How Soccer Can Score in America

Post date: Nov 20, 2017 4:9:3 PM

Orchestra teacher Chris Gibson (center, front row) celebrates with other FC Cincinnati Fans in the Bailey at the University of Cincinnati. FCC has revitalized the soccer fandom in the city, and brings nearly 30,000 fans to each game.

Soccer. Football. Fútbol. Futebol. Though the sport goes by many names, “The Beautiful Game” is, by all measures, the world’s most popular sport. According to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), more than three billion people watched the 2014 World Cup, with over one billion tuning in to watch the final between Germany and Argentina. However, one place the sport has not been able to conquer is the United States.

In the U.S., American football dominates television screens. However, with more and more young people choosing to play soccer, the sport is slowly gaining popularity. Americans have shown increasing support for American and European teams alike. Surveys suggest that Manchester United, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are some of the U.S.’ most popular teams.

But the U.S., despite following only China in the number of young people playing soccer, (the U.S. has an estimated 24 million), only sees high viewership ratings every four years when the World Cup takes place. In 2018, T.V. ratings in America will undoubtedly decrease, as the U.S. Men’s National Team failed to qualify for the tournament.

So, why do so many Americans play soccer at a young age, but then cease to follow and watch the sport once they get older? American football has far fewer kids playing, but is far and away America’s most popular spectator sport. The answer to this phenomenon lies in a different set of statistics: scoring.

Soccer game average about two or three goals per match. In comparison, NFL teams routinely score 20 or more points each game. Americans would prefer not to wait 30 minutes between scores, as routinely happens in soccer. Soccer games are an hour shorter than NFL games, with near-constant gameplay. This doesn’t seem to bother American viewers, who are content with watching a game with relatively short stints of action compared to soccer.

I make these points not to bash football; I too enjoy watching the games on Sunday. To watch soccer is an acquired taste; it takes an appreciation for the minute details and usually, playing experience. These things have so far prevented soccer from entering a mainstream U.S. market.

But all hope is not lost. As more and more young people play soccer, and begin to follow the sport internationally, America will see growing appreciation for the game. Just go to an FC Cincinnati game to experience the passion of the sport in all its glory. The atmosphere of a game is hard to put into words: the thousands of fans chanting as one, the tense breath held as a player makes a run on goal, the roar and vibration of the stands as the ball finds the back of the net. It is this atmosphere that draws people to the sport, and it is this culture that can give soccer its much needed boost in America.

We don’t need high-end training facilities and world-class coaches to develop soccer here; as a poor young boy, soccer legend Pele couldn’t even afford a ball. All it takes is a love for the beautiful game.

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