re: USA-Portugal match draws more viewers than NBA Finals or World Series

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He doesn't get that the WC is more popular in the Olympics now. The Olympics only turn the dial in the US if Americans are competing for gold. The average American gives zero fricks about ski jumping or water polo if someone from Latvia or Bosnia are in the finals. In this case, we aren't even really playing for 1st prize, and the popularity is through the roof. Nobody is going to a bar or a park with thousands of other people to watch Shaun White tear up the halfpipe. The WC is a phenomenon in the country right now and it has overtaken the Olympics as far as interest goes.

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The Olympics feature many events that Americans compete in. The World Cup has a few games that the U.S. competes in. You are comparing apples to oranges.

Plus, soccer IS a very popular sport around the world. Just not here. The sports media companies see that as an opportunity to hype up the event here so that they can make $$$$$$$.

Even old ladies who don't give two shits about sports, much less soccer, will watch the World Cup because it's a hyped up event.

All of the people you see in Chicago cheering and in NYC and at a base in Afghanistan... those are media creations. They get the people to come out and hype it up into a big party event. It's more "AstroTurf" than grassroots.

Just like the Olympics. I bet a lot of people don't even realize there are downhill skiing "seasons" and the Olympics are just another event on the calendar. Same with a of those obscure sports. Nobody pays an ounce of attention to them until the Olympics because people like to watch USA vs. the world. My mom loves the Olympics and she hates sports. It's pageantry.

This is a evidenced by the fact that the second-most watched Premier League telecast in the U.S. got a little over 800k viewers. Even UFC events on cable get at least a couple million...

To say this World Cup proves soccer is competing with the NBA or MLB in this country is dishonest, and you all know it.

You can argue it all you want. But numbers do not agree with you.

Well you live in Houston where 70% of the population is too fat to play anything but baseball or football, so I can see how your view may be skewed.

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Well you live in Houston where 70% of the population is too fat to play anything but baseball or football, so I can see how your view may be skewed.

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And now we know you lost the debate.

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But also, the UFC is not hyped at all on ESPN

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Neither is the EPL.

I edited. My point was that the UFC pulls better numbers and they are a niche sport on a niche channel. Premier League should have the might of the "huge number of soccer fans" in this country to put up ratings... yet they don't.

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112 million watched the 2010 World Cup.

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This WC is on pace to double that of the 2010 WC...

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Where are all of these soccer fans in the U.S.??

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West Hollywood?

MLS is one of many leagues in soccer. This is what you seemingly can't understand. It's (unfortunately) about the 5th most popular league in the US. The games they show are also usually west coast games. I'm not staying up to watch a game starting at 11 pm. Many people watch soccer online or at bars. In fact, I would say MOST people that watch soccer on a weekly basis watch most games online or at bars.

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Where are all of these soccer fans in the U.S.??

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I already told you: Not in Houston. Too fat.