OT:Womens World Cup ratings Out do Final 4

[Pitt79]

So my daughter and I will see USA/Cuba and Jamaica/Haiti at Ravens Stadium this Saturday. At least all signs point to a USA victory if you go by history. Mexico beat Cuba 6-0, Cuba beat Guatamala 1-0 to advance and USA beat Guatamala 4-0 a couple weeks ago, so Cuba beating USA would be a major upset, still should be fun to see them in person.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

What kind of crowd are they expecting? I am hearing Fedex Field for the Chelsea/Barcelona game is expecting 80K

Still wondering too what Heinz field will be like for the women's game. My guess is 50K.

Wonder what an exhibition between the worlds two best Lacrosse teams would draw?? Lol.

 

[Pitt79]

I heard they had sold over 30000 before it was a sure thing that USA would be in it, after that was clinched they said the sales have picked up, they're expecting at least 50000.

 

[Pitt79]

This is what I'm talking about. I haven't been arguing that soccer will overtake the American sports today or maybe even ever, but it has gained a strong foothold, a lot of people are into it. Would these games have had this kind of attendance in the '70s? hell no, but today, it's pretty typical.

 

[Pitt79]

Baltimore area has a huge Hispanic, Caribbean presence, I lived down the street from a soccer complex for awhile, in addition to all the kids leagues that played there, there was a Sunday morning adult league that was like a mini Concacaf, the teams where like national teams, divided by El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico, Guatamala etc, with American teams and a Japan team and other nationalities thrown in too.

 

[Pitt79]

I was kind of hoping that El Salvador would make it, maybe I'd see some of my El Salvador buddies at the game, they would have come out in force. I had a neighbor from there, whenever El Salvador would have a telivised game, he'd have his buddies over for a big backyard tailgate and watch party. Sports are sports and fans are fans, gotta love it.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Cool stuff. And that's why I asked the question. If people have been hearing that soccer was going to overtake other team sports in popularity in this country for the past 30 years, who was saying it and what basis did they have for saying it?? To say that in the 70s, 80s, and 90s would have been completely baseless.

And will soccer overtake the top three domestically? I am not ready to say that, but I do think it has a definitive footprint that is here for good. And there are strong indications that it will overtake hockey easily. The sport is popular from Florida to Washington. From LA to Boston. There are pockets of the country that may lag behind a bit. But in hockey, there are large chunks of the country in which people do not even know what a puck is. I watched the olympic gold medal game between the U.S. and Canada at a national meeting in Arizona. Wish me were people from the Deep South and southwest. They had no idea of any of the rules or who any american players were, let alone who Sidney Crosby was. As a hockey fan, this frustrated me. But with the direction that hockey is going, they are doing the NBA and soccer a favor.