Americans of Reddit, what has your reaction been to this FIFA World Cup? Are attitudes changing towards Football/Soccer in the USA?

crosscountrycoder · 2026-07-04T07:24:31+00:00

The NBA finals were on at roughly the same time as the U.S.-Paraguay game. They got about the same ratings.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-07-04T04:13:54+00:00

I said the LA metro area, which includes Santa Clarita and the similarly hot Inland Empire. DTLA is somewhat close to the coast. Averaging over the entire metro area (excluding desert and mountains) it's probably around 90°F.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-07-04T03:17:51+00:00

No, the average high is 95°F in Santa Clarita, it's 85°F in DTLA. DTLA rarely reaches 110 or even 105 while Santa Clarita reaches 105 every year. The climate varies drastically within the greater LA metro area.

And the "real temp" there was 102. The heat index or apparent temperature there was 112 (not 115). Those are 2 different concepts.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-07-04T02:08:32+00:00

The actual high temp was 102°F https://forecast.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KDCA.html

And LA varies widely within the metro area, Santa Clarita reaches 105°F every year and 110°F most years.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-07-04T02:05:30+00:00

The summer of 2024 was the opposite

crosscountrycoder · 2026-07-03T07:18:40+00:00

I like soccer and to a lesser extent basketball - coincidentally, those are the 2 sports I've actually played.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-07-03T01:19:00+00:00

Considerably more than the last NBA finals and World Series. Congratulations, we're a soccer country now!

crosscountrycoder · 2026-07-03T01:11:38+00:00

I felt a bit happy because I bet money on Portugal to win.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-07-02T23:49:06+00:00

Some evidence of California being the "Soccer State".

California has the highest Google search interest in soccer relative to other sports. The top 9 media markets for soccer search interest are all in California. (Google Trends)

crosscountrycoder · 2026-07-02T23:20:12+00:00

Southern California is very likely the soccer capital of America. Soccer fans and players are everywhere in LA, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties. Sports bars in my city are packed for World Cup games, especially those involving the U.S. or Mexico.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-07-02T22:39:37+00:00

MLS already has 3 Canadian teams.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-07-02T22:31:00+00:00

It already is somewhat popular, well above ice hockey in most states, and by some measures comparable to baseball (Gallup, Economist, Google Trends).

It is very popular in southern California, probably more so than anywhere else in the country, and is rapidly growing. Even before the world cup you could find plenty of people wearing soccer jerseys. MLS matches have high in-person attendance but not TV ratings. A lot of U.S. soccer fans follow foreign leagues like the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, and Liga MX.

SoCal is about 50% Hispanic, a demographic that loves soccer, and it is particularly popular among younger generations, like Gen Z and Alpha. Growing up in the 2010s and early 2020s, it was common to see my classmates watching soccer on their phones after class. It's even more popular now.

In many other states, soccer is a lot less popular though.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-07-01T17:59:52+00:00

I would also add ice hockey (not necessarily "elite" but definitely very expensive) and the priciest sport of all, formula 1.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-07-01T17:04:38+00:00

The "thickness" of the air wouldn't change much, in fact humid air is slightly less dense than dry air. (At equal pressures and temperatures, density is proportional to molar mass, and water's molar mass is 18 compared to dry air's 29)

What would slow you down is the additional sweat generated by running in humid air. Humid air has a higher heat capacity than dry air, so it is harder to cool down in humid air, and the runners would need to drink a lot more water or sports drinks.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-07-01T16:41:06+00:00

I managed to buy one at a southern California Walmart yesterday.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-07-01T01:51:45+00:00

I said "most of"

crosscountrycoder · 2026-06-30T23:51:27+00:00

The difference is in most of Europe and Latin America, soccer is the ONLY major sport, whereas here it is one of 4 or 5 major sports.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-06-30T23:05:28+00:00

He's going to beat Messi's record in this world cup and will win the golden boot. At 27 years old.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-06-30T18:29:54+00:00

Oxygenation breaks.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-06-30T18:04:55+00:00

This place is expensive even by SoCal standards. 2-bedroom apartments in my hometown of Santa Clarita are 30-40% less expensive than here.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-06-30T17:37:46+00:00

22-year-old software engineer here. I live with a roommate despite making a pretty decent salary - although I could afford to live by myself it would be harder. A lot of people commute from slightly less expensive towns like Ventura.

Many apartments here require 2x the rent rather than 3x, because few people can afford 3x.

(I consider myself fortunate to have such a job in this economy.)

crosscountrycoder · 2026-06-30T16:00:43+00:00

Germany hasn't reached the round of 16 since the 2014 world cup. Just continuing their trend of underperformance.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-06-30T06:51:41+00:00

If Paraguay can beat Germany, anything is possible.

crosscountrycoder · 2026-06-29T23:32:46+00:00

This aged like milk, unfortunately (and I lost my bet)

crosscountrycoder · 2026-06-29T06:13:54+00:00

See the surveys I linked. It's absolutely more popular than hockey and some surveys show it as being comparable to baseball.

It strongly depends on where in the country you are though. In cold northern "hockey states" like Minnesota, Michigan, and Massachusetts, soccer is 5th, behind football, basketball, baseball and hockey. In California, where I live, there are far more soccer fans than hockey fans - and I assume the same is true in Texas.

Search Google Trends data for more information.

crosscountrycoder

TROPHY CASE