I'm sure soccer-hating is much more prevalent among conservatives, if you use a big umbrella for "conservative" and "liberal." But it's nothing intrinsic to the two philosophies, it's more like overlap in a Venn diagram. Let me explain. I'll bet there a higher correlation between big believers in American exceptionalism and soccer-hating. Completely independent of that, big believers in American exceptionalism will trend conservative. Exceptionalism's cousin isolationism, I'm sure, also correlates with soccer-hating. At this moment in American history, conservatives are more likely to be isolationist than liberals. I'll bet that there's a higher correlation between fear of immigration and soccer-hating than any political philosophy. And while there are liberals who, for their own reasons, are fans of Lou Dobbs on immigration, that kind of sentiment is more prevalent among conservatives. Soccer-hating is more common in the South and in rural areas. Those areas, completely independent of soccer fandom, are red, not blue. And so on. What I'm saying is, there's nothing in conservativism that is antithetical to being a soccer fan, it's just that certain beliefs and positions that DO correlate with soccer hating are more common among conservatives than liberals.
Word. (Also, I'm sure the kids over at Lazio and Real Madrid would think the notion of soccer as intrinsically liberal is high-larious).
This might help. (Might not). http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2004/12/05/national/06STRATEGY.ready.html
It just shows that very few people with political leanings watch MLS. Doesn't include European or Mexican soccer and there's that curious little note at the bottom about not including people who lean toward either party. I don't think this helps much. Sachin
How do you read the TV sports watching and recreational activities charts? What does a negative number and positive number mean? Aaron
I agree that it is not the least bit definitive. (That note at the bottom IS strange. I wondered if it meant that if "leaners" are included, the results are too random to be worthwhile.) It wouldn't seem unfair to me to say the following, however: If you accept that the exclusion of "leaners" means that only hard-core party supporters are included, then a hard-core Republican is about 30% less likely than an average American to watch MLS. A hard-core Democrat is about 18% less likely than an average American to watch MLS. I take this to mean that in general, MLS viewers are pretty middle-of-the-road, as you say, but that you are least likely to find a hard-core Republican watching. I don't mind using MLS viewers as a proxy for American soccer fans. I can see, however, that it might trouble some. I suppose that you could find the political leanings of Mexican immigrants, who watch the most widely-followed soccer on U.S. TV (Mexican League), and use that to extrapolate the leanings of a large part of additional (non-MLS) viewership. That's a lot of work for a tenuous result from my point of view, however.
I look at it this way: ' A negative light grey bar means Dems aren't as interested as the average viewer. A postitive light grey bar means Dems are more interested. A negative dark grey bar means Reps don't tune in; a positive dark grey bar means they do. The meaningful distinctions come from where the bars diverge (WNBA - duh- and Water skiing), or - less so - where the bars head in the same direction but in different lengths (MLS, NFL). I find it funny that the recreational activity results that look the most like those for MLS viewers come from snowboarding and surfing. Call it "The Hejduk Effect".
Here's some more proof that those opposed to illegal immigration tend to dislike this ad. Worst of all, they don't even get that the spot is actually patriotic and pro-USA: http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=26639
Oh dear lord, I don't know if I should laugh or cry after reading that diatribe. I didn't realize there are people so out of touch with reality.
Bump. I just love this commercial. Partly because I think baseball is ridiculous, but mainly because I had goosebumps the first time I saw it. Too bad we followed it up with a stinker of a World Cup.
I LOVED the ad the first time I saw it!!!! That being said does anyone know of a link to it that still works? I'm about to go looking.... Now here's a cog in your theory...I'm pretty hard-core conservative/libertarian (yet immediately understood the ad and got chills) and I don't watch much MLS at all...couldn't even tell you most of the teams, and I've been a player and now referee. I much prefer to watch Mexican or European league play than MLS because of the quality of play...and announcers (and I only speak a little Spanish and French...but I have no problem understanding the announcers in the English Premier games!). Anecdotal evidence only I know but I've never quite fit anybody's mold anyway Found it!!! I wish I had the internet for research back when I was in school.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDgEosqZGCM
You prefer to watch Mexican league over the MLS.....I could not disagree with you any more. I've never seen as much crying as I see in the Mexican league. There must be 10 broken legs a game cause I see someone rolling around on the ground every 30 seconds, then they get taken off by a stretcher, and are back in the game 5 minutes later. Its really ridiculous and quite pathetic. I know I can't stand watching it anymore.