football (soccer) in USA?

Question

i heard today on the radio that the reason football doest work in usa is because there would be no advert time for 45 mins ,so no channel willing to show footie as no money is gettin made ...effin money grubbers or what?(telly people that is)

CLIO......THERE ARE ALWAYS BREAKS WHEN THOSE SPORTS ARE ON....EVEN AT PENALTIES YA DUMB ****

hi host....im scottish but thanks anyway x

Answer 1

Yea, that probably is a big reason why the MLS is never on TV. It's just the crazy marketing business...screws stuff like this all over (nothing against anyone in marketing!). I just wish that they'd show it more often so people would actually get to watch it instead of hearing that it's "really boring" by all their friends.

Answer 2

I am English, big football fan, married an American lady and have just moved to the States (6months) So many Americans complain that 'soccer' is boring. I agree with them.....! Their teams are useless, boring, uninspirational, not team players, no proper stategies, no flare, no pace.....If they were exposed to South American or European football, on the free chanels, perhaps they would see how beautiful the beautiful game actually is! I was in Australia during the world cup. At the start of the Tournament the Aussies were a little disinterested in the sport, but once they had seen a couple of games and recognised athleticism, grace and all that...they were sold!!!! I guess you're right, no money in a 45 minute half, advertising wise.

Answer 3

Actually, football is broadcast in the US. You just have to pay for the channels that show the matches. That is the problem. People pay enough for cable or satellite, they don't want to pay for extra channels unless it is something they have already been into for years, like American football.

You are correct about the advertising. A perfect example of how advertising is controlling sports is NASCAR. Advertising controls so much of that sport now.

Heck! Look at how much a Super Bowl halftime spot sells for!It disgusts me. When cable tv was first introduced there were no commercials. That is why you had to pay for it. Local channels were free. If you wanted commercial free television with lots of channel choices you paid for cable. Now we pay more money for cable or satellite, and we have more commercials than local networks ever had!

I pay extra to have Setanta but, lucky me, only a few months after it was made available through DirecTV the price increased 25%. Now they have Setanta Premium. I have refused to order that one, but I can see the day in which all the popular matches, clubs, or series are shown only on the more expensive Premium channel.

What do we do? Boycott? How many sports fans are going to give up their games to try to outlast the tv moguls to get lower prices or better deals?

Answer 4

It is true that FIFA seriously discussed the idea of four 22.5 minute quarters in matches prior to the 1994 world cup held in the US for this very reason. Fortunately the constituent bodies tossed the idea out.

As a frequent visitor to the US, I think that reason football has difficulty establishing itself is more to do with attention span. I don't mean this rudely...it is just a fact that American sports tend to have short concentrated bursts of activity...at least...American football, baseball and basketball do. Football has activity over two 45 minute periods and does not have the same rhythm in terms of paying attention as the sports they are familiar with and have a long loving history with.

Football will always have a place in America...but even as an outsider...I can't see it will ever come between a Mets fan and his game!

Answer 5

That's why soccer doesn't make it in the US. Advertising, and tv. Rather than putting all of their advertisements in the stadium, or just having an announcer say a small little advertisement during the game, they decide that soccer won't work for them.

America will never accept soccer because they think it is too boring, blah blah blah. I'm an American, and I absolutely love watching EPL games. I won't resort myself to watching American soccer. It's a disgrace. I love how America is ignorant to the fact that soccer is the #1 sport in the world, as apposed to us saying NFL football is the greatest. Bleh.

English soccer is better either way. Stick with English Premier League.

Answer 6

I love it & grew up playing it (soccer)-Also love football (NFL)-
that is one of many reasons. another is that we don't have any stars here. If we had the Ronaldhinos and Drogbas of the world playing here, then we would have a pretty good TV audience. That was proven during the days of the NY COSMOS and the last World Cup. The MSL is basically a monir league at best. BUT, hear this! There is a kid now, somewhere in a ghetto in the US. He will have the physique of T.O., the skill of Pele, the speed of Deion Sanders,and look like Allen Iverson (it's NOT Adu). When he grows up, black kids from all over the US will identify w/ and emulate him. THEN, you should be very scared, b/c that is when the U.S. WILL utterly DOMINATE the world of "football" (soccer).

Answer 7

Don't think thats the biggest or even one of the top 2 reasons but I must admit it is something of a factor. Although I'm sure they could work around this. Just display logos digitally on the field or something.

Answer 8

It's just cuz Americans like rougher sports like American football. That's why they don't pay much attention to sports like footy aka soccer. As for me, i'm Hispanic. If you come to America, you'd realize footy is more known among Hispanics. And actually the U.S. does broadcast footy on TV! How do you think I get to watch it--like DUH!!! You just gotta get the right channels!

Answer 9

World cup was very boring. Everytime someone touch the ball they fell down and grabbed their knee. And then Beckham crying like a 2 year old.

Answer 10

i'm from U.S., and try to watch soccer. It gets so boring after awhile, so thats probably why we don't watch it. If it had a following they would put it on tv, and still be ad sponsored. And i hate how everyone cries like a b*tch when they fall.