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World Cup soccer: little ado about nothing
—Posted by Mark Dolliver |
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June 28, 2006 | Permalink |
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And yet the ratings -- even for non-USA games -- are higher than or equal to pretty much every other sport except the NBA Finals.
We're living in a time of fragmented interests. No longer will 45 percent of the country watch I Love Lucy at night. In certain circles, The Office is considered mandatory viewing, yet the overall rating for that show is just a few million.
If you're capturing 9 percent of U.S. audience, that's huge.
Posted by: Murphy | Jun 28, 2006 9:09:22 AM
EXACTLY!
Murphy, thanks for keeping it real!
GO ENGLAND!
Posted by: jwh | Jun 28, 2006 11:14:05 AM
I'm surprised more young Americans have not embraced it. This World Cup has more bad acting and bad refereeing than the WWE.
Posted by: Anon | Jun 28, 2006 11:40:13 AM
the weird thing is, all you hear about during the world cup is that americans aren't into it, thereby making it the top friggin newstory for a month. even if you're not into it, you can't get away from it.
Posted by: dusty bottoms | Jun 28, 2006 12:45:21 PM
i watched my first professional soccer game ever on Monday afternoon. Ukraine versus Switzerland. Hadn't intended to watch at all but it was on and kind of grabbed us. We stayed through the whole scoreless game, which soccer afficionados the next day told me was a "boring" game. I beg to differ. It was suspenseful and the penalty kicks necessary for someone (Ukraine) to win were impossibly thrilling. i would probably not want to attend soccer games live, because like american sports, it's easier to understand and more engaging on TV. But now I find myself checking the listings of who's still in. who plays whom next. who's the favorite, etc. while i still don't know much about the game, i have found myself more interested, even peripherally, than the last time around. not rooting for anyone in particular but would like to see the final. oh and one final note, is it me or is the refereeing very arbitrary?
Posted by: | Jun 28, 2006 3:47:30 PM
Please, spare us the "We’ve heard for decades that interest in soccer would increase as more Americans played in youth leagues, but it never quite seems to happen" line.
Kids can't become fans when there's no local team to watch. Would you care about baseball or basketball if the closest professional franchise was in Italy?
MLS has only been around for 11 seasons and its footprint is still small. Give it some time.
Only non-soccer fans expect the sport to mushroom overnight. Those who follow soccer know it will be a slow and steady process.
Posted by: John | Jun 28, 2006 3:58:34 PM
You know what's as entertaining as watching a 0-0 match of two countries I don't care of for three hours? Watching grass grow, get your nuts electrocuted, picking up lint... you get the idea.
And as for the officiating, I saw a referee giving a game to the Italians in the Italy-Australia match. I rather watch a game where the players actually decide the outcome.
Europeans can keep their sport to themselves.
Posted by: God-Bless American | Jun 28, 2006 5:06:14 PM
Mexico has 90 million soccer fans. They spend more time and money in soccer than we do and yet, they can't figure out a way to win. We regularly kick Mexico's ass in soccer without using a lot of resources. I think we're in good shape.
Posted by: GoUS | Jun 29, 2006 12:35:07 AM
"I rather watch a game where the players actually decide the outcome."
you mean like the nfl? the nba? mlb?
Posted by: dusty bottoms | Jun 29, 2006 12:15:24 PM
