Basically it's a sport that is not widely popular and does not appeal to a broad audience in it's current environment. Football in the USA and Canada would be a good example of this.
Hockey and Lacrosse are known to some as niche sports. Overall, they are not major sports but in some areas the sport is very popular.
Um, yeah. Seeing how the sports name IS Football, I sort of call it by the proper name. "Soccer" is just a name for 'Association Football" anyway. It was made to avoid confusion with Rugby Football. The sport is referred to football in pretty much every country in the world. I don't see the need for the attitude...
We fought a war so we wouldn't have to deal with the f****** British! Rep to anyone who knows the reference.
You're in a forum about a US soccer league, asking a question meant to pertain to the US sports landscape. When in Rome and all of that. In the US landscape - well, you seem intelligent enough, just belligerent because someone came down on you for using the term football. But I imagine you know that football has a specific context in this forum and about these sports.
haha u do know that fc dallas and toronto fc is actually "fight club dallas" and "toronto fighting club" newb.
You mean those teams that play in soccer-specific stadiums in Major League Soccer, a first division league with connections to the United States Soccer Federation and the Canadian Soccer Association?
NFL/NCAA football is probably a niche sport in the world. Not America, but the world as a whole. Soccer, I don't know. It's widely popular in America to play, and widely popular to watch when it comes to soccer leagues outside the U.S., and international teams like in Central America, South America, and Europe. I'd say MLS is considered "niche sport" right now in America though, until they recieve the same coverage that the other major leagues get (not just one player; a good qualtity of players/teams)
Yet they're on all our TV shows. For all you say Americans don't like British people, we sure put them on TV a lot, a WHOLE lot. Actually, if you polled Americans outside of New York, Brits would be favored over New Yorkers, and that's a shoot.
American Football is a niche sport in the rest of the world but it's played by a lot more people than it's given credit for. In Mexico, American Football is played in the colleges. Japan plays it in college. They also have a pro league named the X League. Etc. Then you have the IFAF World Cup IE American Football World Cup. It's only been played 3 times but it's played by a bunch of countries around the world.
You know, the United States has a national rugby team. Does that mean thar rubgy's no longer a niche sport in America? I've been to both Guadalajara, Mexico and Fukouka, Japan, and I can honestly say that they never mentioned anything about local football on their news. For the sports section, it was all soccer, baseball (in Japan, local and MLB), NBA, and individual sports like golf, tennis, etc.. American football may be played in countries outside the U.S., but the sport is a long way from breaking out of that niche status. MLS is probably more popular in America than X League is in Japan for all we know.
Gridiron is a very niche sport in England, it has its loyal followers though and I think theres an NFL match being played at Wembley soon that will be sold out. People play it locally though, but I severely doubt it will ever be a major spectator sport, in fact it won't. I find it fascinating how soccer and gridiron have their roles reversed between the USA and England, as both are in similar situations in their "foreign" country
I dont get what the big deal is between calling it 'soccer' and 'football' it's the same game in the end.
Because words aren't just arbitrary squiggles. They're used to communicate. And when a particular word causes inefficient and even misleading communication in a particular context, it's best to avoid it -- for your sake and others'. When you write "football" in an American sports forum, you're essentially asking readers to think of the game that features yard lines and helmets. If you have any interest in actually getting a point across, it's best to use the word that will be understood by the people to whom you're making the point. If I walk into a London shop and ask for some chips, I can't complain when somebody hands me a plate of fries instead of a bag of Lay's. Same principle applies when you walk into an American message board and bring up "football."
Oh, and speaking of words: The answer to the thread's original question, which was never really properly answered, is that a "niche" is a specialized, distinct position. In business and marketing it refers to a field or interest that has a relatively small but identifiable following. A "niche sport" would be a sport with a relatively small but identifiable following. In regard to soccer, you've probably seen it used mostly as a dismissive term, to distinguish soccer from "mainstream" sports such as football and baseball.
Yet, if you polled the Brits, they'd probably like NYers over the rest of America. Anyway, a niche sport is one that fulfills a need but is not a major sport. Thus, while there is a need for American soccer and an American soccer league, it's not going to be popular everywhere. Same with hockey. Except soccer has a commish that understands this, and hockey does not. One last thing. Patton?