re: Soccer then and now.

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This.

In 10 years it's going to be 8-9.

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if the NFL is 10 and soccer will be 8-9 10 years from now, what number will the NBA and MLB be 10 years from now?

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There is a certain player on our national team that will probably be our first "world superstar" in the next few years.

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Freddy Adu?

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I watch it, like it...but there is this thing where you feel it will never get our best athletes.

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Good thing we don't need our best athletes to have a good team.

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America. 90 minutes of teams kicking the ball away from the goal for a game to end in a 1-1 tie is not going to go fat in America.

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You're an idiot

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List of Americans that said this was their favorite sport...

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Such a dumb, dumb way to evaluate things

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if the NFL is 10 and soccer will be 8-9 10 years from now, what number will the NBA and MLB be 10 years from now?

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Somewhere between 7-9 as well. Unless you're saying they can't share a level?

It's going to pass the NHL in under 10 years. And once Lebron goes, unless we get another phenom, the NBA will fall a bit. MLB is an odd one. It's the "pastime," but it has too many games, the fastest falling kid population, and it's incredibly out dated in approach.

This will really depend on how the changing population trends break, specifically the Latinos. Will they favor MLB or soccer? I could see it going either way. But honestly, it could take longer, yes. Now is different though, and we have some big stars upcoming, some great coaching talent at the top levels, and the CHANCE to go far in one of the next two cups (barring some *ahem* changes).

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If the sport is growing, you would see changes...because it's statistically everyone wouldn't keep it as their third or fourth sport...and even if they did...

Third and fourth sports are not for people are not something that moves the dial for them...meaning...others who love it as #1 move the dial...they do not. It's statistically not a quantifiable factor.

It's seems everyone who wants to point to how much soccer is growing, just points to their own fandom or anecdotal evidence and not polls or Nielsen ratings.

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Meh. I have season tickets for the MLS, haven't been to a football game in 2 years, and I'd probably still say Football is #1 for me. Football is still clearly more social, I run a fantasy league and am part of 2 more, etc.

But even outside of season tickets, I probably STILL spend more money on MLS, but I still wouldn't list it as my "Favorite League," or something.

So yeah, that kind of poll is massively flawed, but it gets to the deeper issue of sports...Football is #1 because of the SOCIAL aspect. Everyone watched football so it's easier to say, "Yeah I spend more time talking about it and interacting about it. It's also (right now) a higher quality product." This goes or any fans of non-football sports. Football, right now, is a behemoth, and skews the results a bit.

The growth of soccer, right now, is undeniable. It STILL may not be where it was predicted to be, but it was a ton of attention compared to 20 years ago.

I can understand why people hate the MLS because let's face it, the league is shite but I feel like Americans are really missing out not watching Messi and Ronaldo play. if you watch those two play, you would fall in love with the sport instantaneously.

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It's seems everyone who wants to point to how much soccer is growing, just points to their own fandom or anecdotal evidence and not polls or Nielsen ratings.

I've tried to do that to provide some real perspective against pure fandom.

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No you havent. You posted a poll that lists peoples favorite sport as "evidence" to support your opinion.

The supporting evidence that the sport is growing is all over the internet if you are interested in honesty. MLS attendance has grown 64% since 2000. Tv revenue has gone up as well for MLS. EPL and Bundesliga signed record deals for broadcast rights in the US. Youth participation in soccer is second only to basketball in this country.

You claim that people are presenting anecdotal evidence because they are blinded by their fandom when the irony is you probably need to take a self-evaluation of your personal biases that have forced you to willfully ignore the mountains of evindece that soccer is growing in this country.