Which sport is most likely to dethrone the NFL atop the North American sports throne?

[The_Admiral]

I think it's very close to surpassing hockey even right now. A new television contract, along with new major market teams including NYCFC and LAFC, ought to give soccer the final boost it needs to move into fourth.

It's not close at all, and haven't you noticed the NHL is moving up faster than it ever has?

[Soarindude]

Youth soccer is the fastest growing youth sport in the United States. The Hispanic population is growing rapidly, and the african-american soccer demographic is definitely growing compared to 10 years ago. More athletes are realizing there are plenty of opportunities pursuing soccer as a career. All signs point to soccer taking over here in the US.

The growth of the MLS and the youth/collegiate level is what will determine how far soccer can go here.

It's still generations away from happening. As fast as it's growing, it'll take for a generation who was part of the surge to be in the demographic that buys tickets and buys sponsor products for it to "take over". Basically when today's kids' children or maybe even grandchildren are in their 30s. Remember we're talking about it becoming the #1 sport here - it might certainly happen, it's just ways away. You are correct that everything is in place and the train is moving in the right direction.

I think you're right about the time-frame. And within that time-frame, it'll surely have surpassed baseball (last generation sport), hockey, and possibly basketball. I don't see the NFL ever losing out to soccer here in the states as I personally believe the NFL will "recover" from this minor PR splat.

[Needschat]

Youth soccer is the fastest growing youth sport in the United States. The Hispanic population is growing rapidly, and the african-american soccer demographic is definitely growing compared to 10 years ago. More athletes are realizing there are plenty of opportunities pursuing soccer as a career. All signs point to soccer taking over here in the US.

The growth of the MLS and the youth/collegiate level is what will determine how far soccer can go here.

It's still generations away from happening. As fast as it's growing, it'll take for a generation who was part of the surge to be in the demographic that buys tickets and buys sponsor products for it to "take over". Basically when today's kids' children or maybe even grandchildren are in their 30s. Remember we're talking about it becoming the #1 sport here - it might certainly happen, it's just ways away. You are correct that everything is in place and the train is moving in the right direction.

I think you're right about the time-frame. And within that time-frame, it'll surely have surpassed baseball (last generation sport), hockey, and possibly basketball. I don't see the NFL ever losing out to soccer here in the states as I personally believe the NFL will "recover" from this minor PR splat.

It was a minor PR bump in the road until yesterday, with Goodell's "news conference" then the OTL report. They made the office look terrible, along with the Ravens' administration. What happens if the internal investigation finds that Goodell and others did see the inside-elevator video? Their lying will no longer be a "minor" problem, but be evidence that there is a systemic problem with the league.

[infrared41]

I really don't see any way the NFL can rebuild its image with Goodell still in charge.

The owners are already meeting in early October...

The only way the NFL gets it's "house back in order" is to get rid of Goodell and bring in a "law and order" commissioner. (Shameless plug alert) You can hear the rest of my "solution" on this week's episode of BASS*.

*Link in my sig.

[The_Admiral]

But Goodell was the law-and-order commissioner after Tagliabue was the consensus-builder. Where do they go from here? a Missouri cop?

[BBTV]

Anonymous commissioner who rules via emails that Joe Buck has to read during broadcasts after asking viewers if he can have their attention.

[Chawls]

Anonymous commissioner who rules via emails that Joe Buck has to read during broadcasts after asking viewers if he can have their attention.

I understood this reference

Also, I just want to say how proud I am of the discussion that this thread has inspired.

[Soarindude]

Youth soccer is the fastest growing youth sport in the United States. The Hispanic population is growing rapidly, and the african-american soccer demographic is definitely growing compared to 10 years ago. More athletes are realizing there are plenty of opportunities pursuing soccer as a career. All signs point to soccer taking over here in the US.

The growth of the MLS and the youth/collegiate level is what will determine how far soccer can go here.

It's still generations away from happening. As fast as it's growing, it'll take for a generation who was part of the surge to be in the demographic that buys tickets and buys sponsor products for it to "take over". Basically when today's kids' children or maybe even grandchildren are in their 30s. Remember we're talking about it becoming the #1 sport here - it might certainly happen, it's just ways away. You are correct that everything is in place and the train is moving in the right direction.

I think you're right about the time-frame. And within that time-frame, it'll surely have surpassed baseball (last generation sport), hockey, and possibly basketball. I don't see the NFL ever losing out to soccer here in the states as I personally believe the NFL will "recover" from this minor PR splat.

It was a minor PR bump in the road until yesterday, with Goodell's "news conference" then the OTL report. They made the office look terrible, along with the Ravens' administration. What happens if the internal investigation finds that Goodell and others did see the inside-elevator video? Their lying will no longer be a "minor" problem, but be evidence that there is a systemic problem with the league.

I'm not sure the average fan should/would care about that even in the first place. Our government and major corporations that you and I support every day act in shady business every day. You only see true outrage/boycott from a small minority versus a large enough upset people to actually bring the NFL down.

And even if it did play a major role, the NFLs massive pocketbooks would be able to swindle a fan base with advertisements and talks of a "no bonsensd" policy.

It's very pretentious to believe that the NFL American male fan base will be hit very hard by a few coverups of a couple idiot wife beaters.

Including me-- I care about the actual football game . let the legal court system handle discipline of these criminals. The NFL is their employer, and usual employers allow the justice system take its place before making any decisions.

[BBTV]

It's not the same as a normal employee / employer relationship - not by a long shot.

The NFL's business is to charge people money to comein to the stadium and cheer for players. The NFL is essentially asking women to come in and cheer for a wife beater - that's not right. Regardless of what the courts say, you can't do that to your fans. Also the teams play an important role in their communities (whether they should or not is debatable) and do all kinds of work with kids and present themselves as role models. You cannot keep putting some of these guys out there, regardless of whether actual laws were broken or not.

Being an NFL player is a lot different than being an accountant. It's closer to being a teacher, but a lot more visible. Again, I'm not saying it shoud be that way, but it is.

[infrared41]

But Goodell was the law-and-order commissioner after Tagliabue was the consensus-builder. Where do they go from here? a Missouri cop?

Yes, but Goodell never clearly defined the "law and order" process. The next lackey for the owners commissioner will need to have a plan in place and that plan will need to have clearly defined rules, punishments, etc.

Also, nice work with the Missouri cop reference.

[spartacat_12]

If more people would not think of lacrosse as a snobby, Northeastern prep school sport, they'd see it should be one of the top sports in the country.

Lacrosse is an extremely fun sport to watch. The only problem is that if it wants to shoot up the list of popular sports, it's gotta spread out. Other then the Triangle schools and Northwestern, I can't recall any big colleges with teams that aren't in the BosWash megapolis (there probably are a few, I just can't recall them). If you build the youth leagues, then the high schools, then the colleges, it could be really big. Not totally unlike soccer, I guess?

The only thing is, if lacrosse starts gaining popularity, which pro league benifits more: outdoor MLL or indoor NLL? NLL's more fast paced and telegenic, but MLL plays a more familiar kind of lacrosse.

I think box lacrosse is much more spectator friendly. Indoor facilities mean that weather and field conditions are not an issue, and the similarity of the rules to hockey and basketball make it more accessible to casual fans. If the NLL expands there are already many venues already built that can be used. With that being said, I don't see lacrosse ever entering the realm of the 'Big 4' sports, or soccer. Even in Canada, where it is our official summer sport, it hasn't been able to move out of the niche category.

[BBTV]

I met Paul and Gary Gait when I was a kid and had them sign some photos. I asked one of them to sign "thanks again for teaching me everything I know about lacross", and he did it.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Hmm. Maybe not the MLS after all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HK78Nb_D8j0

[FiddySicks]

Definitely Dancing with the Stars.

[The_Admiral]

Really boring people LOVE Dancing With The Stars. I don't think there's anything more painfully middlebrow than that show.

[kewp80]

Really boring people LOVE Dancing With The Stars. I don't think there's anything more painfully middlebrow than that show.

Everything on the networks is painfully middlebrow compared to anything on cable. I don't have cable and would go crazy without Netflix.

[The_Admiral]

Modern Family: Arrested Development for people who aren't interesting enough to have gotten Arrested Development.

Lund killed that show to death in the link here. Yes, that's right. Killed to death.

[HedleyLamarr]

Taken from the Domestic Soccer thread:

There are 4 MLS teams that take it seriously and that's really sad.

I don't even get that. One of the great things about soccer is that there's always something else. Beyond the MLS, there's CONCACAF Champions League. Win that, and you play in the FIFA Club World Cup. You can get into CONCACAF by winning MLS Supporters Shield, MLS Cup, being the MLS Cup runner up or, of course, winning the US Open Cup.

Even if you don't win the league title, you still have a shot at high-level international competition. Why wouldn't you want to at least try?

This may be another reason why soccer will never have a shot of dethroning the NFL. Not to put doubt in that Clint Dempsey bit, but that takes a fair amount of editing to bring out the satire.

Here, we grow up on our teams playing the regular season, the playoffs, crowning the champion, and the offseason. Soccer has so many ancillary tournaments in addition to their regular season, playoffs, crowning their champion, and offseason. It's seems so strange to say "It's ok, we won't win our league this year, but we can win our country's tournament against some beer league team from Iowa and a group of plumbers from Chattanooga, then prepare for this tournament featuring teams from Mexico, El Salvador, Canada, and Chile.".

Hell, even the offseason transactions aren't 'normal' like what we're used to in the NFL, MLB, etc. You can pay transfer fees to buy a guy off another team or loan a player to another team for half their year. We don't see Tom Brady being loaned out to the BC Lions and return to the Patriots in October or the Tokyo Giants trying to purchase Albert Pujols from the Angels. (I don't quite know all the transfer fee rules and such, but I get the gist of it.)

And that's just soccer here. Casual American sports fans would be in shock about promotion/relegation and the like....

[The_Admiral]

On the other hand, non-casual American sports fans who advocate promotion/relegation should be forcibly loaded into a defective prototype of a self-driving car.

[Cosmic]

On the other hand, non-casual American sports fans who advocate promotion/relegation should be forcibly loaded into a defective prototype of a self-driving car.

*crumples up and swallows plan for promotion/relegation in college football*