Piotrek Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 The other day I thought to myself that while soccer (I'll use that word from now on to avoid confusing people) is said to be the most popular team sport in the world, somehow in all (?) the major English speaking countries it has strong competitors (other football types/rugby/hockey/baseball) that are ranked higher in popularity there. I know very little about the actual situation, though, which is why I'm starting this thread. If you are from any of those 4 countries and want to post something about the status of soccer there, the level of everyday interest people show, etc, feel free to post. (If you're from any other country and want to contribute feel free to post too ). I've read that people in US go crazy about soccer during the World Cup and I know the women's team is always a strong contender for gold, but what about the every day level of interest? Also, is this more of a generational thing (I read that soccer popularity was only boosted after US received hosting rights to the 1994 World Cup tournament, which would suggest that football fans should be mostly young-to-middleaged audience)? More of a big city thing (I know the teams from MLS all hail from significant cities)? Link to post Share on other sites
Gazza83 Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 I'm a football fan (or soccer as you call it hahah) I support a club in Scotland called Heart Of Midlothian. My English team i follow is Liverpool. From what i understand is that the USA is seeing the popularity increase in the sport as David Beckham is about to launch a new team. Last i heard anyway. Infact a few of our ex players are in the US just now, Sam Nicholson plays for Minnesota and we used to have Perry Kitchen at our club too. Andy Driver was at Houston Dynamo a few years back too. All very good players for us Link to post Share on other sites
Baam Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 In Australia, Australian Rules Football (often just referred to as AFL) is much more popular, as is cricket. I hardly ever see the type of football/soccer you're talking about on TV, but AFL is always on when it's in season. Link to post Share on other sites
Yeast Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 Football (the American sort) seems to be the most popular sport in the US, followed by basketball and baseball. I'd say baseball and soccer are about equally popular. However this is only an average approximation. In Michigan and other northern states hockey probably rivals football. Aside from purely spectator sports, I'd say the most popular sport average people play is bowling. Golf is also very popular. Baseball is a sport that can be played professionally or by amateur leagues. I'm no great sports fan but I do find curling fascinating to watch. Link to post Share on other sites
Dj91 Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 It is not the English speaking world that makes it the most popular game in the world outside of the UK In which it is easily the biggest sport. Europe, South America, a lot of Africa and China, Japan and Korea it is huge in too. It doesn't need to be huge in the rest of the English speaking world. Link to post Share on other sites
Orianaro Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 In Canada, hockey is probably bigger than soccer. Mostly because soccer is highly seasonal, we don't really have indoor facilities for that, but skating rinks can be maintained in the summer. Football is also pretty big, as well as basketball and to a lesser degree baseball. I would say they're all pretty equal, depending on where you go, but hockey is above all of them. Lacrosse and curling are also surprisingly respected. I think the only reason football isn't more popular is people trying to somewhat distance themselves from the American football craze, but that's about how most Canadians feel for hockey. I am completely not a sports fan, but I like knowing that Canada did well in hockey for something and I have a bunch of friends who do it. Link to post Share on other sites
Tunhope Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 @Gazza83 YNWA. and Mo Salah has just been voted player of the year,I'm told. Now we wait to see what happens with Roma. (Sorry, couldn't resist adding a post even tho' I'm English but I can't let a mention of LFC go without a comment. It would be very wrong!) Link to post Share on other sites
Piotrek Posted April 26, 2018 Author Share Posted April 26, 2018 A Canadian team, Toronto FC, came really close to winning the CONCACAF Champions League yesterday. Anyone here from Toronto, or more generally Canada, can tell us if this is a big story there? @Orianaro Link to post Share on other sites
Orianaro Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 @Piotrek I mean, I hadn't heard about it, but I'm not a huge sports geek and so don't pay a ton of attention to those kinds of things. But if I never heard anything that means it wasn't a huge widespread thing (I hear about the Leafs and the Jays aaaaaall the time, like it or not), though there definitely appear to be some news stories on it. I'm not in Toronto, though I'm relatively close. Link to post Share on other sites
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