According to the news, "Watched by more than 133 million viewers in the U.S. last year, the Super Bowl is annually the nation's highest-rated TV program. The game will be broadcast to a potential worldwide audience of 1 billion in more than 225 countries and territories. Game time is 6 p.m. ET. "

Is American-style "football" of any interest to people in Europe?
As popular as "soccer" is in the U.S. (growing in popularity all the time)?



Just curious.

soccer is not growing in popularity in the US - that's been a myth perpetuated for 3 decades now....

So soccer in the U.S. is no more popular than it was in 1975?

Tell that to the thousands of kids in youth soccer leagues -- which did not even exist in the U.S. in the 1970s.

martingo Wrote:
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> So soccer in the U.S. is no more popular than it
> was in 1975?
>
> Tell that to the thousands of kids in youth soccer
> leagues -- which did not even exist in the U.S. in
> the 1970s.
>
>


martingo...A.Y.S.O. (american youth soccer orginization) did exist in the '70s....i played it from '76-'77

Leonard's right - youth soccer has been around forever in the US. Very popular as a youth sport/activity - but it falls off the map after that. My kids played it when they were young and couldn't give a rat's ass about it now, which is pretty much par for the course in the US.

So, if the Stones blow it as badly as they did at the American Music Awards, they have a chance to set the record for "Band Made Fun Of By The Most People In One Single Day, Ever." I actually think they will buckle down and deliver a good performance, but man will it be embarassing if they don't.

I wish they would play it straight for the first three and a half songs and then rip into @#$%& until the network cuts them off. Kind of like Elvis Costello did on Saturday Night Live way back when when he stopped playing Allison midsong and suddenly launched into Radio, Radio. I'm dreaming, I know, but how cool would that be? Imagine the headlines: "Stones give the finger to one billion people, prove that old guys can still be rude and dangerous." They could get Janet Jackson to come out when they sing "I'll bet you keep your pussy clean."

sadly the only reason most kids in the usa play soccer is because their parents are afraid they will get hurt playing football...so they play soccer and watch football....lacross is becoming bigger in the states than soccer.

Youth soccer is popular with the parents because its one of the cheapest sports to play. It also requires less travel and not as many injuries. What you do not have here is the genrational factor, where a father or an uncle or brother will bring the youths to a Major league soccer game like they would bring to a Baseball, Football or hockey game. Personally I loved playing it as a Kid in the 60&70's But watching it BITES.

I think soccer is popular in North America at the kids level. I know there is lots of participation where I live with minor soccer. It is fun to play but (in my opinion) boring to watch. The thought of watching a 90 minute game end in a 0-0 tie is not appealing.
All football fans in Canada will be tuning in to the Superbowl. There is an NFL Europe which has teams in several cities. Not sure how well they draw.

hot stuff Wrote:
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> sadly the only reason most kids in the usa play
> soccer is because their parents are afraid they
> will get hurt playing football...so they play
> soccer and watch football....lacross is becoming
> bigger in the states than soccer.

You are correct, but what is even sadder is that MORE kids get hurt playing soccer than football. While working as a Youth Football Director for my son's team, I was surprised to read reports that there are actually fewer injuries in football than any other sport at the youth level. Lots of padding!

Lacrosse is definitely on the rise...and is a great game! My son's new sport of choice...over football!

I'm thinking that The Stones will ROCK the Super Bowl, particularly after their lousy performance at the AMAs!

Ross

OT, football is big in canada, but asides from hockey and basketball, rugby is gaining a lot of ground.

I think soccer should have a better chance to become popular in US than for american football to become popular in Europe. The reason is the World Cup every fourth year. Then the US team plays against all the best teams in the world and actually makes it very well most cups I´ve seen. Especially considering the low status of the sport in US compared to the rest of the world. Don´t you americans watch your team in the World Cup?

Haako Wrote:
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> > Don´t you americans watch your team in the World
> Cup?


Yes we do but that usaully only requires one round of watching.

Leonard Keringer Wrote:
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> martingo Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > So soccer in the U.S. is no more popular than
> it
> > was in 1975?
> >
> > Tell that to the thousands of kids in youth
> soccer
> > leagues -- which did not even exist in the
> U.S. in
> > the 1970s.
> >
> >
>
>
> martingo...A.Y.S.O. (american youth
> soccer orginization) did exist in the '70s....i
> played it from '76-'77
>
>
>
>
And based on stats from that organization (http://soccer.org/) I daresay youth soccer in the U.S. has grown more than a bit since then.

According to AYSO --

"The American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) was established in the Los Angeles area in 1964 with nine teams. It was the dream of a group of devoted soccer enthusiasts who started the organization in a garage. Today, AYSO has more than 50,000 teams and more than 650,000 players."

Considering the increasing number of immigrants from Latin American countries, I'd guess that soccer will become even more popular in the US.

Opps, sorry. Apparently, I have accidently logged onto the "Soccer 'n Sequins" site. Thought this was a Stones site.

Since this thread has become about soccer, let me add my two cents worth: zzzzzzzzz. Sorry, nodded off there for a moment. It's less boring than baseball, though. I cannot stand baseball.

I'm not that crazy about American football anymore either (used to be a fairly big fan but got bored with it), although I love basketball. Any basketball fans out there, particularly NBA basketball? There will probably be NBA expansion teams in at least London, Paris and Madrid within ten years.

The only people here in the US who give a rat's ass about soccer is all of the non-Americans who live here.

Criticize football and yer in big trouble.
I'll watch it for the Stones, but otherwise
will leave it at that.....................! ;-)

I can´t believe you americans think that football (yes, the name of the sport is FOOTBALL, not "soccer") is boring...

American football is boring!! the game stops every 5 seconds!!!
Baseball is boring too.. but Basketball is ok, very good actually.

Football is the best sport in the World!!! I have no doubts that the FIFA World Cup final next year in Berlin (Brazil to win again!!! ) will be watched by more people than the Superbowl. I will only watch this because of the Stones.

Never let your kid play a sport where they have no "Old Timers Game" Do they do that in soccer. They can't in "football" cause there all crippeld.

tomee Wrote:
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> Never let your kid play a sport where they have no
> "Old Timers Game" Do they do that in soccer.

loads of them

Being a football coach, that is American football, I can tell you the sport has excelled over the last five decades at the professional level due to leadership from the owners, commissioners (Pete Rozelle, namely) and most of all TELEVISION.

This sport caters to this medium better than any sport around. The stoppages in play are perfect for advertisers and Joe Sixpack to go to the fridge for beer and wings. Soccer, a great game to play, is difficult to watch on television because of little scoring, little contact/rough play(in comparision to football or hockey), and with very few stoppages, not good for advertisers who not only sell their product, they sell the sport.

Don't think it will ever become a major sport here like football, basketball or baseball. I personnally like hockey and the NHL has worked well with advertisers in recent years to ensure stoppages of play for advertisers without detracting from the game.

World Cup of Soccer gets people interested for a few weeks, maybe a month and that is it. The professional sports leagues are what drive the majority of fans in the U.S., at least in my opinion.