World Cup Scores Only Small Audience

Rasmussen Reports ^ | June 23, 2006 | Rasmussen

[Tatze]

World Cup Scores Only Small Audience
Only 6% Following Tournament Very Closely

Despite a high level of media coverage for the World Cup soccer tournament, three-fourths of Americans (78%) are not following the action very closely if at all. A Rasmussen Reports survey of 1,000 adults found that just 6% are following the tournament very closely.

Nine percent (9%) of men are paying close attention along with 3% of women.

The Super Bowl remains the biggest sport championship in terms of fan appeal. Thirty-five percent (35%) of Americans say it’s their favorite championship to watch. The World Series is the only other championship to reach double digits—12% of adults say it’s their favorite.

One-fourth of all Americans (25%) say they don’t want any sports championships.

Despite the general lack of interest in the World Cup by the US audience, the soccer tournament is more popular than the NBA basketball championship and the NHL’s Stanley Cup hockey title. Both of those events were being held at the same time as the World Cup.

Fourteen percent (14%) of Americans say they played soccer in an organized league at some point in their life.

Fifty-two percent (52%) of Americans believe there is a professional soccer league in the United States (and they’re right).

The survey was conducted before the U.S. soccer team was eliminated. However, few were surprised by the lack of success--just 5% of the nation’s adults thought it was very likely the U.S. team would win the tournament.

The national telephone survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted by Rasmussen Reports June 19-20, 2006. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

[Vectorian]

'We have fifty little countries over here to contend with no need to go play second string nations.'

LOL, I can smell your fear! :D

[tertiary01]

Europeans think our baseball is as boring as we think their soccer is. Spaniards think our boxing is as disgusting as we think their bullfighting is.

At least boxers have a choice in whether they live or die by deciding NOT to box. The bulls don't have that luxury.

[Textide]

Count me among that 6%. It's a beautifully fluid game, despite the acting and frequency of cards this World Cup.

The diving exhibited by the Italians and the Mexicans are one reason why soccer probably isn't popular in this country. This blog post summarizes that theory very well...

"Why Americans Hate Soccer"

"Nowhere was this [diving] more evident than a play in a relatively uneventful 2-0 victory by Italy over Ghana. An Italian player was fouled from behind by a Ghana player and by the look of it, someone had shot him in the achilles. He laid on the field moaning like someone killed his dog and then stopped briefly to open his eyes to see if he got the foul, then immediately closed them again and resumed moaning. After a few moments, the Docs came on the field and carried him off on a stretcher. About a minute goes by and he's jogging back on the field and proceeds to play at full speed. It was the worst faking since Ricky Williams told us he loved the game of football / since Stu Scott pretended he was street / since Jeff Garcia dated the playboy model... hell, just insert your own joke here."

[jlasoon]

One of the reasons why I enjoy watching MLS most of the times, the players aren't that great but they play hard and they play because they love the game. We don't need synchronized swimming on the pitch.

[freedumb2003]

Might have been both. This was on Univision so I am pretty sure the one I heard talking (and being translated into Spanish) was Roynaldo.

It would be like Angelina Jolie walking down the street without sunglasess, etc. and no one taking note.

It actually cracks me up.

[MarDav]

I remember playing little league (3rd base--all glove no hit) and I can't remember a single second where I was bored. I also caught some and, there, too, I was never bored. But I'd often gaze into the outfield and see our rightfielder talking to his glove, or tossing it up in the air for a catch, or digging in his nose.

I guess the point is that the "closer" you are to the action, the more the action is palpable. The same goes for viewing sports. I played soccer in HS and, so, have developed an appreciation for what someone can do with a soccer ball (how about kicking a ball 50 yards downfield ahead of a teammate who is sprinting down the sideline and leading him just so as the ball takes its second bounce it is on his foot. this is not accident, this is skill.). I shot a bit of golf, and marvel at how the tour players are able to consistently hit the greens from all angles, lies, etc. I've driven my car ('67 Buick Grand Sport) at around 120 mph (once, on route 208 in NJ--dang fool! car was too light in the back; I was all over the road) and I marvel at the concentration of NASCAR drivers taking turns at 190 about 2 inches off the bumper of the man in front of them. In each case I've had a personal up-close view of the action. I appreciate what these folks can do.

[Vectorian]

'But face it Soccer is a poor mans poor countries sport.'

I didn't realise the concept of sportmanship was subject to personal wealth. Maybe it is in the US. Shame.

[stainlessbanner]

Oh yeah! ( the haze is lifting )

That was when their coach was teaching them how to play

[Vectorian]

'Who wants to watch Kickball run by UN rules???!'

Who wants to watch American Rugby run by Coca-Cola Inc rules???!

[MarDav]

I always find it amazing how many head-first slides there are--and how few injuries. Seems you'd think you'd see more broken noses, gashes/cuts (even from the swipe of a leather glove across the face).

[Redcloak]

280,000,000 X .06 = 16,800,000
16,800,000 - 12,000,000 illegal aliens = 4,800,000 Americans watching swarmball.

[The South Texan]

1) Not 35 pounds overweight, maybe 5.

2) I don't eat doughnuts while watching American Football. I eat chips and salsa with a diet coke.

So there. Let's get the facts straight.

[kabar]

I think soccer in the US is more of an elitist sport - it is expensive to play at the competitive level. Travel teams, highly-paid coaches, camps, training, etc. The US does not have the infrastructure around club teams and organizations that other countries have.

Soccer is cheap compared to football, baseball, and ice hockey. The same holds true for the NBA in terms of highly-paid coaches, camps, training, etc. The US only has one pro soccer league.

I think another poster had it right that many other countries just don't have sports leagues like the US: NASCAR, NBA, NFL, but they do have soccer, so they focus on that sport.

There is no doubt that there is greater competition for the sports dollar in the US. It is the world's largest sports market. That said, countries like the UK and Australia have competing sports like cricket, rugby, and Australian rules football. Basketball is a major sport in Europe now. I have attended two European final fours in basketball, one in Spain and one in Israel. The fan followings are tremendous. Basketball is the number two sport in Greece.

I think the NFL, NBA, baseball, and Ice Hockey would not want to see soccer rise to be a major sport in the US. The timing of the season would have an effect as well. LA is a hotbed of soccer drawing about 25,000 a game in MSL play. The growing Hispanic population will aid in soccer's popularity.

[freedumb2003]

From that same article:

Americans may generally be arrogant, but there is one stance I stand behind, and that is the intense loathing of penalty-fakers. There are few examples of American sports where diving is part of the game

Diving happens in basketball all the time, but not to the level in Soccer. Maradona actually bragged that he was best diver ever.

[romanesq]

I like this display because it shows the true repression within the black fag community. Just get over it.

Soccer doesn't rely on a core audience of black fags either.

[stainlessbanner]

We covered the "fat-man" on a thread last week. He's proving all the naysayers wrong - he's playing well this tournament - his goal yesterday was pure mastery.

On another note, I read the US-Ghana match was the 5th highest viewed soccer match for ESPN. The amount of viewers was actually less than the 98 US-Germany match!

[rb22982]

Club soccer is very expensive with the traveling and tournaments, especially in big states. My parents spent around $5,000 or more a year for me to play soccer. Basketball cost us around $250. Baseball was around $500.

[kabar]

Each to his own. That is why different sports appeal to different people. I am a bona fide sports nut, so I enjoy just about every game and sport. Fishing is not one of them. I have tried it including going on a deep sea fishing trip below Baja California. I got sicker than a dog on the small boat, even though I spent 8 years in the USN. So did most of my fellow shipmates.

[meyer]

It's soccer, for cryin' out loud. Now, if it were real football, or NASCAR, or baseball, there'd be a larger audience.

[N. Theknow]

Actually, I am surprised - that the number is that high!

Polling must have been done in urban metrosexual areas.

Not sure how they define "closely following."

Actually, if a person watches ESPN he can't help but "follow" the World Cup. Just like a person who doesn't like the NBA or the NHL can't help but "follow" those leagues.

For example: I know who won the NBA championship and the NHL Stanley Cup, but I did not watch a single minute of either one while they were being played.