Soccer as a professional sport in the United States is, well let us just say, obscure. People everyday are surprised to learn that in America we have a professional soccer league. However, with the start of the World Cup, Americans everywhere have turned their attention to soccer, the most popular sport in the world. This attention has kept editorial writers everywhere busy, writing about how soccer is dull and over-hyped. One such article caught my attention. "Soccer Too Dull for America" by Daniel Kline, observed that soccer will never take hold in the United States television market and despite my love for the sport, I am inclined to agree with Kline.
"High level soccer involves almost no scoring and very few shots on goal." These words spoken by Kline are essentially true. Unfortunately, this lack of scoring and shots is boring to most American viewers. These viewers are accustomed to the high-scoring sports of football, basketball, and even baseball.
Common misconceptions about soccer also seem to prevent average viewers from watching. Most Americans seem to believe that soccer has "limited physical contact" and the games are very slow paced. These are absolutely false, but do keep viewers away from soccer games.
"The United States will never be Brazil or Italy where the fortunes of the national soccer team set the tone for the nation." I believe this thought by Kline is completely true. People will continue to not watch soccer, or even soccer's biggest event, the World Cup. The United States Soccer Federation will have to continue living in a country where soccer will never be as popular as football, baseball, basketball, or even hockey.
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