Incredible Enthusiasm For Wc In Usa

ESPN will not be hosting a World Cup again anytime soon, though. Fox has secured the rights for the next World Cups through 2022, starting with the Women’s World Cup next year.
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Yikes, I didn't know that Fox would be broadcasting the next World Cups (in the US).

NBC set the bar on broadcasting pro soccer (and drawing in viewers) in the US with the Premier League this year. ESPN's coverage of the World Cup has been good.

I watched the coverage of the FA Cup on Fox this year and from a new soccer viewer's point of view, I didn't feel drawn into it. Champions League Final on Fox was much better, but they were nothing compared to NBC with the BPL.
 
jerseyhotspur said:
Yikes, I didn't know that Fox would be broadcasting the next World Cups (in the US).

NBC set the bar on broadcasting pro soccer (and drawing in viewers) in the US with the Premier League this year. ESPN's coverage of the World Cup has been good.

I watched the coverage of the FA Cup on Fox this year and from a new soccer viewer's point of view, I didn't feel drawn into it. Champions League Final on Fox was much better, but they were nothing compared to NBC with the BPL.
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Gus Johnson is replacing Ian Darke. Yikes.

Univision is it then
 
Fabio said:
Almost 25 million on ESPN and Univision + many other on internet, bars , locals, restaurants, parks etc. And the game wasn't broadcast on ABC.........
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Soccer surges in popularity every 4 years as usual for the World Cup (and there's nothing else on TV to compete: NBA / NHL just ended / baseball doesn't heat up until after the All-Star game).

Otherwise, we'll see if this translates to an uptick in MLS viewership after July 13. The audience for MLS has been steadily increasing through the years, but doesn't it seem like every World Cup where people ask is this the year that soccer in the US turns a corner?
 
jerseyhotspur said:
Soccer surges in popularity every 4 years as usual for the World Cup (and there's nothing else on TV to compete: NBA / NHL just ended / baseball doesn't heat up until after the All-Star game).

Otherwise, we'll see if this translates to an uptick in MLS viewership after July 13. The audience for MLS has been steadily increasing through the years, but doesn't it seem like every World Cup where people ask is this the year that soccer in the US turns a corner?
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I think the USA is in a great position to capitalize off of the World Cup fever. Previously, the stars of the USMNT were playing outside of the MLS in Europe and any new fans the US gained would follow our stars overseas. In my experience fans in the USA are far more knowledgeable about foreign leagues like the EPL/SPL than they are about the MLS.

With the world cup fever we have momentum of American fans cheering on our players, many of whom play in the MLS . If we can hold onto this talent we may be able to get fans to invest their interest in the MLS as well.

PS. I love the marketing NYCFC is doing during the world cup. Hopefully any new soccer fan as a result of the USMNT will find a club team at home here!
 
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AndreT_NY said:
I hope you are right. God I hope you are right. I have been hearing this all my life. As Men In Blazers say...

Men in Blazers is driven by the belief that Soccer is America’s Sport of the Future. As it has been since 1972.
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People have been saying this for years and to an extent what they have been saying has come true..US soccer/MLS has progressed hugely over the years, albeit with growing pains. The USMNT gets progressively better in each world cup and every World Cup produces more stars and the country gets deeper into soccer.

It's unrealistic to expect MLS to be the sport of the future, whatever that means. This country has invented several sports and these sports will always be the major market sports. It's like NBA fans in England wishing to see the quality and sports market share of the NBA in USA to translate to the English Basketball league/fans.
 
Samuel Youn said:
People have been saying this for years and to an extent what they have been saying has come true..US soccer/MLS has progressed hugely over the years, albeit with growing pains. The USMNT gets progressively better in each world cup and every World Cup produces more stars and the country gets deeper into soccer.

It's unrealistic to expect MLS to be the sport of the future, whatever that means. This country has invented several sports and these sports will always be the major market sports. It's like NBA fans in England wishing to see the quality and sports market share of the NBA in USA to translate to the English Basketball league/fans.
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The thing with MLS is that it is played in the summer, which only forces it to compete with MLB. And if any of the 4 major sports is a dying animal, it is baseball. I could see soccer taking significant market share from baseball over the next 20 years. It won't be as big as football or basketball, but it does not need to be. They are not direct competitors.

Once you get the attention of the country and it can compete financially with the European Leagues, it could really reach equal footing. I don't expect the domestic players to be as good as they are in Europe, because USA athletes will still not pick soccer first, but in terms of the domestic league, I think it definitely has the potential to reach top 5 status in the very long run.
 
MyBoyCity said:
The thing with MLS is that it is played in the summer, which only forces it to compete with MLB. And if any of the 4 major sports is a dying animal, it is baseball. I could see soccer taking significant market share from baseball over the next 20 years. It won't be as big as football or basketball, but it does not need to be. They are not direct competitors.

Once you get the attention of the country and it can compete financially with the European Leagues, it could really reach equal footing. I don't expect the domestic players to be as good as they are in Europe, because USA athletes will still not pick soccer first, but in terms of the domestic league, I think it definitely has the potential to reach top 5 status in the very long run.
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You make a good point. However MLS in the summer and MLS as reaching equal footing is an opposite force. There are major problems if the MLS continues to play in the summer:

  1. Conflicts with FIFA dates. Forget about the world cup, in 2013 FIFA dates conflicted with 9 weekends on the MLS. No league can compete to be the best if the best players are leaving throughout the season for international duty.
  2. Major transfer peak time is in the Summer, if the MLS wants to compete financially they will want to buy and sell players during the summer because summer transfers command more money. It would not make sense to open the major trading season in the middle of a season.

Baseball is a dying animal and I agree MLS can take market share. Especially since MLB plays an exponential number of games compared to MLS. However, if MLS wants to compete against the rest of the world it cannot continue to play in the summer which means it will compete against NBA,NFL etc.

Personally, I can't compare the US to other world leagues. The MLS is different in almost every way. Salary caps, player ownership, youth system and team ownership is setup completely different from Europe. Major market sports in the US have the best players in the world playing in the best leagues in the US. I don't know if we can ever get to that point. However I do believe that the sport will grow and it will be successful but I can't see it as a major force in the USA. I hope i am wrong.
 
Samuel Youn said:
You make a good point. However MLS in the summer and MLS as reaching equal footing is an opposite force. There are major problems if the MLS continues to play in the summer:

  1. Conflicts with FIFA dates. Forget about the world cup, in 2013 FIFA dates conflicted with 9 weekends on the MLS. No league can compete to be the best if the best players are leaving throughout the season for international duty.
  2. Major transfer peak time is in the Summer, if the MLS wants to compete financially they will want to buy and sell players during the summer because summer transfers command more money. It would not make sense to open the major trading season in the middle of a season.

Baseball is a dying animal and I agree MLS can take market share. Especially since MLB plays an exponential number of games compared to MLS. However, if MLS wants to compete against the rest of the world it cannot continue to play in the summer which means it will compete against NBA,NFL etc.

Personally, I can't compare the US to other world leagues. The MLS is different in almost every way. Salary caps, player ownership, youth system and team ownership is setup completely different from Europe. Major market sports in the US have the best players in the world playing in the best leagues in the US. I don't know if we can ever get to that point. However I do believe that the sport will grow and it will be successful but I can't see it as a major force in the USA. I hope i am wrong.
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Fair enough. There are so many factors to consider, and even the most staunch believers in the potential agree that it is decades down the line. It is really hard to predict how thing will turn out. For now, I am just glad people are being exposed to the sport, and hopefully a good percentage of them don't disappear for 4 more years.
 
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