https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/24/business/apple-tv-mls-season-pass/index.html
Now I don’t watch soccer and don’t follow it. However when I do see it on a TV like at a sports bar, it always seems like the camera is miles away so we see the whole field and rarely do we get to see any closeup moves that would make it more exciting. That’s one thing that would make a difference is to change the way it is produced for TV.
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I don’t mind soccer. I get really into the World Cup but I’m not paying for it. If that season pass was included with Apple TV then I would watch more of it.
I’m an avid sports fan and have watched the world cup since the early 90s and have even attended dynamo games but i don’t get the sport at all. I’ve watched 100s of matches
When i watch American sports…the broadcasters TEACH you the sport. They make sure you learn the sport as you watch via commentary and graphics.
Not only do they not TEACH you what is going on…no one else does either.
I listen to 790 and 610 daily and soccer fans NEVER call in to discuss the sport…not the strategy…not the players…nothing (crickets). NOTHING…where is this unbeatable passion?
I have friends/co workers, from other countries, that really enjoy the World Cup but when i ask them specific questions about the sport/development/strategy/coaching trees ( the general stuff we talk about here), they have very elementary basic responses which makes me think i know more about soccer than they do.
I gather they are only interested because it is a cultural celebration NOT because it’s this strategic sport like American sports.
Also…the correct word for the sport IS Soccer…not Football!
The US was one of the first nations to receive this newly organized sport called “Association Football”, which the English referred to as “Soccer”, slang for the "Association " part of the sport.
But when the English passed their sport around to the rest of the world, most noticably their trading partners in Brazil, they dropped the “Association” part and so the “Soccer” part no longer made sense but the Americans CALL it by its original name!
Also, i bet the fastest growing sport right now, world wide, is Basketball.
In the 90s, the Dream Team dominated other countries but now…the NBA is full of non- American MVPs
Yeah, a good majority of them grow up here, playing college basketball, train here and live here. Also, that Dream Team popularized the sport around the world.
European, South Americans, Asian leagues have home grown 18 years old pro players bypassing the ncaa.
Let’s say a young pro player wants to come and study here. Now the ncaa will have a choice to make about accepting a young pro player wanting to play for an American school.
that’s actually not a fully correct assessment of the situation. most soccer players don’t go to college and actually grow up in soccer academies (in europe) or just get straight to playing (south america). the best soccer players bypass college completely - a trend that is starting to become more common in the US (see this story about a NY Red Bulls player). any foreign-born player coming to study here isn’t even going to make it in the MLS. there is no school to college pipeline model in other countries; an NCAA is not a problem.
the bigger issue in the US is the pay-to-play model of youth soccer. there’s a great book (whose name escapes me) that proves the reason south american soccer players are so successful and creative is because they are allowed to play soccer that isn’t hampered by travel costs or club fees. MLS clubs are slowly integrating these academies, which will be better for the overall growth of players than the current model limiting meaningul youth soccer. additionally, foreign clubs are setting up US academies as well.
I wrote the same thing. H.S. sports here in America has a unique system. This is one of the reason why it is so difficult to “groom” soccer players here. Our current H.S. sports system created the “pay to play” system. You probably know Jurgen Klinsmann. He was a German star player and U.S. Coach. When I was with U.S. Soccer we talked about this very system for over two hours. This is before he became the U.S. Soccer H.C. We completely agreed that something has to change. Slowly MLS clubs created their own academies but it is still connected to the “pay to play” system. I played and coached for many years. There is huge talent all over the country. Most get undetected. In Europe or South America you play for your city. Then you move up to better competition within the city. Scouts detect players and recruit them for their soccer academies. It is free, room and board with schooling. Dr.Contigluia, USSF President told me his goal was to be World Champion in 2015…this was in 1999.
Most soccer clubs are “pay to play” clubs. You train three times/week but they want you to do paid clinics to develop your skills. It is highly offensive and goes 100% against what the player need. Three times a week is plenty of time to develop your skills. I know of plenty of foreign born players that played in the MLS right after college.
The so called foreign US academies are also “pay to play” academies. Being affiliated with PSG does not mean it is PSG. I am one of these parents that is paying for their daughter to play. It goes against my principles but i have no choice. She wants to play…I ain’t paying for the clinics. I train with her, having fun, not pushing here and she is doing great.
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My bad, I read your comment as directly talking about NCAA influence. Very cool to see how you’ve been inside those circles for a long time, especially speaking with Jurgen Klinsmann back in the day. I agree a lot of the best players go undetected. Curious to hear your thoughts on how to get younger athletes into soccer.
And thank you for the pay to play education. Didn’t know everything and will definitely look all that up. I completely agree most youth models, especially pay to play are highly offensive and can stunt growth. For the record, I’m not convinced the European model is that much better, because it chews up kids and spits them out if they’re not going to be worth it for the club to invest in.
Lastly, I feel you’d really enjoy the book I mentioned. It’s The Away Game, and I’ve linked it for you yo check out. Really good insight into growing the game, and really interesting look into the early Saudi influence
No worries. Glad to find another soccer/ehhhhhhhhhhhhhrr Footbal fan on Coogfans. The amount of talent here in the U.S. is mind boggling but until the Pro Academies directly connected to the MLS and USL 1 and 2 get older it will be status quo.
One of my greatest personal rewarding moments was to get players closer to play in the MLS. I recruited players in areas that college coaches never cared to go to. I speak Spanish so it helped/helps. I often listen to counter attack with Eric Wynalda and WTF. Eric has done the same thing in Las Vegas and So Cal for years.
I do not understand why a league that is trying to build a fan base and following put all of its games on a pay service.
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I agree, Larry.
I probably haven’t missed a televised Dynamo game in ten years or more–until last year.
But I don’t want to pay another $100 or so more. I already pay for Apple TV. I’ve got cable and Netflix and Hulu and Prime and ESPN Plus. I’m already paying too much for TV that i don’t want much. I’m tapped out.
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