The Times-Picayune Article on Soccer/World Cup

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Eric Reid appears headed for a stellar NFL career, barring severe injury. The San Francisco 49ers safety and former LSU All-American had a Pro Bowl season as a rookie in 2013 and is already a key cog in one of the NFL's top defenses.

He's a highly driven world class athlete with an off-the-charts work ethic instilled by his parents as he grew up near Baton Rouge. He's what helps make the NFL the best sports league on the planet.

And he's an example of why soccer in the United States hasn't become a world power.

Reid played soccer as a youth, said he enjoyed participating in it, played on travel teams and, by all accounts, was pretty good. His family encouraged it and his younger brother, Ryan, plays soccer at Maryland, one of the nation's top collegiate programs.

But when Eric Reid was 15, he decided to focus on American football, eschewing soccer.

"I enjoyed (soccer) a lot,'' Reid said. "I think I grew out of it. A little bit too much running for my body type. That's why I kind of switched over to football. I still enjoy watching it. I've been paying attention to the World Cup.''

Reid's dalliance with soccer is much like America's. Collectively, we Americans like soccer, like it a lot. But darling, we just don't love you.

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But to say this will be the event that sends soccer in the U.S. soaring to new heights would be ludicrous. Americans enjoy watching worldwide sports events in which we're taking part, for example, the Olympics.

We're rooting for the flag more than the sport. Bet the majority of those U.S. viewers couldn't name three players on the American squad.

And though 24.7 million is a healthy number, the U.S.-Portugal match would have been only the 35th most watched sporting event in the U.S. in 2013. By comparison, 111 million viewers tuned in for the Super Bowl in February and 26 million to watch the BCS National Championship between Florida State and Auburn.

Data suggests that soccer in the U.S. has made tremendous gains since the World Cup was staged here in 1994. But it remains well behind the Big Three, football, basketball and baseball. In fact, when it comes to television ratings in 2013 soccer was behind those three, NASCAR, the NHL, college football and basketball, men's golf, even the Kentucky Derby.

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The problem comes at the high school and college level, where the U.S. grooms its best and brightest athletes to play at the highest level.

Those athletes gravitate to the big three. Soccer is at a distinct disadvantage at that level.

College soccer is a stepchild of the NCAA. Universities that have varsity soccer at the Division I level can give out only 9.9 scholarships compared to 85 for football and 13 for men's basketball, which, of course, has a much smaller roster.

Of the five NCAA power conferences - the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 - and Notre Dame, only 25 schools offer men's soccer at the varsity level.

In the mighty SEC, only South Carolina and Kentucky play varsity soccer. And because the SEC doesn't have men's soccer, those two schools must compete in Conference USA.

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Baseball faces a similar dilemma to soccer at the collegiate level. But Major League Baseball takes care of the developmental stage of its future stars in its well-financed and carefully managed minor league system that has been around for more than 100 years.

That's what U.S. soccer lacks and what it must change to catch the rest of the world. It does have the Premier Developmental League. But it doesn't have the resources of the NCAA or Major League Baseball to help draw in top American athletes.

Though popular at the rec level, soccer has a bit of country club sport feel to it in America. Its presence in the inner city is minimal. How many pickup soccer games do you see there?

According to one survey, 33.8 percent of rec level soccer players come from households making more than $100,000 per year. In football, 34.8 percent of its players come from households that make less than $35,000.

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