Quote:
Originally Posted by Seven
I think it's because of the lack of crossover the NPB had with the Majors until the 90's really. Soccer is an international game, much more so than baseball. What I mean by that is, with soccer you have players moving leagues, pretty often, and while the styles of play in each league do vary a little bit (For an example the Italian Serie A has always been a league more focused on Defensive tactics and ball possession as opposed to the English Premier League) The game transfers well. It's more or less agreed upon that the best teams in each of the respective highest divisions of soccer, are at a minimum, on par with one another.
Furthermore Pele is universally known. Soccer being as global as it is, plus the fact that legends like Pele, Cruyff, and Beckenbauer all had stints here in the United States, during the short lived North American Soccer League. I also think that Soccer, being as global as it is, naturally retains more popularity. The World Cup is absolutely massive, hell so is the Eurocup, it also becomes a way for people whose ancestors were from other parts of the world to come together and share a common interest. The section of New York I live in for example, is still filled with prominently the descendants of Italian American Immigrants (Myself included) who were going absolutely wild when Italy defeated England in the Eurocup.
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Ah, Pele ... universally known! And soccer, a global sport! Funny, funny, funny! Soccer cards have been around for a hundred years, if not longer, and you Americans didn't give a sh*t about them until recently.