Ask An American: Why Don't Americans Like Football/Soccer
Football is the most popular sport in the world! It's popular everywhere but America, the old stereotype goes, and in fact, Americans are downright hostile to the sport. Why is that?
The answer is a complicated one, but the first thing you need to know is this: Americans do not hate football - not any more, anyway. It's certainly not the most popular sport here, and indeed it may never be, but it's definitely not unpopular here.
NOTE: For the remainder of this post, I'm going to refer to football/soccer as "football."
We're Not The Only Country That Doesn't Like Football
The idea that America is unique in not being football-mad is simply untrue. There are lots of countries where football just isn't that popular. Canada comes to mind immediately, as do Australia, New Zealand, India and Pakistan, to name a few.
We Actually Do Like Football - Somewhat
Like I said above, football is not the most popular sport here. But it's not an afterthought, either. In fact, we have our own league, Major League Soccer, and important games sell out 35,000-seat stadiums. And it's growing.
Of course, MLS still falls way behind the National Football League (that is, American Football, or Gridiron Football) and Major League Baseball in terms of revenue. But football as a professional sport here, at least in terms of revenue, is definitely in the top five or six. It's definitely not an afterthought.
What's more, lots of children and teenagers play football, either at school or in recreational leagues.
There Was A Time When America Hated Football, But That Time Is No More
Football's popularity here is a relatively new thing, and it only dates back a couple of generations or so.
Prior to hosting the 1994 World Cup, the USA's collective attitude was one of either bored indifference or outright hostility.
Why?
There are a number of reasons for this, and I'll try to boil down the main ones. The biggest is that America has two home-grown sports, baseball and gridiron football, and American sports fans flock to those sports above all else. America can be kind of isolationist when it comes to culture, and that was especially true two generations ago. Football was seen as a "foreign" sport that had no place here.
Even those Americans who looked past soccer's foreign-ness saw problems with it, the main one being the comparative lack of scoring (newspaper columnist Lewis Grizzard once wrote that there are only three scores in soccer: 0-0, 0-1, and, in a real scoring extravaganza, 1-1).
There was also the fact that football relies heavily on international competition, and our national teams in those days were pretty disgraceful.
So what changed? A couple of things. Hosting the 1994 World Cup, and having a competitive international team, taught a lot of Americans that The Beautiful Game can be exciting and fun to watch. There's also been a tremendous influx of immigrants, particularly from Mexico and Latin America, and those immigrants have brought that fondness here.
The Future Of Football In The U.S.
You will still find Americans who absolutely hate football and will recoil at the very mention of it. But those Americans are generally older and/or more conservative. The average American sports fan, however, will probably at least tolerate football, if not be a huge supporter of their favorite team.
Still, football will probably never be the most popular sport in the U.S., and indeed, may never be. Gridiron Football and baseball both rule the day here, and it would take a dramatic drop in popularity in both sports before football started competing for their spots.
There's also the fact that, once again, our international team is a disgrace. Seriously, we can't beat Trinidad and Tobago for a spot in the World Cup? The 2018 World Cup qualifying process set football back in the United States by 20 years.
The day may come that football is the most popular sport in America, but that day is still a long way away.
The answer is a complicated one, but the first thing you need to know is this: Americans do not hate football - not any more, anyway. It's certainly not the most popular sport here, and indeed it may never be, but it's definitely not unpopular here.
NOTE: For the remainder of this post, I'm going to refer to football/soccer as "football."
We're Not The Only Country That Doesn't Like Football
The idea that America is unique in not being football-mad is simply untrue. There are lots of countries where football just isn't that popular. Canada comes to mind immediately, as do Australia, New Zealand, India and Pakistan, to name a few.
We Actually Do Like Football - Somewhat
Like I said above, football is not the most popular sport here. But it's not an afterthought, either. In fact, we have our own league, Major League Soccer, and important games sell out 35,000-seat stadiums. And it's growing.
Of course, MLS still falls way behind the National Football League (that is, American Football, or Gridiron Football) and Major League Baseball in terms of revenue. But football as a professional sport here, at least in terms of revenue, is definitely in the top five or six. It's definitely not an afterthought.
What's more, lots of children and teenagers play football, either at school or in recreational leagues.
There Was A Time When America Hated Football, But That Time Is No More
Football's popularity here is a relatively new thing, and it only dates back a couple of generations or so.
Prior to hosting the 1994 World Cup, the USA's collective attitude was one of either bored indifference or outright hostility.
Why?
There are a number of reasons for this, and I'll try to boil down the main ones. The biggest is that America has two home-grown sports, baseball and gridiron football, and American sports fans flock to those sports above all else. America can be kind of isolationist when it comes to culture, and that was especially true two generations ago. Football was seen as a "foreign" sport that had no place here.
Even those Americans who looked past soccer's foreign-ness saw problems with it, the main one being the comparative lack of scoring (newspaper columnist Lewis Grizzard once wrote that there are only three scores in soccer: 0-0, 0-1, and, in a real scoring extravaganza, 1-1).
There was also the fact that football relies heavily on international competition, and our national teams in those days were pretty disgraceful.
So what changed? A couple of things. Hosting the 1994 World Cup, and having a competitive international team, taught a lot of Americans that The Beautiful Game can be exciting and fun to watch. There's also been a tremendous influx of immigrants, particularly from Mexico and Latin America, and those immigrants have brought that fondness here.
The Future Of Football In The U.S.
You will still find Americans who absolutely hate football and will recoil at the very mention of it. But those Americans are generally older and/or more conservative. The average American sports fan, however, will probably at least tolerate football, if not be a huge supporter of their favorite team.
Still, football will probably never be the most popular sport in the U.S., and indeed, may never be. Gridiron Football and baseball both rule the day here, and it would take a dramatic drop in popularity in both sports before football started competing for their spots.
There's also the fact that, once again, our international team is a disgrace. Seriously, we can't beat Trinidad and Tobago for a spot in the World Cup? The 2018 World Cup qualifying process set football back in the United States by 20 years.
The day may come that football is the most popular sport in America, but that day is still a long way away.
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