If American kids were brought up playing futsal, they would learn to pass and dribble without the randomness of walls. Not to mention more African-American kids would play because it’s a lot less expensive than American indoor soccer.

As to a league, maybe a futsal league can start regionally, maybe not. But clearly people are bored with indoor soccer or it would have been successful by now. Futsal, or some variant, can and will work with better planning and REAL financial backing. USSF needs to focus on a REAL second-tier and futsal in every rec. center and middle/high school gym in America, not another indoor soccer league destined to fail.

by

kyle bavis

8/24/10

So the no-time-for-advertising point can be countered easily.

I just think that the argument that American fans like high-scoring, lots-of-points, many instant-gratification instances type games is the main reason soccer doesn’t take off. What about baseball? While at the stadium, fans drink, eat, sing-along and are constantly entertained by the announcer/kiss-cam/mascots.

I usually use these points to counter the “low scoring”/”boring” comments about soccer:

Basketball: So high scoring that no one cares about the game until the last two minutes of the fourth-quarter (whuich lasts for an hour).

Football: 21-7 is just 3-1. And the instant-gratification from great catches and tackles? Same in soccer when players execute great passes, feints, dribbles, shots, goalie saves, etc. It’s just that we don’t replay it 20 times after the “play” is over. It’s always flowing and one play just evolves into the next.

Scoreless ties? I’ve seen many crappy, bore 0-0 draws. I’ve also seen absolutely brilliant, edge of the seat 0-0 draws. They just don’t watch enough to get to balance the crappy games with great ones. A European team may play upwards of 40 games a season. An NFL team plays at the most, 20 (?).

As I watched the World Cup, I made it a topic of discussion with many people I encountered day to day. The recurring theme I found with Americans and following soccer is that they get “bored,” “there’s not enough excitement,” and “there’s not enough scoring.”

In a sense, the last statement is correct. How many games have you seen where after 90 minutes of play, plus overtime, the final score is still 1-0 or 2-1? American spectators of sport get a thrill from scoring. Basketball yields scores into double, and sometimes triple digits. It may be a part of culture, the quick, instant gratification. Indoor soccer is typically a faster paced game with more scoring which brings appeal to Americans.

The numerous other popular sports in the US (baseball, basketball, hockey, etc) pose a distraction from soccer. As a kid, there are so many choices in regards to sport that the odds of choosing to focus on soccer are much less than in other countries where soccer is one of the top rated in popularity. It’s a generational problem to tackle as well. If parents push their kids toward baseball, they will progress in baseball, and grow up to push their own kids into baseball. Soccer has already been popular for generations in other countries.

I agree with Steve Marino’s point too. The US is driven prominently by profit margin. The big TV networks will broadcast what will generate the most revenues. If there was a way soccer could provide TV networks with more opportunity to make money off adverts, there’s a strong chance it’d be shown more.