this past Saturday night (my wife, who grew up in Foxboro, had her 25th high school reunion at a restaurant about a mile up route 1 Saturday night) and the New Enland Revolution had a home game that night. We were able to easily get in/out of Gillette around game time, and eat dinner in Patriot Place at our choice of restaurants with no wait at 6PM (the game started around 7). The Rev's typically draw somewhere around 10,000 for a game (The Patriots sell out 80,000 for every game by comparison). The only time they get a REALLY big soccer crowd at Gillette is when there's a Men's national team game there with some local ties (for example if Portugal is playing basically all of the Fall River and New Bedford area will fill the stadium and the smell of Lingucia and Chericio will fill the parking lots! )

I went to Gillette about a year ago with my daughter's comp soccer team to go see the US National Women's Team play the South Korean women's National Team (a rematch of the Olympic gold medal game from 2012) and there was maybe 10,000 in Gillette, and then again about 2 weeks ago when I went with the same group to see the US Women's National Team play the Frech Women's National Team in Hartford the announced attendance was just over 8,000.

I enjoy watching soccer both live and on TV, but I think short of every 4 years during the world cup, it has a tough time with a regular media presence with decent numbers as the game at times can just be too "slow" with far too little scoring to keep the attention span of many casual fans

FTR - Foxboro capacity is 69K people, not 80K and the Revs drew almost 15K per game last season.

I don't see the MLS ever catching the NFL regarding attendance, but the gap between the two will close for an abundance of reasons, especially regionally. Seattle draws 44K people to their games already.

I understand why the Krafts wouldn't want to do it, but I've always thought the Revs would draw much better playing at Harvard Stadium. As the capacity is only 30K for that stadium, the atmosphere would be much better than walling off a small section of Gillette. It's location is also much closer to the areas of Boston with greater ethnic diversity who appreciate the game more.

20 years from now, I think we'll see a much different soccer scene in the US for a couple of reasons; growing ethnic diversity and the rapid decline of youth and High School football. Programs are dropping like flies all around the country over the concussion issue. That means more of the better youth athletes today will be playing soccer instead of football, which ultimately will result in better talent in both the MLS and on the US National team.

deadheadskier said:

20 years from now, I think we'll see a much different soccer scene in the US for a couple of reasons; growing ethnic diversity and the rapid decline of youth and High School football. Programs are dropping like flies all around the country over the concussion issue. That means more of the better youth athletes today will be playing soccer instead of football, which ultimately will result in better talent in both the MLS and on the US National team.

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That right there is going to be HUGE for soccer in the US. Although, I think soccer is the sport just below football on the concussion list.

their was talk of not allowing heading in soccer in thid state because of concussions,will this issue change all sports that have contact

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If you are a sports fan and not watching the USA game, you are missing out. I have also been enticed to buy Sony and fly emirates based on the infield advertisments.

If you're not a sports fan and missed the last 10 minutes of regular time, you missed out. Jeebus.

soposkier said:

If you are a sports fan and not watching the USA game, you are missing out. I have also been enticed to buy Sony and fly emirates based on the infield advertisments.

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Emirates is the best airline, bar none. My company flew me business class on the A380 in 2011 and it was the best experience I've ever had on a plane, and I'm not just saying that because there was a full bar in the back

darent said:

their was talk of not allowing heading in soccer in thid state because of concussions,will this issue change all sports that have contact

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I haven't been following the concussion issue in soccer too closely. Are most of the concussions the result of head to ball contact or two players challenging for a ball and knocking noggins?

ctenidae said:

If you're not a sports fan and missed the last 10 minutes of regular time, you missed out. Jeebus.

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Damn that was an entertaining final 30 minutes to the game. USA had some chances to tie it up, then again if it weren't for Howard the US might have lost 4-1. (Or worse)

deadheadskier said:

I haven't been following the concussion issue in soccer too closely. Are most of the concussions the result of head to ball contact or two players challenging for a ball and knocking noggins?

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Yes. But usually when 2 players go up for a header at the same time.

darent said:

their was talk of not allowing heading in soccer in thid state because of concussions,will this issue change all sports that have contact

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Maybe they just change the rules so management can't cover up the prevalence of concussions, and coaches can't make players keep playing after a concussion.

Soooo many close chances to win and/or tie. Howard was incredible. The most saves ever recorded in a World Cup game. He made some of them look a lot easier then they really were.

Tim Howard was phenomenal ! he kept us in it and made it a serious contest . Belgium was impressive and hammered away
The team did well in the WC comp and soccer has a bright future here as DHS said the demographics continue to advance as minorities become the majority .and that fact alone will turn the tide .

Every 4 years I watch in amazement how people get into the World Cup on one side and how there is a chorus of people who do not like soccer (football) on the other and they feel the need to broadcast their feelings to the point of irrationality. It is a game and a sporting event for gods sake. I personally like the game. I not only enjoy the World Cup but also enjoy the Red Bulls in MLS (quality getting better) and EPL on Saturday and Sunday Mornings when the season starts up. I don't see why it stirs such emotions in those who don't like it. I grew up a big baseball fan but somewhere along the line lost interest in it. I don't feel the need to broadcast that to everyone, I just don't watch too much of it.

Soccer may or may not become a major player in the US sport scene. Many of the tactics and plays are similar to Hockey which I love and would think many hockey fans appreciate soccer. The new Red Bull Arena in Harrison is a beautiful facility to watch a game (match) in and averaging around 20k per game (cap 22-25K). I personally love the crowds in Britain, the chanting and singing, (and the British announcers are great too). I hope that soccer is becoming more popular and at some people will place it not above but along side our current major sports. As MLS becomes better and more popular, national team will do likewise.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

4aprice said:

Every 4 years I watch in amazement how people get into the World Cup on one side and how there is a chorus of people who do not like soccer (football) on the other and they feel the need to broadcast their feelings to the point of irrationality. It is a game and a sporting event for gods sake. I personally like the game. I not only enjoy the World Cup but also enjoy the Red Bulls in MLS (quality getting better) and EPL on Saturday and Sunday Mornings when the season starts up. I don't see why it stirs such emotions in those who don't like it. I grew up a big baseball fan but somewhere along the line lost interest in it. I don't feel the need to broadcast that to everyone, I just don't watch too much of it.

Soccer may or may not become a major player in the US sport scene. Many of the tactics and plays are similar to Hockey which I love and would think many hockey fans appreciate soccer. The new Red Bull Arena in Harrison is a beautiful facility to watch a game (match) in and averaging around 20k per game (cap 22-25K). I personally love the crowds in Britain, the chanting and singing, (and the British announcers are great too). I hope that soccer is becoming more popular and at some people will place it not above but along side our current major sports. As MLS becomes better and more popular, national team will do likewise.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

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Communist.

One other thing I think about the MLS is that they should perhaps consider changing when games are played. I think they'd be better off adopting the NFL's format of primarily having Sunday afternoon games. I know I'd personally watch much fewer NFL games if they were played at 7PM on Saturday evenings like MLS does.

deadheadskier said:

One other thing I think about the MLS is that they should perhaps consider changing when games are played. I think they'd be better off adopting the NFL's format of primarily having Sunday afternoon games. I know I'd personally watch much fewer NFL games if they were played at 7PM on Saturday evenings like MLS does.

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Do you think that would work for a league that plays primarily in the summer? Fall is different and they should definitely try to avoid head to head with the NFL. Most times I would say Saturday Night works better for me particularly as the days get shorter. Love watching EPL Sat and Sunday mornings(perfect time for Me) but that's impractical for MLS. Love when they have the occasional Wednesday Night game.

Kaka is going to play for the new Orlando team. He's worth the price of admission. Henry and Cahill (see his goal against Netherlands) are world class players for our Red Bulls. Red Bulls play Arsenal in a friendly in late July but tickets are real expen$ive.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ