We have been hearing since 1994 how Soccer is the next big thing in the US. 22 years. Then in 2002 when the US Men made the World Cup quarterfinals we heard how soccer was about to explode. And again in 2010. And after the Womens Team won in 1999 and last year we heard its just a matter of time before soccer becomes huge.
And it has never happened.
Go to ESPN.com and they are always trying to shove soccer down your throat. Lots of front page headlines about soccer and a large soccer site staff.
Yet no one cares.
I live in Seattle and the Sounders soccer team actually draws well. But that's because this city is filled with a bunch of liberals who wish we were more like Europe. The people who like soccer tend to be white liberal men who think we should be more sophisticated, like Europe. That's why soccer is big in this city, lots of white liberal men.
But sports viewership overall is driven by white middle American men who tend to be more blue collar and conservative, and therefore more likely to dislike soccer.
This is why ESPN and the liberal media want soccer so badly to succeed, because it would piss off the white conservative men who hate soccer. And soccer succeeding would mean liberalism succeeding. The two are synonymous.
But it will never happen.