Soccer really sucks, doesn't it?

[MikeH]

The final's not really comparable, even I watched that and I basically only watch 1 Ice Hockey game every four years, the olympic final.

[Drake Tungsten]

The first USA/Canada hockey game scored a 4.3 on MSNBC, which was MSNBC's second best ratings night ever. I find that to be more impressive than a 6.1 in a hyped-up match on ABC in the middle of a Saturday afternoon.

[Drake Tungsten]

The USA-Brazil final at the Confederations Cup only drew a 2.6 rating. I think hockey is still clearly more popular than soccer in the United States, although soccer can achieve comparable ratings on occasion if ESPN goes all out to promote games.

[Solomwi]

Really? Was there much soccer being played by kids 35 years ago? I wasn't alive then (am 29). Of course there isn't a linear relationship between how much a game is played and how much it is watched (just look at bad NBA ratings vs. how many people play basketball) but right now soccer is one of the most played sports out there and probably still growing at the high school etc. levels and I can't see it locked out of TV viewing forever if that trend continues.

Yes. Enough for some to think soccer would be the "next big thing" (not that you said that) long before now, based on that simple extrapolation. There's been progress, as Imran pointed out, but not enough to support the relationship. Maybe today's soccer little leaguers are the generation that changes that, maybe not.

[OzzyKP]

The USA-Brazil final at the Confederations Cup only drew a 2.6 rating. I think hockey is still clearly more popular than soccer in the United States, although soccer can achieve comparable ratings on occasion if ESPN goes all out to promote games.

I don't think anyone is suggesting that soccer is more popular currently than hockey. Just that of the "big four" hockey is quite far from the top three already, so far in fact that perhaps we could say the US has a "big three" with hockey being the best of the also rans (soccer, lacrose, women's softball, competitive checkers). And possibly in the next 10-20 years soccer will overtake it.

[a.kitman]

The USA-Brazil final at the Confederations Cup only drew a 2.6 rating. I think hockey is still clearly more popular than soccer in the United States, although soccer can achieve comparable ratings on occasion if ESPN goes all out to promote games.

nobody gives a **** about the confederations cup. its basicly a bunch of international friendlies.

[Drake Tungsten]

Americans don't know enough about soccer to know that. All we knew is that the USA had a chance to beat Brazil in a soccer tournament, which seemed like a big deal.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Yes. Enough for some to think soccer would be the "next big thing" (not that you said that) long before now, based on that simple extrapolation. There's been progress, as Imran pointed out, but not enough to support the relationship. Maybe today's soccer little leaguers are the generation that changes that, maybe not.

Obviously there was over-hype, which it appears that some die hard soccer fans are most definitely guilty of (there is a set of US soccer fans who are completely delusional and think that the sport is ready to take off, but the media is conspiring against it, etc).

However, there has been substantial progress and the MLS has taken the smart approach of not making all that much money on an ESPN deal, but at least getting the product seen far more than if they went with an outfit like Fox Soccer Channel or GolTV, just for the money. That and taking a very long term view and growing slowly to put a nice foundation in place, unless the old NASL in the late 70s, which drew massive crowds, but quickly fizzled due to money issues.

[ColdWizard]

The NHL really shot itself in the ass with the lockout.

[Asher]

The USA vs England match drew a 6.1 National TV rating... which was better than the Stanley Cup final game.
Quite a surprise.

Shouldn't be, two regional teams competing vs two national teams?

A more apt comparison would be the US/Canada hockey game this year, which brought in a 17.6/33 rating in the US.

[Asher]

The first USA/Canada hockey game scored a 4.3 on MSNBC, which was MSNBC's second best ratings night ever. I find that to be more impressive than a 6.1 in a hyped-up match on ABC in the middle of a Saturday afternoon.

[MikeH]

Making excuses for losing.

[MikeH]

Drake losing his bet I mean

[Asher]

It's not an excuse, it's reality. ABC is a mainstream, top-tier network in virtually every home. MSNBC is a relatively obscure network you need to pay extra to get.

The numbers on MSNBC set MSNBC records, IIRC. It did extremely well considering how little it was publicized and how hard it was to find on the dial.

Just incase you don't know what MSNBC is...it's a news network, not a sports channel or mainstream network. It was hard to find the game.

[Drake Tungsten]

MSNBC is a relatively obscure network you need to pay extra to get.

A cable news network, no less. You had to really want to see the game to even know what channel it was on.

edit: I see you made the same point later in your post, but it was a good enough point that I'll leave up my parroting of it.