RayGeode Insightful comment I heard as to why USA is not up to top level is our sport does not have relegation. And to implement that would take a lot of money work and time developing minor leagues where teams turn pro, others don’t make the grade and drop down, and fandom keeps supporting their teams through thick and thin. In relegation, the consequences are much more dire and so performance that much more important each and every game.
No, it’s not that.
“Soccer” just isn’t popular in America. Poor kids in South America, Europe, etc., want to be soccer players to rise up from the life they have like so many other kids have. Rich kids in the Middle East want to be soccer players, they want to emulate their favorite strikers.
America is football country, the NFL kind. Poor kids in the United States want to be a celebrity football player because that’s where the cred is even though celebrity soccer players make more money than NFL football players. Then after that, what do poor black kids want to play if it’s not NFL? It’s basketball.
There are slums in so many countries that have mini soccer courts or little areas they find on the streets to play. In America it’s basketball nets.
The US and Canada tried to make the MLS a thing and bring in these bright shiny stars but even then, plenty of Americans still prefer Liga MX and plenty of Canadians still prefer the English Premier League or Serie A. The North American MLS ratings are growing but North Americans are still watching NFL football, hockey, baseball, and basketball over soccer games.
To put things in perspective, the 2022 World Cup Final between Argentina and France drew 26 million US viewers across Fox and Argentina. A regular old NFL game any time of the year gets around 18.7 million viewers.