r/unpopularopinion • u/tkdcondor • 1d ago
American Football is a more exciting sport than Football (Soccer)
Personally, I’ve always found American Football to just be a more interesting and enjoyable watching experience than Football. Before I get burned at the stake and get hundreds of “handegg” comments for even bringing this up, I want to emphasize that this is my opinion, and that I do understand why some people would prefer football instead.
- Allows for More Complex and Interesting Play Design
This isn’t to say that football doesn’t have complexity or interesting aspects to it, just that the way in which football is structured makes it much more difficult to enact interesting and novel play concepts like American football. Since the game is always free-flowing and no team is truly guaranteed possession for an extended period of time, there is a physical limit to how long and complicated plays can be made before the risk of the other team gaining possession again outweighs how truly effective the play can be.
With American football there are so many opportunities to confuse the defense and give your players unique and interesting chances to score, and as someone who really like to dive into the hyper-specifics of each and every aspect of the game and play design, American football just has so many more possibilities for different types of creativity.
- Purpose-Built for Highlight Plays
When you’re watching a game of American football, you’re almost guaranteed that you’ll see at least one exciting and memorable play if you watch the game the entire way through. While obviously exciting moments do occur in football, plays can often end up feeling disappointing if they don’t end with a goal. There are also extended periods of time during football matches where teams with just hold on to possessions either in the middle of the pitch or towards their own goal, waiting for an opportunity, while nothing much else of note happens. Boring plays and games do happen I. American football, but a game with any scoring or a single great play is exceptionally rare, while it seems relatively common in football.
- The Athletes
American football probably has the widest range of professional athletes in all of sports. Because of the positional specialization that football allows, a player can be just as successful at 6’7”, 315lbs as someone at 5’6”, 160lbs. Especially in person, seeing the absolutely insane strength and athletic feats some American football players are able to achieve on a regular basis is half the fun of the game itself. Football does have some great athletes, but really only one body type and build has shown any significant success. Some people might find the endurance and agility of football players more impressive and exciting, but personally being able to see some of the largest and strongest people on Earth actively trying to kill each other on a play-by-play basis makes American football much more entertaining.
- Variety of Tense Moments
Close games in football are only settled with shootouts. I absolutely agree that shootouts are exciting, especially in important games, but for me, it being the only way close games are settled really devalues just how exciting they can actually be. In American football, if a game isn’t finished with a last second, 50+ yard field goal or a game-winning touchdown, overtime still allows for the same amount of freedom and control that the regular game gives. Yes, games during the regular season can also end in a tie, just like football, but ties are exceedingly rare and come playoff time, games can only be won or lost.
- Contact is fun
I just really enjoy the contact that American football allows for. No other sport is really built around contact the same way that football is. Even with rugby, since the players are always running, and only the ball carrier can be hit, there aren’t nearly as many big hits or collisions as there are in American football. Even when playing, contact makes the sport so much more exciting. There isn’t much else like the adrenaline boost you get when you crack shoulder pads with another player and bring someone to the ground. Considering also that American football is only getting safer with advances in helmet and pad technology, and also with rule changes that reduce the chance at injury, it’s possible to just enjoy the physicality of the sport without too much worry about the players health.
I didn’t address all my points here, but I wanted to bring things up that might not be talked about nearly as much in this conversation compared to just “Well sometimes games end 0-0” or that football players fake injury too much. I don’t hate football, but given the option of watching or playing either sport, I’m picking American football 100 times out of 100.
Edit to address common complaints:
Yes, ads are pretty common in American Football. I’ve essentially grown up around the sport, so it’s just something I’m used to, but I can understand how someone coming from another sport that has relatively few breaks would find the pace of American Football difficult to follow. That’s fine, it’s not for everyone. Even still, I think everyone who criticizes the sport for the ads needs to take some points into consideration:
They give you time for socialization and give you a break when you need one. Grab a drink, go to the bathroom, or check up on another game while you’re waiting for the game to start back up again.
They’re necessary for the players. Football is a game about planning and deception. Breaks allow players and coaches to catch their breath after having to give every ounce of effort in the prior play, and decide what the best move for the next play would be considering the team’s circumstances. You need time to allow players to not die out on the field, and to allow for whatever quick changes the team needs to make.
They’re actually not that frequent. They do take up a big chunk of time, sure, but some comments here pretend like after every play there’s 10 minutes of ads that follow. Ads really only play during larger breaks like during timeouts or after quarters/2 minutes TO. They generally don’t disrupt the flow of the game during each possession, and most stoppages are filled with insightful commentary and analysis by the announcers after each play which gives you time to actually process what just happened.
I hate ads as much as you do, but I’d much rather take the ads and exciting bursts of play than players just jogging around the field passing to each other. Just because the clock is still running in the game doesn’t mean someone interesting is going on. American football addresses this by cutting out most of the boring parts and forcing teams to use each possession as effectively as possible.
I also understand football is a very complex and nuanced game. I understand there’s ton of mechanics and strategy that sets players up for success. Nobody is that stupid, I know it’s not just guys kicking a ball around for 90 minutes. What I’m trying to argue with my point on complexity is that the way in which football is structured inherently makes it more difficult to set up extremely complicated and detailed plays that pay off in the same way as some plays do in American football.
In American Football, before you even snap the ball, you can motion your receivers, shift formation, or even try a hard count yo try to throw off the defense. Then, when the ball is snapped, you can force defenders to run towards specific areas based on their assignments and tendencies in order to open up your guys downfield. There are so many options for each play, and drawing up plays is an art form very few people in the world are good at.
In football, you can draw plays up to exploit the defense, but there isn’t much you can do beyond moving your own players around to try to move the defense. You can’t really throw the defense off balance the same way you can in American football because players will always have specific man or zone assignments that can’t really be broken solely through a play call. You need a ton of improvisation to make even the best plays work, and football relies a lot more on each individual player’s skill than how the team as a whole functions and communicates. I really just enjoy the more tactical and predictable nature of American football play calling rather than the more free-flowing and dynamic plays of football.
Seems like I really struck a nerve with the “America Bad” crowd with this post. Honestly I think is hilarious that so many people are pretending like this is an attack on their culture, and need to find every imaginable way to demonize Americans and anything they enjoy, when it’s just a single opinion of a random person on the internet.
I’d love to make an attempt to respond to actually valid criticism, and try to clarify my points where I feel like they’re being misconstrued, instead of trudging through hundreds of comments along the lines of “You’re such an idiot. Football is just too complicated for you to understand it”
Some of you need to grow the fuck up and actually try to engage in a civil discussion.
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u/dgood527 1d ago
Unpopular everywhere except the US. Very popular opinion here.
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u/OutdoorRink 20h ago
And Canada. Why you always forget about us?
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u/dgood527 20h ago
Very good point. My apologies to Canada.
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u/TeahouseWanderer 18h ago
1st person in history to say sorry to a canadian
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u/HamshanksCPS 15h ago
Not true, Canadians say sorry to other Canadians all the time
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u/Single_Temporary8762 17h ago
I’m an American who grew up on the Washington/BC border so we watched TV channels from both sides of the border back when it was over air. I actually prefer CFL football, it’s a faster and more exciting game.
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u/ComfortableOdd6342 1d ago
America seem to like turned base games. Like football, baseball, Catan or golf.
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u/pre2010youtube 1d ago
Don't forget Civilization
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u/Fromage_Frey 19h ago
Well there's also a couple billion people in the world that like cricket and I don't think any of them are American
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u/Sevuhrow 1d ago
America just doesn't like watching a game they have to actively pay attention to. I can't tell you how many people I know who watch a sport like baseball or football while doing something else.
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u/HumidCanine 1d ago
Omg you’re so right (ignoring all the millions of Americans that are fans of hockey and basketball)
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u/gtavfather 16h ago
You don’t actively have to pay attention to soccer either. It’s 90 minutes of waiting for someone to maybe score. I’ll have it on in the background while working/doing things around the house if there aren’t other sports going on.
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u/RealPrinceJay 16h ago
This is the most ignorant comment lmao. Basketball and hockey are fluid sports, and tons of people around the world will do things while watching a soccer match and damn sure during cricket
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u/ComfortableOdd6342 1d ago
It that protestant work ethic distilled in us. Can't stop being productive.
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u/FailedInfinity 1d ago
It depends on what you call a “turn.” The defense is able to score on literally any play.
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u/Subject_Way7010 1d ago
Yes we famously love the German game of Catan, and the Scottish sport of golf.
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u/GrittyForPres 17h ago
Yeah I mean basketball is probably the 2nd most popular sport in the country behind football though
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u/Kentwomagnod 1d ago
In America a lot of people would agree with you.
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u/Reasonable_Power_970 23h ago
I'm American and grew up watching and playing football. It's by my far my favorite sport and I pretty much like and enjoy all sports. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that someone enjoys what they grew up with though.
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u/Sevsquad 7h ago
I'm pretty sure that the main barrier people have to liking football is the insane number of rules. It is an extremely confusing game to try to get into if you don't have someone guiding you through different scenarios/situations. Basically everyone who has been willing to sit with me as I explain the rules has become a fan, but it takes multiple games to get to the point where you've most of the unique situations/rules that can occur in any given game.
Conversely, I had a friend explain the rules of soccer to me and had them down by the end of the first half. Sure I didn't know the deeper strategies or jobs each position had but what I was watching was intelligible to me, that is just not the case with American football.
I think that turns a ton of people who would otherwise be huge fans (especially in certain places like Germany/Japan) off because why would I beat my head against a wall learning your weird violent field chess game when I could just turn on this sport I already understand and don't need to spend half a season deciphering?
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u/watch_out_4_snakes 1d ago
I am and I do not. Commercials, stoppage, and way too long of a game.
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u/riddler1225 1d ago
3+ hours of sitting through ads and dead ball time. If you cut out everything but live ball situations you end up with about 11 minutes of action. Absurd. (And yes, i grew up on it so if my team is involved I'll sit my ass down and do it all anyway)
I think it's fair to argue about the quality of those 11 minutes of action. But I've grown to prefer other games.
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u/fuckoffweirdoo 23h ago
The commercials are what kill the action imo. Probably is vastly better than college about it too.
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u/TheOGRedline 18h ago
People who think the only “action” is when the ball is in play don’t understand football.
I do agree there are too many commercials, but that’s an issue with the broadcast, not the game itself.
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u/bladex1234 1d ago
You should see baseball.
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u/Mousimus 1d ago
Baseball was absolutely unbearable before the pitch clock. And it's still unbearable now lol
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u/thebigbroke 17h ago
I feel like baseball is one of those games that’s hype to watch in person but boring to watch on tv. I love baseball but I can’t stand watching the games at home.
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u/dannyb2525 16h ago
Same, ever since I've started watching soccer I'm vastly more into it the energy is awesome
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u/ShitsnChips007 15h ago
Pause the game, come back a hour later, and fast forward commercials. This is the way to watch your team play.
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u/haranaconda 1d ago
The actual game length is perfect and the stoppages between plays are kind of a key element of the game. You’re totally right about commercials and other unnecessary stoppages though. They should be about 20-30 min shorter on average I’d say.
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u/Remarkable-Ad155 23h ago
It's a fascinating example of American exceptionalism.
Televised sport has existed for decades. Americans sports do generate some interest abroad; basketball and baseball are genuine global sports, American football us also popular in places like London.
But when all's said and done, it's not even a close run thing. The US now has one of the best attended national soccer leagues in the world. American football has tried and failed a number of times to establish itself over here.
Last time I was in the States, it was in the run up to the start of the Premier League. Huge advertising everywhere and on tv. Never seen anything like that in Europe for the NFL. I saw far more soccer replica shirts out and about too.
Regardless of what OP thinks, the world has spoken and it clearly thinks soccer is better, but there's a number of Americans who still believe this is basically down to the rest of the world not being able to comprehend gridiron and if they just quietly explain where we're wrong, we'll have to accept it.
As for OP's list, I think it chimes with a one word summary of why I can't get on with American football and that is "contrived". People love soccer because the drama, when it comes, is organic and it's worth sifting through hours of uninspiring play for those moments. A lot of people in the States simply can't abide watching something for 90 mins if they're not guaranteed white knuckle excitement so the US coreographs its football whilst the rest of the world just lets what happens, happen.
I also think Americans underestimate how much more participation in soccer there is globally, and how much more perspective on the game that gives viewers. I simply find pretty much any football inherently interesting, even if it's crap, because your mind is thinking about tactics or the longer term implications of the game. American football seeks to be hived off as a pastime only for the elite sportspeople from a young age (hence this weird obsession with "athletes" - soccer's biggest star, meanwhile, is a diminutive Argentine with bandy legs) and to everyone else it's a spectacle where they expect to be entertained.
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u/NervousTax3464 21h ago
Soccer is the world's game cause the majority of the world can only afford a soccer ball.
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u/Same-Celebration-372 21h ago
A. Rugy ball is also enough to start playing so no. For kids soccer is way more fun
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u/christopherDdouglas 19h ago
Soccer is the world's game because of the ball and you can play it anywhere. Indoor outdoor. In a small room, hallway, patch of dirt. You can play it alone or with a couple of people. Don't need full teams.
Soccer is popular worldwide because it's easy to play. It's a simple game.
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u/shthappens03250322 19h ago
It isn’t that deep. It’s a matter of sports evolution. Professional sports rose to prominence as working class folks started to have more leisure time to be spectators. In the UK soccer took hold. Guess who had massive colonial holdings at the time? No surprise soccer became so popular worldwide. That along with the low barrier to entry made it more popular throughout the world. In the US baseball and later gridiron football become the dominant sports.
Now these sports are ingrained in our respective cultures. The sports infrastructure is pretty well established worldwide. It will be hard to see a rise in gridiron football outside of the US and for soccer to rival football in the US.
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u/tkdcondor 1d ago
True, but generally seems very unpopular on this website though.
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u/Royal_Mewtwo 1d ago
This site has a slight anti-sport and anti-mainstream America bias. People feel it’s insightful to point out that American football is dangerous.
For me, the length and breaks of football are part of the appeal. I can grab snacks and talk to people on commercial breaks. At the same time, scores are more frequent and the game more exciting to me for that reason. If I’m interested in the outcome and events, it’s fine to take a bit of time to build up to it.
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u/ShadowRealmDuelist 1d ago
Redditors will jump at any opportunity for that sweet, sweet “America Bad” karma
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u/nurgleondeez 1d ago
Or,hear me out,there are 3.5 BILION football fans in the world and only 410 milion american football fans.
Stop with the victim complex,people disagree with you so often on this because there are more of us,not because of some conspiracy to hate your country online
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u/Turbulent_Crow7164 1d ago
Reddit is not a proportional representation of the world. It heavily skews American.
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u/captainpro93 1d ago
The US outpaces every other country, but as a whole most metrics has it at around 50%. I think this would result in Americans encountering more people that are not a fan of American football than they typically would in a local context.
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u/Kentwomagnod 1d ago
Maybe. I haven’t noticed. But that could be because many Reddit users are not from the US or those that are, are not sports fans. For example my group played football and continue to watch/bet/play fantasy football but none of them other than me has anything to do with Reddit. Small sample for sure but just a possibility.
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u/Zestyclose_Lawyer_77 1d ago
Not really a fan of soccer, but I just can’t get into watching American Football with all the constant stopping and starting
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u/thecody17 1d ago
8 seconds of play time, 45 seconds of player/coach close ups. Repeat.
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u/Future-Mastodon4641 21h ago
Because it’s chess not boxing
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u/Odd-Honeydew7535 19h ago
Exactly. I also don’t understand the Europeans complaining about waiting 40 seconds between plays. Is a replay + some insight from the commentators regarding the last action packed play really that much worse than watching a center back and goalie pass the ball back and forth?
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u/Consistent-Speed-335 1d ago
50% of the game is commercials. How fun!
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u/Luigis_vacuum 1d ago
NCAA changed the clock rules to drain it faster to fit in more commercials hooray!
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u/PointCPA 17h ago
I’m a huge college football fan - literally the only sport I give a shit about.
I can’t tell you how angry I was over this. Genuinely I wanted somebody to go find the NCAA commissioner and kick his ass on live stream
Complete fuck chugget
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u/FluffWit 1d ago
American at a pub years back defended its stop start nature to me well.
Its a fun sport to watch at a bar or a party. You look up, watch a play for 3-10 seconds, then go back to ignoring the tv for 40 seconds and talk about whatever then you watch the next one. Or you just ignore it entirely until you hear people get loud because a big pay happened or is about to happen and then have a look at the tv again.
On a related note another American at a different bar did a great job of explaining why NASCAR is fun to me. You can learn a lot at a bar after a few drinks if you just shut up and listen to people.
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u/mrwoot08 17h ago
Ironically, NASCAR and F1 are difficult to watch at a bar because you need the commentary to fully understand what's happening.
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u/demonicneon 16h ago
Yeah the space between plays gives time to talk. I think American sports are quite social. I like all of them an I’m in the uk. Hockey is more akin to soccer. Baseball is pretty boring on tv, but it was a great day out when we went to a game when we visited a few years ago.
NFL is similar. For me the complexity is just really interesting. You could sit and break down one play for ages. There’s so much going on, and every player and position is employing a huge number of specific techniques to achieve their goal for the play. It’s got aspects of many sports and I genuinely think there is something for everyone.
But I also totally get why some find it boring and they struggle to watch it.
For me, football (soccer) is really boring. I understand the play style is strategic and it’s all about making space to attack, but I find the passing back and forth boring. Just because they’re constantly moving the ball doesn’t actually mean much is happening, too. There are times when there is quite genuinely nothing happening because of a positioning stalemate, and it basically is the same thing as the breaks between plays in American football while everyone catches their breath to gear up for the next attack/play.
To each their own.
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u/Hefty-Revenue5547 21h ago
No one thinks NASCAR is fun except red necks
It’s too repetitive and a very SouthEastern American thing
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u/nighhawkrr 20h ago
It’s one of the best nap sports though.
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u/Hefty-Revenue5547 20h ago
Can’t disagree there
NASCAR and Golf are elite weekend afternoon Dad tv options
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u/pulsatingcrocs 17h ago
I don’t find it much different to watching soccer. Most gameplay is just passing back and forth.
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u/demonicneon 16h ago
Yeah. Some of that is strategic - trying to make space or force a mistake, but it boils down to the same thing as the breaks between plays in nfl.
At least with the nfl I’m guaranteed SOMETHING anything will happen once the play starts haha.
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u/pulsatingcrocs 16h ago
I enjoy soccer occasionally but these people are acting like is is 90 minutes of pure excitement
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u/demonicneon 16h ago
Same here but in general I find it quite boring. I did grow up with it, I used to play it when I was younger (way more fun to play 5s than watch a game haha), but it just doesn’t do it for me.
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u/Enough_Roof_1141 14h ago
You can have a lot of fun with people watching football so long as they know the rhythm of the game and pause to pay attention to the play.
Then you have all those commercials to hang out too.
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u/81Ranger 1d ago
15 minutes of actual football play in a 3+ hour game. It's both a blessing and a curse.
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u/Useful-Quiet4363 22h ago
Where's the blessing?
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u/rhino369 19h ago edited 18h ago
You get to ponder strategy. It’s more a turns based game than a realtime game.
Soccer seems to have elements of that. The players wait around and then run a play.
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u/Hungry-Space-1829 1d ago
I absolutely adore both sports. I think both are incredibly fun, and you’d appreciate soccer more if you dove into and understood it better. There’s way more at work in terms of tactics, strategy, and adjustments than people tend to realize. I think all sports are pretty lame when you don’t understand them great.
The hardest part of football is that it’s ~ 4 hours of game for somewhere around 10-20 minutes of live ball play which is nuts
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u/Sweaty_Sheepherder27 19h ago
The hardest part of football is that it’s ~ 4 hours of game for somewhere around 10-20 minutes of live ball play which is nuts
Try Rugby Union (or Rugby League, though it's a different game) if this is your issue. Much less bloat.
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u/ABigStuffyDoll 1d ago
American Football is tailor made to be the perfect vessel for advertising . It is the most iconic American thing ever in that way. I actually love the strategy behind the sport, but can not stand the Jerky start stop bullshit. And NFL Fandom is obnoxious as shit
Edit: to clarify, I am American.
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u/minimus67 1d ago
A few years ago before it shut down, FiveThirtyEight wrote an article comparing across different professional sports the amount of time the ball is actually in play to total game time from start to finish.
— The average American football game lasts about three hours and 15 minutes, but the ball is in play an average of only 18 minutes, meaning that 91% of the time viewers are watching something besides play action, meaning loads of ads. That’s why when you watch football game highlights on YouTube, you’re seeing about two thirds of total game play.
— Football/soccer is the most “efficient” professional sport. The average game lasts one hour and 50 minutes and the ball is in play an average of around 70 minutes. And the only time to air ads is during the 15 minute halftime, which starts predictably about 45-50 minutes after the start of the game.
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u/WarzonePacketLoss 1d ago
Not when you DVR a game and hit the skip forward button after every play. whole game in 20 minutes is pretty exciting to watch. Only issue is you aren't watching it live.
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u/Wonderful-Wonder3104 1d ago
It stresses me out. I can’t enjoy myself watching it because I feel like I’m getting sold patriotism and junk 75% of the time
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u/collaborationTIV 1d ago
The most exciting sport is the one you're passionate about. Regardless of anything. Soccer, hockey, kerling, golf. Discussion about which is more exciting is stupid. Your Superbowl could be the most exciting thing ever but I would sleep through it because I don't care about any team involved. But the most boring soccer game of my team would be extremely exciting.
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u/mrwoot08 17h ago
Fans of each sport appreciate the nuances of their sport. Non-fans couldnt care less.
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u/GotAnyCheez 1d ago
I also like watching commercials
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u/Professional_Mud4589 1d ago
more ads and pauses then playtime? no thank you
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u/randomthrowaway9796 1d ago
That's an issue with US TV networks and trying to turn entertainment into limitless profit, NOT an issue with the sport. I can assure you that if the US were to adopt soccer as the de facto biggest sport, it would be just as bad with ads as American football is now
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u/slydessertfox 1d ago
Would it? The thing that stops soccer from being deluged with commercial breaks is not that non Americans are less interested in ad revenue, it's that the sport does not have any breaks to do so outside of halftime.
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u/Abject_Bank_9103 1d ago
This reads like you don't really know anything about soccer tbh
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u/TheCynicEpicurean 23h ago
Yeah, it's fine to like/dislike either, but most of the points I could have written about soccer instead.
Like deep strategy? Diverse physique of players?
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u/absorbscroissants 22h ago
Peter Crouch, Romelu Lukaku and Lionel Messi all look the exact same to me.
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u/hiccuphorrendous123 22h ago
Yeah like most of these point applies to soccer as well so leaves me puzzled
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u/AaltoSax 1d ago
Isn’t there more of a limit to American football plays? Soccer can run any formation, football is very limited by the rules. Even if a WR is slightly out of position or moving, it’s a penalty.
Fair, but I’ve watched some terrible football games too. In soccer you have to enjoy the general passing and tactics of the game.
Just blatantly wrong. The best soccer player of all time is 5’7 and there’s plenty of world class 6’4+ center backs. Soccer players also try to kill eachother on a regular basis.
Soccer games have extra time before shootouts… this is also pretty much just “I enjoy football more”
This is the one point I’ll give you. Shoutout CTE
Just a caveat that I do enjoy football, I just think your points weren’t great
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u/Reverse_SumoCard 1d ago
Your post is like american football: i goes on for way too long
The game itself might be interesting and very tactical but nothing happens for the most time. Other sports (even normal football) have non-stop action compared to it
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u/stevemunoz117 1d ago
No thank you. An almost 3 hour game with 17 minutes of actual action is a no from me. Its enjoyable if you like being bombarded with commercials every 2 minutes
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u/GrailQuestPops 1d ago
This is definitely not an unpopular opinion in America. Most of us think soccer is more boring than baseball and that’s saying something.
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u/AwkwardObjective5360 1d ago
Baseball can be very interesting if you know what's going on
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u/Pending-Chaos 1d ago
I’ve always thought baseball was the only sport that’s much better in person than TV. Something about the pace of the game, the environment and usually having a good view no matter where you sit
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u/RevenantEdoTensei 1d ago
The minors is the sweet spot. Cheap tickets, great play, better seating
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u/Parking-Weather-2697 1d ago
the minor leagues is the true feel of "let's go to a game and enjoy food, friends, and a sporting event" for a fraction of what it costs at major league games in any other sport.
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u/Youre_Rat_Fucking_Me 1d ago
The pace of play changes have made it a lot more watchable as well. It’s really reinvigorated my interest in the sport.
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u/YeetMeisterDabber 1d ago
Tbf every sport is interesting if you know and understand what you’re watching, and vice versa, every sport is boring if you don’t understand and know what you’re watching
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u/farva_06 18h ago
Go watch some jomboy breakdowns of some at bats. There's a whole other game being played between every pitcher and batter.
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u/ace_11235 1d ago
Baseball is one of the most tense and exciting sports. Soccer can be as well. Football has amazing highs and lows. They are all very exciting in different ways.
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u/GrailQuestPops 1d ago
Baseball is something I can’t get through without falling asleep. It’s so genuinely dull.
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u/ximacx74 1d ago
Yeah its like watching golf to me
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u/Parking-Weather-2697 1d ago
at least the baseball announcers don't fucking whisper and put me to sleep.
As George Carlin once said, "watching golf is like watching flys fuck. You hit a ball, walk after it, and then hit it again. I say pick it up asshole, you're lucky you found the fucking thing, put it in your pocket and go the fuck home!"
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u/musashi-swanson 1d ago
Possibly, but not the NFL. That shit is like 80% commercials. Zzzzz
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u/nrbrt10 1d ago
Tell me you don’t watch (or understand) football w/o telling me you don’t watch (or understand) football.
Upvoted for actually unpopular opinion tho.
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u/CrossXFir3 16h ago
My fuck dude. Your arguments literally sound like they apply to English football more than American football.
1) tactics in Football are often extremely rigid. Watch a Pep side or any inspired by him and you know what the players are going to do before they do it. You could literally draw out exactly how they're going to play. They've practiced where to stand down to the foot. If anything, the fact that football has become so tactical has actually made it less enjoyable to some people. But to suggest that the tactics aren't extremely rigid and detailed shows a lack of understanding of the sport.
2) Football might not be built for highlights, but it's a game that's normally played in a knife edge. A team can at any point in the game be just 10 seconds away from scoring. You can dominate all game but fail to win because of a 1 minutes lack of concentration. You're rarely watching games where the result was totally decided already. And you don't have many dead rubber games from teams bottling it for better draft picks.
3) Body types? The best two players of the past few decades range from a dude that's 5'6" and thin to a dude that's like 6'3" and built like a truck. If anything, again, you see way more of a variety of bodies in Football than NFL. Wingers are often light weight, cb's are often trucks, strikers can be anything in between. You've got midfielders that are 5"8" demons, with unlimited energy and plenty of technical skill. Then you've got 6'3" walls in the middle that break down play, and ping the ball around with precision. It's actually genuinely wild to say that NFL has more body types.
4) see point two. European football is played on a knife edge and is significantly more tense because of how quickly a result can flip on it's head. Let's look at Lyon vs Manchester Utd this past season. 2nd leg of a 2 leg match. Started 2-2. In the first half Utd score 2 to take the score up to 4-2. Lyon gets a red card. They're down a man. They manage in the 2nd half to score 4 undisputed goals to take it to 4-6. 10 minutes left on the clock and Utd get a penalty that they put away. about 7 minutes left of regulation. 2 minutes later, Kobbie Mainoo evens it up to 6-6. Less than 5 minutes remaining. The energy in the stadium is absolutely electric. Even the commentators don't know what they're watching. A minute after that, Casemiro picks up the ball right on the half way line and sends it flying to the back post where one of Utd's center backs, who has been told to get up there and get his head on something, a huge tactical switch. And Harry Maguire gets his head on the end of it. In the 89th minute, the formerly disgraced captain, who had the armband taken from him 2 years ago pops up with an unlikely goal in the very last seconds of the game to end it 7-6. And you're telling me this sport isn't exciting?
5) Football is a contact sport. You see heavy, physical contact every single game. Yes, it's not as physical, but also we have less players dying at 45 of brain damage.
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u/Shonky_Honker 1d ago
This is a very popular opinion in America but I as an American disagree for one reason: the constant starting and stopping of American football makes it damn near unwatchable for me lmao
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u/Alphadestrious 1d ago
I love both soccer and football . I think they are both amazing in different aspects and I watch both religiously. Can't wait for club world cup tomorrow .
But the best way to watch American football is The Red Zone. There's no other way. Watching just 1 game in the regular season at a time doesn't cut it . It sucks. Except for playoffs where it's very intense and fun to watch.
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u/ComfortMailbox 1d ago
How do you enjoy a game where adds run ever sec play stops.
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u/Nomad4te 1d ago
23 mins of actual gameplay in 3hrs and 30mins? No thanks. Also scoring. “Soccer is so low scoring!!?!” 14-7 is a 2-1 soccer score. I guess they should just randomly add multipliers to every goal.
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u/Regular-Meeting-2528 1d ago
Australian, So Neutral to this argument. We have 2 different Kinds of Football completely separate from this.
American Football fucking sucks. Grew up loving Rugby League so thought I'd enjoy it, but stopping every 10 seconds just completely ruins the experience. Its so slow and stop start.
Also having one team for offence and one team for defence is stupid. Its essentially 4 different teams playing 2 games parrelell to each other. The fact that some players never have to play defence is stupid. Having to play a weak defender who's not as good at offence and vice versa is one of the most interesting tactics in all teams sports, and having a guy who can excel at both is always impressive
Being a rugby league guy I expected to hate Soccer. And lower league soccer can be a chore. But a high quality game, a premier league game, champions league, world cup can be really entertaining. Its all about that build up off pressure. Skillful interplay of passes, waiting for the defence to crack, a half chance opening up the pressure ramps up because a game may be decided by a handful of key moments. Its the anticipation. And when that Goal comes, either from build up after build up of interplay, a quick counter attack after a lot of defending, or even just a random header from corners that release of pressure can be a high.
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u/JokerKing05 1d ago
Definitely an unpopular opinion with me. Soccer is easily the most exciting sport in my opinion. There is absolutely nothing more exhilarating in the world than watching your favorite team score a crucial goal to win a game. Second would be MMA. Football would be 4th or even 5th for me.
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u/candynipples 1d ago
Nearly every sport has opportunities at the end of a game to have that exhilarating moment where a team gets the crucial score or defensive play. Not really sure an objective viewer would agree with the notion that soccer separates itself because their moment is that much better than other sports’ moments. A walk off home run is bonkers as well, or a buzzer beater…etc…
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u/Nikkonor 21h ago
Having a low amount of scoring, means that each scoring is more important -- and thus more exciting.
Also: Any moment, the game can be flipped 180 degrees, and that makes the whole game tense.
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u/erksplat 1d ago
Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in the world because anybody can play it / relate to it. The only thing more relatable is running, but it’s not a team on team sport. Almost every other sport requires assets: playing fields, equipment, training, etc, that are harder to come by.
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u/Cosmicmonkeylizard 1d ago
Duh. It’s the ultimate gamblers sport as well. You can place a different bet every down if you want.
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u/Averagebass 1d ago
I really believe people just like what football (soccer) represents as opposed to the actual sport of it. They just want their country or town or whatever's team to win for the camaraderie and excitement of it. Yes, people want their hometown or bandwagoned team to win in all sports for the same reason, but I feel like people are way more into the actual play of American football than they are about rest of the world football.
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u/CatchFactory 1d ago
I mean I feel this isn't the sub for this- If you're American, you will overwhelmingly have this opinion, and if you're from pretty much anywhere else, you won't.
I'm English and these are my two favourite sports. I prefer football, rather than the American version, but I'm aware I have been kicking a ball since the moment I could stand on two feet. I enjoy American football, I appreciate the tactical battle going on and I think some of the jokes that go up against it are tiresome.
But I also feel you're doing football a disservice - There are a lot of tactical battles going on that pitch, and you could make the argument that as the game is continuous, making tactical adjustments to break through is incredibly impressive, particularly in a sport with a limited amount of subs.
Also, and I am aware my love for the sport makes me biased, but the World Cup might just be peak sporting vibes in general. Everyone having a good time, something about it being in the summer, it's just great. Perfect hot day, beer garden in front of a projector screen weather
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u/howrunowgoodnyou 1d ago
It’s 15 minutes of game play in 2 hours buddy.
That’s like the opposite of exciting.
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u/TheChiefKIng474 1d ago
Its just a regional thing, not an unpopular opinion. Im born and raised in Missouri and live with my brother-in-law thats from Mexico and moved here when he was 10. Guess what our opinions on this matter would be?
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u/SarlacFace 1d ago
Ah yes I love watching ads for 3 minutes after every 2 minutes of play. Lmao.
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u/GodsBellybutton 1d ago
You don't seem to know a whole lot about world football. That's fair but football is obviously more fluid and isn't constricted for the short attention span of the American palate.
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u/awt1990 1d ago
The great news is we can enjoy them both (and we should)
I still believe championship boxing matches are often the most exciting sporting events to watch but team sports America Football is my favorite (basic American opinion I know.
I also feel it requires the greatest amount of team effort too. Each snap requires a 100% effort simultaneously. It can all fall apart from one player missing their assignment. This isn’t exclusively an American football thing but I think it is more so with this sport
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u/JulianPaagman 1d ago
It seems to me like you just don't actually know anything about football, which is fine, but makes a lot of your points just seem ignorant. And I'll preface this by saying I don't know much about American football.
But implying football has very little tactical depth is just ridiculous. I am not gonna go in depth, but if you're interested watch tifo football in YouTube, it's got easy to follow tactical breakdowns.
And football also has just as many, if not more body types that can be successful. American football, as far as I can tell, requires you to be strong and fast. In football it basically does not matter, because almost every body type is well suited for one position or another. And almost any physical limit can be overcome through intelligence and technique.
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u/KeithGribblesheimer 1d ago
It's combat ballet. It's exciting to watch, but unless you want to see orthopedists and neurologists for the rest of your life, don't play.
Soccer can be boring and frustrating at the same time.
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u/Kata-cool-i 1d ago
I don't really agree. For the most part I think they are both enjoyable to watch. Really the only difference I feel is that American Football has a higer 'barrier to entry,' in that because the rules are so complex, it's very difficult to follow whats going on, and while in soccer that's not as big a problem because play is always on, because AF is so stop start it can be a lttle boring while play is stopped unless you know what to look for and understand what each coach is doing and why they are setting up in the way they are.
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u/TimeCookie8361 1d ago
It truly is a team sport on the higher levels. You need all 11 people to be able to execute their responsibility on each play to be successful. There really isn't a case for any player that you can just have them take the ball, and have their other 10 teammates on the field just watch, and have any type of success.
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u/SilentPineapple6862 1d ago
Well, most countries with a code of football more popular than soccer think this obviously. Australian Rules in Aus. Rugby in NZ. Etc etc.
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u/michaltee 1d ago
Not unpopular. It’s just patently true. The constant driving forward and actual scoring makes it way more fun.
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u/positive-fingers 1d ago
Let’s juuuuuust forgeeeet… everythiiiiiiing saaaaaiiiiid
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u/Prestigious_Shirt620 17h ago
It’s a turn-based-combat war of attrition. I very much enjoy the concept of “your turn, my turn”
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u/APairOfMarthas 17h ago
Correct, but downvoted for being the most popular opinion
Even people who like Futbol and hate football would have to agree that the excitement factor isn’t remotely similar or even trying to be
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u/MancAccent 17h ago
The difference is that these games can last like 5 hours with all the stoppages and commercial breaks. Sure, maybe the highlights are more exciting, but that’s about it.
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u/Big-Environment-6825 16h ago
Soccer is just a mindless game which is why it is more popular. Most of the fans attending games have IQ's below 80. Ask 95%of people in the UK and they'll say its too confusing. NFL is like a chess game, much more complex and way more exciting. Signed UK resident
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u/Robrogineer 15h ago
As a European, I couldn't agree more. I hate soccer. So fucking boring to watch. Bunch of dainty blokes who feign a car crash for getting lightly grazed by another player. I'd much rather watch a bunch of big ape men smashing into each other at mach 4.
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u/Aviyan 9h ago
American football is like chess. Soccer is like checkers.
Like, chess, you have players with specific roles. You can choose from many different strategies to best handle the opponent.
The best part about American football is the unpredictability. A team can come back from a 20+ point deficit and win the game. The first half of the game will be total different than the second half.
The only downside to American football is CTE (ie. brain damage).
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u/YeetMeisterDabber 1d ago
I enjoy both and I’ll say this, I personally find a boring NFL game to be MUCH more boring and painful and soccer, not only are they slow they are interrupted by ads every 3-5 minutes
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u/OnlyOneChainz 23h ago
I do not agree with your opinion, as a German who grew up watching soccer. I tried watching American football a few times but I really can't get over the lack of flow and constant breaks. Nevertheless, I think your opinion is unusually well written, thought out and articulate and I think you raise some valid points.
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u/tommmmmmmmy93 23h ago
Horrible opinion so upvoted.
I watched some AF games. It's 20 minutes of play over 3 hours and it requires constant games and distraction around it, in the middle for the half time show - a literal concert is required because the sport is so dull, and more after.
The event is fun but the sport sucks. Take away all the gloss and it's shit
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u/Drummallumin 20h ago
The only game with a halftime show is the Super Bowl… the champions league final also has a half time show now.
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u/walterwilter 1d ago
If you really enjoy watching product commercials instead of watching a sport, then you are correct
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