So I'm super pumped today... driving into work only one radio station isn't at commercial so I listen to some dips talk... you guessed it, soccer... and I'm like, 'yeah, let's talk some Gold Cup!"...
then they drone on and on and on about how soccer is not a relevant sport and how the MLS is not a real league and how even the NHL is massively more important (A nice little backhanded slap at another sport I highly enjoy)... how nothing in USA soccer has changed since the 99 world cup win, (which is total bs btw, it's MUCH bigger now)... not a single freakin mention that the Gold Cup even exists..
sigh, I need to get satellite radio again so I can just pick and choose what sports I listen to,..
This is just them catering to their audience.
Saying soccer hasn't grown since 1999 is a bold faced lie.
USMNT in the World Cup has made a quarterfinal and 2 round of 16s out of 4 World Cups.
USWNT has won a World Cup, a Gold medal, and not to mention be the best team in the world the majority of that time.
MLS had 12 teams in 1999, with 2 of those on the brink of failure. In 2015, they have 20 teams, all of which are now operating on profit and are only expanding.
MLS average salary in 1999 was $54,000 and the minimum salary was $19,000. In 2015, the average salary is over $250,000 and the minimum is over $60,000.
MLS attendance average in 1999 MLS had an average attendance of 15,961, with 25.8% of its games have attendance below 10,000. In 2015, the average attendance so far 20,900, with 0 games below 10,000 and 45.9% of the games above 20,000.
Let them think soccer hasn't grown in the US.
nsisk, I'd say MLS as a whole is already there. Though they don't have teams as good as Ajax, PSV, Benfica, or Porto, they certainly have teams better than "Go Ahead Eagles"(what the hell type of name is that?), Cambuur, Twente, Maritimo, and Ria Ave.