They're discussing whether soccer has replaced hockey in the top 4 on The Herd on FS2 now. Unfortunately we have no audio in my office.
And unfortunately it is on the Herd, so I'm sure the answer to this question is "What is soccer?" followed by some derogatory remarks about diving and faking injuries.
https://streamable.com/r13n Here's the video. He is saying soccer is now a top 4 sport in America, not MLS, EPL, or LaLiga but soccer.
Perhaps part of it Has soccer replaced ice hockey as a "Big Four" sport in America? @ColinCowherd thinks so. #CopaAmerica https://t.co/M7auhnwaXh— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 10, 2016 //I need to refresh more often
Was hockey ever a "big four sport" in the US? Is there such a thing? NHL is a "big four" pro league, but to call it a big 4 sport sounds a bit unusual to me, I'm not sure I ever saw people do that.
The combined soccer audience in the US is probably larger. It's just that the soccer audience is fragmented between MLS, European leagues, and Liga MX. Liga MX alone has been beating the NHL's average ratings in recent years. The leagues have similar regular season averages for nationally televised games, and the Liga MX playoffs currently have higher average ratings than the NHL playoffs. The NHL gets more total viewers because there are more games.
Interesting, but it's probably a bit unfair way to compare them, as Americans can attend NHL games in person. NHL is a live attendance + local cable league, while foreign soccer leagues are the opposite of that for Americans. Plus as you say, Liga MX has fewer events than NHL. It's kind of like how Daytona 500 has comparable ratings to baseball World Series games, but no one would say that NASCAR is about the same size as MLB. But 'big 4 sport' concept seems weird, do people actually call hockey a 'big 4 sport'? People call NHL a 'big 4 league,' yes, but hockey as a 'big 4 sport'? Was hockey ever a clearly a top 4 sport in the US? It's not just soccer, there are also motorsports, boxing, golf, tennis and what not.
short answer is Yes, Yes they do.... in reality its all a little weird in that NCAA football isn't counted in the Big 4 since it's not professional, and people forget all kinds of others sports (MMA, NASCAR, etc.) so although people use the wording, it doesn't actually mean too much. In Capitalism, the only thing that will matter is our next negotiation for TV and Ad revenue!
I think U.S. sports media too often conflates "top four LEAGUE" and "top four SPORT" as if the two phrases are interchangeable. The NHL is obviously ahead of MLS as the #4 league, but a solid argument can be made that soccer is ahead of ice hockey as the #4 sport. Because of the fragmented nature of soccer's TV audience, it's theoretically possible for all things soccer (Mexican, European and U.S. club competitions, Euro, Copa, WCQ, etc.) to become a top 3 sport, even if MLS by itself continues to lag behind the big four LEAGUES in revenue/TV audience.
MLS might make it to the top 4 when their teams stop selling their best players to foreign teams in the middle of the MLS season. Adios y buena suerte, Fabian Castillo.
selling to the top 3 can still be an argument for top 4, but selling to China....... well that's another story.
You guys are confusing top 4 soccer or football leagues in the World with top 4 US based sports league. This thread is about the top 4 sports league in the USA.
I'm very well aware of what the thread is about .... you seemed to have missed the original point, and my response to it.
You are correct... I probalby should of quoted this following post... This above post was off topic... and I just want to make sure we don't continue down this path.
Out of the nine MLB teams with the biggest average attendance decrease per game, Baltimore and Washington are in playoff position, and Detroit is 0.5 games behind the second and final wild card. All three of them have a better winning percentage than they did last year. Out of the five MLB teams with the biggest average attendance increase per game, three of them made the playoffs last year and have a worse winning percentage this year. They are Toronto, the New York Mets, and Houston, and Toronto is the only one of three currently in playoff position.
Attendance doesn't work the way you are describing. The average attendance for the current season is more impacted by how the previous season ended than current season's performance. So, in this case, for the big losers you note, the Orioles won the AL East in 2014 (big spike in 2015), placed 12 games out in 2015 (lost the bandwagon fans from 2014), the Tigers finished dead last in the AL Central in 2015, and the Nationals... Well, they are the Nationals. For the big increases, Toronto won the East in 2015 , the Mets won the NL East in 2015, and Houston placed 2 games out of the AL West in 2015 and had their first winning season in ages.