For many years Americans have debated whether or not the US has room for another major sport. I am a die hard fan of all the four major sports in the US, but there’s one sport that is more near and dear to my heart than any of those. The 
“Beautiful Game”, the game of Soccer.People have different views on this argument, some think it is only a matter of time before soccer is a top four sport in America and some believe that it is simply too boring to become a popular American sport. I have the answer to this debate and the fact that I have experienced soccer from both ends of the spectrum (American soccer and World soccer) qualifies me to speak on this matter.
The Answer is: Soccer will never be a top sport in America unless they fix a few things:
There are a few reasons for soccer’s unpopularity among adults in America, but I will focus on two. First, American men grew up watching other sports. Even the people who are playing soccer today prefer to watch a good football game over a good soccer game. There is a simple explanation to this: men like to see other men get fucked up. Consider this, would you rather see Sheldon Brown deliver another hit on Reggie Bush and leave him lying on the ground in pain or see Ronaldinho dribble through the defense and score a beautiful goal? I am very confident that most A
mericans will choose option number one.
mericans will choose option number one.The other reason soccer remains unpopular in the States is the fact that Americans don’t want to pay to watch second tier athletes.
Let’s start with the US national team for instance. How many people reading this article got to see the US men’s soccer team play Honduras or Trinidad Tobago? Those were huge games they had to win to put them in a position to qualify for the most important tournament in the world (the World Cup) and it was on
ESPN Classic, a channel available to you for an extra ten dollars a month. Not many people watched those two games or even knew that the games happened. If I ask people whether they saw the Red Sox and the Orioles play their meaningless mid September game on ESPN, I am sure a much higher percentage will have seen it.
Let’s start with the US national team for instance. How many people reading this article got to see the US men’s soccer team play Honduras or Trinidad Tobago? Those were huge games they had to win to put them in a position to qualify for the most important tournament in the world (the World Cup) and it was on
ESPN Classic, a channel available to you for an extra ten dollars a month. Not many people watched those two games or even knew that the games happened. If I ask people whether they saw the Red Sox and the Orioles play their meaningless mid September game on ESPN, I am sure a much higher percentage will have seen it.The passion for soccer isn’t here at all. How many MLS champions actually get a parade? In most people’s opinion, it doesn’t even count as a championship for the city. It is about as important as the Philadelphia Soul (not the Phils) bringing Philly their first championship in 25 years.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a proud fan of the US national team and will cheer for them against any other country other than my native Brazil, but until people actually get behind them they have no chance of becoming a world power. Don't let the confederations cup fool you, we are ways from being a world power, and it only took Brazil a half to prove it. This country is based on what “the people” want, and soccer is not at the top of the list yet.
My second point goes back to the people in charge of the sport in this country and to say that the MLS is a lousy league would be an understatement of giant proportions, but if you compare the MLS against the mid-level leagues of the world in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, you will see how far we are as a country from becoming a soccer power. These (Latin American) leagues are feeder leagues to the three main leagues (Spain, England and Italy). If the MLS was smart they would be traveling to South America and getting many of these players for pennies on a dollar when they are young. Until they recognize that the level of play in America is not good enough they will struggle with TV ratings and therefore not generate enough interest from the public for the league to grow.
What I don’t understand is how the MLS doesn’t see that people don’t want to watch mediocre soccer. For example, the Barcelona vs. Chelsea friendly that was hosted in the US is more appealing to watch than USA vs. Honduras in a World cup qualifying match. ESPN was confident enough that they would get good enough ratings to have the Chelsea vs. Barca game live on one of their main networks on prime time on a Wednesday night. If this doesn’t prove my point than maybe I am the blind one.
Finally, people in America are used to paying top dollar for the best leagues in the world. We have the best league in football, basketball, baseball and hockey, so please tell me why I would waste my time watching one of the worst soccer leagues in the world. The money and facilities are here but those in charge must work hard to speed up the growth of the sport.
My second point goes back to the people in charge of the sport in this country and to say that the MLS is a lousy league would be an understatement of giant proportions, but if you compare the MLS against the mid-level leagues of the world in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, you will see how far we are as a country from becoming a soccer power. These (Latin American) leagues are feeder leagues to the three main leagues (Spain, England and Italy). If the MLS was smart they would be traveling to South America and getting many of these players for pennies on a dollar when they are young. Until they recognize that the level of play in America is not good enough they will struggle with TV ratings and therefore not generate enough interest from the public for the league to grow.What I don’t understand is how the MLS doesn’t see that people don’t want to watch mediocre soccer. For example, the Barcelona vs. Chelsea friendly that was hosted in the US is more appealing to watch than USA vs. Honduras in a World cup qualifying match. ESPN was confident enough that they would get good enough ratings to have the Chelsea vs. Barca game live on one of their main networks on prime time on a Wednesday night. If this doesn’t prove my point than maybe I am the blind one.
Finally, people in America are used to paying top dollar for the best leagues in the world. We have the best league in football, basketball, baseball and hockey, so please tell me why I would waste my time watching one of the worst soccer leagues in the world. The money and facilities are here but those in charge must work hard to speed up the growth of the sport.As a lover of the game it saddens me to see all this potential go to waste. We have good players but we won’t be the power we should be until our mentality changes.
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