re: Seems like soccer isn't going to take over from the NFL in the USA any time soon

I had an idiot English professor at LSU back in the mid 90s saying that Soccer would surpass football & baseball and be the dominant sport in the US in 20 years.

Here we are 20+ years later and it still isn’t even close to passing them; hell, it hasn’t passed Hockey.

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would surpass football & baseball

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it will never surpass these two plus basketball

Soccer sucks.

It will never be popular in the non-gay and non-hispanic community.

The most American thing I can think of outside of Mom and apple pie is hating soccer.

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he problem with soccer is we have no legitimate domestic league to be interested in

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Bingo.
Came here to say this. No matter how much money you pour into the MLS it won't surpass the top European Leagues.

Therefore, you'll never get a true routeing interest here in the states, sans a few cities with hardcore fanbases.

Until the MLS quits getting players who the European leagues deem "washed" up it won't change. They come here for the paycheck and that is it.

I don't think soccer in America will ever pass football or basketball in my lifetime, but I'd bet my house it will pass hockey soon (it's arguably there already when you account for all soccer viewership in the country, not just MLS) and baseball in a few more decades. Ice hockey can't be played in large areas of this country due to lack of ice availability, and will simply never have the grassroots participation of other sports in those areas.


I say this as a baseball fan, so I'm not hating. It's still my second favorite sport and I go to loads of LSU and Astros games each year. But baseball has a major demographics problem that will affect the sport dramatically in the coming decades if it doesn't attract more young fans. The average baseball viewer is about 55 years old according to ESPN, much older than the other major sports. ( NBC Article)

MLB league revenue may be at an all-time high right now, but with an aging fanbase and declining participation and interest from young Americans ( WaPo Article), baseball is on a bad course. It needs to attract more young fans or it will be left behind. Period. When I go to games at LSU, the average age in the stands is probably about 60 most days, with not many college kids or youngsters compared to other LSU sports.

In contrast, basketball and yes, soccer, are rising quickly in popularity among young Americans. Major League Soccer may be a small, growing league, but its base is possibly the youngest of all American sports according to the Sports Business Journal ( LINK). That bodes well for the league's future, even if it has a long ways to go.

Of course, age isn't everything, and there are TONS of baseball fans out there still, but it's a good indicator of where the sports landscape in America is heading. I really think it'll reach the #3 sport in my lifetime the way things are headed. That doesn't mean MLS will necessarily be the #3 league at any point, but I think soccer will eventually have the third most fans, passing baseball and hockey.

Ummm youth league participation in baseball is on the rise again....

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Baseball and softball combined to rank as the most participated team sport in 2016, according to the annual report by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, a leader in sports participation research.

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The findings in SFIA’s participation report will be presented to the major-league owners during their quarterly meetings Thursday in New York. “The narrative that you hear is, ‘Decline, decline, decline,’” said Tony Reagins, Major League Baseball’s senior vice-president for youth programs. “To see the numbers where they are, it’s really exciting. And we’re not going to rest on our laurels. We’re going to keep pushing and try to get more kids playing.” The increase in baseball and softball participation almost certainly stems from MLB’s “Play Ball” initiative, which the sport launched in June 2015 in conjunction with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, USA Baseball and USA Softball. The goal of the initiative was to inspire young people to play the game, even if just in a casual form. Youth involvement in all team sports declined after the 2009 recession, Cove said. The goal for baseball now, he explained, should be to turn casual players into serious participants

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Sebastian Giovinco
Bradley Wright-Phillips

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These two are not like the others.

BWP was a couldn't hack it, much less washed up in Europe.
Giovinco has/had an outside shout at the Italian nation team.

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Wayne Rooney

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Will sign in 2018 at 32

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic

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Signed in 2018 at 36

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Sebastian Giovinco

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Signed in 2015 at 28, in his prime.

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David Villa

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Signed in 2014 at 32

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Bradley Wright-Phillips

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Signed in 2013 at 28.

So 2 of those were signed after 2016. There's 23 teams in MLS this season. 2 players from 23 teams isn't bad at all.

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I can list more if you want to go through all of these high priced Euro's that are 30+

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That signed since 2016? Sure, go ahead. The trend recently has been to sign young South Americans.