Why is soccer (boring unwatchable sport) the most watched spectator sport in the world?

[smoothrick007]

Originally Posted by Rondembo

Originally Posted by Big J 33

Originally Posted by dland24

As a sports fan who dislikes soccer, I am actually offended by this line of thought that it seems most soccer fans have.  You just assume that all people who dislike the sport dont have an understanding of the sport.  Now of course there are going to be people like OP, but people like me (someone who watches 2+ soccer games a week) are always lumped in the same category as he is.  I just dont get it.  Generall speaking, soccer fans get so offended when people dislike their sport, that they automatically dismiss the person making the claim.  Its ALWAYS like this.

And for the record, YES, I totally agree with you that soccer is so much more than kicking a ball around.  But it is probably the easiest sport to understand, and I dont see how this is debatable.  There are far less rules in soccer than any other sport.  If you took a guy who has never watched a single sport in his life, and he watched 1 entire game of soccer, baseball, basketball and football, that guy would probably think he knew the most about soccer.  (basketball a close second).

You're making it seem as if soccer fans are the only ones who are defensive about their sport. I imagine you (or at least a huge amount of baseball fans), would defend their sport and argue against those calling it boring. You're the minority in the case of soccer... congrats, you watch it and still don't like it. But if you polled the casual American sports fan, those who dislike soccer HATE the sport for no real reason, and I would bet a good majority of them haven't watched it with regularity and understand how the game works. Meanwhile, even if they dislike baseball or basketball, American fans will at least have a better knowledge of those games because they're exposed to it more often. People hate soccer because A. they see it as wussy and not "American" or B. they don't understand the sport and don't have the access to get it
Should you really be surprised soccer fans are more defensive? They'll get more flack than the other four major sports in the US, people are quicker to dismiss the sport so it shouldn't be a surprise when fans are more defensive.

First of all nobody hates a sport for no reason, there are lot of sports we Americans find boring, from rugby to cricket to volleyball to handball to tennis...etc. Yet none of these get the same hateful reaction from the mainstream white (non-hispanic) male sport fan. The thing that hold soccer back in this country is the same thing that prevented the metric system from supplanting ourcustomary system of weights and measures in the 1970’s: It is seen asan unnecessary foreign intrusion. After all, we Americans inventedthree great spectator sports: football, baseball, and basketball. Wedon’t need to import an inferior third world spectator sport from abroad, even ifthe rest of the world likes it. Or maybe because the rest of the worldlikes it. Indeed, the American rejection of both soccer and the metricsystem represents a healthy spirit of patriotic defiance. Notice how most soccer haters tend to be very patriotic and have a strong love of America and see Europe as a sissy country.

Wrong, Dr. Naismith was canadian. And baseball has got to be the most boring sport. How is it fun to watch some men to swing a bat and miss a majority of the times? I have no clue.
 

 

[demps]

Didnt The World Cup Final get better ratings than the world series and was not far off from game 7 celtics vs lakers?

 

[demps]

Didnt The World Cup Final get better ratings than the world series and was not far off from game 7 celtics vs lakers?

 

[nycknicks105]

You wont understand.

 

[nycknicks105]

You wont understand.

 

[trelvis tha thrilla]

I think alot of non soccer fans thinking low scoring= boring and high scoring= entertainment when that isnt always the case. As someone else mentioned, if touchdowns werent worth 6 points, the NFL would be considered low scoring. Games would be 2-1, 3-2, just like soccer.

Just because an NBA game is high scoring doesnt mean its entertaining.

 

[trelvis tha thrilla]

I think alot of non soccer fans thinking low scoring= boring and high scoring= entertainment when that isnt always the case. As someone else mentioned, if touchdowns werent worth 6 points, the NFL would be considered low scoring. Games would be 2-1, 3-2, just like soccer.

Just because an NBA game is high scoring doesnt mean its entertaining.

 

[thekryptonite]

It's good to see football (soccer) get backed up. One great element of the sport is the fact that there are many different ways of scoring a goal. There are boring matches as there are with any sport, but there is no way you could call it unwatchable.

 

[thekryptonite]

It's good to see football (soccer) get backed up. One great element of the sport is the fact that there are many different ways of scoring a goal. There are boring matches as there are with any sport, but there is no way you could call it unwatchable.

 

[mr fizzy womack]

World Cup 2002, I was stationed in Daegu when S. Korea faced the U.S. team in the quarterfinals match.
Soccer is appreciated 

 

[mr fizzy womack]

World Cup 2002, I was stationed in Daegu when S. Korea faced the U.S. team in the quarterfinals match.
Soccer is appreciated 

 

[an dee 51o]

Originally Posted by Mr Fizzy Womack

World Cup 2002, I was stationed in Daegu when S. Korea faced the U.S. team in the quarterfinals match.
Soccer is appreciated 

DAE HAN MIN GUK.. clap clap clap clap clap

 

[an dee 51o]

Originally Posted by Mr Fizzy Womack

World Cup 2002, I was stationed in Daegu when S. Korea faced the U.S. team in the quarterfinals match.
Soccer is appreciated 

DAE HAN MIN GUK.. clap clap clap clap clap

 

[5am6oody72]

The rest of the world probably wants to know why we obsess over a sport where the play only lasts 5-10 seconds and there's usually a 30 second break in between each play

And usually only one or two people even touch the ball; 5-6 guys on each team are just pushing each other around.

And our national pastime is a sport where 8/9 of the players just stand there almost the whole time on defense, and 8/9 of the players on offense are in the dugout most of the time. Each pitch takes like a split second, and yet there's a 30 second wait in between each one! And even the best players can only hit it 1/3 times.

You can make any sport sound boring/stupid if you don't like it. I'm sure if you grew up in europe you'd be making this same post about baseball; it's just a cultural thing. I prefer to watch college football over anything but I can see why the rest of the world loves soccer since you can play almost any time, the action never stops and the ball never stops moving. It also requires a ton of teamwork compared to basketball and baseball. I think Americans don't like soccer because it's not nearly as stat heavy/cheap entertainment.

For example, if you want to know who's the best player and are just a casual fan, you can watch the game and see that Kobe scored 35 points and had 8 assists or something. Or you see Adrian Peterson rush for 200 yards, Bonds hit 70 Hr's etc. In soccer, all people can really go on is goals, assists and . Since scoring happens far less often in soccer, you could play a great game and have no points to show for it. Americans don't like this; they'd rather have instant/consistent gratification.

I'm not saying this doesn't apply to me too; I mean it's nice to see Ronaldo embarrass a guy but if it doesn't lead to a goal does it really matter AT ALL? In other sports those special plays actually impact the game a lot more; you can see Kobe cross somebody and hit a tough fade away and it counts for 3 points; which helps them win the game no matter if it's in the 1st or 4th quarter. If Calvin Johnson makes a great catch for 15 yds, it might them get a first down and potentially lead to a score. It's also not uncommon to see a guy score 2-3 td's in one game. Even if somebody isn't scoring you can see they passed for 350 yds and that means their offense was moving the ball well and somebody else likely scored. It's rare in soccer for somebody to make as many plays during the course of a game that impact the outcome; and it's hard to statistically show their impact beyond scoring.
This post reminds me of something I was thinking of the other day; how absurd the concept of professional sports fans are. For one thingl, you invest time, money, and emotions into something you can't control .You don't know anybody on the team and never played for them, and it has no bearing on anything in your life. Like if somebody asked me why I was upset after a Lakers loss, the real answer would be, "Man, a bunch of people I've never met were trying to throw this ball through a hoop more times than a bunch of other guys I've never met and they couldn't do it."

And this affects my actual life how? 

 

[5am6oody72]

The rest of the world probably wants to know why we obsess over a sport where the play only lasts 5-10 seconds and there's usually a 30 second break in between each play

And usually only one or two people even touch the ball; 5-6 guys on each team are just pushing each other around.

And our national pastime is a sport where 8/9 of the players just stand there almost the whole time on defense, and 8/9 of the players on offense are in the dugout most of the time. Each pitch takes like a split second, and yet there's a 30 second wait in between each one! And even the best players can only hit it 1/3 times.

You can make any sport sound boring/stupid if you don't like it. I'm sure if you grew up in europe you'd be making this same post about baseball; it's just a cultural thing. I prefer to watch college football over anything but I can see why the rest of the world loves soccer since you can play almost any time, the action never stops and the ball never stops moving. It also requires a ton of teamwork compared to basketball and baseball. I think Americans don't like soccer because it's not nearly as stat heavy/cheap entertainment.

For example, if you want to know who's the best player and are just a casual fan, you can watch the game and see that Kobe scored 35 points and had 8 assists or something. Or you see Adrian Peterson rush for 200 yards, Bonds hit 70 Hr's etc. In soccer, all people can really go on is goals, assists and . Since scoring happens far less often in soccer, you could play a great game and have no points to show for it. Americans don't like this; they'd rather have instant/consistent gratification.

I'm not saying this doesn't apply to me too; I mean it's nice to see Ronaldo embarrass a guy but if it doesn't lead to a goal does it really matter AT ALL? In other sports those special plays actually impact the game a lot more; you can see Kobe cross somebody and hit a tough fade away and it counts for 3 points; which helps them win the game no matter if it's in the 1st or 4th quarter. If Calvin Johnson makes a great catch for 15 yds, it might them get a first down and potentially lead to a score. It's also not uncommon to see a guy score 2-3 td's in one game. Even if somebody isn't scoring you can see they passed for 350 yds and that means their offense was moving the ball well and somebody else likely scored. It's rare in soccer for somebody to make as many plays during the course of a game that impact the outcome; and it's hard to statistically show their impact beyond scoring.
This post reminds me of something I was thinking of the other day; how absurd the concept of professional sports fans are. For one thingl, you invest time, money, and emotions into something you can't control .You don't know anybody on the team and never played for them, and it has no bearing on anything in your life. Like if somebody asked me why I was upset after a Lakers loss, the real answer would be, "Man, a bunch of people I've never met were trying to throw this ball through a hoop more times than a bunch of other guys I've never met and they couldn't do it."

And this affects my actual life how? 

 

[noskey]

Originally Posted by Mr Fizzy Womack

World Cup 2002, I was stationed in Daegu when S. Korea faced the U.S. team in the quarterfinals match.
Soccer is appreciated 

Suuuuper jealous.

 

[noskey]

Originally Posted by Mr Fizzy Womack

World Cup 2002, I was stationed in Daegu when S. Korea faced the U.S. team in the quarterfinals match.
Soccer is appreciated 

Suuuuper jealous.

 

[TheGift23]

OP Unfortunately sucessfully trolled because this thread went this long

 

[TheGift23]

OP Unfortunately sucessfully trolled because this thread went this long

 

[eltouha]

soccer is exciting because of, not despite of, its low scores.

 

[eltouha]

soccer is exciting because of, not despite of, its low scores.

 

[parasight21]

Originally Posted by an dee 51o

Originally Posted by Mr Fizzy Womack

World Cup 2002, I was stationed in Daegu when S. Korea faced the U.S. team in the quarterfinals match.
Soccer is appreciated 

DAE HAN MIN GUK.. clap clap clap clap clap

That's awesome. But S.Korea didn't play US in quarter finals, it was group stage. 1-1 tied. Clint Mathis scored first then my boy Ahn tied the game and did short track speed skating ceremony. I was 

 at home. Still remembers it like yesterday, I was still in HS back then. 


Daegu in summer is not the place you want to be though

 but it was a great game

 

[parasight21]

Originally Posted by an dee 51o

Originally Posted by Mr Fizzy Womack

World Cup 2002, I was stationed in Daegu when S. Korea faced the U.S. team in the quarterfinals match.
Soccer is appreciated 

DAE HAN MIN GUK.. clap clap clap clap clap

That's awesome. But S.Korea didn't play US in quarter finals, it was group stage. 1-1 tied. Clint Mathis scored first then my boy Ahn tied the game and did short track speed skating ceremony. I was 

 at home. Still remembers it like yesterday, I was still in HS back then. 


Daegu in summer is not the place you want to be though

 but it was a great game

 

[savraj1]

Because it is the most PLAYED sport in the world. You have to love how all you need is a ball and how children in undeveloped nations who have nothing else going for them can enjoy a game of soccer.

 

[savraj1]

Because it is the most PLAYED sport in the world. You have to love how all you need is a ball and how children in undeveloped nations who have nothing else going for them can enjoy a game of soccer.