ill get right to the point here and ask do you guys think beckham can bring soccer into our American lives?
i think he can, i know i will watch more games just to see him play
Do I think Becks will bring soccer more into our lives? only for a short bit. I think that by his 2nd or 3rd game or after his first goal America will be over the Beckham craze.
As for if I will watch more soccer? yep. Tonights game was the first soccer game i watched in its entirety since one of the niners games last fall.
In short, he will. But not by our own choosing.
ESPN, et al, are shoving this down our throats, just like this “Who’s Now?” crap.
I do not know one “normal” person who talks about Beckham in their every day life. However, I do know people who are obsessed with baseball, football, basketball and, yes, even some hockey maniacs. It’s all they know and talk about. Jeter this, Jeter that. Fire that bum A-Rod. Go Sawx. Big Papi. Tom Braaady. Randy Moss. Jose Reyes. And they drone on and on and on.
Soccer? No.
If ESPN and everyone else weren’t shoving this down our throats, no one would be begging, please please put more soccer games on TV.
It may be a quality product, but there is no major sea change coming. It will be “fashionable”, but that’s what marketing’s all about. Creating the next big thing.
In short, he will. But not by our own choosing.ESPN, et al, are shoving this down our throats, just like this “Who’s Now?” crap.
I do not know one “normal” person who talks about Beckham in their every day life. However, I do know people who are obsessed with baseball, football, basketball and, yes, even some hockey maniacs. It’s all they know and talk about. Jeter this, Jeter that. Fire that bum A-Rod. Go Sawx. Big Papi. Tom Braaady. Randy Moss. Jose Reyes. And they drone on and on and on.
Soccer? No.
If ESPN and everyone else weren’t shoving this down our throats, no one would be begging, please please put more soccer games on TV.
It may be a quality product, but there is no major sea change coming. It will be “fashionable”, but that’s what marketing’s all about. Creating the next big thing.
just a thought man, but its my understanding (no, i did not want to put forth the time to research this…) that a majority of the major corporations in the USA that own sports teams own NFL, NBA, MLB, etc. and very few have any ties to any soccer organization. this would reflect the advertising as you could assume, not necessarily supressing soccer in any way shope or form, but more so just spending more money and time making sure that advertisements for NFL pre-season games are up and running to the masses. perhaps thats why no one has had soccer “shoved down their throats” like they have had all of the major sports in america today.
As for do i think it will blow soccer up here in the US? I do think it will have some very large impacts that will not fade away. Incase you havnt noticed, the sport, Pre-Beckham coming to America, has been growing quickly. There is much more merchandise available in stores, and a lot more advertisements as well. Its also traditionally been the sport that many kids take part in at a young age, and its beginning to branch into the highschools and things of that nature. I dont know about you guys, but the part reason i didnt play in highschool was because everyone who played was made fun of and called “grass fairy” and things of that nature for not playing Football like the rest of the kids. That is something I now sincerely regret, but thats not the point. I personally think that the Beckham days will fade away, and taht he will not be here to fullfill his full contract of 5 years. But what it has done is made an awareness of the sport like never before. And I think that it will increase the interest, and hopefully spark and interest into what could be the American Soccer greats of tomorrow… Soccer will likely never be as large as football, or even the NBA in america for some time though, if ever. It will take something major, such as winning the World Cup, to bring that type of interest.
Also - it makes no sense that in America we refer to the Football we all fight for our University to take part in as Football, while calling what the rest of the world calls football Soccer. if anyone can enlighten me on this topic, please share, ive been wondering this for a long time.
I watched last night the “beckam cam”, where they followed him around, was awful.
However, watching a sport on a rectangular piece of grass at twilight with fans cheering got me excited about the real football season, and thats about it.
Beckham playing in the US will not get real sports fans to become soccer fans. If someone was previously a soccer fan, they will maybe like it more or non-sports fans might get into it some, but that is about it.
Everywhere you look, ESPN, Yahoo.com, NBC, etc. all you see is either washed up David or plastic looking Victoria, it makes me sick.
Let the public decide if we like soccer or not, don’t shove it down out throats. Soccer has been around long enough that if fans of the other major sports have not jumped on board yet, a washed up player from England isn’t going to change that.
The TV companies and advertisers are putting a lot of money into the Beckhams and they are trying to force a good return.
[QUOTE=ninerID;249572]I watched last night the “beckam cam”, where they followed him around, was awful.
[QUOTE]
AGREED! I was like WTF are they doing, I can’t even see the game now. I wasn’t interested in seeing Beckham hobble around on a bummed leg and basically do nothing out there. I was dissappointed they even put him in, but i guess they owed it to the fans who were there to at least give him a few minutes.
BTW, Beckham will not bring soccer to the forefront, but he will raise it’s popularity. I say that with all the television they’ll be getting, it will slide ahead of the NHL.
Oh, and BTW I don’t know how Landon Donavan missed that easy header. Perfectly crossed, and he flips it over the net. Just pitiful. He’s only good for PK’s.
I did enjoy seeing how Chelsea put on a clinic and kept the ball across midfield what seemed like 80% of the time. It was fun getting to see Didier Drogba, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, and Michael Ballack put on a show.
[QUOTE=Ninerballin;249576][QUOTE=ninerID;249572]I watched last night the “beckam cam”, where they followed him around, was awful.
[QUOTE]
AGREED! I was like WTF are they doing, I can’t even see the game now.[/QUOTE]
Last night wasn’t about the game, it was about the new guy. I’ll admit I actually watched the last part of the match. Beckham should of never entered the game, not with his ankle hurt. It’s sad how the media can make someone play hurt.
in my personal opinion i see two sports increasing in popularity and one rapidly decreasing. i have a good feeling that in 5 years mostly hockey and some soccer will become more popular here in the usa and (unless jordan comes out of retirement) the nba just taking a nosedive into the ground b/c lets face it id rather watch the kansas city royals batting practice rather than an nba regular season game, its pathetic. but i think people will see that hockey and soccer players are some of the greatest athletes in the world and they arent pre-maddonas about either. outside of beckham these athletes dont get paid nearly as much as NFL, NBA, and NFL players do and yet they continuosly come out and play everyday, even if their hurt.
One of the main reasons that soccer is going to be hurt in the U.S. is that Americans like structure. They play something like 16 MLS games, but in between there are all these friendly games, World Series of Football, etc. If you’re a casual fan, it doesn’t make sense.
Who are they playing today, why, and what is at stake? In the MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL and even NASCAR you have a set schedule, you have standings, you know what the hell is going on. With golf, you don’t really need that, each week is a new week. They’re trying with the FedEx Cup at least.
Tennis has the same problems as MLS. What the hell is Davis Cup? I know what it is, but most fans don’t.
With MLS, why was the Galaxy playing Chelsea in the middle of their MLS season? It makes no sense at all. I think that hurts their cause. Too many leagues, too many cross over games, too scattered a schedule.
Also, I used to be a huge NHL fan but now I can’t stomach watching any more. They might never recover. Think about this fact: the six Canadian teams generate 33% of the NHL’s revenue (should generate 20%). They should not be looking to move the Predators to Kansas City, they should allow them to move to Hamilton. End of story. The best way to save the NHL is to move more teams, not less, to Canada, where the revenues will go up and all the teams will be better off financially for it.
It’s nice to see American media actually promoting the sport. As a lifelong soccer fan, that’s the way I look at it. I don’t care if it took Posh Spice to make it happen.
I can see soccer taking some of the NBA’s share, the NBA is WAY down and the NFL is way up. A sport that is played outdoors, and doesn’t really contradict to much with the seasons (especially nfl playoffs) could be a good thing.
I think that Beckham will do a lot for the league but it will die off, hopefully another player or two catches some fans attention and it sticks with them.
brick makes a great point though, the broke up season is stupid. I had no clue why they were playing chelsea, and still don’t.
What a joke that was last night. I was at the Saucer last night with a couple friends, and the only two things on were NASCAR and that soccer game (could it get any worse?). Anyways, we were blown away by the ridiculous Beckhampalozza lovefest. The guy played like 3 minutes, flopped a couple times, gave a few high fives, stretched a little, and ran off the field. What the hell were we supposed to get excited about??
And the Beckham cam? Are you serious!? Hey I have another idea, lets follow him around 24/7 so we can see him brush his teeth and take a dump too while we are at it.
Give me a friggin break…
[QUOTE=danecookistheman;249582]in my personal opinion i see two sports increasing in popularity and one rapidly decreasing. i have a good feeling that in 5 years mostly hockey and some soccer will become more popular here in the usa and (unless jordan comes out of retirement) the nba just taking a nosedive into the ground b/c lets face it id rather watch the kansas city royals batting practice rather than an nba regular season game, its pathetic. but i think people will see that hockey and soccer players are some of the greatest athletes in the world and they arent pre-maddonas about either. outside of beckham these athletes dont get paid nearly as much as NFL, NBA, and NFL players do and yet they continuosly come out and play everyday, even if their hurt.[/QUOTE]
The NBA isn’t going to be hurt by soccer, nor is hockey or football. Baseball is really the only one that has a chance because the seasons overlap.
MLS has a better TV package than the NHL, so don’t count on hockey growing to levels above the NBA. If there was more than 1 ref involved with the betting scandal, then things could be different. However, please don’t forget the NHL just dealt with a gambing scandal of their own.
As everybody tries to kill the NBA it is still popular enough for the owners and league to be doing very well. Obviously the league saw its US peak with Jordan, but its popularity worldwide has increased ten fold to make up for that.
During ESPN Sports Reporters this morning John Saunders put it perfect…The Beckhams in the US have made soccer even more popular internationally, but not so much in the US.
We are a country that takes pride in what is ours and doesn’t perfer things from elsewhere. Sports falls in this category as well. Whether that is good or not, is another discussion.
And the Beckham cam? Are you serious!? Hey I have another idea, lets follow him around 24/7 so we can see him brush his teeth and take a dump too while we are at it.
Though i totally agree and I got sick of watching him sit there - the reasoning behind it was because there was a lot of uncertainty if he would even play or not… Also - due to the ankle injury he hadnt gotten to practice with the team at all. Everytime they showed him on the camera they discussed whether he looked as if he were getting ready to warm up or not, as well as how into the game he seemed and how much he was cheering on and joking around with his teamates. I Think it was lame - but it wouldnt have been there had he not had the injury and had started as planned before hand.
Everyone knows that most of the people who tuned in last night tuned in to see beckham, and with him being hurt, the media had to somehow work more beckham into the situation.
This is all manufactured hype. I agree with most of the board that the overpriced Beckham will be long forgotten by the time NFL exhibition season starts. Both Beckham and his wife are washed up has beens that I (and most people I talk to) don’t care to hear about. If the soccer world is getting hyped about a “crowd” of 27,000 fans, I just have to laugh. The NFL and college football draws 60,00-100,000 everynight…without all the hype. S
Sadly, the US is becoming a bunch of sheep who will follow anything hype that they are herded to watch, but not even this is going to force Americans to watch a boring soccer match regularly…sorry.
Speaking as someone who is a huge sports fan but with no interest in soccer, Beckham will have no impact whatsoever on my opinion of the sport. He could walk into my house right now and I wouldn’t even know who he was. I just don’t like soccer. Never have, never will but to each their own. I hate the NBA as well but for different reasons.
Soccer in the US is definitely growing as more and more kids play it at an early age. That’s one reason I have zero interest in it. I’m 34 and growing up in the south, soccer wasn’t even a blip on my radar. There were no local leagues for it, it wasn’t shown very much on TV and there was no familiarity with teams/players. I played baseball, football, basketball and was on a swimming and diving team. Therefore, those are sports I identify with the most. If my kids grow up playing soccer, then that’s great. But unless they’re on the team, I doubt I watch any soccer matches.
Not sure soccer will really take away from the NBA. If soccer surpasses the NBA, it will be because the NBA shot itself in the foot. Baseball is probably the only popular US sport that could lose some fans to soccer but I doubt it trails soccer in popularity anytime soon.
[QUOTE=jcl49er;249599]Speaking as someone who is a huge sports fan but with no interest in soccer, Beckham will have no impact whatsoever on my opinion of the sport. He could walk into my house right now and I wouldn’t even know who he was. I just don’t like soccer. Never have, never will but to each their own. I hate the NBA as well but for different reasons.
Soccer in the US is definitely growing as more and more kids play it at an early age. That’s one reason I have zero interest in it. I’m 34 and growing up in the south, soccer wasn’t even a blip on my radar. There were no local leagues for it, it wasn’t shown very much on TV and there was no familiarity with teams/players. I played baseball, football, basketball and was on a swimming and diving team. Therefore, those are sports I identify with the most. If my kids grow up playing soccer, then that’s great. But unless they’re on the team, I doubt I watch any soccer matches.
Not sure soccer will really take away from the NBA. If soccer surpasses the NBA, it will be because the NBA shot itself in the foot. Baseball is probably the only popular US sport that could lose some fans to soccer but I doubt it trails soccer in popularity anytime soon.[/QUOTE]
I definitely see what you’re saying. If you grew up in a small southern town in the 80’s, there wasn’t much soccer going on. I played on the first team in Garner, NC in 1980. It’s kind of like Monroe to Charlotte. The Raleigh teams were way ahead of us. If I didn’t get involved then, I would probably care less about soccer now. I live in East Lincoln, near Denver. There are 300 kids playing in the church sponsored league that I just signed up my 5 yr old for. E Lincoln is still the sticks, for the most part.
It will take a generation or so for soccer to hit its stride in the US and while Beckham could help I think it would have occurred with or without him. He’s really just going to be the face for the next 5 years.
What is really going to push soccer to the forefront is the Latino influence constantly moving into the US from Central America. We’ve seen how it has helped baseball recently. As well it a change in demographic, soccer is becoming more and more popular with children everywhere throughout the states, but as I said I see it taking a generation or so to become as powerful as the big 3.
One last thing, anyone who thinks the sport is for sissys, or ‘grass fairys’ never played or had a skewed introduction to it. I will not defend some of the acting and flopping that occurs, but it is not a light hearted sport by any means. The football players never said anything to me in high school but baseball players seemed to think it was called ‘*** tag’. Last time I checked I don’t wear spandex pants and tag people with my glove. I like baseball but it is less violent then soccer.
One last thing, anyone who thinks the sport is for sissys, or 'grass fairys' never played or had a skewed introduction to it. I will not defend some of the acting and flopping that occurs, but it is not a light hearted sport by any means. The football players never said anything to me in high school but baseball players seemed to think it was called '*** tag'. Last time I checked I don't wear spandex pants and tag people with my glove. I like baseball but it is less violent then soccer.
amen