1. Americans are too stupid.

End.”

There are plenty of stats for “soccer”, just look on ESPN Soccercast. Not that these things really serve a purpose; the joy of spectator sport is largely in discussing games subjectively, not just pointing out meaningless numbers.

Add some cheerleaders if you want. Plenty European stadiums have them.

“Soccer can meander on at the referee’s discretion, something that can both confound and confuse even European Soccer fans.”

This just gets a big old “lol”, from me. There’s a difference between not understanding something and not particularly agreeing with it. Sometimes the referee ends the game earlier/later than he should but you don’t see actual fans sitting about scratching their heads thinking, “Duh?”

The main problem with soccer in the US is the low caliber of players playing in the MLS.

I go to the pub every Saturday morning to watch the Premier League matches with my friends and the pubs are usually packed with supporters of a number of various clubs. Yet when the MLS is on, the pub is dead.

We sold out M&T Bank stadium (over 71,000 seats) for the Chelsea v. AC Milan friendly in Baltimore… that alone should be a show of the numbers of supporters we have in the states, and its growing.

What needs to be done?
-Get rid or raise the salary cap in the MLS
Plain and simple, thats the best bet for the MLS to prosper… no one wants to watch a drab match, and unfortunately most MLS matches are like that. They are slow moving and lack any flair (with the exception of the better 2 or 3 teams in the league). They also need to bring names other than David Beckham or any other 30+ year old player.

Another thing Americans like is anything high scoring.
Last year, the NHL made their regulation goals larger to allow higher scoring games… the result? Near the end of the season last year the NHL had higher ratings than the last decade.

Overall though, soccer is on the rise as far as number of supporters in the US and thats thanks to the US National Team’s better performances (like defeating Spain, for example). The Gold Cup against Brazil after we beat Spain was the highest viewed soccer match in US soccer history and I’m sure once the World Cup progresses, the viewers will rise. At least until team USA gets knocked out or wins the Cup.

Lambeau field, 2007 NFC championship, game time temp -7 F, -24 F with the windchill! (good stat)

Note: “Stats” are loved in the US because they can be used to disprove the idiotic assertions

American sports fans are no more fickle than English fans. Even Liverpool supporters (and I number myself one) boo their own players (Lucas). That’s a disgrace, my friend. I’ve never seen a Detroit Pistons fan boo any of their players. I’ve never even seen a Clippers fan do it, though I imagine they do.

Talent…most of US talent play overseas. Playing in the MLS does not help your game. It helps you keep in shape but the real competition is overseas. If the US can groom an sustain the talent it would be a different story. Start a program to groom players. Hire an international coach like Gus Hiddink. We will see after 2010 World Cup what happens.

Branding…Not sure what you call this. Basketball has Kobe, Jordan Lebron, etc… NFL has Peyton, Brett Favre, etc… Yes you have Landon Donovan as the face of US Soccer and MLS. But who else? Freddy Adu? He can barely get any playing time. Altidore? Perhaps. Connor Casey? How Casey can score on the international level still mystifies me. But again it goes back to finding that talent and that name to boost US Soccer, it needs a marquee name.

-the stone cold lock