Comments on: What took football so long to become popular?

By: Rokas D

Rokas D — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:54:55 +0000

Oh, so you think nobody cared about it until the 70s or 80s? How old are you?

By: Ryan (NFL fan)

Ryan (NFL fan) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:04:29 +0000

I guarantee you this is a guy from the soccer section coming in here to smear

We get it, you don’t like American Football…

By: Your Assistant

Your Assistant — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:12:39 +0000

Football is not AMERICAS sport.
Baseball is.
Football is a work in progress
Baseball is 100 times better in its intricacies and history.
NO CONTEST….
Do you agree?

By: hooklinesinker

hooklinesinker — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:51:41 +0000

The forward pass was illegal in the early years, then it took almost another half a century before we started having players who excelled at using forward pass to move the ball. Once the forward pass became a major part of offensive playcalling in football, the game got faster, teams started going up and down the field with higher pace, and the sport started to attract nationwide followers.

What also helped is the advent of television. Football is the most TV-friendly of all the major sports in America (as opposed to baseball, which is most radio-friendly), and the sports’ popularity took off when TV became the household necessity that it is now.

By: Tut Uncommon: 3peat Offender

Tut Uncommon: 3peat Offender — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:58:38 +0000

Eddie’s right. Baseball is a great sport to watch live, but it’s never been a great TV sport. Football’s big boost in popularity came after the 1958 NFL Championship game was played on television. Less than a decade later the Super Bowl was conceived, and the rest is history.