Thursday, June 22, 2006

Will an American Squad Ever Garner a Significant Fan Base?

This post has permanantly moved to this address: Will an American Squad Ever Garner a Significant Fan Base?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

My answer is, "I don't think it will." The reason for my answer is an informal poll I've taken over the years among friends, colleagues and sports fans I know.
Most of my upper-crust friends (25-35 upper income) are only mildly interested in the game preferring instead, baseball, hockey, and football. Interestingly, it's just not something my more blue collar friends and acquaintences ever talk about. Again, they seem to prefer golf, baseball, etc. and I can't put my finger on why soccer isn't more of a passion. Maybe they live in St. Louis where soccer just isn't as top of mind as the Cardinals or Rams. I attended a STL Steamers game some years ago and was surprised at the excitement I felt watching the game. I was also amazed at the physicality of the game and the stamina it takes to play it. Is it something I would spend my money on again? Not if I could attend a baseball game instead. Still pondering the reason for this.

Anonymous said...

Here is the thing. If you expect the world to embrace America's contribution to the world of football, then i think its only fair that the world expects America to embrace the world's contribtion to football. I think the first step in doing this is calling the sport by its correct name. Football.

Whilst i was sitting amongst my friends, international and american, watching the America - Ghana game early this morning, i can tell you that every international person was rooting for Ghana. Even if it was a pussy foul that caused Ghana to win, when i hear the word soccer said on TV thousands of times during every game, there is a still part of me that twitches.

Anonymous said...

Alas, the U.S. has been eliminated by a small African newcomer, Ghana. But is this the end of the story? Certainly not. I believe that this would fire up the inspiration and love by some young kids who have watched the games in Germany. I've seen some of the ridicule the U.S. team has suffered on some talk show. But I know that most of us have learned to live with them and try to do better. The Americans have a huge role to play in a sport that has become so universal -- thanks to satellite TV and the internet. The U.S. is the undisputed leader of the world and its support of a sport that brings peoples together from so many countries and continents is paramount. Call it whatever you like, football or soccer. It really doesn't matter. Now the world is accustomed to the word soccer mostly in the hope that America would join in -- but with the passion this beautiful sport deserves.

Anonymous said...

I might be wrong but here go my theories.

The US has always fought to distiguish itself from the rest of the world. Americans exhibit a more profound and deep rooted patriotism than the average european country, for example. While soccer, "that european game" (which we are going to name soccer,even if the rest of the world calls it football, because we´ve got the real football) does not represent the american way if you will, baseball, american football, or hockey, inmediately evokes the US, in our minds.

In other words, Americans like to feel that they are very American, and soccer doesn´t give them that feeling, while other sports do, a fact that makes very unlikely the becoming of soccer into a mass sport in the US.

That was the first theory, but my second theory, I think is really the main reason.

The influence and economcal power of NBA, NHL, NFL and company, probably think that they are sharing the incomes of sports with enough partners. I don´t think they´d like one more sport to share the income with.
THey certainly press the media, as well as they bombard the masses with publicity so the number of fans of their sports don´t disperse into other interests, dispersing that part of the audience, that part of the money.

And us, the cattle, lazy enough to let others decide our interests, just follow the path they´ve drawn.

Sergio.