Ah, the World Cup. The quadrennial sporting event that features just one sport Americans don’t care about instead of 20 of them.
In years past, these summer months Stateside were filled with Americans bemusedly wondering why the rest of the world was once again freaking out about that game they played that one time in first grade because Mom thought it’d be a good way to make friends, and just how you keep time in a sport where … wait, the clock counts up? Experts meanwhile were left to question just when soccer is going to “arrive” here in the United States.
Now, after the U.S. men’s national team’s thrilling run thus far in this summer’s World Cup and an unprecedented level of popularity among Americans, its finally time to ask – is this what “arrived” looks like?
After three drama-filled group stage matches, the American’s run through the ominously nicknamed “Group of Death” of Ghana, Portugal and Germany has breathed new life into a long dormant sport here in the States.The upstart American team has enthralled its compatriots back home, rallying them around a sport they have long approached with the same brand of enthusiasm they have for the metric system.
According to a Forbes.com report, Americans represent the largest fan contingent outside of the hosting Brazilians at this year’s tournament. U.S. soccer fans have purchased nearly 197,000 tickets, the second-most of any nation and more than soccer-mad Argentina, Germany and England – the third, fourth and fifth largest fan bases – combined. For those back in the States, the U.S.-Portugal match was the most-watched soccer match in American television history according to the New York Times. With a reported 24.7 million people tuning in, that one match outperformed the likes of any single game of the most recent World Series and NBA Finals.
This rise in popularity may be because soccer has finally given Americans something they consider worth watching. Instead of 20 players kicking a ball back and forth for two hours only to end in a scoreless tie, this World Cup has been, well, downright American. Upsets, underdogs, high scores, unabashed hatred for every call a referee makes, a catchy chant that gets stuck in your head – hell a dude bit a guy. If soccer ever had a hope of making it in America, now is the time.
Still, soccer must face some harsh realities when contemplating its future in the American cultural consciousness. While the television ratings are encouraging, it will be up to Major League Soccer – one of the largest professional soccer league in the United States – to capitalize on the World Cup’s popularity. And the fact that I felt I had to explain to you what MLS is, speaks to how far soccer has to go. It shouldn’t be all that surprising that Americans have taken to this team – we pretend to care about figure skating and bobsledding every four winters because they come wrapped in stars and stripes.
While the sport is treated as a religion the globe over, it has little hope of ever reaching the popularity enjoyed by the NFL, NBA or MLB in the U.S. This is mainly because, despite the upswing in popularity, soccer will never attract our top athletes. The foothold football, basketball and baseball have on not only youth sports, but the power they command as premiere television events and successful brands with iconic players have established them over generations as ingrained cultural institutions miles ahead of where soccer is, despite whatever inroads it has made in recent weeks. Simply put, kids overwhelmingly want to be the next Michael Jordan not the next Clint Dempsey. Go ahead and picture the LeBron James-Adrian Peterson attacking duo that will never be. You’re welcome, rest of the world.
I realize my readiness to disregard America’s chances of ever being No.1 may seem a tad bit un-American, but it really isn’t when you think about it. U.S. soccer seems to be quite comfortable in the role of the perpetual underdog, alongside such national heroes as Rocky, Rudy and that PeeWee football team coached by Rick Moranis.
While the age of the “soccer mom” has failed to produce a squad of elite home-grown soccer players on par with the Brazils and Germanys of the world, it has produced a team very much capable of competing with them. More importantly it appears to have produced a generation of Americans who are ready to embrace the “beautiful game”. Shoulder biting notwithstanding of course.