Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and is watched by billions of people around the world, but is oddly less popular in the United States. Soccer is not native to the United States and modern soccer originated in England in 1863. Sports like football and basketball have become extremely popular in the United States. Many Americans think soccer is boring and that it does not take skill because of the small number of goals scored every game and how simple it looks, but soccer has evolved and spread throughout the world and into America where it is becoming more and more popular, like “in 1995 only one percent of Americans considered soccer their favorite sport”, however, “Now in 2019, seven percent of Americans consider soccer their …show more content…
The growth of the MLS attracted many famous and great players from around the world so many great players came to play in the MLS. These great players also brought with them their many fans which caused growing viewership and attendance for the MLS. A big increase in US soccer popularity was due to the influence of Pele, one of the greatest soccer players in the world, who came to play for the MLS team called the New York Cosmos. Pele played for the Brazilian national team, which is one of the best teams in the world, he led Brazil to three World Cup titles and he was also the top goal scorer in the world at the time. Pele was considered the best player in the world during that time so millions of fans from around the world watched and attended the MLS games to watch one of the best players play. Peles's debut game was broadcasted on television for so many fans from around the world to watch and a full stadium of Americans and foreign fans can be seen while the commentator speaks of Peles's many achievements like top goal scorer in the world and three-time World Cup winner ("NASL: Pele's Debut With Cosmos 6/15/1975"). Americans and people from around the world being able to watch Pele play in the MLS promoted US soccer and viewership for MLS games increased greatly because, “Ten million people watched Pelé’s Cosmos debut on CBS, a record U.S. audience for soccer”(Lewis). Pele led the New York Cosmos to win many games due to his incredible skill and many Americans enjoyed watching him play. Another great player who helped increase the popularity of soccer in the United States by coming to play in the MLS was David Beckham. David Beckham, known as one of the best English soccer players, came from England to play in the MLS for the team called LA Galaxy and is now the co-owner of Inter Miami.