Will Gen Z popularize soccer (MLS) in the US?
Jan 26, 2019 17:28:46 GMT 10
Post by RockyMountainExtreme on Jan 26, 2019 17:28:46 GMT 10
If you're aware of it, yes I know I posted this topic on inthe00s. However, I'm deciding to go even more in depth with it here on Popedia.
Soccer, known more globally as "football", is truly Earth's sport. It is by far the most popular sport in the world, enjoying immense popularity all throughout Africa, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. The World Cup is the world's most popular sporting event, even more popular than the Olympic Games are! Here's a map showing how dominant soccer is in popularity worldwide;
Granted though, even though soccer is the most popular sport worldwide, that doesn't mean the entire world embraces it, as there are quite a few countries on the map not colored in green (indicating a soccer dominance). Coincidentally, four of these countries, the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, are where the majority of Popedia users come from. Chances are, if you're reading this, soccer is not the most popular sport in your country, it certainly isn't in mine.
Here in the United States, the big four professional sports leagues are the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB, so gridiron football, basketball, hockey, and baseball. It's been this way since the mid 20th Century, and it's still this way today well into the 21st Century. All four of these sporting leagues are very well established, being around well before television became a household staple; the NBA has been around since 1946, the NFL since 1920, the NHL since 1917, and the MLB going way back to 1869, now approaching its 150th anniversary! All four of these leagues enjoy billions of dollars in revenue, over a million (up to 16 million for the NFL) average viewers on NBC, ABC, Fox, and ESPN, they truly are America's big four professional sports leagues. One would be more likely to support one over the other if a certain team from one of those leagues was located in their city/state and the other was not, but if they were lucky, all four were in their city/state, and they had a team to cheer for in each league, like how the Denver area has the Broncos, Nuggets, Avalanche, and Rockies, the Boston area has the Patriots, Celtics, Bruins, and Red Sox, the Dallas area has the Cowboys, Mavericks, Stars, and Rangers, as well as a few other examples, people who live within these areas have teams to root for in each league, it's like the Olympic Games for them.
Three of these leagues, the NBA, NHL, and MLB, go beyond the US. The NBA and MLB each have teams in Toronto, and the NHL has many teams all throughout Canada and is more popular there than is in the US. The NFL is flirting with the idea of putting a team in Toronto, but if you ask me, I think the NFL and CFL should merge, like the NFL and AFL did back in the 1960s.
Now, what about soccer?
Well, back in 1968, there was the advent of the NASL, or North American Soccer League, but it failed and went defunct less than 18 years after it's foundation in 1985. Soccer was just not a sport that Americans were willing to accept, especially during the patriotic years of the Cold War. Soccer was a foreign sport that never played anything of a role in American history, it had no place in American culture. So, as aforementioned, the NASL failed, while the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB went on to further solidify themselves as the US's big four sports leagues.
Over a decade later in 1996, the MLS, or Major League Soccer, had its first season, this is the sports league that's the topic of today's discussion. The MLS was soccer's second chance at finding success in the US following the NASL's failure, the first season brought some excitement, but after that, the league was quickly swept under the rug, and was seemingly bound to just be another failed sports league like the NASL. All throughout these last couple of decades, MLS games on average would only get up to a few hundred thousand views on TV, even well behind PGA golf games. That's right, Americans would rather watch golf than soccer, that just shows how disconnected we truly are from the rest of the world.
But there is a younger demographic that could very likely change all of that; Generation Z. This could very well be the cohort that could lift the MLS into the American mainstream.
A recent survey showed the MLS to be twice as popular among the Plural generation as it is with older generations. The survey shows the MLS being more popular than the NHL among the cohort, and with a 3-point margin of error, it could even possibly top the MLB in popularity among the cohort as well. As the Plural generation grows older, I can see the MLS growing more popular as a result as well.
For one, Gen Z has a higher proportion of Hispanic Americans than previous generations. Hispanic Americans are far more likely to be passionate about soccer than white Americans are, as the vast majority of them come from countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, etc. where the sport is a huge deal. As a result, they're far more likely to support a soccer league like the MLS.
Also, they're less patriotic than older generations and tend to take more interest in other countries and cultures, plus they're more connected to people around the world, in countries where soccer is number one, than previous generations were. All in all, Gen Z is the best bet for the MLS to become a successful major sports league in the US. Will it achieve this goal this way?
If you ask me, I do believe the MLS does need to go through some major adjustments if it truly wants to become relevant someday as a sports league in the US, and I don't think they're going exactly in the right direction as of now.
Soccer, known more globally as "football", is truly Earth's sport. It is by far the most popular sport in the world, enjoying immense popularity all throughout Africa, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. The World Cup is the world's most popular sporting event, even more popular than the Olympic Games are! Here's a map showing how dominant soccer is in popularity worldwide;
Granted though, even though soccer is the most popular sport worldwide, that doesn't mean the entire world embraces it, as there are quite a few countries on the map not colored in green (indicating a soccer dominance). Coincidentally, four of these countries, the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, are where the majority of Popedia users come from. Chances are, if you're reading this, soccer is not the most popular sport in your country, it certainly isn't in mine.
Here in the United States, the big four professional sports leagues are the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB, so gridiron football, basketball, hockey, and baseball. It's been this way since the mid 20th Century, and it's still this way today well into the 21st Century. All four of these sporting leagues are very well established, being around well before television became a household staple; the NBA has been around since 1946, the NFL since 1920, the NHL since 1917, and the MLB going way back to 1869, now approaching its 150th anniversary! All four of these leagues enjoy billions of dollars in revenue, over a million (up to 16 million for the NFL) average viewers on NBC, ABC, Fox, and ESPN, they truly are America's big four professional sports leagues. One would be more likely to support one over the other if a certain team from one of those leagues was located in their city/state and the other was not, but if they were lucky, all four were in their city/state, and they had a team to cheer for in each league, like how the Denver area has the Broncos, Nuggets, Avalanche, and Rockies, the Boston area has the Patriots, Celtics, Bruins, and Red Sox, the Dallas area has the Cowboys, Mavericks, Stars, and Rangers, as well as a few other examples, people who live within these areas have teams to root for in each league, it's like the Olympic Games for them.
Three of these leagues, the NBA, NHL, and MLB, go beyond the US. The NBA and MLB each have teams in Toronto, and the NHL has many teams all throughout Canada and is more popular there than is in the US. The NFL is flirting with the idea of putting a team in Toronto, but if you ask me, I think the NFL and CFL should merge, like the NFL and AFL did back in the 1960s.
Now, what about soccer?
Well, back in 1968, there was the advent of the NASL, or North American Soccer League, but it failed and went defunct less than 18 years after it's foundation in 1985. Soccer was just not a sport that Americans were willing to accept, especially during the patriotic years of the Cold War. Soccer was a foreign sport that never played anything of a role in American history, it had no place in American culture. So, as aforementioned, the NASL failed, while the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB went on to further solidify themselves as the US's big four sports leagues.
Over a decade later in 1996, the MLS, or Major League Soccer, had its first season, this is the sports league that's the topic of today's discussion. The MLS was soccer's second chance at finding success in the US following the NASL's failure, the first season brought some excitement, but after that, the league was quickly swept under the rug, and was seemingly bound to just be another failed sports league like the NASL. All throughout these last couple of decades, MLS games on average would only get up to a few hundred thousand views on TV, even well behind PGA golf games. That's right, Americans would rather watch golf than soccer, that just shows how disconnected we truly are from the rest of the world.
But there is a younger demographic that could very likely change all of that; Generation Z. This could very well be the cohort that could lift the MLS into the American mainstream.
A recent survey showed the MLS to be twice as popular among the Plural generation as it is with older generations. The survey shows the MLS being more popular than the NHL among the cohort, and with a 3-point margin of error, it could even possibly top the MLB in popularity among the cohort as well. As the Plural generation grows older, I can see the MLS growing more popular as a result as well.
For one, Gen Z has a higher proportion of Hispanic Americans than previous generations. Hispanic Americans are far more likely to be passionate about soccer than white Americans are, as the vast majority of them come from countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, etc. where the sport is a huge deal. As a result, they're far more likely to support a soccer league like the MLS.
Also, they're less patriotic than older generations and tend to take more interest in other countries and cultures, plus they're more connected to people around the world, in countries where soccer is number one, than previous generations were. All in all, Gen Z is the best bet for the MLS to become a successful major sports league in the US. Will it achieve this goal this way?
If you ask me, I do believe the MLS does need to go through some major adjustments if it truly wants to become relevant someday as a sports league in the US, and I don't think they're going exactly in the right direction as of now.
One major change they should make is with the names - They should stop trying to be like Britain by having all these corporate sounding team names, like Sporting Kansas City, Real Salt Lake, or all those teams that have "FC" in their name. They should all just stick with adjective mascots, like the other major sports leagues in the US do, that will make them way more marketable at sports stores.
Secondly, they shouldn't have two teams in New York and Los Angeles, the MLS isn't yet popular enough to have two teams in the same city like in the other four major sports leagues, it needs to grow first before it can do that. The Los Angeles FC should be relocated to San Diego (and be given an actual mascot as mentioned before), and the New York Red Bulls should be re-branded into the New Jersey Red Bulls since they play in New Jersey, creating a sports rivalry between New Yorkers and Jerseyites like in the NHL with the Rangers and Devils.
Third, they should have 32 teams in total, 16 in each conference, 8 in each division. They currently have 24 teams with 12 in each conference, and will soon be adding expansion teams in Austin, Nashville, and Miami, they should also add Las Vegas, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Charlotte, and San Juan (Puerto Rico), so an additional 8 cities, 4 west of the Mississippi that would go into the Western Conference, 4 east of the Mississippi that would go into the Eastern Conference.
If they do all this, then I think they could become more popular a lot faster.
What's your verdict on this subject?
Secondly, they shouldn't have two teams in New York and Los Angeles, the MLS isn't yet popular enough to have two teams in the same city like in the other four major sports leagues, it needs to grow first before it can do that. The Los Angeles FC should be relocated to San Diego (and be given an actual mascot as mentioned before), and the New York Red Bulls should be re-branded into the New Jersey Red Bulls since they play in New Jersey, creating a sports rivalry between New Yorkers and Jerseyites like in the NHL with the Rangers and Devils.
Third, they should have 32 teams in total, 16 in each conference, 8 in each division. They currently have 24 teams with 12 in each conference, and will soon be adding expansion teams in Austin, Nashville, and Miami, they should also add Las Vegas, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Charlotte, and San Juan (Puerto Rico), so an additional 8 cities, 4 west of the Mississippi that would go into the Western Conference, 4 east of the Mississippi that would go into the Eastern Conference.
If they do all this, then I think they could become more popular a lot faster.
What's your verdict on this subject?
