19 hours ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Even PCA knows not to post soccer threads in the “Pale Hose Talk” forum.

But does he NOW know how to speak to women without losing his temper?

https://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/article/world-cup-blowout-england-mexico-tv-ratings-in-us-top-those-of-usa-belgium-rival-nfl-playoffs-025308679.html

44 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

https://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/article/world-cup-blowout-england-mexico-tv-ratings-in-us-top-those-of-usa-belgium-rival-nfl-playoffs-025308679.html

Big numbers for Mexico- England.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/articles/really-fractured-now-alex-morgan-155301891.html

Not in my preference it's hockey ,baseball and football..

But yes soccer is extremely popular no doubt.

57 minutes ago, The Grinder said:

Not in my preference it's hockey ,baseball and football..

But yes soccer is extremely popular no doubt.

I wouldn't walk across the street to watch one. If you grew up in small town America before the 90's, it was the big 3.

To be honest. This happens every World Cup year. Everyone asks the same question.

All you have to do is look at TV ratings and gross revenue between MLS and MLB.

TV Ratings

• MLB: For large broadcasts, around 2 million

• MLS: Hundreds of thousands

Gross Revenue

• MLS team makes roughly $80-85 million in revenue

• MLB team makes $377 million per team.

Revenue Per Game

• MLS: $4.1 million

• MLB: $4.5 million

The conclusion should be the same. Even at the optimal output, Soccer does not deliver the same revenue or ratings that baseball does.

What are mlb tv rankings in England France Germany Italy and Spain?

You have to consider also the massive crossover success of those five European leagues, in particular the EPL as well as best Spanish and French teams...it's not just a simple 1/1 comparison with MLS or even NHL.

And then there's also the tremendous success of US womens' teams and participation there as well.

On 7/9/2026 at 8:14 AM, Falstaff said:

Big numbers for Mexico- England.

I was disappoint...

Spain has this

PCA big Chelsea and England fan

❤️

Don't forget ... the World Cup was here this time around so it's naturally going to be popular. After the World Cup it'll return to being a non watched sport in USA. Heck the Cup won't be back for what, 20 years? Although the women's World Cup could come soon and bring that excitement.

As far as popularity, baseball seems to still pack stadiums. The all star game was a big deal as far as being sold out, same with the HR Derby night. If baseball truly was dead to fans, it'd show in attendance at the big events like playoffs, WS, all star game.

That said baseball remains on life support because of analytics. The HR or nothing offenses are offensive to many. Strategy is dead. It's all about the HR or K. Pitchers all throw 98; nobody can go more than five innings. The pitch clock isn't working. Games are still too long. Games need to be like Banana Ball: 2 hour limit (in MLB I'd allow 2 hr, 20 minutes).

NBA is now boring. High screen and drive and get hacked inside on layup tries or drive inside or pass inside and pass to a 3 point bomber. Last two minutes of games are so dull with all the time outs. That's what is killing college basketball too.

NFL and college football have too many replays. College has become insufferable with the stoppages. At least NFL games are 3 hours max. College football now flirts with 3 hours 40 minutes. That is insanity.

Soccer: Brutally boring. Megan Rapinoe turned a lot of people off with what seemed to be an anti-USA sentiment.

WNBA: Too physical. Too controversial. All the headlines are about Clark getting beaten up and perceived jealousy of other WNBA players toward her and Sophie Cunningham.

Tennis: Boring on the men's side because of their powerful serves keeping rallies to a minimum. Women's tennis is pretty exciting on TV.

Golf: Believe it or not, made for TV if a guy you like is in contention. WIth all these no name golfers it also it dull though.

Bowling: Addictive but I don't think it's on TV anymore.

Hockey: One of the best sports to watch in person. "Bobby Hull ... A shot and a goal" - cut Lloyd Pettit.

Edited July 17Jul 17 by greg775

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/articles/fifa-world-cup-experience-teaches-040200322.html

“But baseball? Too many regular-season broadcasts feel like they are fulfilling a contractual obligation. Game 94 isn’t Game 7. But television doesn’t have to treat it like Game 94, either. Everything doesn’t need to be louder or faster. Everything certainly does not need another graphic flying across the screen.

There were things the World Cup didn’t do perfectly. Afternoon kickoff times weren’t ideal for North American viewers. FIFA’s expanded tournament occasionally felt like someone looked at a successful idea and said, “You know what this needs? Thirty-two more games.” Sports commissioners are remarkably consistent that way.

But the television product? American broadcast executives should have been taking notes. Not because soccer is somehow superior. Because great television is great television.

The World Cup reminded us that the biggest moments do not need to be manufactured. They need to be recognized.

That’s a lesson every producer, director, and announcer should remember before the NFL season begins. Sometimes the best television isn’t created in the production truck. It’s already happening on the field.

The smartest thing everyone can do is trust it.”

“July 17 - Fox Sports continued a record-breaking week in TV soccer viewership when Argentina's narrow victory over England on Wednesday was the most-watched World Cup semifinal in English-language history, Variety ‌reported.

Argentina's 2-1 win averaged 15.063 million viewers on Fox, crushing the mark set just one day earlier when Spain shut out France 2-0 in Tuesday's semifinal and averaged 11.462 million viewers.

Argentina and superstar Lionel Messi, facing off in Atlanta ⁠against England and its star striker Harry Kane, peaked with 22.177 million viewers from 4:45-5 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Fox averaged 6.531 million viewers for the 2022 World Cup semifinals.

The France-Morocco semifinal in December 2022 in Qatar drew 6.595 million viewers on Fox, the record for English-language broadcasts of World Cup semifinals until this week.

Radio Times reported that England's match Wednesday was the most-watched live ‌TV ⁠broadcast in the United Kingdom in 2026. The broadcast peaked at 24 million viewers -- 85% of all TV viewing at the time -- and averaged 22.1 million on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.”

https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/argentina-england-world-cup-ratings-15-million-fox-1236813261/

Edited July 17Jul 17 by caulfield12

https://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/article/the-2026-world-cup-won-over-america-and-proved-the-planet-wrong-184150962.html

As a middle school teacher, I can say with certainty that soccer is much more popular amongst my students then all other sports except basketball. I think in a few years, soccer will be ahead of baseball and hockey as the third sport in this country. TV ratings for thr premier league are through the roof. And champions league final is, year in and year out, the most watched sporting event in the world.

On 6/26/2026 at 8:58 PM, WestEddy said:

Pong was the biggest video game when I was a kid, and that got boring pretty quick, so we still played any game we could throw or kick a ball in the alley, parking lot or across people's front yards. American professional soccer doesn't really get the top stars, so I'd guess it's hard to develop an enduring fan base to watch American up-and-comers and world stars in their twilight. It's probably like fans coming out to watch a 45-year-old Ricky Henderson play in the Atlantic League.

You missed Space Invaders, Donkey Kong and Pac Man lol.

Atari 2600/5200 and Intellivision.

There was always sports, video arcades, movie theatres/multiplexes, shopping malls, pizza places etc.

Drive in theatres were dying out by the mid 80s in most bigger cities.

18 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

You missed Space Invaders, Donkey Kong and Pac Man lol.

Atari 2600/5200 and Intellivision.

There was always sports, video arcades, movie theatres/multiplexes, shopping malls, pizza places etc.

Drive in theatres were dying out by the mid 80s in most bigger cities.

I was responding to Falstaff playing outside all the time. Space Invaders and Pac Man hit when I was about 15. Intellivision about a year later, or so. There was nothing when I was under 7-11 y.o. Parents wouldn't really let us off the block, so we either played fast pitch, or wandered through the Kresge's or Goldblatt's on Belmont.

Or, if I'm missing by a year or so, nobody's parents bought it for them for us to spend all day inside playing video games.

20 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

I was responding to Falstaff playing outside all the time. Space Invaders and Pac Man hit when I was about 15. Intellivision about a year later, or so. There was nothing when I was under 7-11 y.o. Parents wouldn't really let us off the block, so we either played fast pitch, or wandered through the Kresge's or Goldblatt's on Belmont.

Or, if I'm missing by a year or so, nobody's parents bought it for them for us to spend all day inside playing video games.

You didn't have Strat O Matic?

Trading baseball cards?

In Iowa, you simply played outside all afternoon until it got dark out and your parents called you in or rang a bell...usually around 9-930 in the summer.

Only later came all the fears about poisoned Halloween candy or razor blades in the candied caramel apples

Edited September 4Sep 4 by caulfield12

34 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

You didn't have Strat O Matic?

Trading baseball cards?

In Iowa, you simply played outside all afternoon until it got dark out and your parents called you in or rang a bell...usually around 9-930 in the summer.

Only later came all the fears about poisoned Halloween candy or razor blades in the candied caramel apples

Sure. We just played outside all day, every day in the summer. We didn't really like being inside. Maybe somebody would find his dad's Redd Foxx album, and we listen to that.