Hey- Sorry just saw this post. Good question about the reaction to the thrashers. The sports jocks were disappointed but did not overly care. Remember they see hockey as one of "ours"-- alongside the other big three. So they never really threw hockey under the bus. However, the overwhelming majority of callers did not care as there was hardly a mention of the thrashers on local radio EVER. Even the flagship station at the time (790 the zone) barely talked hockey. Atlanta is a strange sports town. UGA could be playing McNeese State in football and 150,000 people would show up for it even (hypothetically) on the same day that the braves, falcons and hawks were all in those leagues finals. It's funny I used to be a college sports nut and would complain about pro sports-- that they are only in it for the money all the time. I've really almost done a 180-- once you learn how corrupt college athletics is (especially bbball and football) you begin to realize why no other country on the planet has big time athletics tied into the systems of higher learning. And this has nothing to do with the NCAA. I'm squarely talking about the programs and the willingness to cheat (sweep things under the rug i.e: Penn State, & big time southern football).
MLS crowds have already surpassed NBA and NHL crowds. As for idiot meatheads, not being familiar or not understanding the game has much to do with their attitude. I grew up in the 70's in the Deep South, in Georgia, just 120 miles north of Jacksonville. Soccer was not an option. Today, in many south Georgia high schools, soccer is still NOT offered as a varsity sport! Soccer now has a lot of younger fans (<30). I believe those fans, plus older fans like me that LOVE team sports will help MLS survive and thrive in ATL. I now live in Chattanooga, but I will attend ATL MLS games.
The mls attendances stat is skewed because nba and nhl pay in closed building so most dont hold over 20000 ...
But mls teams can expand or play in bigger venues at any time not the same way ... also u comparing the avg of 29 tem legue to a 19 team league and nba plays 82 game season compred to MLS 30 games
Oh no doubt. I was just referring to single game attendances - some of the MLS teams could possibly draw more (Portland & Toronto come to mind). But the fact that the NBA and NHL draw those numbers over twice the games - many on weeknights, is impressive and, I think, sometimes gets overlooked.
Sports radio hated on the Thrashers just as much as they are for soccer, since they're targeting the anti-everything-foreign crowd. One moron, on a station that's less than three years old, said he saw more fans at the Atlanta MLS announcement than at any Thrashers game, which is BS based on personal experience. They fell back on the "logic" that hockey can't work in warm cities, but I doubt those idiots could name the last 10 Stanley Cup champs, many of which are from warm cities. Whenever they mentioned that you can't be a fan of a sport you didn't grow up playing, I ask them to explain all the women NFL fans. Of course never mention that the owners sabotaged the team because they don't bother to investigate, and it's easier to blame the fans, just like the owners wanted. Bottom line: sports radio here is dominated by shock jocks that aren't from Atlanta, and who only cater to people too scared to try other sports or even leave the 'burbs. I stopped listening over a year ago.
Try explaining that to those idiots... Ironically, I heard MLL was exploring adding a franchise here.
The pre-merger NFL has been around for nearly 100 years, but it is nothing like what we know today. The biggest example is the fact that the NFL played just its 48th Super Bowl this year. Most of our parents are older than the NFL's championship game.
Well, no, none of the major sports are, not in terms of ability to be seen by millions. That and the Internet drives everything else- news and analysis, communication with other fans and foes, replica gear sales, that sort of thing. I'm just saying that the NFL does exist and is the highest level of the sport. Why we pay so much attention to cfb is beyond me. No other nation that I can think of OTTOMH holds school athletics in such high regard.
I hate when people try and pull out that stat like it means something. NHL and NBA play 41-50 home games a season. MLS plays like 16-20. Just by the nature of the venue you can have a higher per game attendance. In overall attendance and gate revenue the MLS ain't even close to any of the big four leagues. Sure it's a nice little cute skewed stat that Don Garber likes throwing out there. But he ain't fooling no one. The MLS is still far behind in Gate and TV revenue, the stats the really matter. Don't get me wrong I like the MLS and what they've done so far. I want them to succeed. I hope the new TV deal will help immensely. I just find that stat disingenuous and annoying. I don't like hearing it repeated over and over. Sorry if i come off as overly mean about it.
18 year olds (people at college age) can play on professional clubs in Europe. If UEFA set a minimum age of 21 to play professionally then maybe college soccer would become big there.
I get the interest in school sports here in the US. I like school pride and devolping rivalaries with fans from a school across the state is fun.... What seperates me from John Doe is I wish the NFL , for example, would allow 18 year olds to get drafted just like baseball and soccer here in the US. Thus, you would get the true student athletes going to the universities instead of the kids that have no interest in being there and are really only there to play football.. It's a strang setup and IMO I can't believe it hasn't been challeneged in a court yet. Basically 18 year olds are forced to go to college if they eventually want to go to the NFL. If the above was to happen it would be interesting to see if the average college football fan would stop watching because the skill level would drop. Just like it does for baseball and college soccer. But I still really enjoy watching college baseball and soccer becasue they are representing the school that I went to and playing for the love of the game.
What would the NFL do with these players until they are actually ready to play. The NHL drafts youngsters overseas but lets them play in their domestic leagues until they are ready. Baseball has the the whole minor league system but for American football at the professional level the NFL is it.
It is a uniquely American tradition, not sure why you seem bent on shaming it. The NFL only exists in 32 cities, most of the country will not get a chance to attend an NFL game on even a semi regular basis. Major college football exists in over 100 cities, including small ass towns like Pullman, Corvallis, etc. It really is no different than England caring about the leagues lower on the pyramid than the EPL.