soccer and other international sports in the USA

Discussion in 'Soccer in the USA' started by soccermilitant, Jun 21, 2014.

  1. soccermilitant

    soccermilitant Member+

    Jan 14, 2009
    St.paul
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Weve seen the growth the of soccer in the last few years (MLS, big crowds at usmnt games, record world cup ratings etc..) however usa rugby lately has a string of big crowds ( USA vs NZ Moaries at ppl park and the annual houston game crowds) and 30,000 tickets sold in one day for USA vs NZ in chicago. F1 in austin with some decent ratings on NBC/NBCSN are international sports getting more popular in America?
     
  2. Zxcv

    Zxcv Member+

    Feb 22, 2012
    Comparing soccer in America to rugby or F1 is... I don't even....

    I have to ask, is it a serious comparison you're trying to make? I'm sure that rugby is growing, but do we really need to do a stats comparison? It would be brutally unfair on rugby to do that.
     
  3. soccermilitant

    soccermilitant Member+

    Jan 14, 2009
    St.paul
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    of course soccer is bigger im not doubting that
     
  4. Zxcv

    Zxcv Member+

    Feb 22, 2012
    Just remembering the number of huge crowds soccer has gotten over the last 20 years, and consider how long it still has to go to gain national acceptance.

    Like I said, I'm sure rugby is growing from where it was, but a handful of good crowds means very little in the grand scheme of things.
     
  5. cflsteve

    cflsteve Member

    Jul 21, 2013
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    havingf Rugby catch on at even the small level it is gives great support to the model of the SSS stadiums that are owned or run by the MLS clubs giving these stadiums and the clubs that run or own them another money making event for the stadium.
    PPL park has gone all out in this model. They host everything from Rugby, NCAA rugby sevens, Lacrosse conference and National champinoships for men and women. Army Navy soccer, NCAA soccer, Bi annual local college football rivalry Villonova and Delaware.
     
  6. owian

    owian Member+

    Liverpool FC, San Diego Loyal
    May 17, 2002
    San Diego
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Actually I do think there is a connection between all of these "non-American" sports growing. Not so much a case of soccer causing F1 or Rugby to grow but more that they are benefiting from the same changes in society. Primarily immigration into the country. The spread of the internet allowing fans all over the world to follow sports all over the world. And a break down of the stereotype that those sports aren't American. Having said that all of these sports have had false dawns in America before.
     
  7. soccermilitant

    soccermilitant Member+

    Jan 14, 2009
    St.paul
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    dont forget the sports media change in this country.
     
  8. cflsteve

    cflsteve Member

    Jul 21, 2013
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Remember pro football wasonce played in baseball stadiums or on college campuses before a small stint of the multi purpose stadiums and now football stadiums and baseball stadiums now have their own homes. Hockey was played outside then in ice hockey rinks where basketball was played in gyms. Now the modern Arena has worked for NBA and NHL dual use.
    MLS pro soccer took a huge stepover the past decade by having its own spwcific stadiums built for the most part kind of have locked pro soccer in for the long run.Whther it will stand as number 5 or begin to bump one of the big four may depend on the region.
     
  9. owian

    owian Member+

    Liverpool FC, San Diego Loyal
    May 17, 2002
    San Diego
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeh the media in general is much more accepting of sports outside of the normal big 4. Also the internet (and 50 billion cable channels) give exposure outside of the mainstream. I mean NBC Sports is essentially the non mainstream sports network (not sure if it will work but I watch them more now than ESPN but I guess I am "weird" )
     
  10. Elninho

    Elninho Member+

    Sacramento Republic FC
    United States
    Oct 30, 2000
    Sacramento, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The internet is the biggest change, I think. It deserves a huge amount of credit for the rise of soccer as a spectator sport, because it gave us a community to talk soccer back when Americans largely didn't care and many sports bars refused to put soccer games on.
     
    bigredfutbol repped this.
  11. JoeTerp

    JoeTerp Member

    Jul 9, 2007
    USA
    The sport that I think fits the American sporting palette much better than rugby union (aka 'rugby' in the US) is Rugby League. Its much easier to understand the tactics and follow the game, the rules are relatively more in line with American Football, and to me, its a lot more exciting (a lot less playing for penalties and kicks at goal).
     
  12. bigredfutbol

    bigredfutbol Moderator
    Staff Member

    Sep 5, 2000
    Woodbridge, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This.

    It's been said that soccer is the first "internet sport" in the USA. I can't remember who said it, but kudos to you, Sir or Madam!

    For myself--I was a lurker on BigSoccer for over a year before I actually signed up for an account and started posting. Back in 1999 when I first discovered this place, I knew almost nothing about the sport (had gotten hooked during the '98 WC but was still struggling to follow it regularly). BigSoccer was the place where I first learned about it, and discovered other online sources for information. Most importantly, I discovered a community of like-minded fans; something I couldn't find among my peers at the time. Without this site, my sudden burst of interest in the summer of 1998 most likely would have fizzled out for lack of information and the sense that there were others out there.
     

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