Many factors explain the seeming mystery. First, dominance in other sports, especially those that identify with American culture- baseball and American football- crowds out interest in others. Americans have been playing baseball for over a century and a half. Named the ‘national pastime’ since 1856, Major League Baseball has recruited players from across the world, offering the highest level of competition.
The same goes for American football, which has steadily grown since 1920 (overtaking baseball in televised popularity in 1965). As the most attended domestic sports league in the world, the NFL is at the heart of American culture; Sunday is better known as ‘football day’ to many. In fact, American football has ingeniously implanted itself in several holidays in the USA. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and New Year’s all boast NFL matches and are strategically (and successfully) scheduled to increase audiences. There seems to be little room in the American market for soccer.
Second, Americans appreciate sports that necessitate shorter attention spans (bring on the Ritalin for those scoreless 45 minute halves!). Compared with soccer, American sports display more rapid events. On any given pitch in baseball, a batter may hit a homerun or force a defensive play that awes the crowd. From a numbers standpoint, football is generally a high-scoring affair, providing quick-developing action that keeps the audience enthralled in seesaw-like stimulation. Soccer develops more slowly, requiring patience to effectively exploit opponents’ weaknesses. Patience is often manifested in low-scoring results (or worse, ties!), score lines that are frowned upon in American sports culture. The nature of soccer is not appealing to fans who are used to quick action that requires only attention from play to play, with breaks and pauses in between. Continual play leaves them bored and disengaged.
Lastly, Americans have simply not been as internationally competitive as their European and South American counterparts. This results in a lack of high-quality home-grown players who can move to other more popular leagues and return home with improved competence. Similarly, there is a lack of young, skilled international players traveling to the US to play in the domestic league. What we often find are older, more recognizable players, recruited to the MLS in the late stages of their career to increase both popularity and marketability of the sport (see David Beckham). In World Cup action, the farthest an American team has made it was the quarterfinals in 2002, typically being dispatched in the round robin stage. The disinterest of Americans toward soccer at any other time than the World Cup exemplifies the lack of faith in domestic talent.
While Americans may not hold soccer in high regard today, the tide may be turning. Globalisation has caused the general public to perceive professional soccer more favourably, triggering increased ticket sales and, in turn, further investment in the sport including the acquisition of more talent. Combined with migration from many soccer-loving countries and the accompanying amelioration in the quality of the sport domestically, and attitudes toward this sport have slowly begun to shift.
The American women’s team has had an impact as well. In contrast to the men, they are enjoying a remarkable run, never finishing worse than third in the World Cup since 1991, and winning two titles along the way. Whether male or female, success begets fame as evidenced by Canada’s stellar women’s team (robbed at the Olympics I might add). Finally, the addition of another team to the MLS – the Montreal Impact – further supports this upward trend. The love and support of professional soccer is more prevalent in Montreal than in any American city.
If we sum it up then, migrants, women and Canadians are transforming the American outlook toward the world’s most popular sport for the better. Quick, someone alert the Republicans! {w}
by Sebastien Di Poi
