Soccer beats Hockey in the US

[Rocket]

Are you sure? 40 million seems kind of high. Have you got a source for that? As I understand it, the number was 40 million worldwide.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/soccer/20060722-9999-1s22soccer.html

These people that watched this game aren't soccer fans, they're Mexico fans, big difference.

You obviously don't have a clue on the soccer scene in this country. Those are some of the biggest soccer fans you'll ever see. They follow the Mexican league on Spanish lang. channels all year long. TV ratings for those games are pretty decent too. I remember one of the games (Chivas vs. Club America) this year even outdrawing the Stanley Cup final ratings. They also come out in droves whenever some of the MFL clubs come here for exhibition and other tournament games, ignoring the high ticket price.

And, the two sports!

I don't have the time to go through this again. Read my posts in these threads.

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?p=8026360#post8026360

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?p=7994569#post7994569

 

[17*]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/soccer/20060722-9999-1s22soccer.html

You obviously don't have a clue on the soccer scene in this country. Those are some of the biggest soccer fans you'll ever see. They follow the Mexican league on Spanish lang. channels all year long. TV ratings for those games are pretty decent too.

Like I said, they're cheering for Mexico.

 

[Rocket]

There are also fans spending money on AHL, CHL, College and other games from other leagues.

Does soccer have these layers of support in the U.S?

The USL-1 drew 4,667 per game last year. Not sure about the USL-2 and PDL, but I'm sure you only make your points weaker when you compare the minor leagues for both sports as they have even smaller gap.

In case you didn't click on those two links to my earlier posts let me summarize them in one sentence. NHL is followed by majority of the hockey fans in this country while soccer ratings and attendances are split in many ways, with all the international leagues and different national team games on TV and in the stadiums around the country when we host them many times a year.

 

[17*]

Lol, not really. The 27 team AHL drew far more people than the 12 team USL-1.

http://www.canoe.ca/StatsHKA/BC-HKA-STAT-AHLATT-R.html

http://146.145.120.3/default.asp?c=aswire&page=mlh/stat/ahl-attendance.htm

Add to that the fact that AHL teams play 70 games while USL-1 teams play 28.

 

[LGP8771]

This is ridiculous.


American sports fans prefer hockey over soccer. Most of them may not care about either sport, but hockey has a stronger following among Americans.

Think about it. MLS is so new! The NHL has at the very least survived in the USA, it's a successful league with 24 pro teams that sell out to 90%+ capacity.

Granted, soccer has also had leagues and experienced success (70's with Pele, for instance), but hockey had a bigger presence than soccer on ESPN in the 90's and up to 2003.

The fact that we're even discussing this, in my opinion, is ridiculous.

Remember what you heard about soccer growing up in high school... "Soccer is for f@gs." At least the haters don't say that about hockey. Soccer is pathetic in the USA. TV ratings don't reflect American sports fans. They reflect Mexican and South American sports fans.

You obviously don't have a clue on the soccer scene in this country. Those are some of the biggest soccer fans you'll ever see. They follow the Mexican league on Spanish lang. channels all year long. TV ratings for those games are pretty decent too. I remember one of the games (Chivas vs. Club America) this year even outdrawing the Stanley Cup final ratings. They also come out in droves whenever some of the MFL clubs come here for exhibition and other tournament games, ignoring the high ticket price.

LMAO. Even the teams' names are in Spanish. You think MLS doesn't know who their fans are? Look at this whole Beckham thing. The first game, the one they're marketing everywhere as if this guy is the next Pele or Ronaldo or Romario, is going to draw a record amount of viewers.

Let's see how they do a year from now when Beckham is still playing for the "Galaxy" (what fruity team names they pick too!).

 

[Bear of Bad News]

So your plan is to poll only Native Americans?

 

[krudmonk]

The USL-1 drew 4,667 per game last year. Not sure about the USL-2 and PDL, but I'm sure you only make your points weaker when you compare the minor leagues for both sports as they have even smaller gap.

Excellent point. Support of soccer is hardly limited to the 13 current clubs. There are many markets begging for an MLS franchise but the league is smart to pace itself and not go the way of the NASL (or even the NHL). I think some hockey fans are confused by smart planning, mistaking it for weak showing. Thanks, Bettman.

 

[Timmy]

So your plan is to poll only Native Americans?

Actually, they only follow lacrosse.

 

[Refuse]

You really need to read what he wrote again.

And still, none of these sports are more popular worldwide. Those are some extremely dodgy mathematics. Those countries populations do not equal 96% of the worlds population.
Latin America = poulation: 561 Million.
Europe = population: 709 Million.
Africa = population: 843 Million.

These continents make up 31% of earths population and could be considered Soccer continents.

Soccer is if not the biggest sport in most countries, it is still a major sport, if not #2. It is growing rapidly in Japan, for example

 

[frivolousz21]

And still, none of these sports are more popular worldwide. Those are some extremely dodgy mathematics. Those countries populations do not equal 96% of the worlds population.
Latin America = poulation: 561 Million.
Europe = population: 709 Million.
Africa = population: 843 Million.

These continents make up 31% of earths population and could be considered Soccer continents.

Soccer is if not the biggest sport in most countries, it is still a major sport, if not #2. It is growing rapidly in Japan, for example

why is the attendance in most leagues plummeting.

I read in Italy is down 10K per match over the last 10 years.

they also dont have high end hockey, baseball, basketball, or football.

there is no comptetion.


someone posted this in a diff thread:

http://www.theoffside.com/world-foot...rspective.html

 

[Crazy_Ike]

why is the attendance in most leagues plummeting.

I read in Italy is down 10K per match over the last 10 years.

they also dont have high end hockey, baseball, basketball, or football.

there is no comptetion.

Clearly that is also Bettman's fault.

 

[Fugu]

Knock off the comments about ethnic groups and their alleged preferences.

 

[bleed_oil]

#1 - demographics in the US are changing, people who look like "foreigners" right now won't be in 10 years
#2 - if a sport is poopular, its popular. In Canada, hockey is widely followed by all ethnic groups regardless of origin. If you were at Edmotons Whyte ave in the '06 cup run or Calgarys 17th street in '04 you'd know as much.

 

[Wooty]

The false assumption is that Hockey is competing with soccer or visa versa.

Hockey is competing with all the sports, TV, DVD's, Movies, picnics video games etc.

 

[nyrmetros]

Are you sure? 40 million seems kind of high. Have you got a source for that? As I understand it, the number was 40 million worldwide.

No. He's right. It was 40 mil in this country alone. SI had the figures in their mag the week following the game.

 

[Rob]

This is ridiculous.

Remember what you heard about soccer growing up in high school... "Soccer is for f@gs." At least the haters don't say that about hockey.

I've heard Americans compare hockey to soccer.

Soccer is pathetic in the USA. TV ratings don't reflect American sports fans. They reflect Mexican and South American sports fans.

So Hispanic Americans don't count?

Fact is Soccer is more popular than Hockey in the US.

 

[17*]

I've heard Americans compare hockey to soccer.

That may be, but people who say that have obviously not watched many soccer, and/or hockey games.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Fact is Soccer is more popular than Hockey in the US.

News to me. Say the word soccer in Pennsylvania and you'll most likely just get a blank look followed by "what?"

 

[krudmonk]

It is growing rapidly in Japan, for example

Asutralia, too. Their league is just a couple years old and it's drawing great numbers because there's little of this arrogant, ************ backlash.

News to me. Say the word soccer in Pennsylvania and you'll most likely just get a blank look followed by "what?"

If you're going to use one of the fifty states as an example, at least pick the most populous one.

 

[Stevedude530]

On the media front, Univision, which is televising the league for the first time since 1999, earned a 0.1 average household rating and 229,000 viewers through 12 broadcasts at 3 p.m. on Sundays.
ESPN, which is in the first year of an eight-year, $64 million commitment to the league, averaged a 0.2 for its “MLS Primetime Thursday” through 12 broadcasts. The total number of households dropped 2 percent from 2006 to 197,000, but ratings among males 18 to 34 were up 50 percent, according to the network.
Fox Sports en Español, the only other broadcast partner for which ratings figures are available, also averaged a 0.2 through nine weekend broadcasts.

 

[Levizk]

News to me. Say the word soccer in Pennsylvania and you'll most likely just get a blank look followed by "what?"

Actually back in the 90s there was serious discussion going on about putting a MLS team in Turtle Creek at the Wolvarena as a Pittsburgh franchise. Sure it never became serious enough to actually look at fixing the stadium up and making it a viable candidate for a team, but it's not like soccer is that unheard of in our area. Remember back when we had the Pittsburgh Phantoms roller hockey franchise, we also had the Pittsburgh Stingers indoor soccer franchise. We currently have the Riverhounds now in terms of a pro team even if it's not at the MLS level, so don't make us look that backwards in terms of being tolerant to other sports in our region.

 

[frivolousz21]

the beckham game got a 1.5 rating


that seems low considering the hype

 

[Rocket]

On the media front, Univision, which is televising the league for the first time since 1999, earned a 0.1 average household rating and 229,000 viewers through 12 broadcasts at 3 p.m. on Sundays.

Some corrections: Univision is not televising any of the MLS games. The network's 3rd-string channel (after Univision and Galavision) TeleFutura, which is available in many less homes, is. Galavision will show 3 of the games later this year.

ESPN, which is in the first year of an eight-year, $64 million commitment to the league, averaged a 0.2 for its “MLS Primetime Thursday” through 12 broadcasts. The total number of households dropped 2 percent from 2006 to 197,000, but ratings among males 18 to 34 were up 50 percent, according to the network.

To avoid confusion, almost all MLS games are on ESPN2, avilable in less homes than ESPN and usually has lower ratings (for example, NHL games on ESPN2 used to average about half of what they did on ESPN).

Fox Sports en Español, the only other broadcast partner for which ratings figures are available, also averaged a 0.2 through nine weekend broadcasts.

Thanks for the info. I didn't know FSE programs were rated by Nielsen Ratings. Do you have a source?

 

[Big McLargehuge]

If you're going to use one of the fifty states as an example, at least pick the most populous one.

Pennsylvania is the 6th most populous state. Not like I was using Montana as an example.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Actually back in the 90s there was serious discussion going on about putting a MLS team in Turtle Creek at the Wolvarena as a Pittsburgh franchise. Sure it never became serious enough to actually look at fixing the stadium up and making it a viable candidate for a team, but it's not like soccer is that unheard of in our area. Remember back when we had the Pittsburgh Phantoms roller hockey franchise, we also had the Pittsburgh Stingers indoor soccer franchise. We currently have the Riverhounds now in terms of a pro team even if it's not at the MLS level, so don't make us look that backwards in terms of being tolerant to other sports in our region.

We have a third tier soccer team that used to play out of a high school football stadium. We're a real soccer hot bed.