2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by TruePoint »

That's a tough one.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

Sorry the USA loses in anything. Something's wrong when the US is 2-5 vs.
Belgium.
I personally couldn't care less about soccer.
Damned right our best athletes play football and basketball. Better money and better exposure.
BAR mentioned Jozy Altidore as a superior athlete. Is he superior to say, Lebron James?
Russell Westbrook? 90% of the NBA, or NFL players, excluding down linemen?
0-0 games just will never do it for American audiences. Maybe the WC will do
well in the ratings, just as the Olympics do.
Then most will forget about it for another four years.
ESPN has invested countless dollars into their new soccer contract. They try to jam it down everyone's throat
nightly.
I don't care about Manchester United playing Liverpool. There's enough
sports here to follow, without trying to bring in some Euro sports teams.
I think ESPN is counting on some mass immigration to boost their soccer ratings.
The best of which drew all of 162,000 viewers last year.
Those who like and play soccer here in the US, great. Just don't expect everyone
to drop football, basketball, baseball and hockey.
I'm sure this post isn't in keeping with it being chic to go nuts over WC soccer,
but I'll be long in my grave before it overtakes any of the major sports here.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by TruePoint »

Soccer is the only sport where it isn't take it or leave it. The people who like it act like a-holes about it, and the people that don't like it feel the need to crap on it at every opportunity and explain why it will never be popular. I'm about middle of the road; I enjoy watching the U.S. and really want us to be good, but I don't pretend to watch even the EPL, nevermind MLS or Ligue 1 or whatever.

Still, even though I'm a novice I think I get what is enjoyable about it. A big part of why it hasn't fully caught on is that American audiences haven't seen a lot of good soccer and don't follow it closely enough to get all of the nuance. Those things go hand in hand - if we were better, people would follow it more closely and gain a better appreciation of the sport.

If we had a better national team and produced players that played at the highest level (or MLS was one of the better leagues) then it would draw a larger audience; that is happening little by little. I find it funny when people say it will never be popular here - the progress has been incremental but it has also been noticeable and is accelerating exponentially.

The USMNT has a lot to be proud of based on their showing in this tournament, and the future of the team and the sport in this country are both trending up.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by ATPTourFan »

Might not be that long, Rod, despite the USA failing to finish and end the game one nil in regulation.

ESPN is only doing it because ratings tell them to... Among 12 to 34yr olds in USA, soccer is watched MORE than MLB.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

Really? Then why was their best soccer audience all of 160,000? Test patterns get more than that.
I think MLB does a bit better than that. I'm sure the Sox and Yanlees alone
bury those numbers on any given game.



CNN
World Cup: US Fortunes — And TV Ratings — Are Up, But For How Long?

"that same article noted that selling interest in soccer during the World Cup is exponentially easier than after it has ended. It noted that a playoff game between Portland and Real Salt Lake last year was the least watched offering on ESPN for the week. It was beaten in the ratings by a re-run of “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by Rhode_Island_Red »

We were feeling a profound emptiness because we hadn't heard what the Omniscient Rod thought about soccer. Thank you, sir, for yet again showing us the error of our ways.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

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ATPTourFan wrote:ESPN is only doing it because ratings tell them to... Among 12 to 34yr olds in USA, soccer is watched MORE than MLB.
Each and every US game in this World Cup rated higher than any MLB game in the past year, any NBA game in the past year, and any NHL game in the past year.

The NFL continues to be king, as the US games couldn't touch any NFL Playoff game, never mind the Super Bowl.

Still, that's pretty impressive.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by Rhody74 »

I have to admit I watched most of the game today and got into it. But only because I got to know a few of the US players (besides Cameron, of course). While I was disappointed they lost, it didn't kill me like when URI lost to Stanford, or the Red Sox lost to the Mets in '86, or the Patriots lost to the Giants in the Super Bowl. I'll forget about it until the next World Cup, and I don't think I'm alone in that regard.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

Again, it's an every four year event. and there's this.

"London 2012 Olympics win ratings race.
The 2012 London Olympics won gold in the ratings race this year.

"More than 219.4 million Americans tuned in, making this year's Olympics the most-watched event ever in US TV history, according to Nielsen. The 2012 Olympics beat out the 2008 Beijing games, which brought in 215 million viewers"

And it's all forgotten a week later.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

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The Olympics aren't a good comparison because they are doing the ADD thing where they jump around constantly from sport to sport and event to event, and it is on non-stop during prime time for weeks, and Americans compete in almost every event. Very little of the World Cup has been in primetime, and it features one game at a time without any breaks of a sport America claims it has little interest in.

Having said that, I don't think anyone looks at the ratings the World Cup has done and thinks those same numbers are attainable for MLS. That is obviously lunacy. The World Cup is about showcasing the sport and expanding its exposure in order to grow the game incrementally.

Go back to the two decades starting when the tournament was played in the U.S. and look at the growth of both the World Cup audience and the MLS's popularity. At no point has the MLS approached the popularity of the WC, but that is true of every league in the world. The audiences for both the WC and MLS have continued to grow, and there is no reason to expect that trend to suddenly reverse.

The quality of both the USMNT and the MLS have also improved over that same timeframe, and while they still trail behind the best soccer nations, eventually the USMNT will break through and beat one of the five or six elite nations on the way to a deep WC run.

I think that will be the famed "tipping point" for soccer in the U.S. Everything up to that point is simply building towards it.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

Speaking of MLS, the Revs sell 22% of the seats in Gillette.
The Knicks outdraw on a per game average the MLS, which play in
large stadiums, not MSG.

MLS attendance vs. other US major sports[edit]
League Sport # Teams Season Average
attendance Average vs.
prior season Total Attendance Source
National Football League American football 32 2011 64,698 –280 17,124,389 [2]
Major League Baseball Baseball 30 2012 30,895 +533 74,859,268 [3]
Major League Soccer Soccer 19 2012 18,807 +935 6,074,729 [4]
National Hockey League Ice hockey 30 2011-12 17,455 +323 21,470,155
National Basketball Association Basketball 30 2013-14 17,407 +59 21,411,543 [5]
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

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Nobody is saying that the MLS is as popular as any of the "four majors" at this point. Hell, the Knicks are one of the country's most historic teams in its biggest city and play in one of its most famous venues, so not sure what that example shows.

But look at the "avg vs. last yr" number in what you've posted. The MLS is growing the fastest and I will you bet you dollars to donuts that that jump is even bigger the next time they compile that data, especially after this World Cup. I'm not even a MLS fan. I'm embarrassed to say I've never been to a MLS game, and don't recall ever watching it on TV. But the trend is the trend.

I do consider myself more likely to go check out a game than I would have been previously, although I think if I "got into" soccer it would be Saturday morning EPL in the fall.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

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Well, the Revs are losing so much money at Gillette, that
get this, CENTRAL FALLS is bidding for the team to move there!
Their Mayor's reasoning is, there are so many immigrants in CF
that MLS would be a big draw.
Providence is also trying to get them to move.
One big fly in the ointment is, neither place has a stadium.
One of the top stories on WPRI. Second only to some clown putting
a camera in the women's dressing room at Planet Fitness in Seekonk.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

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rodfromcranston wrote:Well, the Revs are losing so much money at Gillette, that
get this, CENTRAL FALLS is bidding for the team to move there!
Their Mayor's reasoning is, there are so many immigrants in CF
that MLS would be a big draw.
Providence is also trying to get them to move.
One big fly in the ointment is, neither place has a stadium.
One of the top stories on WPRI. Second only to some clown putting
a camera in the women's dressing room at Planet Fitness in Seekonk.
Yeah, but it's WPRI, so...

I don't think MLS is every going to jump ahead of the NFL, MLB and NBA in terms of revenue, and I'd only give it a small chance of ever surpassing the NHL. And honestly, "college football" slash the NCAA cartel is probably ahead of MLB or NBA in various metrics, depending on how measure things.

But soccer's popularity is clearly on an upward trajectory, plus, increased globalization is going to have a leveling effect on all of these sports. Already, we've seen inroads into the NBA by international players, and MLB has more and more players from outside the states each year as well. Also, who knows what the heck the longterm effect concussion studies will have on the NFL? All of these factors are going to shift athletes around, and you can already see it somewhat on the high school level, where things like soccer and lacrosse get more popular each year.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rjsuperfly66 »

Soccer is on the up, but well never reach full potential until owners consistently pony up and great players stay here. American hero, Tim Howard, plays in England. Demsey left the MLS to play several years in Europe until recently. Altidore plays in Europe. Bradley played significant time in Europe. The big names people grasp on to, all play in Europe. Will the MLS ever be able to get to the point where they have teams offering $20 million per season for elite talent? The "names" they bring in now are older players. They bring back Americans or European heroes who are in their 30s, guys like Beckham, Henry, and recently, Kaka. The MLS still has a long way to go to gain relevance in soccer, and it probably won't happen until they change their schedule to the September-May most leagues follow.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

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rjsuperfly66 wrote:Soccer is on the up, but well never reach full potential until owners consistently pony up and great players stay here. American hero, Tim Howard, plays in England. Demsey left the MLS to play several years in Europe until recently. Altidore plays in Europe. Bradley played significant time in Europe. The big names people grasp on to, all play in Europe. Will the MLS ever be able to get to the point where they have teams offering $20 million per season for elite talent? The "names" they bring in now are older players. They bring back Americans or European heroes who are in their 30s, guys like Beckham, Henry, and recently, Kaka. The MLS still has a long way to go to gain relevance in soccer, and it probably won't happen until they change their schedule to the September-May most leagues follow.
This is also why I don't think MLS will ever be the #1 league in the world, which it would probably need to be to vault one of the other major US-based sports. Something like the Premier League has too much of a built-up lead and cache for MLS to catch without a major misstep, kind of like how European basketball isn't ever going to attract a LeBron-like talent over the NBA.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

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rjsuperfly66 wrote:Soccer is on the up, but well never reach full potential until owners consistently pony up and great players stay here. American hero, Tim Howard, plays in England. Demsey left the MLS to play several years in Europe until recently. Altidore plays in Europe. Bradley played significant time in Europe. The big names people grasp on to, all play in Europe. Will the MLS ever be able to get to the point where they have teams offering $20 million per season for elite talent? The "names" they bring in now are older players. They bring back Americans or European heroes who are in their 30s, guys like Beckham, Henry, and recently, Kaka. The MLS still has a long way to go to gain relevance in soccer, and it probably won't happen until they change their schedule to the September-May most leagues follow.
The other side of this coin is that the national team will never be truly competitive until nearly our entire roster is playing in the Champions Leagues. I don't care nearly as much about the MLS being good as I do about the national team being good. The two may be somewhat related, but plenty of countries field good national sides and don't have the best leagues. The EPL is probably already as popular as the MLS; if there were a bunch of Americans playing important roles for Man U and Liverpool, etc., then it would be even more popular.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

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While true, the other thing that kills the US National team is the fact that CONCACAF is a weak region to play out of. The US (13) and Mexico (20) are the only Top 20 teams, and Costa Rica (28) rounds out the Top 30, and only 5 Top 50 teams (Panama 31; Honduras 38). It's impossible to compare that to what the European countries play with, which is why I think national teams garner so much more attention over there. Spain (1), Germany (2), Portugal (4), Switzerland (6), Italy (9), England (10), Belgium (11), Greece (12), Netherlands (15), Ukraine (16), France (17), Croatia (18), and Russia (19) create a daunting region to play out of, and they place several other teams inside the Top 50. It's so impressive that the Euro's are an extremely viewed tournament, gaining significant attention even here in the US among soccer fans. I just don't see people buying in on the US when they are playing the likes of El Salvador, Aruba, or Cuba. On a national scale, they get to face the better comp, place in an impressive tournament every other year (3 out of 4 if they make the Confederations Cup), and have countries and names fans get excited over. We go through this every 4 years -- The US won Silver in South Africa in 2009 Confederations Cup and made Round of 16 in 2010, yet the magic dies after the WC ends. It'll be interesting to see if the momentum carries forward, and while I'm sure soccer will see an immediate boost over here, I don't think it'll carry over significantly. I don't see many people now tuning in to San Jose v Kansas City on a Saturday night because of the US soccer run, at least unless San Jose gets a Lebron and KC a Carmelo.

I agree with you TP though, although I would like to see the US keep it's top talent at home, and work to bring in top talent from abroad. Most MLS owners aren't exactly tight on money, but at the same time, aren't spending the money to help build profit margins. Seattle can draw 35,000+, and I believe that can happen everywhere if the talent is there.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by RhodyKyle »

TruePoint wrote:Nobody is saying that the MLS is as popular as any of the "four majors" at this point. Hell, the Knicks are one of the country's most historic teams in its biggest city and play in one of its most famous venues, so not sure what that example shows.
To compare attendance: Bulls had the highest average attendance in the NBA last season at 21,716, Seattle Sounders had the highest MLS average attendance at 44,038. Knicks were #3 at 19,812. Portland Timbers were #3 in MLS with 20,674. Hell, to get to the Knick's attendance, that would be Sporting KC which ranked #7 in MLS attendance last season.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rjsuperfly66 »

Is that a fair assessment though? NBA and hockey teams play in roofed arenas with limited capacities. Soccer/Football teams play in large, mostly open air arenas with significantly greater seating capabilities. With less games, cheaper tickets and more seating, I don't think it's a fair assessment to compare MLS matches with NBA games.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

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RhodyKyle wrote:
TruePoint wrote:Nobody is saying that the MLS is as popular as any of the "four majors" at this point. Hell, the Knicks are one of the country's most historic teams in its biggest city and play in one of its most famous venues, so not sure what that example shows.
To compare attendance: Bulls had the highest average attendance in the NBA last season at 21,716, Seattle Sounders had the highest MLS average attendance at 44,038. Knicks were #3 at 19,812. Portland Timbers were #3 in MLS with 20,674. Hell, to get to the Knick's attendance, that would be Sporting KC which ranked #7 in MLS attendance last season.
That's a silly comparison though, given the differences in how many people are watching the games at home, and how much the ticket prices are. NBA arenas are typically kept small and ticket prices are maximized as a result, plus MLS would trade its TV contract in a second for the NBA's.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by TruePoint »

MLS teams also play 17 home games compared to 41 for NBA teams.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

"Yeah, but it's WPRI, so..."
Well, yes, but the new Anchor, Shannon, is worth watching, even with the sound off!

If you want to do apples and apples, use NFL or BCS numbers, or even MLB,which would destroy MLS.
Since you'd be comparing outdoor venues to outdoor venues.
MLS averages 18,000. MLB averages 30,000 per game.
Ticket prices for all major sports dwarf MLS ticket prices.
BCS and NFL TV draws huge numbers.
Again, the Revs, with a large immigrant population in the region, are dying.
( I loved those interviews where many of these folks were not rooting for the US team)
They draw 22% of Gilette's capacity. Shit, even UMass football does better at Gillette.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by Rhode_Island_Red »

Thank you, Ann Coulter.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

You're welcome Chris "Mr. Tingles up my leg" Matthews.
Or is it Rachel Madcow?
Your contribution to this thread was to say Cameron was playing. Wow!
Then two girly snipes at me.
Really bringing something to the table, right?
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by Rhode_Island_Red »

And YOUR contributions boil down to telling people what idiots they are for following the World Cup.

In case you haven't noticed, this thread is ABOUT the World Cup. You're acting like the Pee-C trolls posting on URI threads.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

Yes, that's typical of you. Pee Cee, Leg Humpers.
My posts brought responses and a good and interesting discussion of soccer's future
and TV ratings.
I have no problem with people who like soccer, anymore than people who like golf, bowling or tennis.
Not my thing, and I don't quite get the charm it holds on some people.
However, as usual, you've added nothing. It's easy to pot shot those voicing an opinion, while
not saying anything yourself.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

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Coulter loves attention and her articles this past week appear to me to be just attention getting motives for herself. Her commentary has statements that appear to be aimed at certain groups of people simply to rile them up - maybe she can get so popular that she can get her own Fox News show - good grief.

I can tell you that if you ask most any Brazilian what they are happier, excited or proud about - hosting the 2014 World Cup or the 2016 Summer Olympics they will immediately answer the 2014 World Cup - like there is no question about it. I know this first hand as my work takes me to countries around the world.

Most people in Latin America could have told you which team was in which of the 8 Pools, who qualified for the 2014 World Cup and who didn't, just days after the pools were announced. Most could even tell you who the favorites would be to win each of the 8 pools. IT amazes me how knowledgeable people from around the World are about World Soccer.

The achievements of Geoff Cameron of URI are monumental. To be ON, AND to be a significant contributor like Stoke City in the Premier League is amazing. For Geoff to be ON AND be starting on the US Team in this year's World Cup is absolutely amazing, and to be from nearby Attleboro Mass is huge.

My personal favorite sports are College Basketball and Professional Baseball in that order. RI Born, bred............but the facts of Soccer speak for themselves. I don't personally like Soccer so much, but I love Geoff Cameron's achievements and have grown to respect and understand the popularity of Soccer throughout the World.

Bottom line is Ann Coulter is a self righteous, popular seeking idiot.


Most Popular Sports in the World
1. Soccer
2. Cricket
3. Basketball
4. Hockey
5. Tennis
6. Volleyball
7. Table Tennis
8. Baseball
9. American Football
10. Rugby
11. Golf
http://sporteology.com/top-10-popular-sports-world/


The 5 most valuable $$$ Sports Franchises in the World:
1. Manchester United
2. Real Madrid
3. NY Yankees
4. Dallas Cowboys
5. Washington Redskins

Original Article by Coulter
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/opin ... ral-decay/

Comments about Coulter's Response to her Original Article
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/a ... 08471.html

One of the many, many articles commenting on Colter's Original Article
http://www.footballfancast.com/premiers ... nn-coulter

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... ular-sport
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rjsuperfly66 »

From all of the statistics I've read, I think it's hard to dispute that soccer popularity is on the rise in the US, not so much the MLS but overall popularity predicated largely on the Premier League and World Cup ratings.

However, some of the statements these blogs try to make to prove this greater point are really stretching. One of the blogs quoted above states that the average football viewership is roughly ~17.5 million and USA/Portugal "crushed" that.

So we now compare several nationally televised NFL games a year to 1 US soccer game? I'm sure if you took the average viewership of every national MLS, Premier, UEFA, US Qualifying, and World Cup game in this country, you might find the average around ~300K, which is exactly why you will never hear that number quoted.

It's my understanding that that number would be an increase over past years, which would also tend to indicate growth in interest, but let's pump the breaks a little bit on the hype machine. 2012 MLS attendance to 2013 MLS attendance was a decrease, and MLS ratings are stagnant. The growth has been seen on the National stage and with Premier viewership. Clearly growth has occured, but let's not blow it out of proportion here.

However, I would hope those advocating this, also remember that the US drew good ratings in 2010 despite having a significant time difference in South Africa. The US played 2 games at 10 AM, and 2 at 2:30. This year, they played 1 at 12, 1 at 4, and 2 at 6.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

Well, since you've decided to broach politics, duck!
"Bottom line is Ann Coulter is a self righteous, popular seeking idiot."
And this differs from that leftist piece of shit Bill Maher, how?
I regard Coulter as a comedian who pokes the bear. She hits on
the truth from time to time, but she's never entirely serious.
She's also a best selling author and syndicated columnist. She's had number one NY Times best sellers
and over 3 million copies sold.
Coulter had also made millions on speaking engagements.
So, popularity or at least being well known hasn't been a problem for her.
As for being an idiot, Cornell Cum Laude and her law career says differently.

Thank you RJ, for providing some perspective. Again, to me, it's more like the Olympics
than a real trend.
An every four year event that will be forgotten in a few weeks.
What will the ratings be without the US team in, here in the US?
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by seanmc94 »

Soccer is coming. A good friend works for Coca Cola in marketing and he predicts that Premiere League ratings will pass MLB in the US in the next 10 years. In 18-34 year old males, soccer is already ahead of baseball and hockey. The only sports more coveted in that marketing demographic are the NFL and the UFC. Go to any local HS; you will see soccer gear; not MLB.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

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Well, if someone working for Coke say it, it must be gospel.
Baseball has had big ebbs and flows. They killed themselves by outing
their best players in the PED mess.
NFL and NBA pay lip service to PEDs. Baseball calls its game into question, right
after it's peak this century with McGwire, Sosa and Bonds all capturing the country's
attention with their home run rampages.
Now, baseball is back to a pitcher's game, and sorry, people don't generally tune in or attend
games to see a pitcher and catcher play catch.
If they stopped hitters from stepping out and pitchers from taking forever to
throw, they could make the game go faster. It seems so simple, but
Selig and the establishment decided to go for replays to slow the game down
even more.
I don't care about demographics. WWE dwarfs everybody in the dumb and dumber
16-30 demographics.
As for what kids wear, all I see is Patriot jerseys everywhere, and lots of Red Sox stuff,
sometimes Bruins in the winter. I have never seen anyone with a soccer shirt.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rjsuperfly66 »

MLB has a major "pace of play" problem. Kids don't have the attention span to sit and watch an average 3:15 baseball game. They also don't want to stand around a baseball field for 3 hours hoping to bat 3 times and field maybe 2 balls. Add both together and it explains why soccer may be more appealing with that age group. With spring options like lacrosse and soccer, I think that becomes more of an option to kids than baseball. However, most of those kids don't want to be soccer players. They might play football, they might play basketball, they might play hockey, soccer is more of a secondary sport. I would bet a greater percentage of kids who play competitive youth baseball (10-12) end up playing in HS and college, as opposed to soccer. At least in this country, I think youth soccer boosts large participation numbers, but I don't think that carries over for many.

If MLB baseball could make improvements to speed up the game, I think they would win back people. However, as games have gotten longer (as well as other factors like other tv options), ratings and interest has dipped. Just look at the MLB All-Star game average households:

67-69 - 12,370,000
70-79 - 16,609,000
80-89 - 17,649,000
90-99 - 13,648,000
00-09 - 10,086,000
10-13 - 7,665,000

I know for me personally, I have a real hard time getting and investing significant time into baseball games knowing you have to pencil in at least 7-10:30 every night. There is too much else going on. Where are the days when baseball games could regularly be compeleted in just over 2 hours?
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by ramster »

rodfromcranston wrote:Well, since you've decided to broach politics, duck!
"Bottom line is Ann Coulter is a self righteous, popular seeking idiot."
And this differs from that leftist piece of shit Bill Maher, how?
I regard Coulter as a comedian who pokes the bear. She hits on
the truth from time to time, but she's never entirely serious.
She's also a best selling author and syndicated columnist. She's had number one NY Times best sellers
and over 3 million copies sold.
Coulter had also made millions on speaking engagements.
So, popularity or at least being well known hasn't been a problem for her.
As for being an idiot, Cornell Cum Laude and her law career says differently.

Thank you RJ, for providing some perspective. Again, to me, it's more like the Olympics
than a real trend.
An every four year event that will be forgotten in a few weeks.
What will the ratings be without the US team in, here in the US?
Graduating Cornell and having a successful law career might make Coulter smart but I'd still call her an idiot. Comments to the point of saying people in the US whose families immigrated here generations ago would not be following soccer shows what an idiot she it. She makes huge money, has body guards, lives a life of luxury - she has no clue about how the vast majority of people in this counrty live. She is insultated from the low and middle classes and I'd even say upper middle class in this country. I know people who graduated Harvard, Brown, Duke - who are idiots. Smart but some of them do not have a clue about many things in life.

I looked up synonyms in Webster and surprisingly saw Coulter's picture:
Synonymsairhead, birdbrain, blockhead, bonehead, bubblehead, chowderhead, chucklehead, clodpoll (or clodpole), clot [British], cluck, clunk, cretin, cuddy (or cuddie) [British dialect], deadhead, dim bulb [slang], dimwit, dip, dodo, dolt, donkey, doofus [slang], dope, dork [slang], dullard, dumbbell, dumbhead, dum-dum, dummkopf, dummy, dunce, dunderhead, fathead, gander, golem, goof, goon, half-wit, hammerhead, hardhead, ignoramus, imbecile, jackass, know-nothing, knucklehead, lamebrain, loggerhead [chiefly dialect], loon, lump, lunkhead, meathead, mome [archaic], moron, mug [chiefly British], mutt, natural, nimrod [slang], nincompoop, ninny, ninnyhammer, nit [chiefly British], nitwit, noddy, noodle, numskull (or numbskull), oaf, pinhead, prat [British], ratbag [chiefly Australian], saphead, schlub (also shlub) [slang], schnook [slang], simpleton, stock, stupe, stupid, thickhead, turkey, woodenhead, yahoo, yo-yo, dumb cluck
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

In 67-69, the All Star game was played on a weekday.
When I was a kid, the All Star game was a real can't miss viewing.
There was a mystery to the NL stars, because maybe you'd see them
once in a while on TV.
Now, it's a farce, coupled with the over-hyped home run derby and
celebrity softball game.
It's the game I grew up playing, and watching, first and foremost.
Now, I'll watch highlights or a few innings.
Look at the box scores in the 60's. There were high scoring games that
took a couple of hours.
You had a guy like Warren Spahn pitching 26 complete games as a 41 year old.
Now, it's pitching change after pitching change, a thousand conferences on
the mound.
Every hitter steps out after every pitch. The pitchers like Clay Buchholz are
unwatchable, taking forever to thow each piitch.
I hope the new Comisioner has the smarts to make those simple changes to speed up the game,
and make it more viewer friendly.
I see ball fields we would have killed for, when I was a kid, always empty, during
school vacations and after school.
Staying inside and snacking while playing video games or texting is more impartant
than real games.
In a sandlot game, you'd get up to bat countless times. Now, unless you're in a league with
a uniform on, you don't play.
The only game I see young people play is basketball. We have a super soccer field around the corner from me.
You could drive a fleet of cars over it and not hit anyone. Empty as could be,
save some birds.
The kids who have a passion for their sport, whichever it is, are the ones who progress in it.
Just not a lot of passion these days for playing sports.

Ramster cataloging names someone is called by their detractors means nothing to me. It
means she's gotten under their skin.
So, what about the Hollywood millionaires and billionaires who pimp their liberal causes.
They are really in touch with reality, right? You know, those 1%ers that the left cries about.
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seanmc94
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by seanmc94 »

I think I'll take the opinion of a guy who's job it is to run marketing campaigns for the top soft drink company in the world; but that's just me.

I agree that baseball has easy fixes; but kids aren't playing it. Lacrosse is killing it at the youth level. So is soccer. Soccer fields may be empty in Cranston; but not in the rest of the country. The Projo just ran an article about a youth tourney held recently at URI. I don't remember the exact numbers, but they were staggering. Soccer is played year round at indoor facilities across the state. Leagues run every night until midnight.

It may not be your cup of tea; you may not ever watch. It doesn't mean it's not gaining popularity. NASCAR has gotten by for decades without my $$. It will continue to do fine.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by ATPTourFan »

The soccer tournament was indeed massive at URI. 20+ fields going throughout the day for a week.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by seanmc94 »

Found the article; $11.5 mill to the local economy

http://www.providencejournal.com/breaki ... island.ece
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by twisted3829 »

Baseball is struggling because it cost to much to play. Gloves and cleats aren't cheap and many families don't have the money, for basketball and soccer you mainly just need shorts and a pair of sneakers
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

You also need ability to hit a thrown baseball,
as opposed to running aimlessly on a field.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by bigappleram »

Pretty sure they dont run aimlessly....and quite sure soccer requires a significant amount of skill, toughness, endurance and athleticism. I wont even get into the rest of this thread b/c some crazy things being said here.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rjsuperfly66 »

Soccer at an elite level can be what is described above. Soccer at the youth level is a different story. It doesn't take much ability to play soccer - just show up, run around, and kick. It's a lot different than playing baseball, unable to throw, hit, or catch. IMHO, there is a lot more skill required to play youth baseball, basketball, football, hockey, etc. than soccer between ages 8-13, which is why I think participation levels are so much higher than soccer than any other sport, roughly 3x as much. I truly respect the ability of good soccer players, I just think when push comes to shove, come HS and college, that soccer participation level drops around baseball/softball, basketball, football, etc., despite having such dominate numbers at the youth level.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

Thanks again, RJ for perspective.
Anyone who's played baseball knows the toughest thing
to do is hit a baseball, let alone field your position and run the bases.
When you're at the plate, all attention is on you. When you're running or trotting in a huge
field with a load of other people, there's not much pressure to perform.
Having been a parent, I remember which kids from elementary through
12th grade played in which sports.
Soccer was the least of those, not in numbers participating, but the level of athlete.
Girls field hockey was higher on the scale, as was lacrosse for girls. The coach at Bayview was
like Neidermyer from Animal House. Intense to say the least.
The boys who were tough wanted to play football and hockey,
and baseball in the spring.
Yup, really crazy things.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by bigappleram »

American teenagers wanted to play those sports because they are the sexy sports, not because they were any better athletes. I played soccer, basketball and baseball for close to 15 years....I can assure you the athleticism at the upper echelons were not all that different. I am not sure the point of comparing 9 year old kids, and what sport is harder. I dont think tee ball was very hard or demanding, what should i deduce from that? I am quite sure I could have played pop warner football and been as successful in that as i was in youth soccer. That opinion makes little sense to me. If you think soccer does not require a high level of athleticism you have never played the game.

That is the biggest issue with soccer catching on in this country, it is the type of game where you can only appreciate watching it if you appreciate the smaller things (i would say golf is similar). The details, the complexities of doing certain things, how hard it is to pass a ball 75 yards in the air and hit a guy in stride, things like that. As more people grow up playing the game more will want to watch the game. Hockey suffered from that, so to address it they let people fight so they can attract the lowest common denominator fan.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

Hockey has always had fighting, and it's far less than it ever was
since they put the third man in rule in.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by TruePoint »

Ann Coulter dates a URI alum. It is very shameful. I don't know if she is actually smarter than she appears and she is just playing a part, but I do feel confident in saying that she is one of the handful of worst human beings on the planet.

Anyway, huge difference between youth soccer (which is a participation sport) and competitive soccer. The biggest reason for that is because the average suburban dad who coaches the vast majority youth sports in America knows enough to teach the basics of baseball, basketball, football and hockey, but not soccer. That almost doesn't matter, though, because we are nearing the saturation point where soccer is popular enough that we will have enough teenagers playing seriously and therefore our talent level will continue to improve. That will lead to more gains in popularity, and more teenagers playing seriously. Wash, rinse repeat. Soccer is coming.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

So is Christmas.
Didn't we hear NASCAR was taking over the world a
few years ago?
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by bigappleram »

Soccer has a huge grassroots following....any movement that has taken on mass popularity has had that quality. Soccer is not a passing trend that pops up every 4 years, it is a growing sport gaining critical mass and more mainstream acceptance in this country every year. 15-18 million people watched each of our first round games, that is not a niche event. There is a reason why ESPN is investing behind it. There is a reason why American businessmen are buying up franchises. Why the Yankees announced a partnership with Manchester City. Why MLS is adding markets frequently and currently sits as the 5th most successful domestic league in terms of attendance and revenue (behind the leagues in England, Spain, Germany and Italy which all had 50+ years head start). You can ignore or discount all these facts, but they are facts.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by TruePoint »

I don't think anyone expected NASCAR to get big outside of the south. I think about a decade ago, people in the east coast-based media realized how popular NASCAR was and the size of the numbers it drew and it surprised people because it is so far off the radar here. ESPN's decision to get involved with it was certainly part of that. But the demographics never supported a projection that NASCAR's popularity would grow, it was just "discovered" as an untapped market (so business opportunities around the sport could grow). The demographics show the opposite for soccer.

Opponents of soccer can say that they were told soccer was going to explode in the 1970s or that they were told other sports were about to take off, but it is easier for me to point out differences for why those examples are irrelevant than it is for you to dust them off every time the topic comes up. Ultimately I don't really care whether you buy it or not because that has no impact on what will or won't happen. I'm fairly confident that soccer is on the come, and if you follow the money then you will see that a lot of people who's job it is to know think the same thing.
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Re: 2014 FIFA World Cup - Brazil

Unread post by RhowdyRam02 »

rodfromcranston wrote:Well, the Revs are losing so much money at Gillette, that
get this, CENTRAL FALLS is bidding for the team to move there!
Their Mayor's reasoning is, there are so many immigrants in CF
that MLS would be a big draw.
Providence is also trying to get them to move.
One big fly in the ointment is, neither place has a stadium.
One of the top stories on WPRI. Second only to some clown putting
a camera in the women's dressing room at Planet Fitness in Seekonk.
The Revolution aren't maximizing their potential, but they're not close to losing money. Last year they spent $3,486,086 on salary, and drew 267,192 fans, so they would break even on the player salary front just with attendance if everyone paid $13 for a ticket. I know they must have given out a ton of free tickets, but the lowest ticket rate I could find on their website is $17, so I wouldn't be surprised if they came close or eclipsed the $13 a ticket mark. Now add in the concessions and souvenir money generated from 267,192 people on days the stadium would normally be empty, sponsorship deals, and TV/radio package money and they're unquestionably a profitable franchise.

The biggest thing holding the Revolution back from reaching their potential is the lack of a soccer specific stadium, preferably in an urban setting. The Revs have been trying to work with Boston for the better part of a decade to get a stadium built without success, so Kraft is taking a page out of the Gillette Stadium playbook. Not getting what you're looking for from city/state legislators? Find places outside the state to start a bidding war. Central Falls has no shot of getting the Revolution, and frankly Providence doesn't have much of a shot either, but it at least gives Kraft a reasonable out if he can't get Mass to play ball. The Revs played a game at Stevenson Field at Brown recently, and while it's not soccer specific they could use the threat of paying to improve Brown Stadium to make it a better fit than Gillette to get what they want in the Boston metro area.
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