re: I was going to post this on the Soccer Board...but it's too good for that.

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But it's a better paced game than anything America has to offer. So the "slow-paced" argument is really fricking retarded.

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Maybe, but...

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Soccer match ... 2 hours.

Football: 3 1/2 hours
Baseball: 3 hours
Hockey: 2 1/2 hours
Basketball: 2 1/2 hours

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Is a terrible fricking argument.

The new sport of "Watching Paint Dry" only takes 1 1/2 hours, but it doesn't mean it is a better paced game.

I personally believe soccer and baseball run a very tight race for most boring sport to watch on TV, and I played baseball.

I think basketball is the best paced sport but I would still rather watch football. To each his own.

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He's basically trying to say "all of you soccer fans adore this sport...but it must not be that great since it's losing money. It's losing money because it can't earn it's keep with revenue (ticket sales, tv ads, etc). Therefore, it must not be in high demand and/or that popular"

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That is exactly what I got out of the original post as well.

The reason why teams are losing money is painfully obvious. With the exception of a small handful of owners, no one is in the game to make a profit. When you're paying $40 million transfer fees for a guy to sit on the bench, there is basically no financial model that will ensure profitability.

8 epl teams turned profit, owners are spending too much money. If you notice, tv stations that broadcast epl games outside of uk, are making a killing. What do u think would happen if the nfl didnt have a cap? Youd be seeing way more teams going bankrupt and more turnover in ownership. Has nothing to do with popularity, if anything thats why they spend too much, to satisfy fans all over the world.

Winning, to an extent, is possible on a budget. Newcastle United made 32M this year after a series of smart buys boosted them to a 5th place finish in the Premier League & just outside of Champions League qualification ... where the real money is, as you & I know.

It can be done ... but the culture of the sport has exceeded that. Hopefully, Financial Fair Play does something to curb it, but it's doubtful.

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I think basketball is the best paced sport but I would still rather watch football.

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Basketball's actually an awfully paced sport with all the stoppages in action due to personal fouls and the final minute of games is unwatchable with all the free throws and timeouts taken. Baseball isn't that bad except when there are fast runners on base and the pitcher throws over to 1st base 70 times to shorten their lead or stop and start their delivery a bunch of times. Also, the number of TV timeouts and stoppages in the first half of NFL games makes watching the games on TV a miserable experience. The best-paced sport has to be hockey. It's fast-paced, free-flowing and there are only a few stoppages in a period. It's really a breath of fresh air compared to other sports.

Not to mention American sports (Which I love) bend their knee to commercial enterprise, namely, TV commercials.

The fact you can watch television for 45 minutes, and not be reminded 15 times about Taco bell's latest menu item, is in and of itself, a breath of fresh air.

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Soccer needs to go ahead and appease Americans. They need to change their name officially to "soccer" and start scoring each goal as 7 points. That will win over American fans and kill the boring argument for good.....

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I SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING HERE

Meh.

Americans love baseball, which is a very slow paced game that quite often has 1-0 scores.

People complain about a 1-0 scoreline in soccer but praise a 1-0 scoreline in baseball. Why? Because they are familiar with baseball and take an antagonistic, jingoistic attitude toward soccer for some reason.

Great second post