Soccer reached its highest interest in the United States during the middle of the 2010 World Cup.
When the red, white and navy blue jerseys drew a 1-1 tie with England at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa on Saturday, June 12th 2010, 17 million viewers tuned in to watch the match on ABC.
That total was topped on the final game that the United States would eventually play in the 2010 World Cup as 19.4 million viewers went on to watch Ghana beat the Americans in overtime by a score of 2-1.
The statistics of the viewership in the United States appears to illustrate how soccer has become a hit in America similarly to how other nations love and watch soccer themselves.
Despite the high ratings, the love and the popularity of the sport appears have returned to what it once was since the end of the World Cup. Soccer still has a long road ahead to reach the pedestal that sport is placed on by other countries.
Soccer has a variety of reasons for its lack of popularity among sports that are popular and being played in America. The sport is lacking in a variety of dimensions necessary to become a signature sport in America similar to what baseball, basketball and football are now.
First Dimension: Soccer Stars In Other Countries Are Gods. Soccer Stars In America Are Mere Mortals.
In every continent, soccer athletes are prominent and followed with god-like awe by the nation they were born in.
South America is filled with countries who have numerous stars, such as Brazil (who have Ronaldinho, Robinho and Kaka) and Argentina (who has superstar midfielder Lionel Messi). European countries are filled with stars, such as Portugal, who has probably the most popular soccer star in Cristiano Ronaldo, and England, who have Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard.
Countries in Africa have household names like Ivory Coast does with Didier Drogba and Cameroon does with Samuel Eto’o. The Asian nation also has countries with soccer stars such as South Korean Midfielder Park Ji Sung and Japanese Midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura.
These players are prominent among the upper echelon of players who are worldwide superstars and are extremely popular for their own countries.
As American footballers go, they are not even popular in their own countries.
Current stars like Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, and Oguchi Onyewu, have become prominent in the United States because of their participation in the World Cup. Despite being involved in the cup, their popularity has diminished since the conclusion of the tournament.
Their popularity and ability of staying on the radar as superstar athletes in America are pedestrian when compared to sports gods like Lebron James, Tom Brady, Derek Jeter and Tiger Woods.
Second Dimension: Soccer’s low scores and statistics is not what America is used to seeing.
When most soccer matches are shown, sometimes the audience spends ninety minutes watching players running up and down the field only to end up seeing a tie. This concept is foreign to America in regards to enjoying sporting events.
When it comes to expectations Americans have of their sports superstars, it’s statistics and high scores.
America loves people who can put up high numbers. Whether it’s hitting homeruns like Alex Rodriguez, putting up a triple double like Rajon Rondo, or throwing deep touchdowns like Drew Brees, the public is in awe of seeing their superstars with mind-boggling stats and putting points on the board.
For soccer to rise in popularity, America must be able to accept the fact that in soccer, statistics mean nothing.
According to the FIFA.com website, four players tied for the most goals in the tournament with only five goals. Between superstars Ronaldo, Rooney, and Messi, they have played in a combined total of 13 matches but only have one goal between them.
While not scoring is acceptable to nations outside of the United States with their soccer superstars, America would have difficulty going to games and watching all of the best players not score.
Third Dimension: Major League Soccer has many barriers to overcome to become prominent in the United States and the World.
The professional soccer league in America has come a long way from where it first started in 1996.
The league was actually losing attendance in its first years and had trouble being profitable. Although MLS has improved their attendance records and increased the number of teams in the league, the league has a long way to go from becoming what the NBA, MLB and NFL is in America.
One of the biggest reasons is the lack of popular players in the league. Within the list of the top 50 players in the World Cup (according to ESPN.com), only one player is in the American professional sports league (Donovan) and he is ranked at number 50. The other 49 players play in more challenging leagues outside of the United States.
Until elite talent joins the MLS, the league will continue to have difficulty marketing their limited talent.
Along with the inadequate talent comes the limit of dramatic rivalries and moments that define a league. For all the professional leagues to grow in America, the most necessary ingredient to have after talent is drama.
For the MLB, it's the Yankees vs. Red Sox rivalry. The rise of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the NBA created the rivalry of the Celtics vs. the Lakers. The NFL was able to become prominent because of Joe Montana and his ability to lead San Francisco with a last minute touchdown to win their first super bowl.
Without talent and dramatic moments, the MLS will struggle to make soccer prominent in the United States.
images: Thanks to Robin 'Ramsnake' for the pics. These are his video stills.
