Even though soccer is often called “the world’s favorite sport,” it has traditionally failed to gain momentum in America, where sports like American football and baseball thrive. However, this may change soon as far as Boston is concerned. England’s Liverpool FC, a very respected football club, will play an exhibition match this Wednesday at Fenway Park against AS Roma. The excitement for the game is building, with many American Liverpool fans counting down until they see their favorite team play. But the fans aren’t the only ones excited by the surge in soccer’s popularity.
America’s soccer league, Major League Soccer (MLS), has traditionally not garnered a huge following. But those who are fans of MLS are a very striking demographic. “The soccer audience is the youngest, most affluent, most educated audience in cable television compared to other sports on cable television,” says David Nathanson, EVP of Fox Soccer. “The median age of a Fox Soccer viewer is in the early 30s, the average household income of a Fox Soccer viewer is $90,000, which skews extremely high compared to the US population, obviously, and they’re educated.” Additionally, in 2009 10% of US soccer fans were expatriates. However, the percentage is now around 5%. With exhibition matches in the US becoming bigger and bigger events, it’s no wonder that soccer is even closer to being the world’s sport. Read more here.
We are Boston Life 