Why you aren't watching the world cup

[Morrus]

Football is just one of the things people watch because its popular. Its one of many sports it has nothing outstanding except irs popularity.

You're seriously dismissing the idea that people watch it because they like it?

 

[Tigris]

You're seriously dismissing the idea that people watch it because they like it?

A lot of things are "liked" because they are popular. I think there are geniunly some people who have a big interest and knowledge about football. But many many more people watch the world championchip. And many of them would not watch it if no one else would watch it.


You can easily see this every 4 years where suddenly people watch football which else never do. And no its not "because its the best football" because its not. Its the best players but in teams they normally not play together with so high level league play has better football if you care for the high level/best play.

I had 3 flatmates. 1 of them always watched football 2 never but during the World championship these 2 did also watch it (in groups with others) and behaved like fans.


So yes as always there are exceptions, but most people (over 50%) only watch it because its popular. People are suspectible to pack behaviour, thats hardly news.


Like how chess became suddenly popular because of netflix and similar occurences.


So people like popular things. There is often a reason behind liking and this can be popularity.

 

[Morrus]

A lot of things are "liked" because they are popular. I think there are geniunly some people who have a big interest and knowledge about football. But many many more people watch the world championchip. And many of them would not watch it if no one else would watch it.


You can easily see this every 4 years where suddenly people watch football which else never do. And no its not "because its the best football" because its not. Its the best players but in teams they normally not play together with so high level league play has better football if you care for the high level/best play.

I had 3 flatmates. 1 of them always watched football 2 never but during the World championship these 2 did also watch it (in groups with others) and behaved like fans.


So yes as always there are exceptions, but most people (over 50%) only watch it because its popular. People are suspectible to pack behaviour, thats hardly news.


Like how chess became suddenly popular because of netflix and similar occurences.


So people like popular things. There is often a reason behind liking and this can be popularity.

I think you're just posting a hot takes like this because it's popular. You don't really believe it.

 

[Tigris]

I think you're just posting a hot takes like this because it's popular. You don't really believe it.

I did not even thought this was a hot take.

We can see from the statistics how much more people watch foorball in such events. And we can see from many statistics that popularity is a big positive feedback loop to popularity.


Also I am pretty sure that I am not really succeptible to pack behaviour, never was. I am too picky and arrogant for it.

 

[Retreater]

Ok. So I am currently at the neighborhood cocktail bar. I'm watching my first soccer game. I'll let you know how it goes.

We watched the matchup between Morocco and Brazil. Both were already tied 1-1 by the time we started.
Similar in some ways in structure to hockey, but more stops in play. (These guys get tripped, stepped on, and rammed into a lot.)
Also, I guess it can end in a tie? For a championship game?

 

[Tigris]

We watched the matchup between Morocco and Brazil. Both were already tied 1-1 by the time we started.
Similar in some ways in structure to hockey, but more stops in play. (These guys get tripped, stepped on, and rammed into a lot.)
Also, I guess it can end in a tie? For a championship game?

In the group phase it can end in a tie because griup is round robin (everyone against everyone in the same group) and afterwards only KO.


The big difference to hockey is that you cannot just change players there is a really limited amount of changes. Thats why people are not as active as in hockey becauae they must be on the grass for 45 minutes.


Also the number of stops depend a lot on the match (thats why the number of extra time can varry a lot since that depends on the amount of stops) and there are new "drinking stops" which are 3 minute long in this world cup (because of advertisement..).

 

[MGibster]

I think it's kind of lame that that the World Cup is mostly happening in the USA and Canada, two nations where men's soccer remains a secondary sport (at least Mexico loves it, so that's one out of three). Money talks, obviously, but just about any other nation on earth would be a more passionate host than either the USA or my nation.

We've got more than 300,000,000 people here in the United States, so I imagine that's a market the Federation International of Football Association would love to tap into. There have been efforts throughout my entire life to promote soccer here in the states, including bringing Pelé in to play for New York (before I was even born, so it's not like I remember it myself). And who knows? Tastes in sports have changed over the decades, so soccer has a chance. Baseball, boxing, and horse racing aren't nearly as popular as they were a century ago.

While I certainly don't think the United States would normally be as passionate to host as many other countries, but given our current domestic situation, this was an especially bad year for it. FIFA decided the hosts back in 2018 and given the sheer size of the event I'm not sure relocation was practical.

I don't know where you are from, but here the reason while people watch football is they grew up playing it. You just need a ball, a somewhat flat area with not too many obstacles in it, and you are set.

Let's not forget soccer is fun to play. As a wee lad, I was on a soccer team. The Cobras! I still have my silver medal around here somewhere.

You're seriously dismissing the idea that people watch it because they like it?

There's a cynical train of thought that something is only popular because its popular. We see this argument frequently made about D&D for example. Some people just can't wrap their heads around the idea that others genuinely like something that holds no interest for them. I can't speak for anyone else, but I don't think I've ever liked something simply because it was popular. Oh, yeah, being popular certainly got my attention in ways less popular things wouldn't, but if I don't like it I won't keep watching it no matter how popular it might be.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Also, I guess it can end in a tie? For a championship game?

These are just the group stages. All the teams are divided into groups of four, and each team will play the other teams in their groups once. They get 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie. Top two teams in each group plus the eight best third-placed teams go on to the knockout rounds, which have a bracket like the NCAA tournament (for instance).

So, yeah, there can be ties in the group stage. In the knockout round, there will be extra time (two periods of 15 minutes, no sudden death) and possibly a penalty shootout if a match is still tied after extra time.

 

[abazaba]

and there are new "drinking stops" which are 3 minute long in this world cup (because of advertisement..).

Yeah. The newly introduced 'drinking stops'. Let's stop the game for no good reason, just so we can have room for minutes long advertisements. I wonder who came up with that brilliant idea.

 

[Tigris]

Yeah. The newly introduced 'drinking stops'. Let's stop the game for no good reason, just so we can have room for minutes long advertisements. I wonder who came up with that brilliant idea.

Not even the player like it. You can see scenes of players standing on the field annoyed / bored having to wait until the 3 minutes is over to start playing again...