I know that the end of summer/start of fall is when the NFHS usually posts these numbers, so I had been waiting for weeks for the release just so I can post it here . Definitely interesting to see boys' soccer holding steady while participation for the three major team sports took a dip over the past year (football's drop is not surprising, but basketball's came as a shock).
Basketball would seem to have fewer other sports taking players away...could AAU be reducing HS participation that much?
This is 1985/86 to 2018/19 adjusted for estimated US population. Soccer +71% Baseball -11% Basketball -22% Football -24%
Using the overall US population over-adjusts the numbers. While the total US population has increased about 37% since 1986, high school enrollment has only increased about 22%.
Since 1990 then. Football -21.1% 743,000 Basketball -22.1% 401,786 Baseball -14.4% 358,671 Soccer +49.4% 341,090
USA-Mexico friendly averaged 386,000 on FS1 & 2.7 million viewers (1.5 million of which were 18-49) on Univision/TUDN.— Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings) September 9, 2019 more details on Univision/UDN #s: pic.twitter.com/SVxWdypWmu— Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings) September 9, 2019
This summer's Women's World Cup attracted nearly $100 million in TV advertising in the U.S., more than double an earlier forecast: https://t.co/tXqNt1P8sS— Rachel Bachman (@Bachscore) September 16, 2019
The second-market price for tickets to Thursday's @LAFC-@LAGalaxy playoff game at Banc of California is as high as $3,500 this morning @MLS— Kevin Baxter 🇺🇦🏳️🌈 (@kbaxter11) October 21, 2019
I've had this running theory about which MLS stadium would be the first to basically price the working class out of the arena (ie a regular season game has like a $75 get-in price). For a while I thought that if NYCFC had built a stadium where they wanted to in the Bronx, they might have been it. But now I'm thinking it's probably going to be LAFC. A couple more championship-contending seasons along with the league's continued growth and they could get there.
Correct! The league now at 24 years old, and specifically this season's playoffs games, have the ability to stand on their own and shine when put up against any other league's product. The quality on display just needs more promotion from MLS HQ. Certainly promote what the rest of the planet has known for generations, the importance of your local soccer team! When the civic pride corner is turned for Americans that enjoy sports, then MLS and these matches that have become so competitive will really hook new fans and endear other existing fans to their local MLS club.
A new record 🎉 Thank you to all who tuned into the #NWSLChallengeCup Championship on @CBS to make it the most-watched match in league history 📺 pic.twitter.com/DQk45jpQnR— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 28, 2020
The National Women’s Soccer League, the highest tier of professional women’s soccer in the United States, saw its television viewership grow 500% year-over-year in the 2020https://t.co/53gTTIzrZ4— Front Office Sports (@FOS) November 1, 2020
“Liga MX playoffs on Univision’s networks have delivered three of the four top-rated matches of 2020 on any network and in any language (in the 🇺🇸)”- @UnivisionPR - America vs. Chivas top with 2.5 million total viewers - Only non-🇲🇽 game inside top 4 was Champs League final— Tom Marshall (@mexicoworldcup) December 3, 2020
The ratings for tonight's match (12/3/20) on actual Fox is an interesting test. Two low profile clubs, but they both can play exciting football, taking over what is usually an NFL slot that attracts 10 to 12 million viewers. This is up against downdial MLS broadcasts that often attract audiences of below 100,000. I do not believe that the mass audience for NFL on Thursday night will think, ah, what the hell. But will enough of them stick around to make networks think about next season? Or will it be a total ratings disaster, and they cut away at halftime to show Simpsons reruns?
So an increase of 500% to 383,000 means they started with ~64,000 previously. 500% increase is a cartoon number, because the baseline was so low. It's really annoying when media does this.