By Jasmin Ouseph
Here’s some breaking news. Sports are a pretty big deal to many people around the world.
Worldwide, football (or soccer, as we Americans have coined it) indisputably ranks as the most popular sport according to numerous sources.
In the United States, however, soccer comes in at a mere fifth place (based off TV ratings and revenue generated by league), preceded by ice hockey, basketball, baseball, and American football.
The premier soccer league in the United States and Canada is Major League Soccer (MLS), sanctioned by the US Soccer Federation, the official governing body of the sport in America.
The mission statement of US Soccer reads, “to make soccer, in all its forms, a preeminent sport in the United States and to continue the development of soccer at all recreational and competitive levels.”
While gridiron football, baseball, and basketball are the preeminent American sports by general consensus, with others like auto-racing and ice hockey being more regional in their popularity, there isn’t a very defining pattern among the MLS’ viewership.
Among fans of the sport in general, opinions on the MLS specifically are mixed. The league is growing popular with young adults especially.
Kenneth Nti, a student at the University of Florida, believes that the MLS has “grown magnanimously from its birth within the nineties” and has the potential to establish a “soccer platform similar to those in Europe or South America.”
Statistically, at least, the MLS is on the rise.
A lot of that potential comes from the attention of international superstars that settle in the MLS upon retiring from Europe. Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard now plays for the LA Galaxy while Premier League and Serie A wonders Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo, respectively, both play for New York City FC.
Others, meanwhile, simply lack an interest in the MLS.
Leon Peter, a student at Nova Southeastern University, finds that although soccer is his favorite sport, he doesn’t pay much attention to the MLS.
“The play is just sloppy, not as clean,” Peter said. “The skill isn’t as apparent.”
It seems others with similar opinions would rather stick to the Premier League, La Liga, and other European tournaments that see more training, more funding, and more resources overall than the MLS does.
The possibility of a home MLS-member club to support would create a great addition to the league’s fan base.
Given the immense popularity of the sport in Latin America, and the rich Latinx presence in South Florida, David Beckham’s supposed proposition for a Miami-based MLS club would likely be met with big interest.
Statistically, at least, the MLS is on the rise.
According to Amy Rosenfeld, a Senior Coordinating Producer for ESPN who oversees all soccer content for the network (including broadcast of the UEFA Champions League, US Soccer games, and MLS), success for the league according to ESPN standards would physically look like higher ratings.
Given that the MLS is barely 20 years old (it was established in 1996, two years after the US first hosted the World Cup), its ratings are looking pretty impressive.
MLS national TV ratings have increased by 18% from the 2014 year average total.
Currently, ESPN2’s broadcasts are averaging 283,000 per game.
With the 2015 MLS Cup match last Sunday, featuring a 2-1 win for the Portland Timbers, ratings were up 4% for ESPN, 40% for Fox Sports and 3% for UniMas.
Soccer is the world’s sport, and it is slowly but surely on its way to becoming a bigger deal in the US.
While European league matches are still drawing on average three times the weekly viewers the MLS gets, that shouldn’t rule out the hope that the MLS will see a growing fan base and greater national interest in the years to come.
Cover Photo Credit: Ryan Knapp/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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Correction: 12-9-2015 1:37 AM EST- A previous version of this article had the wrong final score for the MLS Final. The Portland Timbers won 2-1.
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You Can Still Help The Victims Of The Orlando Shooting
On June 12th, 2016, a man entered a gay bar called Pulse and started firing, killing 49 people.The response was almost immediate, with people stepping up to donate blood, money, and time to the cause.You can still help even as the event falls farther out of the headlines.There are various charities and blood donation centers, but what do they need now?One response was from Pulse itself.The club’s website was replaced with a page directing people to a PayPal set up for the employees, who aren’t working while the club is closed.“For those of you wanting to help the staff, the Pulse Employee Recovery Fund provides assistance to employees who have been affected by this tragedy and will continue to have monetary needs during our time of recovery. All money goes directly to the Pulse employees to assist with their daily needs while they are out of work.” the page reads. Sara Brady, the spokesperson for Pulse, elaborated “…(The employees) can’t work because (the) club isn’t open. They are also emotionally traumatized which will impact their ability to get new jobs…they need to heal.”Another way that people have been looking to help is with blood donations.Shortly after the shooting, people were lining up at OneBlood buildings donate blood, food, and time.Pat Michaels, spokesperson at OneBlood says that the best way that people can help is to schedule.“Keeping the appointments are the thing that we’re asking people to do: to make the appointment and to keep the appointment going in the future,” Michaels said in an interview with RISE NEWS. “It does help us keep things even and not have a lot of people waiting for a long period of time. In the initial hours after the tragedy in Orlando, we had people standing in line for hours, waiting to donate blood.”Calling ahead or scheduling an appointment online ensures that the process goes smoother and faster.Michaels also asks that people continue to donate and volunteer regularly.Blood has a short shelf life and needs to be replenished regularly.“But certainly, the thing that we want people to do if you’re eligible to donate blood is to make the commitment to do this going forward,” Michaels said.Cover Photo Credit: Governor Tom Wolf/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)What Do You Think?
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Scott Walker Will Drop Out of Presidential Campaign
According to multiple media reports including the New York Times and NBC News, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is planning to drop out of the Presidential race.
According to MSNBC, Scott Walker has just announced a press conference in Wisconsin for 6 PM EST.
Walker had been performing poorly in post debate polls, with some showing him with less than 1 percent support in the GOP primary.
Stay with Rise News as we continue to follow this developing story.
WisPolitics.com/Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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If House And Senate Don’t Agree, Could There Be A Government Shutdown Over Syrian Refugee Program Changes?
The unfortunate recent terror attacks in Paris have led to more than half-31 to be precise of the nation’s governors to declare that they will refuse entry to Syrian refugees into their states.
Florida’s governor, Rick Scott among others had gone so far as to request House Republicans push a bill through Congress to prevent Syrian refugees from entering his state.
On Nov. 19th, the governors’ wishes was granted. The House passed the SAFE Act, with an overwhelming 289-137 vote, enough to override a veto, which President Obama has already said he would do if the bill were to pass the Senate.
The SAFE act wouldn’t stop Syrian refugees from entering the United States, however, it could place a very long pause on the current Syrian refugee program.
The act would add an extra screening process in the already extensive, 18-24 months, vetting procedure refugees must go through before placement in the country by requiring the directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, and Director of National Intelligence personally sign off on each refugee granted entry.
Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are also offering their own alternative to the SAFE Act, which would place limitations on the visa waiver program by refusing eligibility to individuals who have traveled to Syria or Iraq in the past five years, the real question is whether the Senate will be able to block the House’s bill from passing before their alternative can get off the ground.
It’s also possible the House and Senate and the bipartisan coalitions in each will reach a stalemate. If you keep in mind the fact the next government budget deadline is Dec. 11th, then it wouldn’t be completely out of place for House Republicans, (with perhaps some Democratic support) to threaten another government shutdown in order to pass the SAFE Act. In fact, it is entirely possible.
Cover Photo Credit: Freedom House/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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