Is English football big in America?

Answer 1

The EPL as the worlds most globally viewed sports league would definitely be the biggest Football league (bigger than La Liga, Serie A) and so Manchester United often play games in US in pre season... Man Utd game i attended sold out in Chicago vs Bayern Munch.

AnswerIf we ever got good at Football (soccer) then it would take off. Only goalkeepers from America have been a success as seen in EPL for example as they get to use their hands.. outfield players having to use foot and also have positional sense is where we havent suceeded.. primarily because sports here are hand orientated so having done that for over 100 years we are not adept at using foot... also people here are constantly told what to do by coaches (NFL, Baseball) so don't have that positional sense. AnswerFootball - "Soccer" as it's called here - hasn't really hit it big on a professional/spectator level. Kids, on the other hand, especially in youth leauges, go soccer crazy. The local professional organizations have a loyal, albeit nowhere near the levels in Europe, following.

I imagine that as kids growing up playing Soccer get older, the popularity of the game as an American spectator sport will increase.

AnswerI think a lot more people (especially kids) play soccer than watch it in the US. However, I have been really surprised by the number of people who do watch. I live in a very very small town and thought that I was one of the few but I run into students on the college campus all the time who are wearing jerseys for their favorite teams. Fox Sports World has made a big difference and so has the coverage of David Beckham by the popular press. No matter what people think about his skills (perhaps he gets too much publicity compared to better footballers) he has been great for the game.