Throwdowns > Closed

JimJ77 Can't make it up said 06/13, 11:41 AM
I don't know if soccer will overtake hockey in the next 5 years but I think it can. And based on the topic being "can" and not "will" let me outline how it can and already has started to.

Now, I will say, I'm not a fan of soccer and most likely never be, but a lot of people are fans and the sport is capturing new fans constantly.

In fact, MLS finally surpassed both the NHL and NBA in average attendance in 2011. I believe the gap will continue to widen as MLS grows in number of teams and as new stadiums open. In 2010 60% of the teams in MLS had an increase in attendance, while the NHL had a 66% decrease.

You state sports is a part of culture and I agree. As the 2010 census showed us, this country has shown a shift in demographics. Hispanics make up a majority of this culture shift as they become the largest minority group in the country. Based on these culture changes and attendance figures, soccer has already risen to a level on par with hockey.

I'd venture to say more children are playing soccer now.

These trends and the fact that soccer is in its infancy stage, we can determine the soccer can of course surpass hockey as the 4th major sport in this country.

JimJ77 Can't make it up said 06/14, 11:51 AM
MLS is one aspect of soccer coverage in this country.

For instance Euro 2012 which is being covered by ESPN has seen a 214% increase in ratings since Euro 2008. The Italy vs Spain game garnered 2.1 million viewers on ESPN this past Sunday. Meanwhile, the Stanley Cup finals averaged 3 million viewers on NBC. The lowest rated series in years. Obviously NBC is available to many more viewers than ESPN.

Not a huge gap in ratings considering we're talking about Euro 2012 vs the Stanley Cup Finals.

TV execs also agree with soccer's momentum. NBC purchased the TV rights to NHL for $200 million per year. In contrast Fox purchased two World Cup TV rights for a whopping $1 billion.

There is no doubt soccer on TV has hit a bigtime TV trend.

In terms of children playing each sport. Soccer blows hockey out of the water. There are 14 million kids under the age of 18 playing soccer in this country. Hockey has 500,000. Part of this is the cost of playing hockey, but the bigger reason is the explosion of soccer in this country.

Since most of these kids play soccer they will be more drawn to watching the sport on TV. The TV execs agree.

Soccer can overtake hockey in 5 years.

JimJ77 Can't make it up said 06/15, 05:31 PM
I agree on your culture point, but as I explained over the past 10-15 years our culture has changed dramatically.

Not only has the Hispanic landscape in these country seen a dramatic shift but soccer in general has surged in terms of people participating and watching the sport.

I have outlined how demographics, viewership, and participation has caught up if not surpassed hockey on a popularity basis. I have shown this through actual numbers and not through opinion.

I understand why people do not like soccer, but numbers never lie and the numbers show that the sport of soccer has gained a tremendous amount of momentum on a national level.

Listing names of hockey and soccer clubs is not the way to defend hockey and bash soccer's popularity in this country. Most of your arguments pertain to these listings and most of it is opinion based.

The real question isn't "will" soccer overtake hockey in 5 years its, "can" soccer overtake hockey in 5 years? Well in 5 years who really knows, but based on current numbers we can without a doubt conclude that soccer has a shot of capturing a wider audience and putting the pressure on hockey as the 4th sport in this country.