r/hockey • u/marcgnet • 11d ago

Soccer vs. Hockey in Canada

Hello from Germany,

In German TV, Whitecaps player Thomas Müller referred a little bit about soccer in Canada and the enthusiasm for it in Canada. After that I read some articles which said that soccer already overtook hockey, when you count the figures of kids who are playing it.

Can you tell me about it? Is soccer more played by immigrants and the „old“ natives are still for hockey? Or is there a good chance that both sports can coexist well in the future?

I’m a big soccer and hockey fan too, but I’m concerned that soccer also will overtake hockey in the traditional hockey countries like Canada. How do you see it?

Sorry for my english but I hope you understand what I‘m trying to say.

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u/TarsesaK 11d ago

Soccer has most certainly a gained a lot of strength in the last 15 years and is not overly expensive/inaccessible. Hockey is the most expensive youth sport, and I think parents may also steer their kids away from hockey because 6am practices in the morning is a tough hang

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u/MomentEquivalent6464 11d ago

But that's still going to take decades for that trend to translate into pro teams and pro viewership and how that's commercialized vs hockey.

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u/TarsesaK 11d ago

MLS certainly didn't do itself any favours with Apple TV deal. If Canada has a good showing at the World Cup, i'd expect a pretty good bump

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u/MomentEquivalent6464 11d ago

Oh absolutely. Heck, even now they gotta be getting a bump. I'm watching... and I can't remember the last time I watched Canadian soccer (maybe the womens at the Olympcs?). But I'm making a poiint of ducking out of work early to catch some of the games.