soccer will never be huge in the states, for a sports team


they have tried it and shoved it down our throats for 40 years now


people are not going to pay big money for a 1-0 game, period


yeah they will get their die hard fans
yeah they will get causal fans when the american advance in the world cup
but they will never fill 40,000 people in stadiums on a regular basis for soccer in america

20,000 people on average when run properly
- homiedclown

soccer will never be huge in the states, for a sports team


they have tried it and shoved it down our throats for 40 years now


people are not going to pay big money for a 1-0 game, period


yeah they will get their die hard fans
yeah they will get causal fans when the american advance in the world cup
but they will never fill 40,000 people in stadiums on a regular basis for soccer in america

20,000 people on average when run properly
- homiedclown

i still think it could the more the us national team succeeds on the big stage. That and if a star emerges from there.

Christian Pulisic is 18 years old and he looks like a top flight euro star out there.

I can skate for an hour with out taking a break no problem. I played indoor soccer once game last winter and I thought I was going to throw up after five minutes I was so tired. Guess I am only in good hockey shape
- lulags

No gliding allowed.

i still think it could the more the us national team succeeds on the big stage. That and if a star emerges from there.

Christian Pulisic is 18 years old and he looks like a top flight euro star out there.
- Sabresfan-365

look at what tiger woods did for golf.. he helped it explode and now it is falling off again without him. it is probably bigger now that it was before him but one electrifying personality in a sport can make it explode.. its harder for a team sport but it can be done

No gliding allowed.
- Matthews_Auston

i was a mid fielder who played 80% of the game running non stop.. i was in hell of good shape in highschool .. now round is a shape

If hockey would hire someone to market the game instead of Bettman who is seemingly terrible at actually highlighting the exciting parts (goals, speed) then they would see better growth. No wonder revenues are flat when obstruction is way up and goal scoring is way down. It's not rocket science.

More goals = more fans.

More fans = more youth players

The league is absolutely inept at creating the best product possible
- jcragcrumple

I've heard the GR guys mention stuff like that...I don't think it's that simple...there are a lot of factors like major competition from MLB, NFL and now NBA...and there's the cost factor which we discussed...

been a very slow pace, but mcjesus just signed a legit $100M contract with the highest AVV in NHL history...NHL also signed a huge (for them) TV deal...just gonna take time

i was a mid fielder who played 80% of the game running non stop.. i was in hell of good shape in highschool .. now round is a shape
- IndianaSabresFan

Soccer is no joke when it comes to needing to be fit.

look at what tiger woods did for golf.. he helped it explode and now it is falling off again without him. it is probably bigger now that it was before him but one electrifying personality in a sport can make it explode.. its harder for a team sport but it can be done
- IndianaSabresFan

golf was must see when tiger was in his prime


the result from him though, the game today has so many good young golfers right now

in the 60's there was 4 or 5 really good golfers

in the 70's maybe a dozen

in the 80's maybe 20


now there really is 100 damn good golfers out there and most are under 30

i was a mid fielder who played 80% of the game running non stop.. i was in hell of good shape in highschool .. now round is a shape
- IndianaSabresFan

nail meet hammer

- IndianaSabresFan

"Now do you think it's easy to just gradually take over every professional sport? Let me tell you something, man. Brothers have started figuring out this ice thing. Hope you enjoyed it!"

golf was must see when tiger was in his prime


the result from him though, the game today has so many good young golfers right now

in the 60's there was 4 or 5 really good golfers

in the 70's maybe a dozen

in the 80's maybe 20


now there really is 100 damn good golfers out there and most are under 30
- homiedclown

i agree the youth in golf is ridiculous.. but i don't think it is as much of a must watch as it used to be.. i bet in about 5 years the youth movement will die off in golf

i still think it could the more the us national team succeeds on the big stage. That and if a star emerges from there.

Christian Pulisic is 18 years old and he looks like a top flight euro star out there.
- Sabresfan-365

don't get me wrong

there is a niche for soccer just like hockey

I think the game itself holds back soccer (low scoring, boring)

I think Bettman holds back the NHL

when ticket prices go up, and they always do, hockey will be better off but they better be careful as I am pretty sure there will be a lot of half filled arenas when tickets are 50% more then they are now

golf was must see when tiger was in his prime


the result from him though, the game today has so many good young golfers right now

in the 60's there was 4 or 5 really good golfers

in the 70's maybe a dozen

in the 80's maybe 20


now there really is 100 damn good golfers out there and most are under 30
- homiedclown

I think if McDavid was on an American team it would have a much larger impact in the US

I've heard the GR guys mention stuff like that...I don't think it's that simple...there are a lot of factors like major competition from MLB, NFL and now NBA...and there's the cost factor which we discussed...

been a very slow pace, but mcjesus just signed a legit $100M contract with the highest AVV in NHL history...NHL also signed a huge (for them) TV deal...just gonna take time
- Michael Pachla

The NBA was not doing as well as it could a few years ago, and then they tweaked the rules to allow for more scoring. I know this is the first year i didn't watch out-of-town hockey because the game is just not good right now in the NHL IMO

The NBA was not doing as well as it could a few years ago, and then they tweaked the rules to allow for more scoring. I know this is the first year i didn't watch out-of-town hockey because the game is just not good right now in the NHL IMO
- jcragcrumple

The biggest downfall of hockey is being in a contract with NBC instead of ESPN, playoff games on NBCsports which most people don't even get.

- Matthews_Auston

Oh yeah

i agree the youth in golf is ridiculous.. but i don't think it is as much of a must watch as it used to be.. i bet in about 5 years the youth movement will die off in golf
- IndianaSabresFan

10 years ago I was watching every event tiger was in, because of tiger

now, I really like the young players and watch it every week, but pretty much due to fantasy golf (money leagues)

I will be curious to see if the spieths, fowlers, and johnsons can combine to draw as many young players as tiger did, for the sport moving forward

I will tell you this, these young guns are so much better with the fans on tour then tiger, norman, els ever were

don't get me wrong

there is a niche for soccer just like hockey

I think the game itself holds back soccer (low scoring, boring)

I think Bettman holds back the NHL

when ticket prices go up, and they always do, hockey will be better off but they better be careful as I am pretty sure there will be a lot of half filled arenas when tickets are 50% more then they are now
- homiedclown

i think when the quality is good the score is less of a problem much like hockey.

we'd all take a 2-1 hockey game that was fast paced, end to end action lots of highlight reel chances and what not.

id say the bigger issue the games that the average american has access too (MLS and English premier league on tv) have become incredibly dull over the years.

The biggest downfall of hockey is being in a contract with NBC instead of ESPN, playoff games on NBCsports which most people don't even get.
- CoHo_to_B-Lo

I think if you get a guy like Adam Silver who tries to make his sport more fun, you would see revenue and interest grow. The NHL is run by stodgy old guys who are so out of touch with what the casual fan wants

I think if McDavid was on an American team it would have a much larger impact in the US
- lulags

I don't

they are pathetic at marketing, probably the worst of all the sports in the states


the outdoor game is great for the hockey fans, but won't draw casual fans, due to college football


the sport needs to be on espn, in some form

the sport needs to be on prime time, nbc, one night a week

they need to have a vision to expand the fan base, and adding a team to vegas and say seattle doesn't give them enough for national growth

look at what tiger woods did for golf.. he helped it explode and now it is falling off again without him. it is probably bigger now that it was before him but one electrifying personality in a sport can make it explode.. its harder for a team sport but it can be done
- IndianaSabresFan

agreed and for a team sport upsets work wonders as well.

I dont know off hand but id bet anything the popularity of basketball in europe sky rocketed after the US lost that gold medal game some time ago.

Could you imagine if the US mens team beat ronaldo/portugal or messi/argentina? europe would poop itself and that would make everyone in the US giddy

i think when the quality is good the score is less of a problem much like hockey.

we'd all take a 2-1 hockey game that was fast paced, end to end action lots of highlight reel chances and what not.

id say the bigger issue the games that the average american has access too (MLS and English premier league on tv) have become incredibly dull over the years.
- Sabresfan-365

I don't

they are pathetic at marketing, probably the worst of all the sports in the states


the outdoor game is great for the hockey fans, but won't draw casual fans, due to college football


the sport needs to be on espn, in some form

the sport needs to be on prime time, nbc, one night a week

they need to have a vision to expand the fan base, and adding a team to vegas and say seattle doesn't give them enough for national growth
- homiedclown

- IndianaSabresFan

tampa really does it right, for local fans

agreed and for a team sport upsets work wonders as well.

I dont know off hand but id bet anything the popularity of basketball in europe sky rocketed after the US lost that gold medal game some time ago.

Could you imagine if the US mens team beat ronaldo/portugal or messi/argentina? europe would poop itself and that would make everyone in the US giddy
- Sabresfan-365

i never watch baseball.... but i watched the world series last year