As the most popular sport in the world kicks off its premiere event this week, we as Americans seem to always get back to the same age-old question. Why is soccer not popular in the States?
Many questions come up. For instance, could it be the color of the ball? Or possibly the excessive diving to the ground like they were just decapitated? Or maybe the simple fact that the clock runs on dead balls?
Many silly questions loom, without real answers.
The National Football League (NFL) grossed over $9 billion dollars of revenue last year, according to Forbes.com. They are, without question, the powerhouse league in the world, with little competition. They are the gold standard that others desperately try to emulate.
Major League Soccer (MLS) on the other hand grossed only $280 million in number pulled from July of 2013, according to StatisticBrian.com.
Every four years we as a country get the soccer bug. That one where enthusiasm runs wild and the soccer people claim great growth in America.
Yet it never happens. Why?
Well first of all, we as Americans completely stole the “Football” name. We took the name of a sport that the world loved and made it our own, as a completely different sport with “American Football.”
Most say the reason soccer is a second class citizen in this country is because of little to no room. We loved our baseball, football, boxing and horse racing in the early 1900’s. As boxing and horse racing was phased out, basketball and a little help from our northern neighbors with hockey joined the party. There was no room for soccer.
Another argument is our obsession with violence, and the NFL provides plenty of it. How can soccer even touch the raw violence that football provides? I’m sorry, but a guy squirming on the ground for five-minutes while the clock runs and he was barely even touched is the opposite of violence. Quite frankly, it’s frustrating.
The rest of the world however, thinks we as Americans are downright crazy. They cannot get enough of the sport and most countries claim it their own.
The biggest reason is the cost factor. Kids in other countries grow up on soccer because it literally costs nothing to play. If you have a ball and other kids to play with, then game-on. The United States fancies themselves a country with money, and they are willing to pay to play. Expensive equipment is handed out to kids like tic-tacs and they grow up dreaming of becoming the next quarterback to replace Tom Brady in New England.
As we go through the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, listen to the claims that soccer is emerging in the United States. The enthusiasts will proclaim it and die-hards will thrive on it. But whatever you do, don’t believe in it, because it simply will not happen.