Soccer Gaines in Popularity in the US
The idea that soccer becoming the national sport of the USA
is preposterous to some, but with the dismal Super Bowl performance, (and we’re
not just talking about Maroon 5), could it be time for a new national
sport?
Soccer has long been a British expat among the NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball. As a nation we consider basketball, baseball, and football before we even begin to think about soccer. However, with news that former pro soccer player David Beckham is purportedly moving ahead with plans for a brand new soccer team and stadium in Miami, as well as the dispatch of several home players to big soccer nations such as England and Germany, Major League Soccer could be in for international elevation.
In 2013, Don Garber, Head of MLS, announced that Beckham
had joined with an eclectic mix of business associates to build a new Major
League team in the wake of the closure of Miami Fusion. It is now known that
the owners of the new Inter Miami team include co-founder of Brightstar
Marcello Claure and former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller, who managed Beckham’s
wife Victoria during her Posh Spice days.
Inter Miami will have a new stadium, which has been given the green light after residents near the international airport voted in favour of converting a nearby golf course into the soccer team’s home ground, Miami Freedom Park. The team is due to join other MLS teams for the 2020 season, and is set to shake up current standings.
View this post on InstagramThis is Miami Freedom Park. #thisismiami #thisismiamifreedompark #miami #mls
The February Super Bowl didn’t exactly hit the spot this
year. Not only was the half-time entertainment deemed lousy, it was one of the
lowest scoring Super Bowl games of all time, and fans claimed to be 'bored'.
It is true that football is a long game, which cannot match soccer in
simplicity. In a time when even our politics is simplified into tweets, it
could be time for our sport to be simplified too.
Soccer has taken off in the USA, and alongside a bigger following in Britain’s Premier League, soccer video games have taken off too. FIFA has been hailed the perfect dorm game, and many have claimed that it is responsible for the USA’s recent soccer fascination. The trend shows no sign of letting up, with online gaming seeing soccer’s potential too. Fans can now play both Safari Soccer and Sensible Soccer on Party Casino, two very different games that allow users to enjoy the fun of soccer and potentially win some prizes. Right now, Real Money are offering bonuses to new users to try the two different games.
Soccer may not be our national sport, but it is certainly
gaining traction around the country. The speed and simplicity of the sport
makes it easy to watch and enjoyable to follow. The birth of a new team in
Miami, headed by an international sporting legend, can only be a good thing for
soccer, and it could be the start of the MLS having an international platform
from which the country could shine.
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