3 of 5 major sports US attendance records set at Big House

Submitted by carlos spicywiener on

baseball & hoops....you're next.

Michigan Stadium now holds the U.S. attendance record for football, hockey, and soccer competitions.

— Drew Hallett (@DrewCHallett) August 2, 2014

Somewhere in an executive athletic suite, Brandon pours a glass of bourbon and lights a cigar, smirking and kicking his legs up on the desk.

LSAClassOf2000

August 2nd, 2014 at 8:37 PM ^

 I do know that the 2014 World Cup ratings were about 40% above the 2010 ratings in the US. Per the Holltwood Reporter, the final match averaged 17.3 million viewers on ABC, which is phenomenal for soccer here and makes it the 3rd most watched soccer game in US history, as I recall. It might not have been that game, but I do believe that Forbes ran a story about how the US / Germany match actually eclipsed (slightly) the ratings of the 2014 Super Bowl, if that's what you were referencing (I don't recall specifically where they got the numbers). 

SalvatoreQuattro

August 3rd, 2014 at 12:05 AM ^

The  2014 Super Bowl was the most watched event in US history. I highly doubt Germany-US came anywhere near that,.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/super-bowl-2014-ratings-set-new-record/

 

PS: Yep, not even close. Germany-US drew 18,000,000 versus the 111,000,000 of the Super Bowl.

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2014/06/27/tv-ratings-for-u-s-vs-germany-world-cup-game-on-espn-third-highest-ever/

RationalBuckeye

August 2nd, 2014 at 9:15 PM ^

How can you possibly call that a fact when the World Cup was as popular as it was? And there are many people in this country that care about the sport all year round, which is why they're selling out venues all over the country to watch a foreign league.

Doc Brown

August 2nd, 2014 at 10:31 PM ^

false equivalence argument. A better argument would be to compare the US soccer leagues with European Ice Hockey, especially the Swedish Hockey League. For all intents and purposes the MLS is a minor league for the EPL, La Liga, and Bundesliga. Just like the SHL is a minor league for the NHL and the KHL. 

Going by ratings I would put soccer in this country at the level of the ice hockey and above NASCAR and Golf. 

However, I fail to see the point of denigrating other people's interests. The nobody cares about soccer meme is old. Guess what 98% of this planet doesn't give a shit about college football or the NFL. 

Doc Brown

August 2nd, 2014 at 10:31 PM ^

false equivalence argument. A better argument would be to compare the US soccer leagues with European Ice Hockey, especially the Swedish Hockey League. For all intents and purposes the MLS is a minor league for the EPL, La Liga, and Bundesliga. Just like the SHL is a minor league for the NHL and the KHL. 

Going by ratings I would put soccer in this country at the level of the ice hockey and above NASCAR and Golf. 

However, I fail to see the point of denigrating other people's interests. The nobody cares about soccer meme is old. Guess what 98% of this planet doesn't give a shit about college football or the NFL. 

Doc Brown

August 2nd, 2014 at 10:31 PM ^

false equivalence argument. A better argument would be to compare the US soccer leagues with European Ice Hockey, especially the Swedish Hockey League. For all intents and purposes the MLS is a minor league for the EPL, La Liga, and Bundesliga. Just like the SHL is a minor league for the NHL and the KHL. 

Going by ratings I would put soccer in this country at the level of the ice hockey and above NASCAR and Golf. 

However, I fail to see the point of denigrating other people's interests. The nobody cares about soccer meme is old. Guess what 98% of this planet doesn't give a shit about college football or the NFL. 

Brodie

August 3rd, 2014 at 1:34 PM ^

Yes. World Cup ratings for the US have been comparable to those of US Olympic hockey games, some club soccer games (in the Mexican league) dwarf Stanley Cup Finals ratings, MLS games often approach NHL levels. There's actually very little to suggest that hockey is more popular than soccer, the argument rests largely on revenue.

Rico616

August 2nd, 2014 at 10:56 PM ^

The MLS cup finals had half a million viewers. I think the Tigers do that on a Tuesday game. "but mls aren't the best". Well college football players are "amateurs" and I'm sure the bcs bowl game blew that out. Soccer is getting more popular but it's not a major sport in the US.

buddhafrog

August 3rd, 2014 at 3:38 AM ^

There are many ways to argue against this opinion.  Anything that relates to the historical popularity of soccer in the US might be your only point, and thus the tradition making it a major sport here doesn't yet exist.  But I think that would be a wrong arguement.

FACTS:

  1. MLS avg attendance in 2013 (which has since risen in 2014):  18,733
  2. NHL avg attendance in 2013: 17,455
  3. NBA avg attendance in 2013: 17,273
  4. 2014 World Cup TV viewing ratings were higher than NBA, NHL, and MLB chapmionship series (only NFL Super Bowl was higher)
  5. MLS has fastest growing fan base in US - all pro sports
  6. MLS is the fastest expanding sport in the US.  Many cities are fighting over who will get the next several expansion teams.
  7. Soccer TV contracts in the US are exploding (OK, started small, so much room to grow, but still).

It's a major sport in basically every category that measures fan/viewership.  Where is falls behind the others is (American born) non-sports fans awareness of the sport b/c it has a much shorter history. And the 2014 World Cup might have tipped the scale on that as well.

Accept it.  The sport is here for good now.

TheLastHarbaugh

August 2nd, 2014 at 8:37 PM ^

I doubt it. The field is brely big enough to the point where the teams and coaches must be in the stands and FIFA hates stadiums with bleachers instead of individual seats. I mean, I suppose it's a possibility but The Big House has a lot of things working against it. It's an outdoor stadium and the field turf is not very good for soccer (as a number of players have been complaining about it).

It's fine for friendly or club play, but the regulations for international play are much stricter.

Wolverine Devotee

August 2nd, 2014 at 8:47 PM ^

 

 

Michigan pretty much owns the top-30 crowds in Football

Michigan Stadium owns the top-3 Division II crowds.

1979 Slippery Rock-Shippensburg, 2004 GVSU-Michigan Tech, 1981 Slippery Rock-Wayne State

The less-known Bash at The Big House

Farnn

August 2nd, 2014 at 8:30 PM ^

Wonder if the NFL would play a game there to set the attendance record.  Could be amazing for a Lions-Packers Thanksgiving game or other game.  Fanbases that aren't too far from there, don't mind watching games outside in the freezing cold, and while Detroit may not have a crazy waitlist for tickets the Packers do and I'm sure the would show up in numbers.