The Superbowl, the championship game of America's favourite sport, is shown on national network TV (eg like BBC, ITV) on a pseudo-national holiday night in the middle of winter when everyone stays in and eats nachos and drinks beer.

The USA-Germany game, was shown on a summer afternoon in work time on a cable sports channel.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28059445

It is with great credit that there are quite so many American fans in Brazil for the World Cup, I think that I read somewhere, that they have the second most fans after the hosts, which is fantastic.

One thing that I noticed watching a bit of the coverage elsewhere about the tournament, is that people seem to be following the tournament as part of being a patriot, so supporting "Team USA", for the game to really grow further, it needs a majority of these " Team USA" fans to also have or support a club side (be in MLS, NASL etc), as if that aside of things continues to grow, then things could really look good for the national team in the future.

So whilst it is good that there has been somewhat of a new set of converted fan base, hopefully it isn't just for the short-term, and that these new fans stick around for longer than just the World Cup, and help the sport to continue to grow in size and popularity in the USA.

Speaking personally I could not give a toss about how popular the game becomes in the States. It serves no purpose to me, no more than the game expanding in places like China, India, or Burundi.

I doubt very much they have the second most fans. The other south american countries have a lot more.

As others have said, one they are out they will forget about football. Does anyone know what the numbers are for non-USA games? I bet they are very low.

USA fans is debateable but fans travelling from the USA seem to be the second largest group
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-maga...nitor-27978699

Since the us has a large number of south american people, l would bet a decent chunk of those buying tickets are of south american descent.

Spot on.

The USA is a huge melting pot of different cultures & nationalities & a lot of the people are descendants from huge footballing nations like Mexico & countries in Central & South America.

Ahh, I must have got the terms wrong, my error sorry.

On another forum, someone posted that for many Americans, the US team is their "club team".

Getting to the Second Round is not incredible success for the US.

In 1930, the US got to the Semi-Finals.

In 2002, the US got to the Quarter Finals.

This is nothing. They have gotten to the Second Round before as well before being knocked in 1994 and 2010.

Commentator with the bbc tonight said that soldier field Chicago is sold out for Usa fans watching the usa v belgium game on the big screen! Would love to see pics of it!

https://twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/48...959299/photo/1

Wow...

All those fans looking at a 42" plasma telly

Interesting chat on Talksport this morning about the US coverage of the World Cup

Apparently a lot of the debate is focused on 'flopping' which is what they call diving.........players flopping to the floor if an opponent looks at them........and then they roll around 'as though their shirt was on fire'........

Apparently this behaviour is proof that it's a cissy game for girls

Great stuff....thanks

They know what they're talking about then!

Yeah well our Rugby players don't need pads and helmets

They would if they did the same kind of tackling as (American) football players here do. They'd kill each other without the protection.

I would actually agree.

All in all, I felt the BBC commentary was pro USA beyond words, especially after they got back into it. You aren't usually "up against it" when leading 2-1. Howard was still the busier keeper even after the USA goal.

Belgium had 39 attempts at goal, 17 on target, and 19 corners. That they only had two goals to show for it means they need to be more clinical. But the result was seriously flattering to the Americans who despite their hard work only made it seem much closer due to a late goal out of nothing and the flurry that followed.

If Belgium play like that against Argentina and have recovered in time they have a huge chance of beating them.

Footy will never be that popular in USA while they have their own sports that (almost) everyone outside of USA are not interested in.
Just as well as with all their money & facilities they would take all the best players, wouldnt they?

That's a good point that I'm not sure FIFA have considered in their quest to make football popular in the USA (and line their own pockets in the process).

If it really did take off as a major sport in USA they could afford to buy a lot of the world's top players so the European leagues would suffer.

its getting bigger all the time. be it slow or fast they are moving in right direction

I was over there for the first three games and they were mad for it. Most bars were closed doors by about an hour and a half before KO cos they were at full capacity. We got to one bar at 4pm for the 6pm England v Italy game and had to queue on a 'one in one out' basis.

Its definitely going in the right direction and I think the World Cup has given it a big nudge forward.