Reflection 5: Get on the Pitch—On America's Resistance to Football—er,Soccer

In 1994, nationally-recognized sports marketer Nye Lavalle boldly predicted that “there is no chance [Major League Soccer] will survive. Absolutely no chance whatsoever.” His prediction was grim, but also off the mark. Over twenty years later, American professional soccer has not only survived, but steadily grown its base. Still, no one today can argue that soccer's popularity in America has exactly exploded in that time, either. Of the five major US sports leagues, it has the lowest attendance and brings in the least amount of sponsorship dollars, especially compared to the "Holy Trinity of American Sports": baseball, basketball, and football. Thus far, men's pro soccer has failed to seep into the country's consciousness the way other sports have. So, in many regards, men's pro soccer remains the ugly step-child of American sports. (As for women's soccer, the US Women's National Team triumphant final match in the 2015 Women's World Cup was our country's most-watched soccer game ever.) Of course, all of this stands in stark contrast to the rest of the world, where soccer—or football, as it's known—is a maniacal obsession. Why has soccer failed to firmly take root in America? What is behind many Americans' resistance to the sport? And will soccer always be relegated to second-class status in the United States?

Include at least three of the following in your discussion:

• "Why Americans (Rightly) Hate Soccer" (Daily Caller)
• "Has Soccer Finally Made It in the US?" (Wall Street Journal)
• "A Century of American Soccer Anxiety" (New Yorker)
• "Seven Reasons Why Soccer is the Dumbest Sport Ever" (SportzEdge) 
• "The Future of American Soccer After Women's World Cup Victory" (ABC News)
• "A Beautiful Sickness: America's Soccer Fever" (Huffington Post)

Requirements:

• MLA Style
• 1.5 pages in length
• Works cited page

Due: Th 3.24