The United States is a nation of immigrants, mostly from Europe: British Islands, Italy, Germany, France, Scandinavian countries and more. In all of these countries, soccer (or football as they call it) is an extremely popular sport. The people reading this article might have a natural question: then why is soccer not the most popular sport in the US? Why are sports like American Football, Basketball and Baseball much more popular than soccer?
The truth is, the United States is home to millions of soccer fans, but the share of soccer fans in the general population is still relatively low. In this article, we want to explain why soccer is unpopular in the US, and the factors that influence its popularity.
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Cultural factors
First, we have to look at cultural factors that influenced the popularity of this sport in the US. The population in this country is much more economically conservative and aligned with the ideals of the free market. On the other hand, the origins of soccer were closely tied with the working-class people. The biggest football clubs of the world were started by people who worked together in the industrial towns of England. America has a long history of suppressing worker unions, so this factor somewhat hindered the growth of soccer as a popular sport.
Compared to Europe, where people rally to support the soccer teams of their small towns, in the USA, there is no similar sentiment for soccer teams. Instead, people often rally around the team of the biggest city in their state. In some cases, the sports teams in the US can even change cities if necessary. So the sports teams are viewed as somewhat separate entities and do not inspire the support of the locals as much as football teams do in Europe.
More than a hobby
There is a political and demographic element to supporting specific teams in Europe. For example, some teams, like Manchester United and Manchester City, represent the divide between working and business classes. This is not a rule, but the foundations for this tradition come from history. There are also some teams, whose rivalry represents the friction between religious groups (Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtics). Outside of England, a clear example of football rivalry that transcends the boundaries of sport is the case of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Real Madrid stands for the rule of the Spanish royalty, whereas FC Barcelona represents Catalan minority and their sense of freedom. Therefore, people in European countries are more heavily invested in football rivalries, and they take pride in supporting the winning side. They get depressed when their team loses, as if it was their own personal defeat. Soccer does not have the same effect on fans in the USA.
Such extreme loyalty makes football teams in Europe stronger financially, and also it makes it much more pleasurable to attend the sport events live in the arena, and cheer for your team. If you’ve never been to a clash between two European teams, we recommend you add it to your bucket list. It’s a fantastic experience.
You could also enjoy the broadcasts, which are available all over the world. You can even bet on some sporting events. You can also enjoy casino games after visiting this site www.playamo.com.
The differences between sports
We must also discuss the nature of the sport itself. Americans are much more fond of sports where teams score more often. Let’s take basketball as an example. The scores often reach hundreds. Soccer is different, often matches have 1 or 2 goals, or none at all. Also, Americans like to have measurable statistics and points to compare individual players. In Soccer, there are goals and assists, but these are very limited in number and not consistent. Soccer is a more team sport, and a player might do a lot to secure a win, even though he (or she) might not score goals or make assists.
Still, Football has many things going for it. For once, unlike other American sports, it requires minimal equipment and can be a lot of fun. Rules are easy to learn, and the motivated players can find a field anywhere and start playing right away. Also, soccer is less strict when it comes to the number of players and their roles. As long as you can score and win, you can play with any number of players, in any formation and on any size of the pitch.
Representation on the international stage
One of the reasons why people love football is that they love cheering for their national teams on the international stage. For example, after losing the 1974 World cup to Germany, people of the Netherlands became collectively depressed and the only thing that lifted their spirits was winning those same tournaments a few years later.
When we talk about national teams, we must mention that the USA is one of, if not the most dominant side on the international stage of women’s soccer. Still, so far this fact hasn’t been enough to make soccer as popular as basketball and football in the USA.
Some countries don’t dominate FIFA World and Euro championships, but soccer is still popular among their people. That’s not the case for countries with large populations like the United States, who perform well on the international stage, but they are definitely not in the TOP 10 on the international stage. This is a turn-off for American fans, who turn to watching Basketball, Baseball or other sports where they are the dominant side.
However, that trend seems to be changing. The players from the US are becoming prolific and they are some of the most promising talents in the world of football today. For example, Christian Pulisic, who plays for Chelsea, is a great up and comer. There are also players such as Giovanni Reyna, Sergino Dest, and others. All of these players are young and just getting started in their careers. More likely than not, soon the USA will have an amazing national team. This should help make the sport more popular.
