ORIGINAL: AcePylut
Soccer will never catch on in the US.
I mean, this is Soccer's grand stage... the World Cup... and what do you see?
Compare this to the Stanley Cup Finals, just concluded. Chicago had a player take a puck to the mouth and lose 7 teeth. Good ole Duncan Teeth came back into the game a couple minutes later. If he were a soccer player, he'd still be whining.
Speaking of the SCFs, nobody watched them. Pitiful ratings. Sorry. (And I live in the State of Hockey--Minnesota.) I'd watch the NHL if they would play hockey and stop all the crap fighting (??) (More like dancing, usually.) I enjoy Olympic hockey a lot, because they actually, you know, PLAY HOCKEY. No other major sport tolerates the crap the NHL puts out every night, and, perhaps not coincidently, baseball, the NFL, and the NBA are all doing far better than the NHL in the competition for sports fans.
As for soccer, it's doing better in the USA. With the indulgence of the forum, here is a partial reprint of a post I saw on Usenet, which is a copy of a trade publication article (I think):
"U.S.-Ghana: Most-Watched FIFA World Cup Game
8.2 Rating, 14.9 Million Viewers for Team USA's Round of 16 Match
Saturday's United States-Ghana match on ABC - a 2-1 U.S. loss in extra
time, which eliminated the Americans from the tournament - is the
most-watched FIFA World Cup game among households and viewers. The 2.5
hour match window (2:30-5:12 p.m. ET) averaged an 8.2 rating,
9,455,000 households, and 14,863,000 viewers, based on fast nationals.
The U.S.-Ghana game ranks as the most-watched Men's World Cup game
ever, with only the 1999 Women's Final (U.S.-China) averaging more
households and viewers for a soccer game (11,307,000 households and
17,975,000 viewers). Additionally, the match ranks as the third
highest-rated Men's World Cup game on record, behind two matches in
1994 - 9.3 rating (U.S.-Brazil, Quarterfinal, 7/4/94) and 9.5 rating
(Italy-Brazil, Final, 7/17/94). The 1999 Women's World Cup Final
(U.S.-China) also delivered an 11.4 rating.
The U.S.-Ghana match represents increases of 11% in ratings (vs. 7.4)
and 13% in viewership (vs. 13,130,000) from ABC's highly-anticipated
U.S.-England World Cup game on June 12, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
The entire three-hour telecast (2-5:12 p.m.) -- including 30 minutes
of pre-match coverage - delivered a 7.5 household rating, 8,649,000
households, and 13,505,000 viewers.
San Diego was the top market for yesterday's Team USA game, delivering
a 15.4 rating. San Diego was the top market for all three previous
U.S. matches - vs. England (11.5, ABC), vs. Slovenia (8.5, ESPN) and
vs. Algeria (8.9, ESPN). Rounding out the top 10 for Saturday's match
were Washington, D.C. (13.8), San Francisco (13.3), Cincinnati (12.9),
Las Vegas (11.7), Austin (11.4), Columbus, Ohio (10.6), Norfolk, Va.
(10.6), Seattle-Tacoma (10.6) and West Palm Beach (10.5). . . .
. . . Through 50 games of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the ESPN networks
(ESPN/ESPN2/ABC) are averaging a 1.8 U.S. rating, 2,081,000
households, and 2,781,000 viewers. The rating is up 48% from 2006
(1.2), while household impressions are up 54% (from 1,349,000) and
viewers are up 60% (from 1,740,000). (Note: Ratings and viewership
numbers are based on the specific match windows, not including
pre-match studio coverage.)"
From rec.arts.tv, not attributed on Usenet.
