The British take on the NFL (and American Football in general)

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Hispanics, which now happen to be the largest minority group in the US, really like baseball. Behind soccer, Hispanics probably care the most about baseball. Asians (specifically Japanese and Koreans) also pay a lot of attention to baseball. To say that baseball is low on the list of most minorities is untrue. MLB is also now making a big push to bring baseball back to urban areas. They pulled out of there for quite some time and it shows in the representation of blacks in the MLB now. My guess is that in a few years that will pick back up.

Baseball also happens to be a very regional sport, which is why you can experience lower national tv ratings (that and the fact that the game was not built for tv. too slow). However, iirc, baseball is making more money now than it ever has. Money is a pretty good sign of popularity in our economy.

And falafel, I never knew you were such a soccer defender. I may have to rethink my opinion of you

Baseball attendance as down over 6% this year, so I have a hard time believing its making more money than ever. Are you sure that baseball is popular with Mexican-Americans? I grew up in an area with more than its fair share of Mexicans and not a single one gave a crap about baseball. Obviously Domincans in New York and Miami love it, but I've never seen much of an indication that Mexicans living in Texas or California care for it very much.

[ERCougar]

CMBF's best point for the superiority of football is the fact that every kid in America is exposed to soccer and football...and football wins. Kids everywhere else don't face this choice.

That said, I think the NFL is the one professional league holding on to its fans for two reasons:
1) Convenient scheduling - Most people are home on Sundays, particularly during the school year, and without stuff to do
2) Fantasy football

Without these, I think the NFL would be floundering with the rest of the leagues.

[falafel]

CMBF's best point for the superiority of football is the fact that every kid in America is exposed to soccer and football...and football wins. Kids everywhere else don't face this choice.

That said, I think the NFL is the one professional league holding on to its fans for two reasons:
1) Convenient scheduling - Most people are home on Sundays, particularly during the school year, and without stuff to do
2) Fantasy football

Without these, I think the NFL would be floundering with the rest of the leagues.

The NFL is largely dominated by African Americans. I don't think African American kids are exposed to soccer to the same degree as white suburbanite kids.

White players make up a lot of Oline positions. Most of the O-line kids are naturally too big to play soccer, so you can cut them out too.

[I.J. Reilly]

Baseball attendance as down over 6% this year, so I have a hard time believing its making more money than ever. Are you sure that baseball is popular with Mexican-Americans? I grew up in an area with more than its fair share of Mexicans and not a single one gave a crap about baseball. Obviously Domincans in New York and Miami love it, but I've never seen much of an indication that Mexicans living in Texas or California care for it very much.

I wish I had some numbers to put up for you regarding the earnings amount. Unfortunately, I can't remember where I even read that at, so looks like there won't be anything on that.

Out of the 57 countries that MLB players have come from, only 6 have more players from there than Mexico. The US, Canada, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic are the countries that have supplied more MLB players. Out of those top 7, 5 have Hispanic ties. As far as personal experience, behind soccer, those of Mexican descent that I have known support baseball the most. And I wouldn't be so sure about the Mexicans in California. You could ask bigger Dodger fans than I, but I'm pretty sure they have a pretty good Mexican following there, but I could be wrong.

[ERCougar]

The NFL is largely dominated by African Americans. I don't think African American kids are exposed to soccer to the same degree as white suburbanite kids.

White players make up a lot of Oline positions. Most of the O-line kids are naturally too big to play soccer, so you can cut them out too.

That's a good point, but I still think that most people who are exposed to both end up preferring football. That says something.

Personally, I think soccer's really cool. The problem with it, from my view, is that I can get everything out of a soccer game by watching highlights of scores. I think that's mostly due to the fact that I don't feel any attachments to any soccer teams and that I don't understand the game very well. MLS could change that. But soccer's a great sport--I'd choose it for my kids over football every time. The former soccer players I know are all still in great shape; not so much for the former football players I know.

[falafel]

That's a good point, but I still think that most people who are exposed to both end up preferring football. That says something.

I suppose that's possible. Seems like an unverifiable statistic, however. It seems like the type of kids who play football come from families where the dad or brothers have played football. Those type of families are probably more inclined to say that "soccer is for girls" and steer their kids towards football in the first place. I just doubt that there is much equal exposure out there resulting in a head-to-head comparison with football winning.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I wish I had some numbers to put up for you regarding the earnings amount. Unfortunately, I can't remember where I even read that at, so looks like there won't be anything on that.

Out of the 57 countries that MLB players have come from, only 6 have more players from there than Mexico. The US, Canada, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic are the countries that have supplied more MLB players. Out of those top 7, 5 have Hispanic ties. As far as personal experience, behind soccer, those of Mexican descent that I have known support baseball the most. And I wouldn't be so sure about the Mexicans in California. You could ask bigger Dodger fans than I, but I'm pretty sure they have a pretty good Mexican following there, but I could be wrong.

There is a grand total of 16 players in MLB from Mexico. There are 13 players from the baseball mecca otherwise known as Australia.

There are 10 million people that live in the Dominican Republic. There are 4 million people that live in Puerto Rico. There are 109 million people that live in Mexico. Yet, both the DR and Puerto Rico provide a substantially higher number of players to MLB than Mexico.

Either this means the people in Puerto Rico and the DR are genetically better baseball players (substantially so), or people in Mexico don't give a shit about baseball. I'm prepared to say the latter. Every Mexican I ever knew liked the Lakers and/or the Raiders better than baseball. Hell, George Lopez has a joke about every Mexican household in LA keeping the dial permanently on Channel 9 during basketball season. As of 2000, 59% of the Hispanics that live in the US are of Mexican descent.