June 23rd, 2014
Galley Friend A.W. sends along a note about the latest Will Leitch World Cup Fever! column:
Leitch’s latest soccer column is just as ridiculous as his first:
It is rather clear at this point that this is becoming the American Summer of Soccer … Even those who have avoided the game out of general principle — minus a few elderly, doltish exceptions — have given themselves over to it …
Leitch actually does everyone a favor by comparing soccer to HBO’s True Detective:
The HBO program True Detective came out of nowhere this spring. … For about four weeks there, it was all anyone could talk about. If you didn’t have HBO or weren’t currently watching the show but planned to, you had to avoid all media, social and otherwise. It was the centerpiece of every conversation. We all did it as one.
For the record, the season finale drew 3.5 million live viewers — or, a little less than one-third of the 8.5 million live viewers that CBS’s The Amazing Race drew. Even if you take at face value the suggestion that 11 million viewers were watching the show across all platforms, that’s still basically an episode of 60 minutes.I don’t doubt that everyone Leitch knows is watching the soccer games. But almost everyone else isn’t.
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I have been a soccer fan as long as I can remember … back to the original Cosmos and watching hour-long condensed English soccer games on Saturday afternoon in the 70’s, announced by Mario Machado. I spent 10 days in England last spring going to 8 games. But I’ve never understood why other Americans who love soccer can’t just appreciate it and accept that it will never be a major sport here. There’s all kinds of theories and reasons why … but so what? Ultimately it’s not “our sport” like baseball or football, and might never be. Enjoy watching world class players … root for the Yanks to shock the world … and get on with your life.
Beat Germany 🙂
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It’s not the soccer partisans (of which I’m one) that cause this phenomenon in my experience, but rather the reaction/belligerence of the general public.
Here’s an example. I’m in the gym over the weekend catching a few minutes of a compelling World Cup match on tv in the locker room before hitting the shower. Some random dude just starts spouting aloud. “This freaking World Cup stuff. I don’t know how anyone can watch a sport where you can’t use your hands. So stupid and boring.”
To those of us who love the sport, the teamwork, the sheer skill, the stamina, etc… It’s bad enough you’re insulting my passion… but you’re basically just spouting off an ignorant opinion about a sport you know very little about.
I didn’t get I to it with the dude, just said, “it’s my favorite sport” and left it at that. I’m not gonna change his opinion, I just wanted him to know there are people out there who seriously disagree with him.
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For the record, the U.S.-Portugal game drew 24.72 million viewers, whereas Game 5 of the NBA championships drew slightly less than 18 million to see the demise of the Miami Heels, the most hated team in pro sports. (And the 2014 championships were an increase over 2013).
This is not to say there isn’t a segment of douchey/hipsterish U.S. soccer fans, or that LeBron is opting out of his Heat contract to jump to MLS (although it would be fun to see him versus Luis Suarez in the penalty box). But considering the increase in viewership from just four years ago, the uptick in popularity is undeniable.
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Hockey fans are kinda annoying. I’m a tennis fan and prefer that it is a niche sport that nobody watches.
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“a compelling World Cup match”
Lulz
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24.72 million views is impressive. It would place it at the number 13 spot of 2013 sporting event viewership (thought I’d go with the last full year of sports events) http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2013/07/the-most-watched-sporting-events-of-2013-so-far/
That would be BEHIND the Super Bowl, of course — and just about every other NFL playoff game (including wild card games); game 7 of the NBA finals; and the NCAA BCS championship game.
All this for a game/event that has a 4 year cycle. The real test of soccer’s new-found “breakthrough” beyond niche will be when (a) there is a league that (b) has tens of thousands of fans in the stands and (c) has a TV deal for ordinary games on (d) a network you have heard of/can find on your cable box.
Is soccer increasing in interest? Sure. But let’s keep it in perspective.
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” The real test of soccer’s new-found “breakthrough” beyond niche will be when (a) there is a league that (b) has tens of thousands of fans in the stands and (c) has a TV deal for ordinary games on (d) a network you have heard of/can find on your cable box.”
MLS, average attendance 18,608 per game in 2013, are currently broadcast by ESPN and NBCSN, and begin an 8-year contract with ESPN, Fox and Univision next year, with weekly nationally televised games on Sundays, 5pm on ESPN2 and 7pm on Fox Sports 1.
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Wondering about that random, awkward Pete Rose reference in the piece? Guess who owns the site
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It’s from one of his subsequent soccer-triumphalist columns (he’s no Ian Daglers, to be sure). BTW if anything can solve the problem of soccer’s snob appeal it’s comprehensive immigration reform
Karl June 24, 2014 at 7:18 am
It’s largely signaling that you’re a ‘higher’ type of sports fan. The lack of popularity is sort of the point.
I suspect that if it does start getting genuinely popular in the US, those same annoying fans will move on to sumo wrestling or something even more obscure.