Soccer popularity on the decline

[PassInterference]

Nm***++

[Bully13]

oh shit, I'm out of popcorn.

[starkvegasdawg]

oh shit, I'm out of popcorn.
This'll last a while. You have time to go get some.

[Statefan]

I like soccer and love msu baseball. Indifferent about mlb.

But for what it's worth


https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/man-united-real-madrid-friendly-at-michigan-stadium-sets-attendance-record-for-soccer-match-in-the-u-s-215133053.html

[The Federalist Engineer]

Depends on the country, each one is a market. or maybe you are talking MLS?

I think soccer is destined to eat the NBAs lunch, the MLS did everything to avoid direct competition with Football even changing the traditional soccer season to avoid overlap with football

[Dawgowar]

Depends on the country, each one is a market. or maybe you are talking MLS?

I think soccer is destined to eat the NBAs lunch, the MLS did everything to avoid direct competition with Football even changing the traditional soccer season to avoid overlap with football

MLS is growing their model near perfectly. Slowly and methodically. Early requirements to get to soccer specific venues in a set period of time. Those venues fit their market share and give big bang for the buck in terms of fan involvement. Look into Kansas City's stadium experience. The NFL has dispatched Marketing types to study their concepts about fan involvement. I like that they have paced the number of designated players in such a way that the league did not devolve into a pure retirement league for has beens. European players arriving here have much more tread on the tire if you will than in the 70's.

MLS may not overtake the NBA but they will surpass the NHL. EPL could but it comes on in the morning. Yesterday proved how big a hook they have into this market and why our sports outlets are bidding to cover it. Not many NFL preseason games will either sell out or stay at capacity for the entire game like United and Real Madrid. 100K plus for a tournament that is a glorified beer commercial?

Realistically there is miles to go but the game is progressing here. I enjoy it secondary to Dallas Cowboys and MSU football. Frankly since the last baseball strike I have never gone back to MLB and will not consider it. Soccer has become my secondary sport. Last almost 9 months, multiple leagues and competitions to follow, and it's plots and subplots are like getting a reality tv show tossed in to boot.

[The Federalist Engineer]

In terms of money and profits, MLS is a midget who's profits would be rounding errors for NFL, MLB, SEC, and NBA. They are making less than $50M as a total league. Alabama Football and Kentucky Basketball individually out-earn MLS. The NBA is a $4B revenue business.

Soccer is only relevant in per-game attendance, they out-draw NBA per-game. Additionally, MLS attendance has doubled since the launch. Still, soccer is starting from a very humble level and is still very vulnerable. Not having universal college soccer or an outstanding US tradition are major drawbacks. Demographic shifts and the youth are the great hope of soccer.

Things that could help MLS:
1. Soccer is now a staple in all high schools boys and girls
2. Armies of kids playing some sort of organized soccer for multiple decades
2. There will be 2x more Hispanics than Blacks soon
2.5 In Newark NJ you will find full soccer fields....the basketball fields are also full, of kids playing soccer on concrete
3. The USNT is actually one Messianic player away from potentially winning the World Cup
4. Soccer started from zero in every country, it has a history of winning the people over, its easier to name the non-soccer countries than otherwise
5. Soccer is a multicultural sport, it does not need token (name the race/religion/ethnicity) players, Soccer has great, diverse players past and present

The number-1 weakness of MLS is that it is not the best league in the world. There is no league better than NFL, MLB, or NBA to watch. Contrast that US soccer fans are split with Spanish, English, German, Dutch, Scottish, Brazilian, Mexican, and Italian league fans.

[DudyDawg]

Don't feel like typing a huge thing, but 19k in Portland for a woman's league game. No big team, name, just a normal game. Soccer is booming here and I doubt that'll change