Posted on 06/24/2010 1:22:08 AM PDT by Chet 99
By John Houder Columnist
Published: Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 at 2:12 p.m.
The United States is a nation of differences. We all live together under one flag, but we're divided by geography, religion and socio-economic class. We disagree on trivial subjects like politics and important ones like whether or not the series finale of “Lost” was a complete disappointment. (It was.)
The only thing that transcends those boundaries and ties us together as a country is our mutual understanding that soccer is a pretty stupid game.
Everyone, from the richest Wall Street CEO to the poorest, bus-station hobo, will agree that soccer is an intensely boring sport where players are more likely to get hurt writhing around on the “pitch” in fake agony than they are while actually playing the game.
Where is the excitement in a 90-minute match that ends in a score of 1-0 or, often enough, 0-0? How many games can you watch before you lose all hope that something interesting will ever happen? Why don't they just pick up the ball or punch each other like in a real sport?
If we don't hate soccer, we certainly approach it with the same detached ambivalence as we do the metric system or photographs of other people's vacations. We understand that it's important or interesting to someone else, but we just don't have the time or energy to care about it ourselves.
(Excerpt) Read more at gainesville.com ...
But if the game aired in Prime Time, it would have done much better than 13 million.
The next WC in Brazil should have more games showing in Prime Time.
Outside of England, Spain, Germany, domestic soccer isn't that big of a draw in a lot of countries, even where soccer is the most popular sport. More people pay attention to the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, etc.
As more of the best American players play in Europe, expect more Americans to follow those leagues, rather than the MLS.
I don't follow the MLS, but I get up early Saturday and Sunday to watch the EPL.
If it can’t have a domestic following it’s not a major sport, not in America anyway. Europe, with all their little countries all crammed together and their border crossing leagues is a different story. In many ways those Euro domestic leagues are the minors, and the border crossing leagues are the majors; in America except for a handful of teams we keep the minors and the majors domestic.
And nothing that’s a less than annual even (like world cup) can be a major sport, that’s like saying that because of summer olympic ratings gymnastics is a major sport in America. Major sports have annual interest, and soccer just isn’t in that world in America, and there’s really nothing indicating it’s going to change.
The early audiences in the USA are approaching double the numbers attracted in 2006 at the same stage. The footballing records to beat (post 1994 World Cup) are the 18m who watched the women’s World Cup final in 1999, when the USA beat China, and the 6.7m who watched Mexico play Argentina in the R16 on Univision in 2006. Both those records could tumble in 2010.
The World Cup final on 11 July will vie with the 2002 World Cup final for the record of being the second most-watched live televised event in human history – behind the 2008 Olympic Games opening ceremony – according to Kevin Alavy, a leading authority on global TV viewing patterns in sport.
Alavy forecasts that 2010 World Cup matches will see average audiences of around 125m people per match; or in terms that will shock most American TV viewers, 64 Super Bowl-size TV audiences inside a single month.
Along with the linear viewership, the tournament has drawn a sizable live audience to the Web. If nothing else, the World Cup appears to be proving the power of ESPN's cross-platform heft. Based on early research, ESPN through Day 3 recorded a 13% reach lift from non-TV platforms, which encompasses all World Cup content (not just live games) delivered by ESPN.com, ESPN3.com and mobile platforms, as well as ESPN Radio and ESPN The Magazine.
Univision is streaming all 64 games online for free. "We've set new records each day since the start," said Kevin Conroy, president of Univision Interactive Media.
Through June 15, Univision.Futbol.com had tracked 6 million visits in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, double its 2006 traffic. The site averaged 250,000 unique viewers during live matches, peaking with 130,000 concurrent users during the Brazil-North Korea match.
While Web traffic is significant, live mobile streaming may be seeing the biggest uptick. Though neither ESPN nor its mobile partners could provide total audience numbers for live mobile streaming, according to Ray DeRenzo of MobiTV, this year's Cup is the "biggest single viewing event in our history." Similarly, Qualcomm's Flo TV said the World Cup had already drawn the third largest audience in its history, behind Barack Obama's inauguration and Michael Jackson's funeral.
One of the things we’ve learned already is no matter how “good” the world cup does in America it has no coattails for the MLS.
MLS must upgrade the product to get the attendance. That will come. The rapidly changing demographics of this country will increase the popularity of soccer. The U.S. adds one international migrant (net) every 34 seconds. Immigrants account for one in 8 U.S. residents, the highest level in more than 80 years. In 1970 it was one in 21; in 1980 it was one in 16; and in 1990 it was one in 13. In a decade, it will be one in 7, the highest it has been in our history. And by 2050, one in 5 residents of the U.S. will be foreign-born. And if we have an amnesty, the country will be destroyed but soccer will become the number 1 sport.
I'm Dutch too and soccer sucks IMHO...
Yeah I'm sure Obama voters are big soccer fans...
Exacty....and like soccer is really hard to understand....Bwahahahahahaha!!!
But double next to nothing still ain’t much. That just shows how minor soccer is as a sport in this country.
And one shot highs are pretty meaningless too. Yeah 18 million watched the women’s team in 1999, and 17.9 million of them have never watched another women’s soccer game again. To be the “fifth major sport” there needs to be carry over and consistency.
How many people around the world watch is meaningless to its popularity in America.
You throw around a lot of numbers, but the important number is the 100% meaninglessness of the numbers you throw around. 250,000 unique viewers on a website available to 6 billion people world wide is nothing. 13% “reach lift” is a made up number for a made up concept that has no meaning. The number that has meaning is the 2.24 million, 2/3 of 1% of the nation’s populace, that’s digital cable ratings, the Scripps National Spelling bee drew FOUR million viewers a couple weeks before the world cup started.
Actually MLS attendance is supposed to be pretty good, but the money is in TV deals and apparently the only people watching MLS are doing it live.
Yeah migrants account for 1 in 8 Americans, and yet only 1 in 150 Americans is watching the world cup. So apparently all the people who move here from other countries are fleeing soccer.
The L.A. Lakers’ series-clinching win over the Boston Celtics was seen by 28.2 million viewers last week, making it the most-watched NBA game since Michael Jordan won his sixth and final championship in 1998.
For the week of June 14-20, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: NBA Finals: Boston vs. L.A. Lakers, Game 7, ABC, 28.2 million; NBA Finals: Boston vs. L.A. Lakers, Game 6, ABC, 17.96 million; “America’s Got Talent” (Wednesday), NBC, 11.65 million; “America’s Got Talent” (Tuesday), NBC, 10.55 million; “NCIS,” CBS, 9.64 million; “Two and a Half Men,” CBS, 9.21 million; “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 9.11 million; “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 8.88 million; “The Bachelorette,” ABC, 8.41 million; “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 8.33 million
The initial portion of the round-robin stage was distinguished by the much-anticipated June 12 U.S.-England tie, which drew 13 million viewers on ABC, making it the most-watched first round World Cup game in U.S. broadcast history.
I bet the World Cup final will top the LA Laker/Celtics 7th game stats.
You finally got something right, the numbers don’t lie, and the numbers for the world cup are not impressive. 2 point 2 4 million people on average, slightly better than half what a SPELLING BEE got.
NBA ratings haven’t been doing so hot, the finals were a nice bump but the regular season has been in the toilet. If America is in the finals it probably will have better ratings than the NBA game. But as a long time hockey fan who watches the numbers, including the great ratings the olympic final had this year, and the rating for NHL games, I know that it’s completely meaningless. It’s not that hard for one shot events to get a big pump in the ratings, but to be on the list of major sports (which was your declaration) you need consistent ratings. The NHL gained basically no viewers from the olympics, and even if 300 million Americans (minus me) watch the world cup finals soccer outside the world cup should expect the exact same bump the NHL got (nothing).
The pipeline of fans is being built both by the schools and immigration. By 2050 one in three residents of this country will be Hispanic. There are close to 40 million foreign born in this country now. By 2050 there will be close to 90 million out of a population of approximately 450 million.
Yeah it’s huge with the youth, has been for a long time, I live in Tucson home of the ft lowell soccer shootout, one of the largest youth soccer tournaments in the world, I know all about the popularity of the game with the youth. Problem is it’s been the #1 youth sport for long enough to show that once these kids grow up they apparently aren’t watching the game. That “pipeline” is having no lasting effect. We’ve now seen 3 full waves of soccer playing 12 year-olds NOT become soccer watching 25 year-olds.
40 million foreign born in the country. 2.24 million watching the world cup. you can make all the “projections” you want, the reality is what it is, and the reality is that this huge event in the rest of the world is a minor event in America. It’s getting the same ratings as the NBA, whose ratings are down. And this is the BIG event, MLS ratings are under a quarter million. It is quite simply not a popular sport in America, not even among the transplants. And every single number you throw around makes my case for me.
BINGO !!! and people NEED to trash something they do not understand and/or can't play, especially if it is as popular as soccer. After all, it is Hell being on the sidelines and not even knowing which end of the ball goes up (he, he). I am lovin the World Cup. Enjoy the games soccer fans !!! Others, keep freaking out.
That's pretty funny stuff.
Soccer is a great sport! (As long as you TIVO it and fast forward on speed 4 until the score changes). I get through 4 games a day in less than 40 minutes. My favorite parts are when the French or Italians cry- love that!
I’ve been watching two games at a time these past two days, one on the tube and the other on the laptop. What a thrill! And these humorless doofi tell us futbol is boring? That says more about them than about the greatest sport on the planet.
The fact that one game at a time can’t hold your attention shows it is boring.
Since you are a soccer fan, you may have seen this, but if not, enjoy....
Great commercial, great song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQmu48sZohc
First, I think the figures are understated given the group game watching parties and establishments that host multiple viewers. The sports bars are crammed with viewers in the DC metro area based on personal experience and local news stories. Through its first 17 broadcasts, Univision averaged 2.24 million viewers doesn't mean that this is the only source for foreign born viewers.
Through the first 14 matches of the World Cup, ESPN and ABC have delivered an average crowd of 3.35 million viewers, marking a 64% increase from the same period in 2006, when the networks drew 2.9 million fans.
The Beijing Olympics opening ceremony was the most-watched event in human history, with an average TV audience of 593m and a reach of 984m. With “out of home” viewing, it became the first “genuine 1bn” spectator event. The last World Cup final, between Italy and France in Germany in 2006, attracted a global average of 322m viewers, and a reach of 638m.
"Alavy forecasts that 2010 World Cup matches will see average audiences of around 125m people per match; or in terms that will shock most American TV viewers, 64 Super Bowl-size TV audiences inside a single month.
“No other media property delivers the same spikes in audience delivery, day-after-day, sustained over a month as the Fifa World Cup,” says Alavy. “In that sense, the World Cup can be described as the largest shared experience in the world – with all the communications implications and benefits that brings.”
...the reality is that this huge event in the rest of the world a minor event in America. It is quite simply not a popular sport in America, not even among the transplants. And every single number you throw around makes my case for me.
The World Cup is far from being a minor event is you are talking about sporting events. World Cup soccer fever continues to heat up across the U.S. The United States vs. Slovenia match, which ended in a 2-2 tie Friday, was the most-watched soccer telecast in households (3.9 million) on ESPN in the network's history, and was the third most-viewed telecast ever on the cable network with 5.2 million viewers.
The viewership is carrying over to the networks' websites. World Cup content on all ESPN sites, including ESPN Soccernet and ESPN Deportes, delivered 40.4 million visits and 137.9 million page views from June 11-18.
Univision's website has drawn 14 million visits and 108 million page views for the same period. And over 5 million visits and 24.5 million page viewers have been served on Univision's mobile platforms during the first week of the World
The Mexico vs. France match on Univision on Friday was the most-watched World Cup match so far this tournament with 5.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen Co. fast nationals data.
The average American TV audience for the first three games played by Team USA are up 68% in 2010 compared to the same point during the 2006 World Cup, according to an analysis released this afternoon by The Nielsen Company.
An average of 11.1 million viewers caught the English and Spanish language broadcasts for each of USA’s three Group C matchups in this year’s World Cup. In 2006, USA’s three group stage games averaged 6.6 million viewers.
Average U.S. Viewership for USA World Cup Matches, 2010
Date Game Networks Viewers (P2+)
6/12/2010 USA-England ABC/Univision 17.1 million
6/18/2010 USA-Slovenia ESPN/Univision 7.5 million
6/23/2010 USA-Algeria ESPN/Univision 8.6 million
Average 11.1 million
Source: The Nielsen Company
True.
If you got three points scored in every soccer game, though, you'd find a lot of Americans interested.
Teams have scored and they can score again, so you keep watching.
The problem with the game are the many 0-0 and 1-0 matches, which produce a sense of frustration and futility.
They could change the game -- smaller field, bigger net, no more offside rules -- but that wouldn't satisfy the purists who almost seem to like the hopelessness that turns others off.
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