Will Soccer Ever Catch On in America?
With the signing of such internationally known stars as Beckham, Reyna and Blanco, many have asked me if I think soccer will every “Catch On” in America.
Yes, but it will never be as big as American Football, Baseball or Basketball.
Being an American I know that we love the sports that we either invented or made famous, this is why hockey never caught on (though it is still considered to be one of the big 4). Basketball was made famous by the great teams of the 70’s and 80’s, and of course Michael Jordan. Baseball is considered to be “America’s Past Time”, and American Football has become the number one sport in America to watch. So where is soccer’s place among them?
Soccer has made strides in this country and will continue to do so. The media blitz of the David Beckham signing, and his wife moving to LA have helped make the sport more recognizable among the American public. But many still feel it is a sport played by foreigners and should not be on American soil. Those people are naive and stupid. Now I love American Football, Basketball and Baseball…I’m American, it’s the way we are wired. But I will never say that a sport should not make its way into our culture, seriously it is the WORLD’S SPORT! It is the only sport that American’s compete in that has a true “World Champion”.
However, until the likes of Adu, Altidore, Dempsey and other Americans make a name for themselves, soccer will always play second to the big 3. Sorry Hockey, you have been replaced.
I see good things for the Beautiful Game in America, but it will depend on American and International stars alike.
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Good topic for conversation Brad. I’ve tackled this issue before on mCalcio.com, at around the time Beckham scored his first MLS goal. I should point out right from the start that I live in Canada, so the MLS coverage (despite not being as wide as in the States or as limited as in Europe) is readily available.
I think we will all agree that Major League Soccer has got a long way to go before reaching the level of any major competition in Europe. Games can range from the tremendously boring, to the sometimes insane goalfest that would send shivers to any self-respecting defender of any major European league. However despite the criticism it deserves, I often find myself intrigued by the MLS: I often actually pay attention when Fox Soccer Channel airs their MLS highlights, and on odd occasions I will even watch a live game when nothing else is on. Why?
Well for starters there are some interesting players in there, and not just European football rejects like Abel Xavier (no offense, but he sucks). Over the past two years, I’ve sort of fallen in love with the playing style of Dwayne De Rosario for example, a Canadian player from Houston Dynamo which has always delighted fans with spectacular goals (volley, free kick, midfield, you name it… he’s gotten the MSL Goal of the Year award 2 years in a row and came in 2nd on the third run). Then there’s big names such as Landon Donovan (who’s even had a short spell in Europe in the Bundesliga) and Freddy Adu (just picked up by Portuguese club Benfica).
On top of that for those that don’t know about it, this year the MLS bust their doors wide open by a recent change in their transfer & wage regulations: the ‘Designated Player Rule’. This rule basically allows one player to be signed outside of the salary cap, meaning that big European stars which were previously unreachable can now join the MLS. Since then, high caliber players such as Claudio Reyna, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Juan Pablo Ángel have all moved to the US (on a lucrative contract offer obviously), thereby increasing the league’s talent pool. Obviously, the biggest name to fall under the designated player rule is the player that started it all, David Beckham.
Now, as much as the whole Beckham transfer was a big fiasco (let’s be honest: 2 months to play his first game, a couple of good matches, then another season-ending injury is nowhere near success… especially considering the horrible season LA Galaxy are having), the fact that it generated so much media attention can only help the MLS in the long run. Will it ever be as popular to Americans as the MLB, NFL, or NBA? Of course not, not in the next 50 years IMHO. But it can only keep growing, and the fact that the franchise is expanding (last year Toronto joined, this year there’s talks about Seattle joining too) is a good sign for the future.
Soccer-loving Americans can only be patient in my opinion, and wait that their favorite sport gets the attention it deserves in the USA.
I completely agree with Marco on this one although I do not think it will take off as I believe most americans are too into there own things and their own cultures to accept something from ours.
I live in the US, but I just can’t get myself interested in MLS. I don’t know why, it just doesn’t grab my attention. Maybe when Red Bull Park opens up I’ll go to a Red Bull New York game, but until then, I feel very “ehhh” about the whole thing.
If the US soccer teams get the likes of Brandi Chastain, Hope Solo and Heather Mitts to model their kits… well yes, it might
It won’t, and you can point to pussies like Dida falling over for no reason and Porto players for jumping over slide tackles and holding their ankles to get medical attention.
What’s that got to do with anything Jimz?
Never.
I mean,you know…NEVER