American football is one of the most watched sports in the U.S. And soccer — the world’s football — usually falls to the wayside.
Out of all soccer leagues across the world, the English Premier League is the most popular in the U.S. And obviously the National Football League dominates the sports world in the U.S.
But the 2019-20 season proved to be different. Like all things in 2020, viewership for both of these sports were turned on their head.
NBC Sports reported that the 2019-20 EPL season was the most-watched season in four years. The season tallied up 462,000 viewers per match — a 1 percent increase from the previous year. Overall, the EPL drew an audience of 10 million people through the course of the season. Is it because of Chelsea’s American Christian Pulisic? Or is soccer just that amazing and people are finally starting to notice.
Chelsea confirms Christian Pulisic is the club’s new No. 10 pic.twitter.com/mk1g8ejmmc
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) September 10, 2020
On the other hand, the NFL is on a viewership rollercoaster. Since 2017, it has seen an increase but before that it was on a downward trend.
THE NFL IS BACK!
via @NFL pic.twitter.com/OZFUInr7VZ
— LeadingNFL (@LeadingNFL) September 10, 2020
The NFL has also seen a decline in ratings over a few years — but 2019 came back as the year that saved it. So why did the ratings drop? Some say it’s because of the kneeling during the anthem. But if that’s the case, then the EPL viewership and ratings would have also declined because of their own kneeling and protests. And that didn’t happen.
I guess Americans might not be as outraged at English players kneeling because it’s not directed at the U.S. anthem.
And maybe all of this has to do with fanbase age. The median age of American football fans is 50 years old, while the median age for EPL is 43 years old. Does a younger fanbase have anything to do with ratings and viewership? Potentially, yes. Younger viewers are more likely to stream EPL matches from their phones, driving them away from the TV. And doing this means that they have an easier time accessing games. So a younger fanbase guarantees longevity for a sport. In this case, soccer is now on the rise in the U.S. for one of two reasons: one, it’s amazing. And two, its younger fabase is keeping it alive and well.
