To non-americans - Why is soccer such a popular spectator sport?

Bish Bosh wrote:

[quote]hadd about enough wrote:

basketball is the most played game in the world. quote]

no offence mate but i find that very hard to believe.

no offense mate, but you should get out more.

here's a hint: kids in china aren't playing soccer, they're playing basketball.

here's a hint mate.

Volleyball has more registered players than any other sport.

fact.

I didn't mention the NFL, MLB, or NBA because most of these games only get 20000 to 50000 people in the crowd, live.

That is what I mean't by the post. Why do so many people go to the games to watch them live.

I beleive the majority of American's don't watch football to see scores. The majority of us go to the games to watch athletes duke it out and make great plays. There is nothing better to me than a great 15 yard pass over the middle were the reciever makes the catch but gets leveled. American football gets the widest range of freak athletes seen in all of sports. You have guys that are lightening fast covering other lightening fast guys. You have linemen that are lightening fast while also weighting 280+. You have running backs that are lightening fast that can cut corners like no other and than run you over. That is what is exciting about American Football, all the high energy action.

It seems that some of the posters feel that the footwork in soccer is what amazes them the most and gets people to come watch live. Is it really that exciting to watch someone control the soccer ball?

Again, I am not saying that one is better than the other, just trying to understand why so many go watch soccer live.

The impressiveness of a skill is directly proportional to its difficulty. Thus, if you don't understand how difficult it is to accomplish an athletic feat (whether it be a triple-axel, a pinpoint football throw, or a great first touch in soccer) then you won't be duly impressed.

The plays that you're mentioning in football are rather rare, however. You're an afficianado of the game, or at least you watch it regularly, so you get excited when you see such plays at least partially because you know that it's as good as it gets (I mean that in a good way). Possession soccer can be a little slow at times, but if you only watch for 2 minutes before changing channels, you're not going to see anything. My advice would be to buy or borrow some good highlight tapes to get a feel for how exciting it can be.

The club factor has a lot to do with its popularity. For example, FC Barcalona is much more than just soccer, they have leagues in almost every sport for the elites all the way down to youth.

And since you must be a Club member to get season tickets almost everyone is a Club member ($300,000+) in Barcalona. Thus spectators have a strong affiliation with the team.

If US professional sports had any brains, they would begin forming these clubs so that they could gain the voluntary support($) from club members rather than extorting money from City and State Governments.

I agree that is a big generilizatin on my part redmeansdead however I think it has some merit in most popular american sports. If we watch the top ten plays on sports center the vast majority of plays are points/scores etc. it is just what American culture gravitates to.

I also do not think that you understand what I am trying to convey with the idea that fans enjoy watching a footballer's quality footwork even if it does not result in a goal. Soccer fans remain excited and engaged even when a goal does not occur every five minutes because they understand how difficult the game is to play beautiful. Watch a match from another country and listen to the fans clapping throughout the game not just during goals.

However when a goal does occur fans go "apeshit" because they understand how momentus a goal can be (thus causing riots etc.). Soccer goals have a huge impact on an outcome of a game.

Finally you are correct I am an American and have not grown up in a soccer dominated country. I am only making these assupmtions based on the wordly travels that soccer took me on and being apart of an American football crazed family. I am in no means saying that soccer is the best sport because everybody is entitled to their own opinions (i.e I am on a running board not a soccer board because I love running now).

hadd about enough wrote:

Bish Bosh wrote:

[quote]hadd about enough wrote:

basketball is the most played game in the world. quote]

no offence mate but i find that very hard to believe.

no offense mate, but you should get out more.

here's a hint: kids in china aren't playing soccer, they're playing basketball.

okay - so maybe more people in china play basketball than football but I'm confident that football is played more widely across the globe

Bish Bosh wrote:

hadd about enough wrote:

no offense mate, but you should get out more.

here's a hint: kids in china aren't playing soccer, they're playing basketball.

okay - so maybe more people in china play basketball than football but I'm confident that football is played more widely across the globe

maybe, but it doesn't change the fact that basketball is the most played sport in the world. lots of kids in china, lots of kids in the usa. most widely played, then soccer, maybe. soccer remains the most watched sport (both in terms of live attendance and tv audience.)

most registered players, volleyball, but that's a meaningless fact. how many of you guys register with USATF? no one. who registers to play pick-up basketball or soccer in the streets of rio? no one.

Generalization? Yes. A justified generalization? Yes. I'm American and played soccer since I was 5. I’m 26 now. Most people I got in discussions with claimed "soccer is boring because there isn't enough scoring." Your post is an over reaction.

Okay, now we seem to be getting somewhere with your comments. This is a great way to create interest. This is sort of how the colleges get huge numbers. They still allow tickets to be bought at the game but a majority of the tickets are available to the student body of the school.

If they were to show highlights on only soccer I imagine it would be something like an American football highlight film. Sure the only big highlights in basketball are usually scores with the occassional crafty pass or the crafty dribble move. In baseball you are going to get the same old infield dive and throw out at first or the homerun hit or even the outfielder diving catch. That gets very old quickly.

In American Football you have the majority of the exciting plays not being touchdowns. Usually the big plays are great catches or great tackles or great runs. Touchdowns can be exciting but there are usually solid plays throughout the game. It sounds that the soccer highlights don't really involve highly athletic/explosive moves but rather more controlled and precise execution of handling the ball. That is the excitement. I can understand that side of things.

Good conversation so far.

Distance running is more globally practiced than any other sport. This is because it needs zero equipment, just some bit of land or roads to run on.

Since 1960, the marathon world record has been held by an athlete born in every continent of the world. I cannot think of another sport where the talent at the top has been ditributed more globally.

They say that the only thing more boring that track is field, and to that I might add, another thing more boring than field is soccer.

All sports are boring: to those who don't know or can't appreciate the event. Conversely, all sports are supremely exciting: to those who are emotionally invested in them.

To be truthful, I am very impressed with the athleticism of skillful soccer players, but I do not enjoy watching soccer games. I can understand the enjoyment others get out of what is a very demanding game that requires high levels of skill, team work, strategy, luck, and physical courage.

I forgot about the great Mishuna Hisokatu from Antartica.

I think it has to do with one's background, orientation and exposure.

The rest of the world has known soccer. That is why the World cup is watched by 1 or 2 Billion people. I am not sure of the figure but I do know this, it is in the Billions.

Soccer is another life alongside the one we lead.

As someone also said, you almost need n oresources. cobble together polythene paper and sisal strings and you have football "soccer ball."

Then, get a flat grassy field and put on the ground two sticks. No need for the cross bar. The net is a luxury.

That is how we grew up back in the days. It's been a love affair since then.

I can't wait for June 9.

NativeSon, where are you from?

I find it strange Europeans have called Football boring.

Good post. Roll on the World Cup.

800 dude wrote:

NativeSon, where are you from?

Kenya.

I was fortunate enough to live in an area with a really high density of soccer players so we had a similar "pickup ball" culture. I think most Americans my age couldn't count on everyone in their neighborhood playing soccer, so it was more confined to organized leagues. The problem with playing only organized soccer is you end up with a nation of distributing midfielders and nobody who's developed the skills and the balls to take people on. Fortunately, I think that's starting to change.