US Soccer on the Rise

Every four years I become extremely patriotic for team USA at the FIFA World Cup. Although I despise the way we play (no possession whatsoever, no creativity, and lucky counter-attacks) I still can't help but root for my team. Its because I was born here, and I live here, and I want my favorite sport to succeed here in this country. Over the years I've witnessed team USA make some impressive runs at the World Cup, dating back to the 2002 cup. I'll never forget waking up with my dad in the middle of the night to watch the games from Korea. Ever since I've always been very inspired to see fellow Americans cheering and supporting the game.

I think it's fair to say that soccer is one of the less popular sports in our country behind football, basketball, and baseball. The quality, participation, and attention to the sport is nowhere compared to that of other countries (soccer is the number one sport in about every country in the world except us). There are a lot of reasons for this of which I'll later get into, however I want to emphasis how the sport is on a significant rise here in the states. The USA-Belgium match had over 22 million viewers, more than a game of the NBA finals or the World Series, and I think that's definitely something worth capturing.

Comparison to other Sports

When comparing the data of sports in America there are two things to consider; first is the participation of the sport (who plays it), and second is the attention to the sport (who follows it). When comparing participation of the sport, soccer comes ahead of football and hockey since it can played by both women and men. It is also very easy to play and only requires a ball and a net. It is currently the 3rd most played sport in the country with over 13 million playing at an amateur and professional level (behind basketball and baseball).

Sport	Favorite Sport	Professional League	Participants	NCAA DI Teams (Men + Women)
American football	38.8%	National Football League	8.9 million	249 (249M + 0W)
Basketball	15.3%	National Basketball Association	24.4 million	698 (350M + 348W)
Baseball/Softball	14.8%	Major League Baseball	23.3 million	589 (298M + 291W)
Soccer	8.2%	Major League Soccer	13.6 million	531 (204M + 327W)
Ice Hockey	3.8%	National Hockey League	3.1 million	95 (59M + 36W)

The other comparison and perhaps the more important, is the overall attention to the sport. At one point baseball use to be the front runner in this category, however by the 1960s it became an American pastime with the emergence of the National Football League and the Super Bowl.

Also high school and college football participating became equally as popular in smaller rural parts of the country. It's no question today that football at a national and college level dominate the American sports attention (far ahead of the NBA, MLB, MLS, and NHL). I myself have always been an avid fan of the Detroit Lions and the NFL ever since I was a kid, and enjoy watching the games every Sunday.

League	Sport	Year Founded	Teams	Last Contraction	Revenue US$ (bn)	Recent Average Attendance
National Football League	American football	1920	32	1952	$9.0	67,604 (2012)
Major League Baseball	Baseball	1869*	30	1899	$7.0	30,451 (2013)
National Basketball Association	Basketball	1946	30	1954	$5.0	17,347 (2013)
National Hockey League	Ice hockey	1917	30	1978	$3.3	17,720 (2013)
Major League Soccer	Soccer	1994	19	2002	$0.5	18,608 (2013)

Television Ratings

Some very important data to consider when comparing the popularity of sports in America are the TV ratings. Below is a list of the top 25 watched sporting events of 2013. Lets assume that these are the average annual numbers in America for sporting events.

 25 Most-Viewed Sporting Events of 2013

#	Date	League	Event	Net	Rating	Viewers
1	Sun., 2/3/13	NFL: Super Bowl	Ravens/Niners	CBS	46.4	108.69M
2	Sun., 1/20/13	NFL: AFC Champ.	Ravens/Patriots	CBS	25.5	47.71M
3	Sun., 1/20/13	NFL: NFC Champ.	Niners/Falcons	FOX	24.2	42.00M
4	Sun., 1/6/13	NFL: NFC Wild Card	Seahawks/Washington	FOX	21.5	38.09M
5	Sun., 1/13/13	NFL: AFC Divisional	Texans/Patriots	CBS	21.7	37.66M
6	Sat., 1/12/13	NFL: AFC Divisional	Ravens/Broncos	CBS	20.1	35.28M
7	Sun., 1/13/13	NFL: NFC Divisional	Seahawks/Falcons	FOX	19.3	32.10M
8	Sat., 1/12/13	NFL: NFC Divisional	Packers/Niners	FOX	16.9	30.89M
9	Sat., 1/5/13	NFL: NFC Wild Card	Vikings/Packers	NBC	17.3	30.28M
10	Sun., 1/6/13	NFL: AFC Wild Card	Colts/Ravens	CBS	18.1	29.60M
11	Mon., 1/7/13	NCAAF: BCS Champ.	Alabama/Notre Dame	ESPN	15.1	26.38M
12	Thu., 6/20/13	NBA: NBA Finals	Spurs/Heat Game 7	ABC	15.3	26.32M
13	Sat., 1/5/13	NFL: AFC Wild Card	Bengals/Texans	NBC	14.4	23.60M
14	Mon., 4/8/13	NCAAMB: Final Four	Louisville/Michigan	CBS	14.0	23.43M
15	Tue., 6/18/13	NBA: NBA Finals	Spurs/Heat Game 6	ABC	12.3	20.64M
16	Wed,. 10/30/13	MLB World Series	Cardinals/Red Sox	FOX	18	19.2M
17	Sat., 4/6/13	NCAAMB: Final Four	Michigan/Syracuse	CBS	10.2	17.10M
18	Tue., 1/1/13	NCAAF: Rose Bowl	Stanford/Wisconsin	ESPN	9.4	17.02M
19	Sun., 2/24/13	NASCAR: Sprint Cup	Daytona 500	FOX	9.9	16.65M
20	Sun., 6/16/13	NBA: NBA Finals	Heat/Spurs Game 5	ABC	9.5	16.27M
21	Thu., 6/13/13	NBA: NBA Finals	Heat/Spurs Game 4	ABC	10.0	16.23M
22	Sat., 5/4/13	Horse: Triple Crown	Kentucky Derby	NBC	9.7	16.20M
23	Sun,. 10/27/13	MLB: World Series	Cardinals/Red Sox	FOX	9.4	16.0M
24	Sun., 4/14/13	Golf: The Masters	Final Round	CBS	9.4	14.70M
25	Sun., 3/31/13	NCAAMB: Elite Eight	Louisville/Duke	CBS	8.8	15.65M

MLS Ratings 2010-2013 (American Viewers)

One thing to notice about the top 25 most viewed events is that the top 10 are all from the NFL. And not included on this list are the NFL regular season matches with average between 20-15 million per game. Goes to show how bigger the NFL is then any other professional league in this country. Now let's throw in some MLS soccer numbers for fun. It's quite pathetic in comparison. 

MLS Regular Season

Year    Network                            Avg TV Viewers

2010    ESPN, Fox Soccer                   300,000 

2011    ESPN, Fox Soccer                   360,000

2012    ESPN, Nbc Sports                   430,000

2013    ESPN, Nbc Sports, Unimas      560,000              

MLS Cup Finals 

Year	Network	Rating	Viewers (millions)
2010	ESPN	0.4	0.7m
2011	ESPN	0.8	1.0m
2012	ESPN	0.7	0.8m
2013	ESPN	0.5	0.5m

Sadly none of these viewership numbers come even close to breaking the top 100 most watched sporting events in America. Even the Wimbledon Tennis Cup has more viewers than the MLS Cup Finals. I'm going to get to why these numbers are so low in a minute, but first I want to highlight the potential of the sport, and that's through the World Cup ratings. 

World Cup 2014 Ratings (American viewers)

Teams                                              ABC/ESPN                 Univision       Total Viewers (in Millions)

US-Portugal Group Stage                       18.2                            6.5                                     24.7

US-Belgium Round of 16                        16.4                            5.1                                     21.2

US-Ghana Group Stage                          12.4                            4.8                                     17.2 

US-Germany Group Stage                      11.7                            3.4                                     15.1

Germany-France Quarterfinals                 1.9                             3.7                                      5.6

Brazil-Colombia Quarterfinals                  3.4                             5.4                                      7.8

Belgium-Argentina                                   3.3                             4.2                                      7.5

Costa Rica-Netherlands                           2.8                             4.9                                      7.7

*2010 World Cup Final (Spain-Netherlands)                                                                        24.3

Now these numbers can actually compete with the top 50 most watched sporting events in America. Matter-of-fact some of the US matches in this Cup (US-Portugal and US-Belgium) had even more viewers than the NBA Finals, World Series, NCAAF finals, and NCAAB finals which is saying quite a bit. Of course the question comes into play is this just patriotism, similar to the Olympics, or an actual enjoyment of the game. The answer is both. 

While it's clear to see the difference between the US games viewership (18 million average) and games where the US is not playing (5 million average), it's also clear to see that both numbers are significantly high. The viewership of the quarterfinal matches (where USA is not involved) could still compete with the top 50 most viewed events in America. 

Finally there's the World Cup Final itself, which in 2010 brought in a whopping 24.3 million American viewers who witnessed Spain defeat Netherlands. Once again this is a very significant number in the top 15 most viewed sporting events. I can only imagine this number will be higher on Sunday's final and perhaps three times higher if USA were ever to make it to the final.

World Cup Ratings on the Rise

Here's some more data from Fifa.com on the World Cup viewership in America. (Notice the clear rise of interest over the last 3 cups)

• 2006 average viewers for USA matches; 6.6 million
• 2010 average viewers for USA matches; 11.1 million
• 2014 average viewers for USA matches;  19.5 million

This is a significant increase that no doubt captures the emergence of social media and technology, however also the general awareness of the event. Now lets take a look at some data on the popularity of soccer around the world.

• 2010 World cup match average was at 188 million (Meaning each match of the world cup had higher ratings than then Super Bowl) 
• 2010 World cup Final was at 615 million and 910 million tuned in at one point. (That's almost 1/7th of the world's population)
• 2014 UEFA Champions Final was at 165 million (2 million American viewers watched from FOX)
• 2013-2014 English Premiere League regular season has global viewership that can almost compete with the NFL and it just made it's debut in America on NBC Sports (1 million American viewers watched the Chelsea-Everton match on NBC)

Popular leagues such as the English Premiere League, Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and Champions League have now found providers in America and the early data is very promising on the interest in the game. 

Why Soccer hasn't been as popular in the states

There are many sociological reasons as to why soccer has never been able to compete with football, baseball, and basketball. My argument has always been that the game is low-scoring unlike the high scores of football, basketball, and even baseball. Some may also argue that it's too slow and boring and not as exciting as the others. However that is simply a misunderstanding of the game, and the sport is actually very physical and exciting if you understand it.

I think one of the biggest reasons is that the United States has never had a professional league to aspire to. In sports such as football, baseball, and basketball there's always been that high level of professional competition that draws both participants and fans alike. Dating back to the early 1900s and the foundation of the MLB, NFL, and NBA, young kids have always aspired to be professional players, and that culture has been embedded in our society. Soccer however has not acquired a professional league until 1994 with the formation of the MLS. Therefore it's still a very new concept in the country.

Major League Soccer

It's worth noting that the MLS has slowly expanded since it's foundation after the 1994 World Cup. It experienced some spurts of popularity, however surged all the more 2002 after the US National team made it to the quarterfinals. It now has 19 professional teams spread across the country as well as into Canada. It is also worth noting that there are some teams such as the LA Galaxy, Montreal Impact, and Seattle Sounders that are drawing in average attendances of over 20,000, which can compete with many MLB teams. This is a very encouraging number and if the league can continue to draw in big name athletes such as David Beckham, Theirry Henry, Kaka, David Villa, etc it can only continue to grow.

However the fact remains that the MLS is still very new, in it's developing stage, thus lacking resources to bring in the best athletes. It has to compete with successful leagues in America such as the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL as well as the popular soccer leagues in Europe.

These professional soccer leagues in Europe are the MLS' greatest competition, most notably the BPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A. Some of these leagues in Europe have been established since the time of the MLB and have amassed a great wealth and tradition. The only way the MLS will be able to compete with these leagues is to significantly raise their budget to draw in the world's best players. Bottom line is that people want to see the best quality, as in the case of the NFL, MLB, or even the BPL. Sadly the MLS is not the best quality and still has a long way to go to truly capture the country's attention.

Why Soccer is growing in the states

However there is clear hope for both the MLS and soccer in America in general. This is most notably emphasized in the TV ratings shown above which continue to rise each year thanks to the World Cup. It's no question that soccer is a foreign sport, however that's only because we haven't had top quality here to aspire to. The only time our country witnesses great soccer is at the World Cup, which has proved to bring in numbers that can compete with the NBA and MLB. The data is clear that Americans are interested in the game, they just want to see the best quality of it. Here's my ten step outline of how and why soccer will grow in the states.

1. Popularity and inspiration from the World Cup. This is about the only time soccer takes center stage in America and the growth of interest is very encouraging. It's the one time people become very patriotic (besides maybe the 4th of July) and naturally Americans want their team and their country to be the best in the world. No matter what the sport. 
   
2. Broadcast of European leagues. Anybody who knows anything about soccer has to accept that the best players, best teams, and best leagues are in Europe. And if people enjoy the top quality of the World Cup then they'll surely enjoy these leagues (Fact is most World Cup players play in Europe). Now thanks to new broadcast agreements with the big four (BPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A) Americans will be able to watch and follow these games on a regular basis on channels such as ESPN, Fox Sports, NBC Sports, and BeIN Sports.
3. MLS is Growing. After it's establishment in 1994 it seemed the league was going to fail with minimal attention, however this changed by 2002 with new expansion teams, soccer-specific stadiums, bigger players, and growing attendance numbers. It is now a profitable league that is competing with the NBA and MLB   
4. The MLB was once the most popular league. Consider that before the NFL of the 1960s, the MLB was once the most popular sport in America. Now that has changed and NFL has become the most watched sport. This fact highlights one simple thing. That cultural change is very possible in this country.
5. Demographics. Although I don't have the numbers in front of me, it's common knowledge that this nation has a very high Latin-Hispanic and foreign population all of which love soccer first and foremost. As this number continues to grow in America so will the attention to the sport.   
6. New Generation. Consider the recent surge of interest in the World Cup over the last ten years. Much of this is thanks to the internet and social media which our younger generation has taken a part of. Therefore it's very likely that a young 20-some citizen will enjoy and understand the game a whole lot more than perhaps a 40-some citizen.
   
7. National Team is Improving. Each year the world tunes in to the World Cup which is the biggest stage, and best time for countries to shine. Although the Men's USA National team has never been respected on a global scale there's an encouraging fact to point out. We've qualified to the 2nd stage three times in the last four cups. (2002, 2010, 2014) which is a whole lot better than our previous performances. 
8. Youth Development. There's high school sports then there's training academies and the difference is monumental. Europe has bred the finest soccer athletes in the world for years thanks to these academies, and it's about time we join the fun. National soccer academies have now sprouted all over the country with a more specific and academic focus on the game.
9. Profit to be Made. This new data on US Viewership of the World Cup screams to advertisers and businesses looking to make a buck in any way they can. It doesn't matter whether they like the game or not, it matters if they can make a profit from it. With over 20 million people tuning into a game, there is an obvious profit to be made and once the demand is there, the supply will follow. (More soccer broadcasts, amateur participation, bars, merchandise, etc) 
10. Cultural Acceptance. Whats especially encouraging to see is this developing interest and acceptance of the game. I remember as a kid, this wasn't the case and hardly any of my friends cared about playing much less following the game. Now it seems like everyone is aware of the game, friends, family, co-workers and it's a chain effect that can only continue to spread throughout American culture and society.