re: Where does soccer rank with other sports?

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37 years ago I was told that soccer was going to be the most popular sport in the U.S. but it hasn't happened yet.

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Forget 37 years ago if you haven't noticed the growth in the popularity of soccer in the US in just the last 10 years then you haven't been paying attention.

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And where do people get this feeling that american football will fail?

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I don't think it will fail. That said, I definitely don't enjoy live games as much as I used to because of how they allow television networks to dictate the flow of the game.

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It can't go up any more.

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I disagree. However, we are about to experience the height of AMerican football popularity, imo (over the next 10-15 years).

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Attendance numbers are down.

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But television numbers are up and all games are able to be seen from anywhere. The direct reason attendance numbers are down have to do with tele deals for conferences, nfl networks and so on

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less good athletes go the football route.

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I guess you can make that argument. But I still won't believe that to be the case for some time. Until soccer players are the ones on the cover of E, SI, ESPN, NBC and are pushed into the spotlight, kids won't want to be playing it as much as football.

Oh well, I see where you're coming from but football is a powerhouse in the states and soccer will not be able to compete 1v1 with it for a while.

Currently fifth, obviously with potential room to grow.

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3. Soccer
4. Baseball

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Never...

ETA - The US only cares about Soccer every 4 years when the World Cup is going on.

MLB, NHL and NCAAB are way more popular than soccer right now. Soccer has more potential to grow though, particularly as the immigration population gets larger.

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MLB, NHL and NCAAB are way more popular than soccer right now

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I disagree.
NHL definitely not that got awful rating for this playoffs/ finals. with out march madness, College basketball get shite numbers.

MLB beats MLS or BPL or la liga, etc. But i would imagine more people in this country watch soccer games on a regular basis rather mlb games

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average EPL/La Liga match

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What game do you use for this. If there is a primetime college basketball game its going to be the game, However, on any given weekend around the soccer universe there are 2-3 primetime games and 6-10 games that have watchable interest by significant numbers.

which is why i said what i said about the mlb. rating will never do soccer justice because there are too many fans of differeing teams/leagues. There are significant groups that will watch every barcalona game and every Man. Utd. game but i bet overall # of games watched in a year by the american population a combination of pro soccer rivals MLB and destroys NCAA basketball and destroys hockey.

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Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final had six million viewers.

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well 1 world cup game just destroyed that whole finals.. strong sport viewership there...

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its not unknown any longer though. Messi/CR7 is just about as famous as any other sports star in this country.

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no. that's just not true. There are 15 pros kids can relate to before even knowing cristiano's name.

You are obviously very passionate about this, but it's just simply incorrect.

Although it is popular with younger age groups, it doesn't mean that athletes will not transition from soccer to football around the middle school to high school age groups.

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There are 15 pros kids can relate to before even knowing cristiano's name.

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well yes this is true. but i wasn't putting them on par with top-15 of all USA sports think about that that though: thats James, Kobe, Wade, Duncan, Melo, Calvin Johnson, Mike Trout, Drew Brees, Manning, AP, Rodgers, Brady, Jeter, Sherman level.

of course they arent there but if you gout another 15 spots they will start to be on par with that group.

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Although it is popular with younger age groups, it doesn't mean that athletes will not transition from soccer to football around the middle school to high school age groups.

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its the second most popular sport in that demographic you are talking about the 12-24

Plus, from a recent forbes article

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Messi and Ronaldo both rank best in DBI’s “Endosement” attribute (other attributes include Breakthrough, Trendsetter, Influence, Trust and Aspiration). Messi is in the top 150 out of 2,800 celebrities and similar to George Clooney and Rory McIlroy. Ronaldo ranks No. 357 in the category—on par with Matt Damon, Derek Jeter and Anderson Cooper (Messi’s lower awareness levels tend to boost his attribute scores because those who know him are more likely to be his fans).

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Not bad. i know that not true recognize but still puts their name, based on US marketing value, on the level of Clooney and Jeter.

Plus this wasn't my point. My point is that the arguement that young athletes wont go soccer because they can't see the economic value of it is just false in these days. Soccer is everywhere especially now during the cup. Messi and Ronaldo are recognizable by many of your average sports fans especially the ones that are up and coming athletes and they are recognized as superstars who make top dollar from nike and adidas.