Now, if the powers that be in American soccer had implemented promotion relegation then I think soccer in this country could easily grow to be the number 2 sport, but without Pro Rel it’s just not going to happen.
I can literally remember reading Wikipedia like 15 years ago and finding out that soccer around the world used promotion and relegation and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever heard of. And that’s one big reason I got so into it.
The big dynamic that may shift things in the next 30 years is younger generations just not caring about sports as much in general. Could absolutely shift landscape. The decline in people playing football could also impact how the general public feels about watching the sport.
Is there still a decline in football participation happening? I have not heard anything about that in the last couple of years and thought maybe it had stopped sliding.
“According to data from statista.com, in 2018, 5.16 million people over the age of six participated in tackle football in the U.S. By comparison, there were 8.4 million people playing in that age range in 2006, representing a 48 percent decline in 12 years.“
“ Participation in high school football specifically has also taken a hit, according to 2020 data from The National Federation of High Schools. The organization reports in the 2018-19 season, there were 1.006 million students involved in football. This is a decrease of more than 100,000 over the previous decade.”
I mean part of the reason I stopped watching nfl football was the long term health stuff. I felt dirty cheering a huge a hit. College I can justify as most of these kids aren’t playing for 15 more years.
Throw in the political crap and the insane money it costs to just go to a game and I decided j didn’t need it. Life actually got more enjoyable without it.
I think the WC is a way cool event. But I can’t get into Soccer because of the friggin flopping that makes me roll my eyes at least 3 times per match. The US England game was pretty clean but I missed the first part of it.
One of my pet peeves as well. I cannot stand the diving and exaggeration of contact.
If you read the literature on this phenomenon the experts say that some cultures think it’s the player being clever and getting one over on the ref and the opponent. It has spread from those cultures.
That is anathema to Americans, who will stop a game for several minutes just to make sure the right call is made. Americans in general also view diving as cheating and a sign of weakness.
That specific issue is one that dogs soccer acceptance in this country.
And when great players don’t dive and power through contact while maintaining control of the ball it’s an awesome sight and indicative of the skill and athleticism that these players have.
But yet we tolerate flopping and over reacting to get calls regularly in the NBA and NFL. It aggravates me in soccer but American fans act like we don’t have that stuff in our other sports.
