I was having an interesting conversation with my mate about the money in Football. With all the money in American sport and the increasing interest in Football with the young stars such as Freddy Adu leaving for Europe. Could it be long before an ever expanding American league starts attracting the best in Football and will budding young English and European talent want to go over there?

What could it do to the English game and national team?

I dunno about the american soccer... some of it is really good but I dont know if they will ever pull in big name stars like Ronaldinho- but you never know- time will tell!

If the money is better then I think it would be a more attractive option for the South American stars from Argentina and Brazil etc.

I think that in ten years some of the best players in the world could be coming out of America, let alone going there to play. There college leagues are growing in strength and popularity, and it is not seen as so much of a girls game there anymore. Given the size of the population, and their dedication to sport, I expect the US team will grow in strength every year.

The certainly seem to produce good Goalkeepers.

Yes they do have some good 'Keepers and as was said before the College sport is getting bigger in stature. Wonder if the big European clubs will start up an academy like they have in the Far east and Africa to get the best young talent?

Football for men in America is seen a a minority sport. There is a players strike at the moment over there because of unpaid wages I think. Football in America is seen as a womens game or for kids, the men go into the big 3 of Gridiron, Baseball or Basketball which is where all the lucrative sponsorship money and TV rights are. Football for men doesn't get a look in.

The big jessies! They only play sports where they get to wear protective gear!

I doubt that the USA will take over football.

There is a massive attraction of football in England, many players are eager to play in the premiership as the whole world follows the league....

Originally posted by Lickszz
If the money is better then I think it would be a more attractive option for the South American stars from Argentina and Brazil etc.

So then Europe wouldn't see the likes of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos, Sheffield United would never have signed Alex Sabella either. Would this see more English talent move to Europe with the South americans there?

Football (or soccer as it is called there) is huge at school level in America, but practically non-existent as far as big-time, adult, professional leagues go. Only ex-pat Europeans and Latinos follow it at an adult level.

I was there in 1994 during the World Cup and unless you looked for it, you'd never have known it was happening. It wasn't covered in the newspapers in nearly the same way as it is in Europe and the TV coverage was apologetic.

I feel that big business has got too much of a vested interest in grid iron and baseball to allow football to develop into a major sport there.

They tried to launch a premier league-type set-up in Australia recently and (partly because of the huge distances involved), it just fizzled out. It's just not economical to fly 15 players, plus the same number of backroom boys 3,000 miles for an away game to play in front of 1,500 people. The same applies in the US.

In addition, in both America and Australia, as soon as a decent player emerges, the local teams can't hold onto him, because a European team will immediately step in and make him an offer he can't refuse. Consequently, the leagues are full of young players starting out, or older guys about to retire.

Originally posted by mojoworking
it just fizzled out. It's just not economical to fly 15 players, plus the same number of backroom boys 3,000 miles for an away game to play in front of 1,500 people. The same applies in the US.

The local college team that I followed got an average of 1200 per match.

I agree, back in 1994 it wasn't very popular at all. Things have really changed in the last 10 years, and the popularity is growing all the time. You used to have trouble watching English games over there, but now you can often see football on, and you can sign up to watch the premier league season.

I knew that things had changed when I was in a restaurant in 2000 and two of the waiters (they were white, looked like college students) were talking about how well Henry was doing up front for Arsenal.

The MLS league is still growing, but DC United are getting attendances of over 30,000 which is not that bad for a growing sport. The college system is looking really strong now, and they are using the drafting system so the best college players go on to play pro soccer.

Originally posted by duffman
So then Europe wouldn't see the likes of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos, Sheffield United would never have signed Alex Sabella either. Would this see more English talent move to Europe with the South americans there?

Possibly so. Unless for some reason the players took into account the history behind the game and great clubs in Europe, but unlikely though as money seems to be the more dominant aspect.

Well I wonder how many players know about the history of a club and the game except for wages and trophies?

As a soccer coach of both youth and adult players, I can tell ypu that interest in the game especially for kids is at an all time high. Little league baseball is suffering somewhat because a lot of kids don't like the pressure. parents and fans think they are watching the world series, and a kid out there can't hide his flaws because baseball is a game of individuals, unlike soccer where you can hide your flaws more.
However, soccer faces serious competition for the almighty TV dollar from all the other pro sports in America, baseball, football, hockey, volleyball, skiing, figure skating, X games, nascar, and the tour de france. You going to see a lot more American players in Europe in time, but as one who watches both premier league and MLS, it's obvious the MLS has a long way to go to catch up. The Champions League summer tournament over here last year was a great success. I watched Liverpool beat Celtic at the new stadium in Hartford with 25000 others and it was a great night. And no hooligans!!

To be fair to the US, they have been (and are) making a conserted push to try and make "soccer" more popular over there, and it certainly seems to be slowly starting to pay off in terms of interest, particularly in the Engligh Premiership, and I would imagine (as painful as it is for me to say) that is in no small part to the push Man U have been making over their in their constant push to make their £Ms...

....including playing that bag of w*** in goal to keep the US interested ;)

One thing that is very noticable about the playing of "soccer" over the US is that the women's game over there is probably as big (if not bigger) than it is here in the UK, and shows no signs of letting up. Good on 'em if you ask me - it's a shame just how poorly the women's game is treated over here.

Interest here in the women's game is enormous. At the women's world cup final a few years ago there were 90000 fans. The era of US domination is coming to an end with the retirement of the incredible Mia Hamm, and many of her teammates, watch out for China and Brazil, and Canada is beginning to be a force. As for UK, nothing, no interest whatsoever.

Originally posted by IanMitchell
I doubt that the USA will take over football.

There is a massive attraction of football in England, many players are eager to play in the premiership as the whole world follows the league....

I doubt it either, football is in an englishmans blood, always will be, it never did take off in the states like it was expected to.

I don't know much about the MLS or the other tournaments open to the teams, but they're not likely to grow to the status of the Premiership unless they can compete in a major tounament such as the Champions League.

Was a while back since this thread was started but the profile of MLS is certainly growing now with Beckham moving over. Certianly it's not going to cause a rush of players going there to make their career but could be the place to go for retiring players at least. Maybe Teddy sheringham can make a nice living somehwere :D

Was a while back since this thread was started but the profile of MLS is certainly growing now with Beckham moving over. Certianly it's not going to cause a rush of players going there to make their career but could be the place to go for retiring players at least. Maybe Teddy sheringham can make a nice living somehwere :D

your right .... are there any young , star in the making footballers that will, lets say at 19, move to play for DC utd or move to the prem/spain/italy. ... usa is for the finished ..washed up old men of football that wants to make one last big payday

your right .... are there any young , star in the making footballers that will, lets say at 19, move to play for DC utd or move to the prem/spain/italy. ... usa is for the finished ..washed up old men of football that wants to make one last big payday

But who's to say that in the future with the salary cap being lifted and with Beckham moving there it wont stop young talented players going for a big fat paycheck?

imagine americans bringing baseball here and saying right stop playing football play this! it will never take off properly in the states, yes americans love sport but the love their sports(baseball,basketball,american football) 'soccer' will always be the lesser sport, yes we will see more washed up stars go there for a pay day. i hope it does get bigger as its the best game in the world and people in the us are missing out

imagine americans bringing baseball here and saying right stop playing football play this! it will never take off properly in the states, yes americans love sport but the love their sports(baseball,basketball,american football) 'soccer' will always be the lesser sport, yes we will see more washed up stars go there for a pay day. i hope it does get bigger as its the best game in the world and people in the us are missing out

Well I don't think the US is missing out on football. most coaches of youth teams say that Football (I wont call is soccer) is taking over at junior levels and even at adult recreational level too. I have quite a few friends in the US that are happy there are more footy teams starting up so they can play and watch the game.