Colin Cowherd believes that MLS will be more popular than NHL in 2 yrs.

[jstewismybastardson]

Not at all. Liberally, MLS teams each have maybe two players that could play for a top flight team in a big 4 league. The rest of the roster is made up of players who have no business playing soccer professionally (and many do indeed have side jobs).

I don't think it's out of line to say Real Salt Lake or Montreal Impact would struggle to beat S****horpe United or Portsmouth.

come on this is stupid ... i think youve been exposed to too much TFC

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

Like basketball, soccer can be played by many with a single $10 ball. It's a poor man's sport. The poor typically lean left. Therefore, there is a connection.

Also, liberals are modeling their ideals after European countries. Europe loves soccer. Therefore, there is a connection.

Correlation does not equal causation.

And cherry-picking Europeans is a good way to support your cause. I hate to sound like I'm quoting my own post, but how do you account for soccer being the most popular sport in Iran or most of Africa? You know, those bastions of liberal thinking.

 

[SLY]

You're entirely right about the liberal nonsense though.

Soccer is the most popular sport in a huge majority of countries. Sure it's the most popular sport in some very liberal countries like Germany and the Netherlands, but it's also the most popular sport in some very conservative countries like Iran and the majority of Africa.

It's just a bunch of gun toting bible thumpers who feel threatened by something different than American Football.

It's sad really.

 

[RP-29]

Yeah, I typically think of all those soccer moms in their SUVs as liberal.

/Since we've pulled out the stereotype card. Don't leave home without it.

I typically think of all those soccer moms carpooling six kids to soccer in their minivan.

 

[dare2be]

C'mon sabres, anything that isn't American is liberal fascist.

 

[SLY]

Like basketball, soccer can be played by many with a single $10 ball. It's a poor man's sport. The poor typically lean left. Therefore, there is a connection.

Also, liberals are modeling their ideals after European countries. Europe loves soccer. Therefore, there is a connection.

How does Ann Coulter feel all up in your anus?

 

[dash]

C'mon sabres, anything that isn't American is liberal fascist.

Mayonnaise on everything
Anne Murray, all day, everyday

 

[jstewismybastardson]

MLS is Championship/second division quality

The MLS is going in the right direction in terms of its player development ... all teams have residency/home grown programs now. It will take 10 to 15 years to see the full effect of this in the league. This is the model to use. The NCAA model is dead ... any young aspiring player in North America should not be heading down this route if they intend to play professional soccer at 23 or 24

Thomas Muller is 24

 

[ckhokie]

Bullshit argument. The games in 2002 aired in the States anytime from 2-8 in the morning. The fact anybody at all was up watching it was a miracle.

The WC hardly ever has games in Primetime. France, Asia, South Africa, and games in Brazil put games in the middle of the working day.

Viewership numbers don't lie:

2014
*can't find trustworthy per-match average yet
Quarter finals alone averaged >10 million viewers in America
Largest US viewership (vs. Portugal) had 18.2 million viewers
26.5 million American viewers for WC Final

2010
ESPN and ABC averaged 4.27 million viewers per match
Largest US game viewership (vs. England) was 16.4 million

2006
ESPN and ESPN2 averaged 2.3 million viewers per match
WC Final had 16.9 million American viewers

2002
ESPN and ABC averaged 1.7 million viewers per match

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

come on this is stupid ... i think youve been exposed to too much TFC

Third place in the east TFC? That would make my comment stupid because...what, I watch my good MLS team and still compare it to lower league European soccer?

 

[RP-29]

It's just a bunch of gun toting bible thumpers who feel threatened by something different than American Football.

It's sad really.

Hey, now. Don't forget to capitalize the B in Bible.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

Third place in the east TFC? That would make my comment stupid because...what, I watch my good MLS team and still compare it to lower league European soccer?

too much shitty pub league quality TFC of the past 10 years

 

[forty_three]

Not at all. Liberally, MLS teams each have maybe two players that could play for a top flight team in a big 4 league. The rest of the roster is made up of players who have no business playing soccer professionally (and many do indeed have side jobs).

I don't think it's out of line to say Real Salt Lake or Montreal Impact would struggle to beat S****horpe United or Portsmouth.

Shhh. Pick another word for that sentence.

 

[RP-29]

How does Ann Coulter feel all up in your anus?

Honestly, I don't even know who the hell that is.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

The WC hardly ever has games in Primetime. France, Asia, South Africa, and games in Brazil put games in the middle of the working day.

Viewership numbers don't lie:

2014
*can't find trustworthy per-match average yet
Quarter finals alone averaged >10 million viewers in America
Largest US viewership (vs. Portugal) had 18.2 million viewers
26.5 million American viewers for WC Final

2010
ESPN and ABC averaged 4.27 million viewers per match
Largest US game viewership (vs. England) was 16.4 million

2006
ESPN and ESPN2 averaged 2.3 million viewers per match
WC Final had 16.9 million American viewers

2002
ESPN and ABC averaged 1.7 million viewers per match

I'm not saying viewership hasn't risen - it has. I'm saying that using 2002 as a jump-off is ridiculous considering the games took place at ungodly hours in the Western Hemisphere.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

too much shitty pub league quality TFC of the past 10 years

They've existed for 7 years, and if you think I spent those 7 years watching TFC play 5th division soccer against 4th division teams you are grossly mistaken.

 

[xpuctaqpGT]

Let me start by saying that I enjoy Hockey. I've been to a few Tampa Bay Lightning games over the years and they have been fantastic. Pure adrenalin excitement. I also appreciate that Hockey players come off as more down to earth and less like overpaid prima donnas than other professional athletes.

The biggest thing holding Hockey back in this country is that for a vast amount of us we didn't grow up around ice. Other than in drinks with umbrellas and bendy straws. I was born in Tampa, Florida in 1973. We didn't get the Lightning until.....1990? And between Tampa and St. Pete there was maybe ONE ice skating rink. One rink in a combined metro area of 2 million people. I believe much of the south/southwest is like this. It's harder for a sport to catch on with the public when most of us can't relate to the sport on a personal level.

I don't see the NHL's popularity ever decreasing....but I think it has just about peaked in popularity with only small growth from here on.

Soccer has much more potential. I played little league soccer back in 1978. There have now been at least 2 generations of people that have played soccer in this country growing up. All you need is a ball and a field...and it can be played anywhere in the US. There's even rec leagues for adults here similar to the softball leagues for adults.

But as someone else pointed out, the limiting factor for soccer is money. Sponsors much prefer baseball/basketball/football....where there are frequent breaks and opportunities for ads and commercials. Ticket/concessions/merchandise sales only go so far. You need the sponsors for the big money. You need the big money to pay for and attract the best athletic talent. Someone who has the athletic ability to excel at soccer probably also has the ability to play some other sports. And so long as there's a huuuuge difference in the earning potential for baseball/basketball/football/hockey players, most natural athletes will continue to chose those sports.

And when MLS is getting the "B" level athletic talent from the US, the product suffers.

Until marketing people figure out how to sell ads for soccer at a much much much higher rate, MLS soccer can only go so far.

 

[dare2be]

^ Good summation of the more rational posts in this thread.

 

[NickVT10]

I'm not going to jump on the train that viewership means more popularity. Viewership of the Olympics is usually high but that doesn't mean gymnastics, bobsledding or rowing is going to surge in popularity because of it.

I do believe Soccer is growing in popularity at a higher level here in the US but it will not pass the NHL in the next 5 years. Especially when the best US players tend to go play in Europe because the money is much much higher and the recognition.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

^ Good summation of the more rational posts in this thread.

It's a nice change from the swamp days where well-articulated, rational posts were ban material.