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Forums - Sports Discussion - Why football failed to catch on in certain countries

DonFerrari on 24 July 2018

Will say very easily for americans to understand why soccer is so popular around the world.

To play soccer you don't need ANYTHING at all. You may pick a rag cloth and make a ball of it, or use a soda can, socks, etc... you can make goals of flip floppers, construction block, etc... and you can play alone, 1x1 2x2, 1 goalie and 1x1, 1 goalie and 2 cooperative and other infinite uses.

It make it very popular fun play on countries that doesn't have the money and structure to play very expensive sports.



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DonFerrari on 24 July 2018
MTZehvor said:
I can't speak for everyone else, but for me, soccer's just never grabbed my interest because so much of the game feels like it's just spent in vain. Watching teams trade possessions consistently for large scoreless periods of time just gets boring very quickly. Part of what I feel football (American football, that is) has over it is that there's a tangible sense of progress at every point. When one team reaches the other's side of the field, it's a big deal. They're likely to score, and even if they don't, they've altered field position in such a way that provides them with an obvious and distinct advantage that they are likely to capitalize on at some point. Watching soccer, that just doesn't appear to be the case. Even with possession of the ball on your opponent's side of the field, scoring is still very unlikely, and it doesn't appear that you're particularly likely to maintain any sort of positional advantage past maybe a minute or so of play.

Part of what makes American football so appealing, at least to me, is that it's very easy to get a sense of progress for every action taken. Most plays readily appear meaningful and you can easily discern what impact they can have on the final outcome. With soccer, it's not so easy, which makes it less enjoying as a spectator sport imo.

The main reason you don't like soccer is that you haven't played or watched as a kid so you just get lost



duduspace11 "Well, since we are estimating costs, Pokemon Red/Blue did cost Nintendo about $50m to make back in 1996"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=8808363

Mr Puggsly: "Hehe, I said good profit. You said big profit. Frankly, not losing money is what I meant by good. Don't get hung up on semantics"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=9008994

Azzanation: "PS5 wouldn't sold out at launch without scalpers."

MTZehvor on 24 July 2018
DonFerrari said:
MTZehvor said:
I can't speak for everyone else, but for me, soccer's just never grabbed my interest because so much of the game feels like it's just spent in vain. Watching teams trade possessions consistently for large scoreless periods of time just gets boring very quickly. Part of what I feel football (American football, that is) has over it is that there's a tangible sense of progress at every point. When one team reaches the other's side of the field, it's a big deal. They're likely to score, and even if they don't, they've altered field position in such a way that provides them with an obvious and distinct advantage that they are likely to capitalize on at some point. Watching soccer, that just doesn't appear to be the case. Even with possession of the ball on your opponent's side of the field, scoring is still very unlikely, and it doesn't appear that you're particularly likely to maintain any sort of positional advantage past maybe a minute or so of play.

Part of what makes American football so appealing, at least to me, is that it's very easy to get a sense of progress for every action taken. Most plays readily appear meaningful and you can easily discern what impact they can have on the final outcome. With soccer, it's not so easy, which makes it less enjoying as a spectator sport imo.

The main reason you don't like soccer is that you haven't played or watched as a kid so you just get lost

Neither of those statements are true. I played soccer through middle school, and I followed the US national team up until the end of high school, when I had a lot more time to watch sports on my hands.

I'd appreciate it if you kept your baseless assumptions to yourself, especially when I'm simply trying to respectfully engage in discussion.



areason on 24 July 2018

It's the most popular sport in the world 



RaptorChrist on 24 July 2018

I played soccer from "kiddie kickers" through High School, and spent all but the first two seasons playing as center forward. Soccer is my favorite sport, but I must agree that it's not as entertaining to watch as many other sports. I preferred playing indoor soccer, as using the walls as a way to pass the ball to yourself and dribble around opponents was a lot of fun. I grew up in a small town so I wasn't always part of the best team, but it was nice because it was the same group of kids for ten years that I played with.

Edit: I live in America, so I actually thought this thread was about American football when I read the title. Especially considering soccer is the most popular sport in the world; it would make more sense to make a thread about American football. Also, the USA was one of the countries you listed where soccer hasn't "caught on". I certainly wouldn't say that soccer hasn't caught on here. It's not as big as football, but that doesn't mean it's irrelevant.



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Moren on 24 July 2018

I think people should be allowed to enjoy whichever sport they like and no sport is superior to other. I personally don't care for American Football but I don't look down on it as a sport.

That said, someone who clearly has zero interest in (and a bit of contempt towards) soccer in the first place trying to explain why changes are necessary to appease him? Ha!



COKTOE on 24 July 2018
RaptorChrist said:

I played soccer from "kiddie kickers" through High School, and spent all but the first two seasons playing as center forward. Soccer is my favorite sport, but I must agree that it's not as entertaining to watch as many other sports. I preferred playing indoor soccer, as using the walls as a way to pass the ball to yourself and dribble around opponents was a lot of fun. I grew up in a small town so I wasn't always part of the best team, but it was nice because it was the same group of kids for ten years that I played with.

Edit: I live in America, so I actually thought this thread was about American football when I read the title. Especially considering soccer is the most popular sport in the world; it would make more sense to make a thread about American football. Also, the USA was one of the countries you listed where soccer hasn't "caught on". I certainly wouldn't say that soccer hasn't caught on here. It's not as big as football, but that doesn't mean it's irrelevant.

I'm quite sure MLS has surpassed the CFL/NFL ( let's just say, North American Football ) in Canada in most important metrics in the larger cities, due in large part to the higher immigrant populations the bigger cities have.

Last edited by COKTOE - on 24 July 2018

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Teno on 24 July 2018

I think the fact that most popular sports like soccer and basketball are still heavily growing especially in other nations like China, Japan and in terms of soccer even in the U.S. are good signs for both of these in the future. However there is always room for more and since interest in athletics, tennis and motorsports are declining since 2016 I'm interested in the runner ups for place 3-5. Maybe even eSports....we'll see ;D



outlawauron on 24 July 2018
NightlyPoe said:
It's more surprising that it's as popular as it is in the world in general. When being a spectator, the main draws of a game are the ability to tell a narrative and for excitement to build with a climax. Of the five biggest sports in the United States I'd rank them as follows.

1. American Football: Easily the best narrative of any sport. The game can be sub-divided into three separate categories mini-dramas on almost every play. The need to get 10 yards in 3 plays to continue a drive, the narrative builds as the make-or-break 3rd down approaches. Where the team is on a drive, the closer to scoring the team is, the more exciting the play, and the overall score within the game. And, of course, there are big plays that happen within the narrative that scramble the whole story.

No other sport comes close to this level of narrative brilliance, and that's why it has eclipsed the others.

2. Baseball: Surprised to see this so high? You shouldn't be. Baseball is highly underrated as a spectator sport. Like football, it has a rising narrative and multiple dramas within each pitch. The tone of the game changes based on whether the count is 0-1 or 3-1. Whether someone is on base, how many outs there are. It's more nuanced than football, so it requires a bit more knowledge, which drops it well behind the other sport.

Tied for 3rd: Basketball and Hockey:

Ironically, these are the two fastest-paced games of the five, but they both have huge deficiencies in their design.

Basketball's flaw is that a goal is worth so little. You could watch a player make the most amazing play ever, and it'll still only be worth two points. Roughly 1/50th of what's needed to win a game. You get a lot of them, but there's more of a feeling of watching whose point total can go up faster than a sense of who is really doing better. If a team wins by a typical score of 105-95. What does that make them? 10% better? A few, almost random makes and misses that seemed meaningless when it happened and that score is overturned.

Hockey might well be my favorite, but its flaw is that the scoring feels almost random. It's hard to know when a goal is going to be scored or the goalie is going to make a save. There are a decent number of goals per game, which is good, but outside of powerplays, it's hard to know when to expect them. Spectators are left to cheer when something happens instead of expecting something to happen and occasionally being blindsided by a big play. Instead it's all or nothing.

5. Soccer: Oh boy, this is bad. Take all of hockey's flaws, make the game slower, lower scoring, and toss in the dumbest rule in sports, the soccer offsides rule, which inspires bad defense so that the ref can bail them out (toss the rule out once they get to the top of the box guys), grown men crying on the ground for minutes at a time as a delaying tactic, and a weirdly all or nothing penalty system. 90 minutes and pretty much nothing can happen until it randomly does. Because the goals are spaced so far apart and come so out of the blue, there's really no edge of your seat excitement until just moments before it happens. So you're watching a long, boring game, punctuated by a few moments. It's the worst of all worlds and by far the least exciting sport to watch as a spectator.

Baseball is so far behind Basketball as the 2nd most popular sport. There's literally no metric or data to support the notion of it being more popular than basketball.

What's even more laughable is that you tied it with hockey. You must live in an area where baseball and hockey are popular as they're both regional sports. Not national sports. Basketball is popular everywhere and does big numbers. Baseball is very popular in the market where the team is, and hockey is popular in specific pockets of the country. 

ETA: If this is just a rank of your personal preference, then by all means. Baseball is worst sport to watch on TV, and is enjoyable in person. That's about my extent. I don't even think my hardcore baseball fan friends enjoy watching a full game of baseball on TV.

Last edited by outlawauron - on 24 July 2018

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COKTOE on 24 July 2018
outlawauron said:
NightlyPoe said:
It's more surprising that it's as popular as it is in the world in general. When being a spectator, the main draws of a game are the ability to tell a narrative and for excitement to build with a climax. Of the five biggest sports in the United States I'd rank them as follows.

1. American Football: Easily the best narrative of any sport. The game can be sub-divided into three separate categories mini-dramas on almost every play. The need to get 10 yards in 3 plays to continue a drive, the narrative builds as the make-or-break 3rd down approaches. Where the team is on a drive, the closer to scoring the team is, the more exciting the play, and the overall score within the game. And, of course, there are big plays that happen within the narrative that scramble the whole story.

No other sport comes close to this level of narrative brilliance, and that's why it has eclipsed the others.

2. Baseball: Surprised to see this so high? You shouldn't be. Baseball is highly underrated as a spectator sport. Like football, it has a rising narrative and multiple dramas within each pitch. The tone of the game changes based on whether the count is 0-1 or 3-1. Whether someone is on base, how many outs there are. It's more nuanced than football, so it requires a bit more knowledge, which drops it well behind the other sport.

Tied for 3rd: Basketball and Hockey:

Ironically, these are the two fastest-paced games of the five, but they both have huge deficiencies in their design.

Basketball's flaw is that a goal is worth so little. You could watch a player make the most amazing play ever, and it'll still only be worth two points. Roughly 1/50th of what's needed to win a game. You get a lot of them, but there's more of a feeling of watching whose point total can go up faster than a sense of who is really doing better. If a team wins by a typical score of 105-95. What does that make them? 10% better? A few, almost random makes and misses that seemed meaningless when it happened and that score is overturned.

Hockey might well be my favorite, but its flaw is that the scoring feels almost random. It's hard to know when a goal is going to be scored or the goalie is going to make a save. There are a decent number of goals per game, which is good, but outside of powerplays, it's hard to know when to expect them. Spectators are left to cheer when something happens instead of expecting something to happen and occasionally being blindsided by a big play. Instead it's all or nothing.

5. Soccer: Oh boy, this is bad. Take all of hockey's flaws, make the game slower, lower scoring, and toss in the dumbest rule in sports, the soccer offsides rule, which inspires bad defense so that the ref can bail them out (toss the rule out once they get to the top of the box guys), grown men crying on the ground for minutes at a time as a delaying tactic, and a weirdly all or nothing penalty system. 90 minutes and pretty much nothing can happen until it randomly does. Because the goals are spaced so far apart and come so out of the blue, there's really no edge of your seat excitement until just moments before it happens. So you're watching a long, boring game, punctuated by a few moments. It's the worst of all worlds and by far the least exciting sport to watch as a spectator.

Baseball is so far behind Basketball as the 2nd most popular sport. There's literally no metric or data to support the notion of it being more popular than basketball.

What's even more laughable is that you tied it with hockey. You must live in an area where baseball and hockey are popular as they're both regional sports. Not national sports. Basketball is popular everywhere and does big numbers. Baseball is very popular in the market where the team is, and hockey is popular in specific pockets of the country. 

ETA: If this is just a rank of your personal preference, then by all means. Baseball is worst sport to watch on TV, and is enjoyable in person. That's about my extent. I don't even think my hardcore baseball fan friends enjoy watching a full game of baseball on TV.

Hmmm. Well, I don't think you're giving baseball enough credit. At the professional level, which is certainly a significant part of the equation when gauging overall popularity, baseball is bigger. More profit, more revenue, higher live attendance figures. TV ratings seem close between the two, but I thiiiink MLB is still ahead. Not sure about that one.

https://howmuch.net/articles/sports-leagues-by-revenue

https://statpedia.com/stat/Top_Sports_Leagues_by_Revenue/rJby7OpL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_professional_sports_leagues_by_revenue

All those lists paint a very similar picture as far as the $$$ is concerned. The totals may be different, but the order is the same in every one. The NHL, currently #5 in the world, may see slightly more gain than the other leagues when the 2017-2018 totals are complied, due to adding another team, which was wildly successful, in a primarily gate-driven league. Plus, they are probably expanding to Seattle in 2020, and with that comes a ginormous expansion fee of $650 million paid out to the NHL. I assume that would count towards revenue.

Last edited by COKTOE - on 24 July 2018

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