Why Football Failed In...

[Panna King]

2 hours ago, SirBalon said:

Blame the west for everything 

I forgot about field hockey which is odd seeing as Spain are pretty decent at it too although Roller Hockey is where they dominate and obviously Basketball is absolutely massive in Spain where they are one of the best in the world... Also Water Polo.  There are so many sports that get overlooked to be honest.

We are the best at Field Hockey espcially the women, actually we are quite at the top of most sports apart from Cricket and Rugby, not bad a for small nation  

[Lucas]

Laughable and quite ignorant to say Football has failed in America. If anything, it's very much on the rise.

MLS is growing all the time. David Beckham is starting his own franchise in Miami soon which has created more interest. Top players are choosing to finish their careers there so the fans are seeing the likes of Rooney, Ibrahimovic, Kaka, Pirlo, David Villa etc which boosts popularity and profile.

The Women's World Cup finals in 2015 had tremendous viewing figures, so much so that statistically viewership was higher than the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals.

The figures for kids aged 12 to 17 year olds playing Football is so much higher. It's doubled since 1990. There are far more Football academies available now. Kids of tomorrow are choosing Football over some of the more 'popular' US Sports.

There has been over a 40% rise in attendances in the MLS over the last 10 years. Seattle and Orlando now average consistently over 30k for home games which is a solid figure.

European Leagues are growing in the States. Not only viewing figures of leagues such as the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, but as a result in the surge of popularity, we now see more and more pre season friendlies being staged over in the States to appease the public and letting them see the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Man City, Liverpool etc. It's even at the point where La Liga are staging a proper league match over there because of the interest and financial bonuses.

And to top it all off, they have the 2026 World Cup over there meaning this will only generate more and more interest. 

Football in America is very, very much on the rise. Far from a failure.

 

 

[Asura]

There are several reasons for failing in India

1) Its a low scoring game and the moments of "excitement" are lower for many classes. A beautiful defense splitting football pass may not be appreciated by everyone but a hard hitting sixer in cricket is easier for a 5 yr old kid to understand and clap about with a huge grin. 

2) India never had enough heroes to make football popular whereas cricket has our own Messis and Zidanes which gave them cult following in youth and kids, the two most important demographics for any sport to thrive.

3) I dont believe we are physically strong enough in the conditions we have to compete in a proper football match against many other races/nations. Diet, genetics and other factors are all important here. Ofcourse, im not saying its not possible to train, diet and have a good build but an average person in our country is physically no match to an average Joe in the west.

4) We dont have club culture where fans can watch their teams week in week out in leagues, not even in cricket we have that culture. Cricket is all about countries rather than clubs and franchisees and I dont believe in the IPL bullshite, its a manufactured league and was never born from the people's passion.

 

 

[Asura]

3 hours ago, Panna King said:

Football has fallen to 3rd place in the Netherlands behind, Speed Skating and Fierljeppen 

what happened to the Dutch cricket team? I remember they played in a couple of world cups back in the day?

Do people play cricket on the streets, is it popular?

[Honey Honey]

Shouldn't we set up a charity or something for these countries who fucked up and went another way than football?

 

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Lucas said:

Laughable and quite ignorant to say Football has failed in America. If anything, it's very much on the rise.

 

 

Its not laughable at all. You really think the USA has a proper football culture? Just because it is "on the rise", doesn't mean they have a football history. The video actually explains how many football associations in the USA died which is what kept the sport amateur for the longest time.

Football may be "on the rise" there, but it is still overpowered by American Football, Basketball and Baseball I'm afraid.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Asura said:

There are several reasons for failing in India

1) Its a low scoring game and the moments of "excitement" are lower for many classes. A beautiful defense splitting football pass may not be appreciated by everyone but a hard hitting sixer in cricket is easier for a 5 yr old kid to understand and clap about with a huge grin. 

2) India never had enough heroes to make football popular whereas cricket has our own Messis and Zidanes which gave them cult following in youth and kids, the two most important demographics for any sport to thrive.

3) I dont believe we are physically strong enough in the conditions we have to compete in a proper football match against many other races/nations. Diet, genetics and other factors are all important here. Ofcourse, im not saying its not possible to train, diet and have a good build but an average person in our country is physically no match to an average Joe in the west.

4) We dont have club culture where fans can watch their teams week in week out in leagues, not even in cricket we have that culture. Cricket is all about countries rather than clubs and franchisees and I dont believe in the IPL bullshite, its a manufactured league and was never born from the people's passion.

 

 

The video explained something regarding the 1950 World Cup, about how India failed to get to Brazil due to finances and that made it take a set back. I thought it was very interesting tbh

[Panna King]

1 hour ago, Asura said:

what happened to the Dutch cricket team? I remember they played in a couple of world cups back in the day?

Do people play cricket on the streets, is it popular?

Yeah Netherlands play cricket, they are better in 20/20 but also have a test team.  They have a lot of Aussies and South Africans represent them due to Dutch Parents.  The best player is Ryan ten Doeschate.   Its not a big sport in the country though.  Hockey, Speed Skating, football, Handball, cycling, golf , F1 are much popular. 

[Mel81x+]

12 minutes ago, Blue said:

The video explained something regarding the 1950 World Cup, about how India failed to get to Brazil due to finances and that made it take a set back. I thought it was very interesting tbh

It is an interesting part of history but I don't think football is really dead in India. Yeah its dead when it comes to media prominence like countries that have a bigger history in the sport share but the problem with having such a huge population and diversity of culture also creates pockets where football as a sport is greatly enjoyed too. Certain parts of India actually are pro-football, believe it or not, and have a history with the sport. One of the biggest ones being the Kolkata Derby which involves two teams (East Bengal and Mohun Bagan) which stretches back all the way to 1889 and till date is one of the few games I encourage people who come here to go watch because there is a serious rivalry there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolkata_Derby

In more recent years the ISL started getting people more involved in the sport but in all honesty fans of those clubs are much smaller and they were so new that no one really thinks theres any true heritage of any sort there other than filling stadiums on matchday just to get an outing. I know this because when I go to BFC [Bengaluru Football Club] I generally engage in conversations with folks about how they came to support the club and thats what I hear, I come only when I get the time. Where there has been a huge insurgence of interest lately at club level from living in Bangalore has been with the AFC Cup and trying to do well there. They do play games in the city and from my first days going to matches the fanbase that attends those matches supersedes the NFL (national football league) games. 

Then you have states like Kerala and Goa where the cultures are more pro-football than most other sports, Goa predominantly due to the heavy European influence and some of the clubs there have been around for more than 50 years now as well, Salgaocar FC being the one that comes to mind but I think there might be one that is older I can't remember off the top of my head. But if you compare any of this to Cricket or Field Hockey its going to be dwarfed simply because we have a much richer history in those sports and in the first one we are one of the better teams in the world as well so its only natural that it has gained popularity and prominence over football.

 

[Honey Honey]

One of the countries missing on the list where football has failed is France. They have cities 3 or 4 times bigger than Burnley getting lower attendances. Their domestic league has struggled to compete with much smaller countries like England, Spain and arguably the Netherlands. I had a relative in France for the World Cup final, he said they all sat down and watched it, then at full time they went about their lives as if nothing had happened.

[Stan]

37 minutes ago, Blue said:

Its not laughable at all. You really think the USA has a proper football culture? Just because it is "on the rise", doesn't mean they have a football history. The video actually explains how many football associations in the USA died which is what kept the sport amateur for the longest time.

Football may be "on the rise" there, but it is still overpowered by American Football, Basketball and Baseball I'm afraid.

that's not the question though, whether it has 'history'.

The case in point is 'why football has failed in...?' America in this case.

Who said it's failed? I don't think it has and I agree that it could be argued it's a laughable statement to make. Football in America is definitely on the rise. 

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, Stan said:

that's not the question though, whether it has 'history'.

The case in point is 'why football has failed in...?' America in this case.

Who said it's failed? I don't think it has and I agree that it could be argued it's a laughable statement to make. Football in America is definitely on the rise. 

History is a very important part of whether football has failed. In the USA it was mostly amateur and leagues kept failing to get going. They kept dying, and just because it's on the rise now, that doesn't mean it's above the 3 main sports in the USA, or even close to it. 

If football didn't fail, they would be at least the second most popular sport and have a proper culture. They don't, it's that simple. It's true you don't need history to have that sort of culture, Colombia has a very small history but a tremendous culture. However, the difference is they actually liked football from the start and it's the most popular sport.

I can't see football ever being bigger than any of these 3 in my lifetime, so for now the status is that it failed. It's purely opinion based but I do find it a bit ignorant to say it's a laughable statement.

[Guest]

38 minutes ago, Harvsky said:

One of the countries missing on the list where football has failed is France. They have cities 3 or 4 times bigger than Burnley getting lower attendances. Their domestic league has struggled to compete with much smaller countries like England, Spain and arguably the Netherlands. I had a relative in France for the World Cup final, he said they all sat down and watched it, then at full time they went about their lives as if nothing had happened.

France is weird. Apparently football isn't by a mile the most popular sport? I find it daft to use attendances into the matter. Here in Peru league games rarely fill up and football is essentially the only sport people follow here. The USA it's the 4th biggest sport and they always fill up. I still think you have an interesting point though as some people have told me different answers. Rugby, speed skating, it's one that's definitely up for discussion. I'd imagine football is still number 1, but not by miles like in the rest of Western Europe.

[Stan]

3 minutes ago, Blue said:

History is a very important part of whether football has failed. In the USA it was mostly amateur and leagues kept failing to get going. They kept dying, and just because it's on the rise now, that doesn't mean it's above the 3 main sports in the USA, or even close to it. 

If football didn't fail, they would be at least the second most popular sport and have a proper culture. They don't, it's that simple. It's true you don't need history to have that sort of culture, Colombia has a very small history but a tremendous culture. However, the difference is they actually liked football from the start and it's the most popular sport.

I can't see football ever being bigger than any of these 3 in my lifetime, so for now the status is that it failed. It's purely opinion based but I do find it a bit ignorant to say it's a laughable statement.

just because it's not bigger than another sport, doesn't mean it's 'failed'

[Guest]

Just now, Stan said:

just because it's not bigger than another sport, doesn't mean it's 'failed'

What is "failing" to you then?

The USA for the longest time has had no relations to football and no culture at all. Even now it's still viewed as a sissy sport. I know this because Ive lived in Canada and my cousin lived in Florida. 

Its a widespread population of 300 million people, so you are bound to find some football fans. Most of them are latinos or African anyways. 

This last paragraph is a hunch, so it could be very wrong but I'd guess it's mostly the multicultural people who enjoy the sport and not the long time locals. That is how it was in Canada at least. I'm sure @Dickie can answer that better than I can.

[Guest]

Also, I think what the video meant as "failed" has not only to do with popularity but also how powerful it is in football. 

Just a theory but imagine if football was popular from the start in the United States. You could easily argue that they would have at least 1 World Cup and a top league to go at it. They don't have either.

[Stan]

2 minutes ago, Blue said:

What is "failing" to you then?

The USA for the longest time has had no relations to football and no culture at all. Even now it's still viewed as a sissy sport. I know this because Ive lived in Canada and my cousin lived in Florida. 

Its a widespread population of 300 million people, so you are bound to find some football fans. Most of them are latinos or African anyways. 

This last paragraph is a hunch, so it could be very wrong but I'd guess it's mostly the multicultural people who enjoy the sport and not the long time locals. That is how it was in Canada at least. I'm sure @Dickie can answer that better than I can.

You know Canada and USA are separate countries right?

[Panna King]

14 minutes ago, Blue said:

France is weird. Apparently football isn't by a mile the most popular sport? I find it daft to use attendances into the matter. Here in Peru league games rarely fill up and football is essentially the only sport people follow here. The USA it's the 4th biggest sport and they always fill up. I still think you have an interesting point though as some people have told me different answers. Rugby, speed skating, it's one that's definitely up for discussion. I'd imagine football is still number 1, but not by miles like in the rest of Western Europe.

Judo is the their national sport   France have even banned MMA in France in case it lowers the attendance of Judo participants.  I believe 800,000 people do Judo in France.

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, Stan said:

You know Canada and USA are separate countries right?

I know but they are similar in sports culture. At least where I lived, hence my personal hunch.

[Honey Honey]

40 minutes ago, Blue said:

France is weird. Apparently football isn't by a mile the most popular sport? I find it daft to use attendances into the matter. Here in Peru league games rarely fill up and football is essentially the only sport people follow here. The USA it's the 4th biggest sport and they always fill up. I still think you have an interesting point though as some people have told me different answers. Rugby, speed skating, it's one that's definitely up for discussion. I'd imagine football is still number 1, but not by miles like in the rest of Western Europe.

My attendance citing was not about filling up, it was about what is the right attendance for the geographic area. Most US soccer games probably fill up because their cities are absolutely huge. 

The real flaw in my argument is that I compared attendance to population figures against that of an English club. British football attendances to population are generally speaking the pinnacle of football and not the average. It would make more sense to take the average of several top leagues.

[Lucas]

5 hours ago, Blue said:

Its not laughable at all. You really think the USA has a proper football culture? Just because it is "on the rise", doesn't mean they have a football history. The video actually explains how many football associations in the USA died which is what kept the sport amateur for the longest time.

Football may be "on the rise" there, but it is still overpowered by American Football, Basketball and Baseball I'm afraid.

I watched the video and it doesn't offer a balanced opinion. So enough about the video. One video is not gospel. It is just an opinion.

Even Stevie fucking Wonder could work out Football is only going to get bigger in the States.

This is like me saying UFC has failed in England, when in fact, it's clearly a sport that is starting to grow over here. I didn't have a fucking clue about UFC till a few years ago and now I can't seem to get away from it in this country. Obviously Football, Rugby and Cricket are our main Sports but that's not to say UFC has failed? It's only going to get bigger if anything. Much like the USA and Football.

How you can argue failure when the facts are there that it's gaining popularity year by year? It completely baffles me. I didn't make the thread title, I just proposed a counter argument to having the USA in there which in my opinion is a very good one. If you don't like the facts, take your ball and go home.

This is almost as embarrassing as when you tried to tell me Croatia was a useless pick as a dark horse for the World Cup and wouldn't make it out of their group. Shock of all shock's, guess who made it to the final...

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Lucas said:

I watched the video and it doesn't offer a balanced opinion. So enough about the video. One video is not gospel. It is just an opinion.

Even Stevie fucking Wonder could work out Football is only going to get bigger in the States.

This is like me saying UFC has failed in England, when in fact, it's clearly a sport that is starting to grow over here. I didn't have a fucking clue about UFC till a few years ago and now I can't seem to get away from it in this country. Obviously Football, Rugby and Cricket are our main Sports but that's not to say UFC has failed? It's only going to get bigger if anything. Much like the USA and Football.

How you can argue failure when the facts are there that it's gaining popularity year by year? It completely baffles me. I didn't make the thread title, I just proposed a counter argument to having the USA in there which in my opinion is a very good one. If you don't like the facts, take your ball and go home.

This is almost as embarrassing as when you tried to tell me Croatia was a useless pick as a dark horse for the World Cup and wouldn't make it out of their group. Shock of all shock's, guess who made it to the final...

The only facts are leagues kept dying while the 3 sports lived on. Also that the USA aren't a football powerhouse with all the resources they have, as well as a proper population. Just because its getting bigger doesn't mean it didn't fail initially. No need to get so wound up over this.