I think there's still just a lot of peer pressure to play another fall sport, especially for boys. Dovetails into @Mahtzo1 s post we have a long way to go until soccer is on par with the other big 3 and even hockey in the upper midwest and NE. I don't see it changing anytime soon but progress isn't always linear. The big reason I got to liking soccer was the success of the early aughts USMNT. Those guys were cool and more importantly they won. We make the quarterfinals this cup it could really spark a revival. We'll see.
I partially agree but it has come a very long way and the amount of peer pressure likely varies immensely by area (don't know where you are from). That being said, one of the most significant things I have seen that can affect that peer pressure over the years is the acceptance and appreciation of other sporting figures toward soccer in the US. At all of the big soccer events and even regular MLS games there are non soccer talents from NFL, NBA etc and entertainment now visibly supporting and enjoying soccer and supporting the national team. People that are admired are seen as being part of the soccer landscape. I also saw this change in the way soccer is perceived at school. I am a retired hs math teacher and over the last 5-10ish years I started to see African Americans at my school wearing soccer jerseys. I would sometimes ask if they played or were fans. Their response most often was "no they played basket ball" or something similar, but the fact is that would never have happened in the past. Kids do not wear clothing that represents something they dislike or do not respect...I may be wrong, but I think that is a fact. In the past, it was looked down upon. Now soccer players are respected by their peers in other sports. I understand that this experience of mine may not be universal across the nation but I do think it is significant.
I guess I am a bit older than you. While there are many areas of progress that can be pointed out, I agree that there are many ways in which we have stagnated in the last 25 years. Just for a little perspective, however, consider this: In 1985 we (USMNT) had drawn Costa Rica in Costa Rica and needed a draw to qualify for final round of qualifying for the wc. The game was played at El Camino College JC (yes...not a misprint. Junior College). I attended with my brother. I am sure that there were other US fans, but I can tell you that it wasn't too many. Most were for Costa Rica. We lost 0-1. Sometimes it seems as if we should be further along than we are and it is easy to forget how far we have actually come. As fans, we are like our children on a long trip...."are we there yet?"
MLS, and its developmental system have grown by leaps and bounds over the last 25 years. Night and day. Of course, consider that in 2000 there were only 12 MLS teams. Now there are 30. And at the time, MLS academies were more community outreach programs. They couldn't sign players to their first team from the academies. Average attendance in MLS games in 2000: 13,756 Average attendance in MLS games in 2024: 23, 371 On an average attendance basis, MLS is the 9th most attended league in the world. 7 of the top 8 are who you think they are. Germany, England, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, and France. 8th is Bundesliga 2. There have been some big clubs playing in Bundesliga 2 of late. [MLS and Liga MX swap back and forth depending on the year.] What I'm trying to say is......................don't tell me we haven't made progress over the past 25 years. We've made enormous progress. That doesn't necessarily mean USMNT results should be different.
Your last 2 things are both absolutely true and valid. The sport overall has made fantastic progress in the US over the last 25 years - youth sports involvement is way up, College soccer is far better, and the MLS keeps growing. This is the popularity of the sport. That has little to nothing to do with the USMNT and their results. They are 2 different items that can both be true at the same time. Lastly, the tone of this thread has certainly changed vs the title of the thread. "Soccer will never be popular in America" is a false, 1980's POV.
I would say it's rapidly improved over the past 10 years. Prior to that, the improvement was very slow but steady. We need to keep in mind that MLS really didn't turn the corner until around 2008-2010. Ot took USL until about 2018-2018 to really stabilize. By this I mean that the leagues are past "survival mode" and are now able to see that any loses incurred are far less then in years past. Both leagues have come out of the dark tumultuous times and can now set their sites on growing and improving. As with anything it takes time, hard work and money. It can't be microwaved, and shortcuts cannot be taken. I do look at what Paul; Rabil and the PLL have managed to do for LAX (speaking of sports of the future since the 70's....) in the past couple of years though, and have a bit of resentment towards ESPN. Where was that commitment and enthusiasm in coverage for MLS when they had the rights? Which they were paying far more for....
That is what happens in an exponential function....there is a point of inflection. Is usa soccer growing exponentially? possibly. 60's.........70's...........80's.........90's...........2000's...........2010's...........2020's 1, 2..........4, 8.........16, 32.......64,128.......256,512.......1024,2048.......4096, 8192..... One can dream...right?
US Soccer really needs to stop with its weird fixation on always having to field an NT squad full of suburban white (and maybe a few black) kids, and just actually seriously try to nurture and integrate immigrant-background talents. Where is the USA's Alphonso Davies or Jonathan David? I guess they did do alright to at least snatch up the likes of a Musah or Balogun, but needless to say this was not exactly a product of US Soccer's great development strategies. Soccer in this country is doomed to go nowhere as long as this is the case.
Right. We really need to stop fielding a squad full of suburban white kids like Gio Reyna, Diego Luna, Tyler Adams, Malik Tillman, Tim Weah, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Mark McKenzie, Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah, Folarin Balogun, Haji Wright, Sergiño Dest, Zak Steffen, Ricardo Pepi, Alex Freeman, Patrick Agyemang, Johnny Cardoso, Cade Cowell, Ben Cremaschi, Damian Downs, Brian Gutierrez, Diego Kochen, Miles Robinson, Caleb Wiley, Gianluca Busio, Brandon Vazquez, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Quinn Sullivan, Alejandro Zendejas, Nathan Harriel and Auston Trusty. Enough is enough!
why is everything race with you guys and everybody has designation suburban whites hood blck immigrants.
It’s always refreshing to run into someone not intimidated by things like “reality” and “common sense.” Ride on, brave warrior, ride on!
Lol I mean america pride them self of. Ot being racist UT Co Stanly labeling people even more ridiculous thing is you even have standard for racism being g racist toward black is much more higher then being racist to Asian Muslim or something g like that I mean it is so funny listening to.americas talking about how must significant racism that needs to pay attention. To and act on is racism against blacks lol you even weaponized it it is like anybody disagree what you.say about black players you.call hi. Racist trust me I would not care if these standards are only applied to America s but these ridiculous stands Americans want to apply to.everybody like we all need to be dumb as America s
Yeah, that shit has been wildly out of date for, what, 20 years? I’m trying to get inside the head of someone who is a member of this forum and would say the team is too white. Like, do you watch the actual games? Just because Diego Luna dyed his hair blond doesn’t make him a Scandinavian American. No, white Americans are statistically UNDERrepresented on the Nats. If white suburbanites would hold up their end of the deal instead of letting immigrants and POCs carry their lazy asses, maybe we could move into the top 10. In 2014 and 2022, the US scored 8 goals. 5 by POCs, 3 by white players, and 2 of THOSE were scored by Dempsey, nobody’s idea of a suburbanite. He even raps! Man, I can’t wait for some superhyperrational nerd to come in here and break it down and say that the US won’t improve at soccer until academies and the Fed do some affirmative action in favor of white players. You know, back it up with stats and demographic info and all the rest. That’ll be a great day for bigsoccer.
It's more about having a soccer development program that utilizes all interested segments of the population rather than just relying on a certain artificially narrow player pool that fits someone's peculiar ideas of what the USMNT ought to look like.
A lot of those are dual nats that US Soccer poached after they were developed by other countries. Of course Canada has benefited from this as well to some degree.
Less than a third of them and there are plenty of white dual potential dual nats which offsets than number. There are plenty of urban soccer initiatives around, especially in MLS cities, the problem is often a. giving kids an opportunity to play and b. getting kids to choose soccer. Even though there are more pitches in cities than ever, kids prefer to play hoops or gridiron. As for a development program, I don't think US Soccer has one. But the old trope about soccer costing $10k a semester though drives me nuts and undermines all the good work volunteers are doing across the country to provide access to soccer at cost or for free.
100 dollars give or take a ticket for the QF. I’m guessing it’s going to be a small crowd again. The Concacaf money grab is real. to add a little something to the stuff about race. The old system wasn’t about race but more about socioeconomics. That has been mitigated with “access” being more readily available to players not within the pay to play system. Development has changed. We have better across the nation distribution. Seems like in the old days there were a lot of Californians. Better ethnic distribution, multigenerational if that applies in this case instead of first generation.