Soccer is now 4th most popular sport in US - overtaking ice hockey
The bumper £2 billion deal the Premier League struck with NBC after a battle among American broadcasters this month reflects the growing popularity of football in the United States..
Soccer overtakes Ice Hockey in US in popularity and all other matrix
- Thread starter Thus Spoke Mainer
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nothing that can't be fixed by allowing more illegal immigrants from Canada !
We are screwed!Soccer is now 4th most popular sport in US - overtaking ice hockey
The bumper £2 billion deal the Premier League struck with NBC after a battle among American broadcasters this month reflects the growing popularity of football in the United States..www.dailymail.co.uk
I was at this speakeasy in Mizzouli, Montana and they were giving Chad Pitt's lady a hard time for being a cheifer - I said she's not thiqqq enough to be a LAX player let alone Carliah Skool of Indians rugby.. she just run the o mill Jersey Italian.
McLovin told me the same thing, but in Cantonese, and I am only fluent in Mandarin. So it could all be just a misunderstanding.
Soccer is now 4th most popular sport in US - overtaking ice hockey
The bumper £2 billion deal the Premier League struck with NBC after a battle among American broadcasters this month reflects the growing popularity of football in the United States..
Hockey's mistake was trying to transition from 4th to anything higher.
This means it produces champions in Tampa and Charlotte while their prime markets like NYC and Minneapolis go without.
Cut back to 20 teams... and double up the teams in northern cities. Also cut ridiculous ticket prices.
LdN
Tampa and Raleigh, not Charlotte. NHL is fine.
I understand why soccer is so popular with youth and parents. It is very very inexpensive compared to hockey.
Agreed. Though not the main reasons the cost of playing such Sports as hockey or baseball has been a part of their decline. Not nearly as many kids can go out and buy good skates and pads or a good bat and glove for under $500 anymore.
Don’t blame the NHL, maybe it’s just US fans catching up to the most popular sport in the world?
Here in Western PA, I would bet that there are more kids, both male and female, who are playing youth hockey than youth baseball and football combined. My nephew's organization has 26 teams consisting of kids from 9 to 19 years old, and there are several other organizations of similar size. Therefore, if anything, hockey has become unbelievably popular here and many other parts of the country. In fact, in February, my nephew's 16U team is playing in a tournament in Indianapolis, and one of the teams in his division is from Clearwater, Florida. A few years ago, he played in a tournament in DC, and one of the teams was from Huntsville, Alabama.
Also, hockey in general is as good and popular in the USA than it's ever been. Just look at how many Americans currently play in the NHL, and how many of them are All Star caliber players. The Pens' current roster probably is made up of 2/3 Americans. Also, look at how the USA does in international tournaments. Also, a few years ago, Hockey Canada replicated several of the training techniques that USA Hockey uses because they were so impressed at the results. IMO, the USA has become the world's second best hockey country, and is closing fast on Canada simply because more kids from all over the USA are taking up the sport, and Canada eventually just won't be able to match the USA's numbers.
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LOL. Little League kids are buying bats and gloves for $500??? Maybe the rich kids. If you suck at hitting the ball an expensive bat is not going to make you better, same with an expensive glove helping you field. What really hurts LL is the lack of qualified coaches to teach the kids and coach the game, and right behind that is the stupid petty politics that goes on.
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No way.Soccer is now 4th most popular sport in US - overtaking ice hockey
The bumper £2 billion deal the Premier League struck with NBC after a battle among American broadcasters this month reflects the growing popularity of football in the United States..
Oh, way. Just look at the number of soccer channels you can pay and stream, then look at hockey.
There also are many more major soccer leagues around the world than hockey leagues, so there are going to more streaming channels for that sport. In Europe alone, you have the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, and the Bundesliga, and then you have the MLS and Mexican League in North America. With that said, only the Premier League has a major presence on free TV in the USA, whereas as recently as last year, you could catch the odd Serie A game on ESPN, and a few years ago the Bundesliga was on Fox. Now, unless you have streaming, European soccer except for the Premier League has become invisible.
The NHL just signed new TV contracts with ESPN and TNT, so those networks must think that the product is worthwhile to spend money on it.
I don't know if your first part is in jest or not but yes go to a 10U tournament and look at the bats these kids are using. Matter of fact some of these kids are not only using at least $300 bats but they're getting them rolled so that the ball goes farther.
I agree with you about poor coaching but that has very little to do with the downfall. The downfall is the time of the games and the kids needing instant gratification which is why video games are preferred over baseball.
Too many travel teams and not enough kids who just play in the community. I'm not sure if this is what you mean by political but there are too many parents that think their kids should be starting at shortstop and batting fourth and when they don't, they start their own Travel team so if that's what you meant then I agree.
Hard to say--I mean in Columbus, we have three Columbus born/raised players, two from the AAA Junior Jackets program, and the Crew have a few Ohio players. There's room for both (and I happen to love both--and played both).
You're exactly right. The days of the Bad News Bears type of Little League mostly are over. It's now all about travel teams, and many kids don't even play for their local leagues anymore but just on travel teams, which, I'm sure that you know, cost big bucks. You're also right about the cost of baseball bats. My brother told me yesterday that he bought my nephew a new bat for X-mas, and it cost close to $400.00. These are reasons why youth baseball has become an upper middle class sport, like hockey and lacrosse are perceived to be. They also are reasons why the number of minority Americans in MLB keeps dropping yearly.
I'll use my nephew as an example again about why travel baseball is replacing, and in some ways diminishing, traditional Little League. He plays for one of the preeminent travel programs in Western PA. This program has produced a few guys who have made MLB, and many D-1 recruits. There definitely is at least one current MLB player who played for this program. By playing for this program, at a certain age, the kids get to play in showcase tournaments around the Northeast, Midwest and even Southeast, at which there are MLB scouts and college coaches watching. My nephew got to play in these tournaments this past summer in PA, Ohio and even Tennessee. One of his hockey teammates, who plays on another preemient travel baseball program in Western PA, is rated as one of the best high school catchers in Ohio and already has scholarship offers. It's gotten to the point where you have to play on one of these travel teams to get the exposure.
I love both too. Being from the Pittsburgh area, there are several Pittsburgh area kids who are playing in the NHL, including the starting goalie for the Ducks. There is a Penguins player from Hollidaysburg. That would've been unheard of thirty years ago, but there are so many more kids in this area playing youth hockey now. The Pens Elite constantly are producing teams that compete very successfully at the highest level. Their 14 year old team is one of the highest ranked teams in the country at their level.
Does he play on one of the Beaver valley teams? If so they are the cream of he crop out there.
I coach HS, do some associate scouting and help do the evaluations for one local youth travel group as to eliminate biases since I dont have any kids there and 95% of those kids are not districted for where I coach. Much like AAU basketball, parents who think their kid is better than they really are is the main issue.
I see lots of kids burnt out by 16U due to trying to follow their dads dream. Kids end up missing out on their youth by traveling every weekend for a tournament and getting individual lessons twice a week instead of hanging with their friends. Crazy how much some families try and spend for a 25% scholarship thats not guaranteed for the spring.
Wish they would play community ball and sandlot until about 12 and then start working the travel and tournaments in. One of my former players is a multiple time MLB all star and he didnt do travel until 12, was the best thing for him.
No, but his hockey teammate does. My nephew's team, which finished 18-13-1 last season and won two tournaments, played the BV team twice and lost both games, although one was a two-run game and the other was in a Champions tournament when our team, which was a 15U team, played a mixed BV team consisting both of 15 and 16 year olds.
On another note, my nephew's team already began practice for the upcoming season last Sunday, as his travel program has a large indoor complex. Thus, some of these travel programs are able to provide much more training and instruction to their kids.
My guess is the soccer numbers probably are greater than the baseball and maybe even the football numbers too. All that I said is that there are many more kids playing youth hockey in many parts of this country than ever before, there are more Americans playing in the NHL than ever before, and the USA hockey teams are competing successfully at the international tournaments , and often winning them. Therefore, the sport of hockey is in a very healthy state in this country, and frankly I don't care if it's the fourth most popular sport in this country or the hundredth most popular.
Of course, there are going to be more kids playing a sport like soccer than hockey because it's less expensive, you don't need a sheet of ice on which to play it, and you don't need to know how to skate to play it. It's also a sport in which certain kids who otherwise are not big or strong enough to play other sports can play, and whose parents who are concerned about injuries are less averse to letting their kids play it. That's why soccer is the most popular sport in the world, and why it thrives even in the poorest of countries.
I have watched both soccer and Hockey my whole life (played college football) and I’m sorry but your take is one of someone who just doesn’t like soccer.
I basically stopped watching NHL as much as I used to because I became so frustrated by the nonsense way in which penalties are called including the assumption that “make up calls” are a part of the game. The league is a joke. ESPN wants the nhl because they want content. It’s something in which to sell commercials. For the NHL not much is better than nothing at all.
Soccer is straight forward and now with VAR far more transparent.
So you think that soccer is the most popular sport because it thrives in poor countries, that’s your take? The most popular leagues are in England, Germany and Spain. Soccer isn’t even the most popular sport in the largest poor nations. (Depending on your definition of poor)
Am I the only one here to notice that soccer is boring to watch?
Also, I’ve notice recently that hockey can be quite repetitive and thus boring.
I advocate bringing back jello wrestling and bikini roller derby.
Also, I’ve notice recently that hockey can be quite repetitive and thus boring.
I advocate bringing back jello wrestling and bikini roller derby.
Popular based on the survey I see. Surely more popular based on youth participation rates. I'm curious if professional soccer generates more revenue in the U.S. than professional ice hockey. I think that's the point of the article, but it arrives at is oddly.
Oh, and congratulations to the MLS on determining it's most recent champion on penalty kicks. It's a joke.
Soccer is the sport for kids who can't play anything else. That's why it's popular.
The rise in travel teams, and how every sport now seems to be a year round thing with leagues, and camps, and training programs and the such, is also what is playing into the other reason why you have a reduction in some sports, the elimination of the multi sport athlete.
I cannot take the opinion of anyone that calls the NHL a joke, seriously. Bettman is a joke for sure, however the game is still awesome. Calls are not any worse that CFB BS calls.
No, no! There's nothing more riveting than a nail-biter 0-0 tie late in the game.
I think that Bettman has been a great commissioner for the NHL, especially getting a salary cap installed, negotiating new TV contracts, and overseeing expansion to several markets. This league easily could've folded without his guidance.
The important thing is that even on a shart-in-hat-splosive team like the Hoosiers, Taiwan actually tackles and situaional hold or spot too. "Chyna" or whatever was an Oklahoma play out sheet actress. That's not a statement on her loose with Sooners - but U R a aktor athulete like Rob Gribson in Tanker Guys, Chyna.
Based on my cursory review of this article, it fails to mention if soccer's growth has come at the expense of other sports. It is possible for soccer and hockey to both be growing.Soccer is now 4th most popular sport in US - overtaking ice hockey
The bumper £2 billion deal the Premier League struck with NBC after a battle among American broadcasters this month reflects the growing popularity of football in the United States..
In our town it has come at the expense of football. Football supporters are not very fond of soccer as it tends to poach the kids in skill positions. If your kid play multiple sports playing soccer can be an asset in any sport that requires some decent level of footwork.
