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Put this game away.
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Crap
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Ya esta la ultima
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Holy shiiite
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Si se puede!!
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My goodness what drama
USA baby
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Whew!
Glad we advanced!
Matt Fresse is da man…good game my man
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Ended in a tie… I mean amazing shootout!
This so called Clubs World Cup is a farce. The player’s association is right to be firmly against it. This is about player’s health both physical and mental. infantino and FIFA’s business partners are endangering player’s health. They/he could care less about the players or the sport. This is why Platini was pushed aside. He has always been on the players side. Been of the best of all time was a major problem for these same business partners. Platini would have never forced fed this farce of a clubs World cup.
The final is to be played on 7/13/2025. This means players will have played an 11 months season. Inexcusable.
infantino and FIFA planned this clubs World Cup farce during the Gold Cup. Folks you have to realize that CONCACAF is a FIFA recognized federation/organization. That never should have been allowed.
This is long as I want to attack many angles. I will state firstly that I like soccer and it is probably the sport I watch the 4th most behind football (NCAA and NFL), UH basketball, and golf. I watched the last 2 Inter Miami games in the Club World Cup as well as parts of the USMNT games the last couple weeks.
Okay so here goes.
Firstly, we need to understand that the discussion of the popularity of the sport of soccer and MLS are two completely different discussions.
The sport of soccer, as a general rule, IS relatively popular in the US if you consider it in its totality:
- Parents put kids in soccer at a young (ages 3 or 4 to lets say 7 or 8) probably more than any other sport – I would argue as others have that it is primarily for 3 reasons though – low cost of entrance compared to other sports, low skill level needed compared to other sports, and it is good exercise to help wear young kids out relative to other sports.
- Some kids stick with soccer as they get a little older and with a robust ‘travel/select’ infra-structure in the US to some extent it becomes a parental marker of status that your kid plays ‘travel soccer’ – at least out in the suburbs. So while your kid may have played YMCA soccer from 5-7 then moved on to other sports or quit sports totally his friend might be on a travel soccer team.
- In Texas especially with the Hispanic population and really everywhere in the US since there are many people from other countries (or with close ties to other countries) and the fact that soccer is the most popular sport worldwide – these people may identify very closely with another country’s team – Mexico, England, Argentina, Spain, Brazil, etc… in some ways being into these teams represents pride for their heritage or culture.
- Much like the US has many teams that have huge brands and somewhat worldwide cache (Cowboys, Yankees, Lakers, etc….) soccer has club teams and country teams like that too – Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Spain, Brazil, etc… there will inevitably be some interest in these teams simply because their brand is so large
- Soccer, somewhat like the NBA, has a few players that are brands unto themselves and have a loyal following. Whereas some people were a Kobe or Lebron fan first and foremost, some people are a Messi or Ronaldo fan and will follow that player’s career.
- USMNT and USWNT can be a point of pride for Americans
- The World Cup is seen by many Americans as a can’t miss event and we know Americans love our big events especially if the US teams are good which for the most part men have been decent for a while and women have been amazing. So while that doesn’t really bump the baseline of soccer popularity it gives the chance to provide some temporary highs in the American soccer conscience.
- Finally you have several professional soccer leagues in MLS and USL with teams in most decent size cities and tickets are still cheaper than the NBA and NFL, etc… so it isn’t too terribly expensive to take kids to a game, perhaps that 6 year old still playing YMCA soccer, that 9 year old playing travel soccer, or just to get the kids out for a reasonably priced activity.
Okay so basically all these points conspire to make the sport of soccer relatively ‘popular’ in the US – definitely not as much as football but arguably second most popular or right up there with the NBA, MLB, etc…there are going to be a decent amount of sports fans in the US who claim ‘soccer’ is their favorite or second favorite sport - there is no question about it.
Okay now regarding MLS specifically:
- Your average sports fan in the US has little respect for MLS. Americans are used to having the best sports leagues. MLS is closer to 10th best league in the world than the top league. It is seen as minor league and the reality is it is minor league soccer if viewed from a world wide perspective.
- The quality of play simply isn’t good enough. You have plenty of people in the US who like soccer because of 1+ of the reasons I listed above but because of the quality of play simply won’t watch MLS. I mean look how unbelievable PSG looked yesterday and Inter Miami had no chance – the difference in quality of play was startling – Americans aren’t dumb.
- Many will consider it more from an entertainment perspective than a diehard want them to win perspective like their favorite NFL team, college, or even international soccer team. Many that attend games simply aren’t emotionally invested in their home team.
- MLS is relatively new compared to other professional sports – they don’t have generational following in families/fanbases or historical cache built up with cities they play in.
- Their decision to go to AppleTV feels very much like a private equity type decision – get a quick money boost but kill your long term prospects. The LAST thing MLS should have done was go to the 9th most popular streaming platform and charge extra on top of it. People’s time is so divided now between literally everything there is ZERO chance anyone but already die hard fans of MLS teams will seek them out.
- The bottom line is MLS is simply not making new fans unless they bring over a Messi type who will temporarily boost the popularity of that one team while that player is there playing but that is it.
- Like I listed above in a different post MLS is basically a 4th tier sport in the US alongside IndyCar and golf. NFL is in TIER 1 well above anything else and then there are plenty of other 2nd and 3rd tier sports above them - NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA football, NASCAR, UFC, etc… They could possibly bump to a 3rd tier sport with the likes of NASCAR and men’s college basketball but that is their ceiling. They have been around long enough and the sport of soccer has been around the American psyche long enough for me to bet my life savings it will NEVER go above a 3rd tier league in the US.
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As a participant sport, it’s probably up there.
As a fan/spectator sport, it’s definitely NOT #2. If it were, then why does the NHL have a TV deal worth more than all professional soccer (including EPL and MLS combined), and why does NHL attendance match NBA attendance, and why do both have TWICE the annual attendance of pro soccer (MLS) in the USA?
Hint: because, as I said, as a fan/spectator sport, soccer is WELL behind the “Big Four” (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL), and probably NASCAR as well in the USA, though I’ll allow that soccer’s following is probably broader based that NASCAR’s primarily “neck” following.
If you add in college level play, soccer is WAAAAAY behind college football, basketball, hockey, and baseball as a fan/spectator sport as well.
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Soccer video game sells twice as much as the Hockey game
EA’s soccer franchise (now branded as EA Sports FC) generates considerably more revenue than the EA NHL series in North America. This is reflected in the high annual sales figures and the substantial contribution of the soccer franchise to EA’s overall business. While the exact sales numbers for each game are not always disclosed publicly, the available information clearly points to a significant disparity in popularity and sales performance between the two franchises in this region.
High Annual Sales: The “EA FC” franchise typically sells around $2 billion annually.
Strong Performance: “FC 24” was one of the top-selling games of 2023.
Record-Breaking Performance: “EA Sports FC 25” set a record for launch month sales of a soccer title.
EA NHL (Hockey):
Estimated Annual Sales: Reddit user estimates indicate annual sales of EA NHL games range between 1.0 million and 1.3 million copies per year.
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Attendance and TV deals are better measures of popularity from a fan/spectator standpoint.
If soccer were more popular in that regard, and a greater demand to either watch it on TV or pay to watch it in person existed, then soccer’s attendance and TV deals would be bigger than basketball, baseball, hockey, etc.
They’re NOT. And that’s because soccer is overall less popular, and the demand to watch it smaller.
One thing that can’t be debated, this was an exciting game
No dispute there.
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It was exciting Berhalter choked away his chance.