Sorry mayne... I'm just being a smarta** I do agree with you that I think staying competitive in any sport (especially one as good for your health as soccer) does enhance many other aspects of your life. I know I feel like a million bucks after playing 90 and it bleeds over into my work/personal life.
Nobody is asking soccer to be bigger than NFL or anything else....But the consumers are just fed up with the blatan attitude of the media and disregard of public demand for accurate coverage of "all sports" .....But no so fast.... do not totally blame the antisoccer entity, 45 percent of the blame fall into soccer directives themselves with the lack of appropiate promotional efforts ....
Well in reality how can other or another sport have grown in the last decade if those so called sports were already here! I mean baseball, hockey, football and basketball already existed and they have existed for the last 50-100 years! So how could those sports grow any bigger if they have already grown and already are indoctrinated in the American sports mind set? Soccer had nowhere else to go but up after the rise and fall of the NASL and the staging of WC 1994. How could it not go anywhere else but up? I'm mean they were at rock bottom so it was inevitable that they would have some success especially with all the youth and under 40 fans who grew up with the sport I do believe however, that the NFL, MLB,NBA and NHL may have something to do with the fact that the MLS hasn't gotten bigger than it has become. I'm sure no one from those leagues would want soccer to surpass their league.
Somewhat off topic. I agree soccer exposure has been slow, it may have reached the "tipping point" today. While waiting for my Jamba juice this morning, my eyes spotted a grass juice grinder and then a basket of mini soccer balls for 4.95. Can you now have any doubt about soccer's future?
The subject is "why the popularity of soccer hasn't been moving so fast"... my post was to point out that, if your paying attention, it is moving so fast.. the last decade has been unbelievable growth for soccer (that wasn't inevitable by any stretch of the imagination). Soccer's been around for 50-100 years just like the other sports. There've been plenty of WC's before and after '94. And who's to say that the period between NASL and MLS was "rock bottom"? I could think of lower places soccer could've gone as a sport (like, where Track & Field is in this country.. formerly popular, but now no professional circuit or fan base to speak of).
For Soccer to move into the Big 4, MLS needs the best players in the world. At least close to it. People like Mark Cuban would have to get involved and just start buying up talent. If that happens, soccer would be on SportsCenter every night and stadiums would be sold out. Americans will never accept a league they see as one of the weaker ones out there.
Soccer during 1985 -1995 was a sport that everyone played but that no one cared about , at least professionally in this country. Mostly because there was no league. I remember watching the WSA/WSL Quakes 2 & the APSL SF Bay Blackhawks play at different bay are HS football fields. One game I remember vividly in 1990 when the LA Heat came up here and I think Paul Caligiuri, David Vanole and John Doyle left right after a penalty kick shootout to a waiting limosine that was waiting to take them all to SFO for a national team game the next day. I couldn't help think at the time this is just crazy! How could these guys go from playing on a high school field to the WC? I was thinking it would never ever happen here. Luckily, things got better with WC 94 and the birth of the MLS. The question of Why the popularity of soccer hasn't been moving so fast in the USA remains? Why doesn't the USSF help develop the pro game? What I listed on another thread and no one seems to want to answer or touch upon is the subject of, not why soccer hasn't developed so fast but rather, what happened to the $50 million dollar WC surplus money that the USSF gained from the WC? The USA was awarded WC 94 by FIFA in 1988. The one and only reason this nation was awarded the WC in 1988 was so that this nation would get a professional division 1 league going in this country! The more I ask this question the more people say that it is not the USSF's responsibility to start or even help for that matter, a professional league! I still fail to understand the reasoning, however. If it isn't their responsibility, then shouldn't it be? They are the federation and they should work hand in hand with the MLS. When the NASL folded the federation was flat broke! Even Sunil Gulati said he had to act as a math tutor for the Under 16 or U-18 boys while on a road trip abroad. I remember reading that Sunil was to have loaned some of the money to help start the MLS in 95. Supposedly, that didn't happen! This money should or should have been used to either help out struggling clubs or even help build more SSS in MLS cities and help build enthusiasm throughout the pro game! The money should have gone to player development within the MLS/USL not with this supposed foundation that no one even knows about! I keep hearing about this foundation but what is this foundation actually doing for the professional game in this country? Supposedly, they say that they are helping out national endeavors and creating a legacy from the WC surplus money and helping out youth soccer! But where or to whom is the money going to? Dr. Bob said that in 1998 the USSF had only 2 million dollars in the bank. This foundation started in 1995 therefore, 48 million dollars was loaned out or spent to this foundation however, no one knows or cares anything about! Someone else listed that there is 18 million outstanding that needs to be paid back to the USSF but no one could answer where the money is. What happened to this money? This foundation supposedly is going to help soccer develop in urban areas and with youth soccer and fields etc etc. Why does this need to happen? The youth soccer boom started in the 70's and has supassed baseball and basketball. This nationa has elementary , high school and college schools with large fields already in place and these such fields would make any soccer nation like , Italy, England France and Mexico just cringe! The nucleus of all our World Cup teams since 1990 have been products of both the youth and college soccer booms of the 1970' & 80's! The recent inclusion of the MLS reserve team started because of the MLS clubs and owners wanted it in place but no money was ever given to them by the USSF! So why isn't it going into helping the youth reserve MLS clubs? Why isn't this money distributed into the professional game in order to make the game of soccer become bigger among casual sports fans and other soccer fans in this country? Why can't this money be used to buy a World Class player like a Ronaldo or a Beckham in their 20's instead of their late 30's? Why can't this money have been used to upgrade MLS/USL clubs and/or help build SSS? Where is the money from the both Women's World Cups? Why wasn't it given to help out the WUSA? We know that soccer will never be on a level or be able to compete with the other sports in this country! However, if all the soccer entities work or strive toward developing the professional game then I'm sure popularity of soccer will move a lot faster!
Here is something else my Soccer America buddy in Berkley told me to post: The mainstream media (CNN, SI, ESPN) is curious why MLS seems content with their 15,000/per average attendance... going after the "ethnics" (Chivas, Houston) and "Eurosnobs" (Toronto FC) instead of the broad audience. Could it be that The US Soccer Powers That Be want to deliberately keep US soccer "just below the radar"? The general public won't care about looking into any possible fiscal malfeasance, because, after all, "it's just soccer."
More Tin Foil Hattery... There is no conspiracy.. By that logic, it must be the same reason Bowling & Vollleyball isn't up there with NFL. Soccer just hasn't yet captured the average American fan's attention. Why is that so hard to accept? I think it has more to do with the fact that soccer is a tie-prone goal sport (much like the other step-child of major american sports.. hockey) and it just hasn't had the time to develop as much of an American history as Baseball (obviously) and Football... and Basketball is just so goddamn TV friendly for viewing & individual star development, it's a little bit different.
The USA was awarded World Cup 1994 in 1988 for one reason only! That reason was so that soccer would get a division 1 league going in this country and thus gain in popularity! Why wasn't this money or profits from all 3 World Cups distributed directly into helping out the league and the teams in helping out the pro soccer league and its teams?
Correction: Why wasn't this money or profits from all 3 World Cups distributed directly into helping out the pro soccer league and its teams?
I'm not sure how much I buy the conspiracy theories about soccer. It wouldn't surprise me to see some sort of fiscal malfeasance. I'm sure there are crooks in the businesses of every industry and every sport. But I don't think that "corruption" is a reason why soccer hasn't gotten big. Its just as conceivable that corrupt soccer officials would want the sport to grow more to increase their intake... (though this wouldn't be likely either -- the larger businesses get and the more investors they attract, the more transparent they tend to be in their transactions)...
Corruption or not I'm still trying to figure out how a federation could spend $48 million dollars (from 95-98) on a supposed foundation? Supposedly the money was used to create a foundation that was or is supposed to create a legacy for soccer in this country and they are supposedly using these funds to do so! Where is the outstanding 18 million that was mentioned earlier in this thread that is still owed to the USSF? We are talking about 50 million dollars here! This doesn't seem like much money in today's world but 12 years ago in 1994 it was an incredible amount of money especially, for the USSF who was working on a shoe string budget. The money in 1994 was to have been put into CD's at least that is what Sunil Gulati said back then. I still have yet to see how this supposed foundation has helped professional soccer in this country? We have had a strong youth soccer system in this country and have been strong for over 30 years. The nucleus of the MLS and the 59 capped players we used during WC qualifying were players who were brought up and developed into the national team by way of the youth soccer boom of the 70's & 80's , the colleges the USL/PDL and MLS. When I see players like Brian Ching coming from Hawaii to Gonzaga to the PDL to the USL to the MLS and then to the World Cup team in just 4 years, I again question how has this foundation helped professional soccer in this country? I seriously doubt any of the current players on any of our Olympic or WC teams were products of any foundation! Someone said it was to have helped build soccer fields and/or develop soccer in urban areas around the country. The things is this country already has in place incredible fields at elementary, hs, jr colleges, universities and parks that would make most 3rd and 4th division pro clubs around the world envious. Therefore I again question what good is having this foundation and what is it doing for the pro game in this country? Why wasn't the money used to help the clubs develop fields and to help build SSS? The only reason we got the WC in 94 was because FIFA wanted us to have a division 1 pro league intact before during or after the World Cup! Without a pro league the USSF barely stayed afloat. Because of the 3 Wc's and the coming of both MLS & WUSA and the success of both men's and women's national teams, the USSF has actually turned a profit! Why can't anyone answer me why this money wasn't streamlined directly into the MLS? Why isn't the money we made from the WWC put into the WUSA? I'm most of soccer's slow progress has been because of the media, TV and other sports. However, I'm also sure if the money were used to help out clubs like the Quakes and the Wiz who are or were in financial trouble and if the powers that be worked with in unison with the pro leagues, I'm almost certain soccer would gain in popularity among mainstream sports and soccer fans in the USA!
So what is this more to soccer if not the pro league? Dude! How can you possibly believe this? Are serious? Can you imagine the EPL , SERIA A , LA Liga collapsing? The USSF became stronger with the qualifying of 4 consecutive Men's World Cups 2 Successful Women's Cups and a WC win along with WC 94 which they hosted! The only FRIKKEN REASON WE GOT THE FRIKKEN WORLD CUP WAS SO WE WOULD HAVE A FRIKKEN PRO LEAGUE! Youth soccer's development has been here forever along with the colleges. The collapse of the NASL almost killed the USSF at the same time. There was barley a USSF during period of 1985-1990 and we focused on the national team with a college all star lineup. What's the point of having a soccer federation if you have no league? For what purpose would it serve?
You've got your 'frikken pro league', what else do you want? Fifty million doesn't build a single stadium.
This is beginning to sound like talk radio. Plenty of opinions and rants with few solid answers, short of shut up & go away. A legitimate question: Where did the money go? Answer we're given: It went into a "foundation." The US WC was a gold mine. Most successful financial haul ever. If the money went into youth programs, with the thought of some translation into pro popularity... well, I'll let anyone who's been around this sport 40 or more years tell you the answer. Might as well pack off the kids to ballet. It's American Baysitting 101. I'd be interested to learn what type of youth programs are being as equally funded by the Brazilian federation (I speak w/tongue in cheek). Soccer could get along just fine w/o AYSO, as baseball wouldn't die w/o Little League. Like falvo, I'd have rather seen the WC windfall earmarked primarily for top-flight leagues for both men (I thought that was part of the deal) and women here than whatever else it went for. Until the books are opened, we'll never know (It would be fun to drop a postcard to the IRS,wouldn't it?). Everyone's entitled to their opinion until then. But don't drink the kool-aid. As Ceaser could tell you, conspiracies do exist. And most of you believe they do, too. Just watch how many will swallow this DaVinci Code thing at face value. But, like TxFan says, the USSF probably doesn't want to draw too much attention to themselves so, as the SA guy says, they're content flying soccer just below the radar. Sad, if true. First meaty discussion we've had here for some time. Hope it can continue on a passionate level w/o attacks and expletives. Find us some answers, fans. Share your experiences. If you don't care about this and are content with it, fine. Enjoy. Move on. Just don't settle for less when it comes to your country's commitment to soccer.
We are talking about why soccer's popularity hasn't improved that fast in this country? Well in order for a sport to become popular with fans and the media and so the public and the youth can look up to we must have a successful pro league. The USSF up until now has treated soccer as an Olympic sport like skiing, bicycling swimming,volleyball,tennis and track and field. These are sports that everyone cares about every four years and then they forget about. You must have a professional league with stars and money so everyone will notice. I know 50 million in 1994 was not that much money however it was a lot more then than it is today! That money could have been invested wisely at the time and could have even doubled by now! Not to mention the $40 million dollar surplus the USSF now boasts because of Dr. Bob's successful tenure. I'm sure the money could have at least been used to help start to build 2-3 stadiums. Or even helped out in some capacity and/or used if distributed evenly and wisely. They could have at least bought the land and/or donated the way they have already to the teams or at least let the teams use the fields or build on it. I'm not saying they should hand all the money over to any one team but I'm saying they should have at least helped out the leagues because the MLS exists because of the USSF , the World Cup and vice versa. They should be working hand in hand with the pro league. When the NASL folded so did or almost did the USSF. I read that the US foundation is buying or building soccer fields around the country to help out the youth soccer as well as in urban areas well if that is the case why don't they just work directly with the MLS to help build fields in MLS markets and that teams can use either for practice facilities,friendlies, camps or what have you? The USSF thinking is that they first start out with the youth then the national team and then have those players go from there to the pro league. That was the way it was when we had no league but now we have a league. If the future of our pro league relies on players from the U16 ,U18, U20 & U23 teams as well as national A team and maybe a few college players then why won't just streamline the money into the USL/MLS and the MLS reserve youth league and why not work with them now in order to make the league become stronger which will improve soccer's popularity among the pros in this country?
This thread has become a little long so I may be repeating what I may have already said before. However, the main reason soccer hasn't gained in popularity are a combination of all of those reasons everyone gave! Too many sports, no commercials , no breaks , no time outs, no pro world class stars, someone keeping all the money, no one caring etc. I think one of the number one reasons which may or may not have been already mentioned however, is soccer in this country has always been considered a foreign game. Even Bruce Arena has said we need regular American born kids to organize an unorganized game every chance they get. We don't see this happening even with all the free fields and facilities we have as a resource! If you go by a park or a school on a Saturday or Sunday or even during week nights you see a bunch of ethnics getting together and playing pick up matches which are semi organized! I've played in these games as the only American born kid but everyone else was either Mexican, Italian, Iranian, Yugos, Peruvian , Chilean, Argentinean etc etc. Around WW2 , everyone wanted to be an American. You had the DiMaggio brothers who were son's of Italian immigrant fisherman in SF playing the all American game in baseball. No one wanted to associate with being foreign as a lot of those kids didn't even know how to speak Italian! When they came here they didn't speak English so they instilled this only American mentality in their kids and it transpired into sports. Most American born parents therefore, never grew up with the sport so how can we become students of the game and how can we all really become enthusiastic about playing soccer? I mean from the 1940's to around the 1970's and the explosion of the NASL, soccer was dead!