As Americans, we’re spoiled in terms of sports. The United States is home to some of the best sports leagues in the world. Want to watch the best baseball with the best players in the world? There’s MLB. Want to watch the best basketball league with the best players in the world? Just turn on an NBA game. Hockey? NHL. American football? Do you prefer college or the NFL? Want to watch the best soccer in the world? Well, you might have to look elsewhere for that.
When people think of a country with a strong soccer presence, the U.S. is one of the last countries that comes to mind. But what might come as a surprise to many is that soccer is quickly gaining popularity America. According to a 2016 Forbes report, soccer is the fastest-growing sport
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Even some of the most diehard soccer fans around the world would probably never guess that the U.S. currently has more youth registered to play soccer than any other country.
That’s not all. In 2011, MLS surpassed the attendance average of both the NHL and NBA, respectively, making it the third-most attended sports league on average in the U.S. behind only MLB and the NFL. And now that MLS has new broadcasting deals with FOX and ESPN, on top of their online streams, it would seem that MLS should be poised to stand near the forefront of American popularity. Yet, oddly enough, MLS hasn’t quite reached the popularity that it deserves.
On paper, MLS should be one of the most popular leagues in the country. Which leaves many to ponder, why isn’t it?
One of the most obvious reasons is that the MLS is relatively new. Compared to the NFL, NHL and NBA, which have been around for decades, and MLB, which has been around for 114 years, MLS is still in its infancy.
Generations of fans grew up watching these leagues and rooting for their respective teams, while soccer has struggled to secure a permanent place in American sports society. Even MLS struggled at first, nearly buckling under after a few seasons of play. Fortunately, the league survived and has propelled itself to becoming one of the more respected soccer leagues in the world. But it’s not that American soccer fans weren’t watching soccer — they were — just not
In 1991 there was so little media interest in the event, almost no one even knew the United States had a team, and even less people knew that the United States won. Eight years later, “tickets sales reached 388,000,” more than triple the amount of sales in the 1995 Women’s World Cup (Longman). FIFA was depending on this World Cup to gain popularity, they needed more interest to spark people to play. If the United States had not won, it was predicted that not many in the suburban would not have much interest in soccer. Millions of young girls across the United States came to this event. After the World Cup it “will celebrate the explosive growth of soccer for women in the United States, where 7.5 million female players are registered, according to a recent survey by the Soccer Industry Council of America, a trade group. In suburbia, where the game flourishes, girls' soccer has become as popular as sport utility vehicles” (Longman). This World Cup team changed the perspective that soccer was only for males. “‘ We're fighting the myths and prejudices that women's soccer felt in the U.S. in the 70's,'' said Andrea Rodebaugh… 'That there are sports for boys and sports for girls and that soccer is not for girls, not feminine’” (Longman). This team changed the lives for many girls. The team gave little girls hope and faith they could make it in soccer. This team made them believe they could follow their passions.
Football is something as American as apple pie. It is thought of as gritty, physical, and all around fun just as most Americans like to be thought of. For decades the NFL has dominated the world of football. However, Vince McMahon, the founder of the WWF, has introduced a new and controversial professional football league called the XFL. Much of the controversy is about whether the XFL is a force to be reckoned with or just another of McMahon’s clever marketing ploys. Although the XFL’s survival has been questioned by many, it promises to be a league full of the smash-mouth, trash-talking, fan-oriented football every fan deserves.
This sport was first played in China by military forces during the 2nd century. Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world. Want to know why? Soccer is an easy sport to understand, it is a fun sport to play, and you meet a lot of friends through playing!
The National Football League was formed decades ago by the merger of two national leagues. The Super Bowl is the traditional season-end activity that crowns the national champion. Each team represented starts with one of the original leagues.The number of teams active in the NFL does not remain the same for longr.o. the game of professional football is big business and can be highly profitable. When the NFL announces that it has approved new expansion teams, there is intense competition among team less cities to attract one of the franchises. The game is profitable for team owners and for players, but it also is profitable for the cities in which teams are centered. It contributes to the local economy and enhances the stature of the city in where a team is located.
Many people do not know that much about soccer. If asked about Pelé, almost everyone will say they have heard about him. Pele is one of, if not the most, influential persons to come along and change the game for the better forever. Professional soccer in the United States was not a huge attraction. In the United States, attendance to professional soccer games was well below all other major sport franchises. Average attendance to a New York Cosmos game for the years just before Pelé arrived from 1971 to 1974 was 4,540 people (NY Cosmos, Wiki). There was not that one spark or big name or attraction or marquee team or player to bring people to the stadiums to watch the sport. Once Pelé arrived on the NASL scene, everything changed. How could one person have such a big impact so quickly? To come into a struggling sport in the United States and turn it around that fast, it is a great history. Although soccer has always been a foreign sport, Pelé’s flair and style of play contributed to the recognition of soccer as a whole world sport.
football in america is under some heavy restraints at the moment, the culprit being: climate change, climate change has increased the average temperatures in the last 50 years by 2 degrees fahrenheit, although this might not seem like much it is predicted that the average temperature is going to rise faster because of the thickness of the atmosphere only getting worse, USA is affected more by climate change because of its massive population and the high car count and factories pumping out CO2 into the atmosphere.
Soccer is played in over 200 countries over the world, making it the most popular sport. Over one billion fans watch the World Cup Soccer on television, which is played every four years. Soccer players run an average of six miles during every game. The United States and Canada are the only two countries that call it soccer. The first soccer games may have originated in China. The U.S has more official soccer players than any other nation in the world, almost 18 million. The first women’s soccer team, called the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA), made its first debut in 2001.
Franklin starts by giving reasons why he has used soccer to explain the failure of globalization and also clarifies that his objective is not to argue economic changes and factors, but to address cultural issues. In the first part of How Soccer Explains the American Culture Wars, the author goes into depth that how and why soccer entered into his life and what role his parents played to ensure that their child excelled in the sport. He then talks about the cultural divide in America; the different mindsets of the elite and the working middle class and how individuals from these classes reacted to the introduction of soccer in America in the 1980’s. Moving on, in the second part of his analysis, the author sheds light on the hateful comments of some eminent Americans such as Tom Wier, Jack Kemp, Allen Barra and most importantly Jim Rome. These individuals have openly expressed their hatred for soccer and they believe that it is “not a sport”. To counter claims and criticism made these men, Franklin presents some facts and figures that clearly state that over the years soccer has managed to make its way into the American culture, while the most American sport i.e. Baseball has lost viewership. This section is summed up by differentiating between the stances of two contrasting groups towards globalization. In the last part of the
In the United States, major league professional soccer has attracted little interest from the fans. Either indoor or outdoor proved to be successful, even with stars coming from Europe and Latin America. American Soccer League was the longest running professional league in the United States soccer history, going from 1921 to 1984. The North American Soccer League only existed until 1985. Some of the worlds' greatest players competed in this league, such as Michael Platani and Giorgio Chinaglia.
Soccer differs in Spain and in America when it comes to attendances and passion for the sport, play style, and the way their players are shaped into professions. The United States is said to play a hybrid form of soccer compared to hispanic countries (Parrish). American soccer athletes are typically taught to emphasize conditioning and possession. Secondly, Americans and Hispanics’ passion for the sport are extremely different from one another. The people in Hispanic countries live for soccer, as they are devoted, passionate, and loyal to the teams. Contrarily in America, football, basketball, and baseball trump soccer making it only the fourth most attended and watched event. No matter how the sport is played or how many people attend the events, soccer is well liked in both the United States and Hispanic
Soccer is the worlds most popular sport. It is the national sport of most European and Latin-American countries, and of many other nations. Millions of people in more than 140 countries play soccer. The World Cup is held every four years. Soccer is one of the most famous international sports. Soccer is known world wide and is played in the Olympics.
Sports affect major institutions of society, including the mass media, politics, religion, education, and family. The Super Bowl gathers thousands of viewer’s attention, including those who do not usually watch the regular season games. Football is by all means an American sport. Since the day a baby is born in America, whether it be a boy or a girl, one of the first words they learn to say is ball, and after a few months they add the word foot in front of the word ball, and by the time you know it your baby boy is playing football, and your little girl is cheering “Go Steeler’s go!” and without intention their cultural identity starts.
Soccer has proven to be a notable sport throughout the years starting with its unique history. Soccer began all over the world tracing back thousands of years. The Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Ancient Greek, Persian, Vikings, as well as other nationalities all played a form of the game soccer. In China and Rome, games that were similar to soccer were played around 200 B.C. (Helmer and Owens, 5). People believe that soccer started more than a thousand years ago when villagers killed attacking pirates by cutting off their heads and kicking them around (Helmer and Owens, 5). As time went on, people in Europe also played a game similar to soccer during Medieval Times. In fact, soccer was used to prepare warriors for battles in Ancient Greece and Rome (Dilov-Shultheis). In later history, the English called the game “Football” because soccer was played by kicking the ball with the foot (Helmer and Owens, 6). The name “soccer” came to be when the American’s Association Football was shortened to assoc., and later to soc. Eventually in 1895 it was called soccer (Helmer and Owens, 9). By the late 1700s and 1800s, soccer was played in many universities, but the rules were not ...
While there are various arguments in favor of selecting the USA to host the 2022 World Cup, there are also several against having the games in the States. One of the reasons against, argued when the United States hosted the 1994 World Cup, is that the this country is not regarded in international football circles as a football power, like numerous countries are in Europe and South America. The United States is one of the few countries in the world in which football is not a top sport. American football runs king in the United States and football (more commonly known as “soccer” in the United States) is the "low man on the totem pole," as the United States Major League Soccer (MLS) is still looking to gain respect in the international football world. Regardless of what Americans think of football, if the FIFA were to set the 2022 World Cup in the United States, it would be a great success for both the FIFA and the growth of football in the USA.
The number one recommendation for American teams is that they should focus on building teams to which players and fans would be loyal to, and then they will build success and gain revenue in the process. This can definitely be a changing factor for sports in America.