I don't think there's a lot of soccer fans on the board, but I think this is big. Two of the most storied clubs in the world facing off in our stadium. Should be a big money maker. I'll be interested to see what the final income from the match ends up being. Landing events like this will also help the stadium development project.
Man U vs Liverpool in Willy B!
- Thread starter Deleted11512
- Start date
Wow. That's going to be huge. I'll probably try and make it to Cola for that - if for nothing else than the novelty of it.
Oh brother. This would be our big news, lol.
Queue up the folks trying to convince everyone that soccer is more popular than we realize.
Queue up the folks trying to convince everyone that soccer is more popular than we realize.
Last years Champions League final had 450 million viewers, this years Super Bowl had 123 million, you tell me which is more popular
Even if you don’t like soccer, this is a big deal and will draw fans from all over the country. It will be a great opportunity to showcase the school and city.
I don't care anything about soccer, but this is a pretty big deal for Columbia. Manchester U, Liverpool, and Arsenal are playing three matches in the US this summer; in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, . . . and Columbia. I think soccer fans from all over the southeast will travel to Columbia for that game.
And, yes, it should be interesting to see how the Brits adjust to August temps and humidity in Columbia. They may have to play that match at 3am.
And, yes, it should be interesting to see how the Brits adjust to August temps and humidity in Columbia. They may have to play that match at 3am.
The NFL in London is a novelty for them. This game will be a novelty for us. I wonder though, do people come from all over the UK to see those games in London? Do those games in London sellout?
Edit: They in fact do sell out.
Let me begin by saying that I do not like soccer, although one of my kids play it. That said, its popularity is growing amongst kids. The youth programs in my area went from non-existent, to a handful of teams between 2 age groups, to 3 age groups with 5-7 teams at each level. Not that impressive until you realized it has happened in the last 5 years.
A handful of high schools around me started co-ed teams a few years ago but have enough participants for boys/girls teams.
Yeah, they get pretty excited about it over there.
The EPL games over here can be sporadic based on what clubs are playing. This is going to be a big one.
It’s absolutely gaining popularity. It’s a great sport. I grew up hating it. My kids got into it and I love it now. Beautiful sport.
The problem with soccer in America is that we have too many sports that are better. Like corn hole. Or jarts.
Love soccer was all state in SC in 85 and 86.
Big Everton fan. Plan on catching a match in Liverpool soon.
I think the soccer fans in Columbia are very lucky to have this event. Two world class clubs playing at Williams Brice Stadium and I am guessing this will be the first ever soccer match at Williams Brice Stadium. I think South Carolina's men's and women's soccer programs are very excited about this too and should see a lot of the state college and high school soccer teams going to this event. Great job by the Athletic Department at South Carolina.
As far as the match, these two teams already guarantee to play each other twice in the 2024-25 season and could possibly play each other in one of the domestic cups or in one of European competitions Champions League or Europa league. Not only that but having these two plays each other the hooligans might try vandalize the stadium and throw something at the north end zone video screen and destroy it (just kidding). I prefer Liverpool play another team in a different league. I rather see the Reds play one the following teams.
AC Milan
Ajax
Atletico Madrid
Bayer Leverkusen
Benfica
Lyon
Salzburg
Urawa Red Diamonds (J league)
As far as the Red Devils, Williams Brice should give them the horns down.
As far as the match, these two teams already guarantee to play each other twice in the 2024-25 season and could possibly play each other in one of the domestic cups or in one of European competitions Champions League or Europa league. Not only that but having these two plays each other the hooligans might try vandalize the stadium and throw something at the north end zone video screen and destroy it (just kidding). I prefer Liverpool play another team in a different league. I rather see the Reds play one the following teams.
AC Milan
Ajax
Atletico Madrid
Bayer Leverkusen
Benfica
Lyon
Salzburg
Urawa Red Diamonds (J league)
As far as the Red Devils, Williams Brice should give them the horns down.
Length should be no problem. Both teams stand/sit on the same side line (like basketball) so I would imagine both teams will be on the west sideline and they might have to add some temporary grass behind the out of bounce line on the east side to met the width requirements but there might be a waiver since this is an exhibition. I am speculating on all of this though.
I don't think having less area would stop it, being an exhibition game and all.
"Some modifications will have to be made to the playing field for the game (the field dimensions are to be between 112-115 yards long and 70-75 yards wide). To make room, the end zones and sidelines will make up part of the in-play portion of the pitch." -- https://garnetandcocky.com/posts/so...iams-brice-stadium-liverpool-machester-united
Logged in for the presale this morning, with over 13,000 in front of me in line. After about 10-15 minutes, got to look around at available tickets and prices. Thanks but no thanks at those prices. I am not much of a soccer fan to begin with so I just can't justify spending that much money.
Yeah, you could get midfield seats for $90 or, if your an older fella like me, pay $300 and sit in the Founder's Club with AC and booze access. It ain't cheap and I'm not a big soccer guy but it's too big of an event for me to skip.
Yep. There is very little room on one sideline of soccer fields. The teams utilize the same sideline. They have 25 men roster sizes, so it's easily manageable to have them on the same side.
I guess it's kind of sad that any Gamecock football game is suddenly relegated to the 2nd biggest sporting event ever held at WB.
I suppose, though, that if they staged this event in Tuscaloosa or Ann Arbor, the same thing might have been said. I'm not a soccer guy at all, but I recognize the enormity of this to people who are.
Full disclosure, I'm not a soccer fan. But I've often thought the two main things holding soccer back in the US as a spectator sport were lack of scoring and lack of exciting endings. Football, basketball, and baseball, in addition to _usually_ having more frequent scoring, all have the real potential for a buzzer beater, last second field goal/TD, or walk-off hit that wins a game. It seems with a few rules modifications, soccer could quickly become quite popular as a spectator sport in the US:
1) smaller field
2) bigger goal
3) a game clock with accurate time left in the half/game (no more stoppage minutes)
4) a 2-point line somewhere on the field (score from behind that line and you get 2 points)
NO!! I actually like that soccer has stuck to it's rules. I can't stand when I'm watching a game and I see some new stupid rule change that I didn't know happened. I love that approach by soccer. It's about the sport. It's about the game. If you don't like it, don't watch it.
I watch NBA games (very little) and the whole time I'm thinking "this is waaaay to easy." Yesterday there were 11 NBA games. 17 teams scored more than 100 points. In 8 of the games both teams scored more than 100. It's like watching a game of horse. It used to be an accomplishment to score more than 100. Now it's an expectation. We're going to see 200 point games soon. Totally boring and unwatchable to me. You'll never get that in soccer.
Billy Graham and Pope John Paul II have filled the stadium too. I know it's hard for us to imagine anything bigger than Taylor Swift
but those events probably qualify as being bigger than football. lol
I won't argue with you, brother. As I said, I don't have a dog in the soccer fight. I respect adherence to tradition too, but it's just my honest assessment about how to grow the popularity in the US. I'm fine with choosing tradition over popularity, though.
Yeah. To me it's just a sad commentary on the American public. Sport is supposed to be an escape from the real world. Supposed to be entertainment. And we find ourselves trying to speed it up to get it over with faster. Went to a Braves game and missed a whole inning going to get dipping dots. Pissed me off!
Soccer has been able to stick to its rules because it's not an American sport. We are an afterthought in the world of soccer, so we have no choice but to go along with how the billions of others in the world want the game to be. It'll never happen, but if America ever got its fat, greasy fingers on soccer, we'd destroy that as well.
Last edited:
I don't follow soccer. At all. The closest I come is the brief moment every 4 years when we fall into believing that we'll actually be good that year.
However, I saw an article ranking World Cup soccer scores. The most common result was 1-0, that happened in 19% of all WC games. Americans simply do not have the attention span for that on a large scale. Baseball, football and basketball have all seen significant changes designed explicitly to generate faster-paced and higher scoring games. Game length isn't a problem with soccer, but the scores are.
I think every 4 years, Americans can get into it, but not on any kind of sustained basis. Soccer's been around a long time.
Side note, but for those who follow soccer closely: why don't soccer fans b*tch and moan for instant replay/review? When I've seen soccer during the WC, there are questionable/close/missed calls, but the game just keeps moving on. Is it just whiny Americans who need instant replay/review?
Last edited: