"Poll: World Cup a liberal's game; just 30% of nation following it"
Partisan politics seems to be everywhere, even when watching soccer and this year's World Cup.
And according to YouGov.com poll published hours before the U.S. plays Belgium on Tuesday, liberals and moderates are tuning in far more than conservatives.
YouGov reports that 35 percent of liberals, 34 percent of moderates and just 27 percent of self-described conservatives are watching the World Cup.
As for soccer viewing when the World Cup is not being played, 24 percent of liberals, 21 percent of moderates and a tiny 14 percent of conservatives watch the sport.
Overall, 28 percent of the nation considers the sport the “most boring to watch.”
Strip politics out of the equation, and just 30 percent of the nation is paying attention to the World Cup, with 70 percent watching it "not closely" or "not at at all."
33 comments:
No wonder so few follow it. The US Team only decided to start playing offense in the last 10 minutes of the game.
It's hard to like a game when we lose to Belgium. In no part of normal reality should the US lose to Belgium in anything.
I like soccer. Especially the English Premier League, where it's actually good and the games are interesting. To each his own, I guess.
The MLS? Not so much. The game is really sloppy compared to the better leagues.
Our best athletes are not incentivized to play soccer, so they don't. That's why the U.S. in not elite in this sport.
Time may change that, but the U.S. is still a good 20 years away from competing at the international level.
Paddy O - you must be one of the few to make that observation.
So true. But the US could not get an offence going against Germany either. I liked following it this year. We watched on Univision, with Spanish-speaking announcers, my son translating.
I watched on Univision streaming at work and I don't even speak Spanish. I just followed their animations to know when to pay attention.
Following soccer is a way to feel superior to Americans (savage ignoramuses who insist on physical contact and scoring in their sports). Ergo, the perfect sport of Liberal Americanus.
John, I don't follow soccer much, only watching the occasional game. But it was mind-boggling how much Belgium controlled the game. I mean the US goalie was amazing but there's no possible reason he needed to work that hard. I thought they were just outmatched, but then the US started playing at the end and it was incredible. Which makes me think it was some kind of strategy, playing it safe the whole game.
That cautiousness, the fake falls (which I didn't see a lot of in the US game), and the tedium of watching it go back and forth with no results... just doesn't fit our national interests.
Paddy - we have no midfield game, thus we get outclassed by better ball-control teams. That's why we lost to Germany but almost beat Portugal.
I don't feel superior to anyone liking soccer. I also really like baseball, football, and college basketball.
I even know enough about the WWE and Nascar to be dangerous in a trivia game. ; )
and the tedium of watching it go back and forth with no results
It can be a bit boring at times, but I'm still amazed at the mastery the best players in the world can show with putting the ball exactly where they want it. Near misses can be as exciting as goals, too.
TriumphPoopsonSoccer
EMD, I definitely appreciate the mastery and skill. For me, at least, the lack of even near misses by the US team for the first 100 minutes just really took the thrill out of it for me.
Soccer isn't unique or new enough to spark my curiosity (which a lot of olympic sports do) and we're just not good enough to spark my enthusiasm.
How do we get good enough if, as you rightly noted earlier, our best athletes, and our second best, and our third best, and probably our fourth best, choose different sports. That's not to diminish the skill and athleticism of those who play, more that especially in the high school level, most great athletes are playing other sports.
The irony is that most great athletes likely have a better long term shot with soccer, unless they are really tall or really huge enough to make it in college Basketball or football.
Remember, Lurch wanted us to "pass the global test".
Does the number of viewers correspond to the number of illegal aliens?
Compare soccer to hockey ( essentially same ball/puck into guarded net format) and it immediately becomes apparent that soccer is sport at the primitive level. Soccer is what the humanoids in 2001 played before the light bulb came on with the dawn of the tool age.
How do we get good enough if, as you rightly noted earlier, our best athletes, and our second best, and our third best, and probably our fourth best, choose different sports.
Make it more lucrative. Which will happen. It will just take more time.
that soccer is sport at the primitive level. Soccer is what the humanoids in 2001 played before the light bulb came on with the dawn of the tool age.
That's why it's so popular the world over. Relatively easy to teach, easy to learn, low-cost alternative to a lot of other more expensive international sports.
Like war, soccer is interminable boredom punctuated by moments of acute terror.
Soccer is a great sport for drinking beer and napping.
It's like watching ADD kids play golf.
THWACK!
THWACK!
THWACK!
THWACK!THWACK!
THWACK!
THWACK!
THWACK!
THWACK!
THWACK!THWACK!THWACK!
THWACK!
THWACK!
It's in the hole!
A sport played in the 3rd world by people who can't afford to play a real sport - I can see why it has finally arrived, here.
Enjoy the decline, you kickball-loving socialists!
Soccer is commie crapola.
You'd think a socialist game would end with everyone getting ribbons and a speech by Dear Leader.
You know who played soccer? Che!
You know who played Baseball? Fidel!
Err.....wait a minute....I will come up with a better one.
Hockey is soccer with better fights and no fakey falls.
Cal Griffith had a thing for Cubans. But with Camilo Pasqual just reaching his prime, Castro's curveball may not have impressed.
As I said - it takes cooperation and finesse. Two things that Americans suck horribly at.
Of course, the liberals are watching the World Cup... they're rooting for the USA to lose.
I'm not a big fan of soccer. But the World cup can be interesting just like the Olympics.
Its fun to root for those gritty whosoever's against the Krauts, or hope the mercenary Frenchies lose when they play the whomsoever. And of course, I always root for the good ol' USA.
Hopefully, Brazil will win it all.
I always root for the underdog.
Following soccer is a way to feel superior to Americans (savage ignoramuses who insist on physical contact and scoring in their sports).
That would sound a *little* less silly if America's "national pastime" wasn't baseball -- a game with no physical contact that actually tracks "games where the pitcher didn't let anyone hit the ball" as a statistic.
People watch soccer because they enjoy watching it. Billions of people aren't following the sport just to feel superior to Americans.
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