For a while, World Cup fever gripped the US as Bob Bradley’s men produced a number of thrilling performances which had the nation at the edge of their seats. From Wall Street to Wal-Mart, soccer was the game on everybody’s lips. The success of the US national team pulled in an unprecedented number of viewers for a soccer tournament, culminating in a record 24.2 million people tuning in to see the World Cup final.
The numbers are no doubt encouraging but they fail to paint a truly representative picture of the popularity of soccer in the US. For the average US sports fan, the World Cup still has the air of novelty; a soccer tournament played once every four years which the US will probably never win. This lack of success is something that is integral to the development of soccer in the US.
With all other mainstream sports, the US have enjoyed a near total dominance that is rarely challenged. The popularity of baseball and American football are based on the principle that these sports are ‘America’s game’. The fact that soccer appeals to a global audience puts the notion of singular domination under extreme threat.
Unlike its male counterpart, women’s soccer in the US is experiencing huge popularity. This is due in no small part to the dominance of the US team on the international scene. The US female team are a perennial powerhouse in the women’s game winning an astonishing two World Cups and three Olympic gold medals.
With the dominance of the women’s soccer team, the perception of soccer in the US is presented in distinctly gendered terms. For many people, soccer is primarily viewed as a girl’s sport while basketball, American football and baseball are male-dominated domains.
While this gendered view is true of the professional game, the same cannot be said of grass-roots soccer. For many children, soccer is the most popular game until they reach high school, irrespective of gender. But when they reach high school, the infrastructure for soccer coaching is replaced with a far more lucrative sport: American football.
Unlike soccer, the potential earnings for a professional American football player or basketball player are enormous. A first-round draft pick in the NFL or NBA can hope to secure a contract somewhere in the region of $30-50 million dollars. By contrast, a MLS first round pick can expect a relative pittance at $200,000. The huge disparity in earning potential means that gifted athletes will always choose basketball or American football over soccer any day of the week.
The profile of US soccer is definitely on the up. With an improving national team and the signing of Thierry Henry to the New York Red Bulls, it seems that US soccer is going from strength to strength. However, until the men’s national team wins a major competition, soccer has little chance of being another of America’s games.
