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Sociology, culture explains soccer’s lack of popularity in the United States

Most of the world will soon be watching every game of the FIFA World Soccer Cup, to be played in South Africa beginning June 11, 2010. However, Americas will pay relatively little attention to this competition, the biggest sporting event in the world, even bigger than the Olympics.

According to Dr. Stephan Schindler, professor of comparative literature, film, and media studies at Washington University in St. Louis, and expert on the global culture of soccer, there are several sociological and cultural reasons to explain soccer’s lack of popularity in the United States and its “almost a religious following” in the rest of the world.

Schindler said, “The moment soccer became known as a working class sport, around 1910, it was associated with labor unions and even socialism and thus was unacceptable for many Americans.”  That association between soccer and unions explains why today, a century later, Americans still don’t like soccer.

In addition, “Although there is enough corporate sponsorship available, and although many young Americans play soccer, there is not the kind of local identification with a team that drives European soccer,” Schindler said.

Furthermore, in the United States there are already many other sports, including football, basketball, baseball, racing, and ice hockey, “competing with each other and it is difficult for soccer to gain any momentum in this crowded sport space.”

“For an American audience, soccer might be considered boring because of its low scoring and there aren't many statistics available for individual players, compared to baseball, for example. In soccer, the team counts more than the individual player,” Schindler said

“I think the game is so popular because the rules are simple, one only needs a ball to play,  and games can be played with any formation of players, from two to dozens,” he added.

Schindler said soccer reflects the cultural and class identity of a city and even a neighborhood in a city. For example, the Glasgow Rangers are considered Protestant, while the Glasgow Celtics are Irish Catholics. Real Madrid represents the rule of the house of Castile, while the FC Barcelona team stands for the repressed Catalan minority.

In Argentina, Boca Juniors is perceived to be team of the working class, while River Plate represents a higher social class, as its nickname (“The Millionaire”) reveals.

“When these clubs play each other more than just soccer is on the line,” Schindler said. “Fans of all ages and gender follow the victories and defeats of their teams throughout the year. Entire communities can experience collective depression after a defeat of their team.”

This same emotional identification is repeated on the national level.

Schindler’s analysis is correct, but he also needs to take into consideration the globalization of soccer, that has transformed every club in Latin America and Africa into a factory of players to be sold in Europe.

Perhaps Americans will like soccer once they discover its capitalistic aspects. But if that ever happens, will soccer remain the same sports now followed by multitudes all over the planet?

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