Post: #1

USA's draw with Portugal the most watched football match ever in United States with 24.7million viewers... more than NBA Finals

18.2m of those watched it on ESPN, which was a dramatic increase on the 11.1m who watched Jurgen Klinsmann's side beat Ghana 2-1 in their opening game.

A further 6.5m people also watched the match on Spanish language channel Univision, meaning that a total of around 25million people tuned in the for game. Meanwhile, the 2014 NBA finals featuring LeBron James' Miami Heat side averaged an audience of just 15.5m in the States.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/worldcu...z35hRNTPZ5
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Post: #2

No. And there's already a thread discussing why soccer isn't more popular in the US.

http://awfulannouncing.com/2013/the-2013...-ever.html

Post: #3

I'll just leave this here;

/thread-21413-...#pid436550

Post: #4

The NBA Finals, World Series, Super Bowl, Stanley Cup Finals are competitions between teams from two cities annually. The World Cup is a competition between nations every 4 years. People from Miami and San Antonio were glued to their sets, the hardcore NBA fan was just rooting for a good series, and everyone else could give two shits. Of course the whole nation is going to get behind their team in a quadrennial competition.

Post: #5

It wouldn't hold a light to the NFL playoffs, but yes this does indicate something. Soccer will always have fragmented numbers, MLS draws flies on ESPN, but for big time matches people will tune in. Champions League does well too. There is a large base that will tune in for a big match but not much else.

C. Ronoldo is a elite star in the game. His name and branding helps. You would see similar numbers for England/Rooney, Argies/Messi, vs USA. Those are big nations with elite stars that people whom are casual fans know about, and whom die hards will not miss.

Post: #6

Who knows. They say the demographics are changing though and the rest of the world loves soccer so with more immigrants to u.s. It would make sense that there are more soccer fans in the u.s. Rooting for the u.s. Just a theory...

Post: #7

(06-26-2014 01:21 AM)SDGuerro Wrote:  Who knows. They say the demographics are changing though and the rest of the world loves soccer so with more immigrants to u.s. It would make sense that there are more soccer fans in the u.s. Rooting for the u.s. Just a theory...

The immigrants who are soccer fans in the U.S. root for Mexico.

Post: #8

(06-25-2014 07:27 PM)Ensam Wrote:  No. And there's already a thread discussing why soccer isn't more popular in the US.

http://awfulannouncing.com/2013/the-2013...-ever.html

The MLS Cup had 505,000 viewers in a nation of over 300M people. Frankly, I'm surprised it had that many.

They have their playoffs during football season. No one's going to watch soccer during football season.

My friend put this "soccer" crap in context. He said, "Soccer is a sport for people who can't play sports."

Every four years there's this fervor and soccer is supposed to be the next big thing, but by the end of the WC it'll be back on the fringes.

It's just like luge or gymnastics or synchronized swimming every four years people care about it for a couple of weeks ... then boom, they are gone until the next four year cycle.

Also if the US doesn't move on, those ratings will dip to nothing. Only people watching it will be those guys who wear shorts no matter the temperature, low cut adidas shoes and call everybody lads.

Post: #9

Everyone I know finds soccer to be boring, yet, I know several NBA fans. In the USA, popularity of a sport depends on region.

For instance, in LA, despite their NHL team having just won the Stanley Cup, nobody cares. LA is a basketball town. In other parts of the nation, like Wisconsin, Football reigns supreme.

But as a whole, the NBA is a lot more popular than soccer in America.

Post: #10

It's growing... In twenty years, who knows.

Post: #11

(06-26-2014 02:55 AM)HeyPete Wrote:  ...those guys who wear shorts no matter the temperature, low cut adidas shoes and call everybody lads...

The present discussion aside, this description made me laugh.

Post: #12

If any sport is on the come up in terms of cultural popularity, it's college lacrosse. When everyone waxes poetic about the bright future of soccer in this country, they're actually describing what is/will happen to lacrosse.

Post: #13

Not right now. But maybe in 20 years it will.

Post: #14

In order for soccer to take off in the US, the MLS needs to get it's financial footing so it can attract top talent. Right now it's a place that Europe's talent goes to pasture. It's going to take more than 20 years.

Post: #15

I think basketball has been declining in popularity.

Post: #16

(06-26-2014 05:10 PM)Fighting888 Wrote:  I think basketball has been declining in popularity.

For the same reason soccer sucks - flopping and bad officiating. It's ruined basketball for me and it's the main reason soccer sucks.