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Why isn't soccer a popular spectator sport in the United States?

📓 The short answer

A few reasons: Soccer historically hasn't been seen as an "American" sport, the men's team hasn't fared well in the World Cup, tie games don't sit well with the U.S.'s culture of competition, the most popular spectator sports have high scores, and there is little opportunity to incorporate advertisements in televised soccer games.

📚 The long answer

Soccer (or football/fútbol) is the most popularly watched sport in the world – but not in the United States. Even though youth soccer has the highest rate of participation in America, its popularity as a spectator sport is eclipsed by American football, baseball, and basketball.

Here are five reasons that help explain why soccer isn't a popular spectator sport in the United States:

1. Soccer was originally held in lower regard due to its roots in immigrant and working-class communities.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, soccer was mainly played by immigrants and working-class people. This gave it a lower-class and foreign sport image in the eyes of the well-to-do Americans who gravitated towards rugby and American football. Additionally, as baseball became regarded as the national sport, more immigrants chose it over soccer as an attempt to assimilate into American culture. While more homegrown sports like American football, baseball, and basketball became synonymous with American identity, soccer faded into the background.

2. The American (men's) team doesn't win often in soccer.

There is a correlation between soccer's popularity and how well our teams do on the world stage. And while the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team has the most World Cups of any nation, the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team hasn't fared nearly as well. With a lackluster men's performance, soccer historically hasn't been seen as a sport America is good at.

Americans simply don't want to watch their team lose – but we love to watch a win: With nearly 23 million viewers, the 2015 Women's World Cup Final was the most watched soccer match in American history. Soccer has been gaining more popularity in the recent decades, and we probably have the women's national team to thank.

3. Soccer games can end in a tie.

Competition (and, let's face it, winning) is a key value in American culture. Soccer, however, often ends with a tie because it takes so long for each goal to happen. This drains a lot of excitement out of watching sports for American fans.

4. Most popular American sports have high scores. Soccer does not.

Here are the average points scored per team in these professional sports:

• American football: 20-29 points per game
• Baseball: 9 runs per game
• Basketball: 97 points per game

Soccer? Barely an average of 2 goals per game.

5. It is difficult to weave commercial breaks into a soccer game.

All professional sports are businesses that earn most of their revenue through television advertisements. This works well for popular sports that have many breaks built into the game. But soccer technically only has one break: halftime. With virtually continuous play, there isn't nearly as much space for ads, which means there's less money to be earned, which means there's less exposure, which means there's less interest in the sport.

🧠 Bonus brain points

What does "offsides" mean anyway?

A player is deemed offsides if they are on the attacking team (i.e. they're on their opponents' half of the field) and they are closer to the goal than both the ball and the second-to-last opposing team member. Please review my carefully crafted diagram above for reference, if needed.

​Sources​

📖 Book of the week

​Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall

I love reading books on ultrarunning. This one takes you on a journey deep into Mexico's Copper Canyons where the Tarahumara Indians live, a tribe known for their ability to run incredibly long distances with seemingly little effort. The book combines captivating stories of these unique characters with intriguing scientific insights, pushing readers to reconsider everything they thought they knew about running.

👀 Catch up on other curious questions

• ​Why is Shakespeare still taught in American schools?​​
• ​Why are skyscrapers constructed with so much glass?​​
• ​Why do Americans use a MM/DD/YY date format?​​

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