5 ms·

The soccer analogy is interesting because when a player is fouled in the penalty area, the player is strongly incentivised to take a dive. A foul on a player wi

The soccer analogy is interesting because when a player is fouled in the penalty area, the player is strongly incentivised to take a dive. A foul on a player with a clear goalscoring opportunity in the penalty area is a mandatory red card for the fouling player, and a penalty kick for the attacking team. This gives the attacking team a clear advantage by having one more player than the opposition, for the remainder of the game as well a penalty kick. Statistically, it is very probable that a professional football player will score from a penalty also.

kreek 15y ago
Speaking of soccer in terms of entertainment it is almost as bad as Hollywood and in some areas worse. Like Hollywood all online deals are careful not on step on established players toes (DirectTV, TimeWarner, et al). You can pay $15/month to watch games live online, but any game involving marquee teams is delayed. The FA in England takes it a step further and doesn't even allow unauthorized publication of fixtures and statistics. Fan blogs can't post upcoming matches unless they pay a annual fee. A license to display statistics in any media starts at 5,000 pounds ($7,770). A few years back they sued every blog that listed upcoming matches. Suing your biggest fans! It's madness.
- malandrew 15y ago
  How is that even legal? The UK is a common law system like the US. Doesn't it have a court case similar to Feist v. Rural in the US that establishes jurisprudence that data cannot be copyrighted? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feist_v._Rural http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feist_v._Rural
  - mooism2 15y ago
    The EU invented the Database Right, which is like copyright but for collections of facts. Not their finest hour.
pg 15y ago
Yes, but in practice a forward won't take a dive unless he's lost control of the ball.
- baha_man 15y ago
  This just isn't true. In today's game it's very common for a player with the ball, in the area, to go down after the slightest contact from an opposing player, rather than stay on their feet and shoot.
irollboozers 15y ago
Soccer as an international industry needs to be 'disrupted', more so than any other professional sport leagues in the US (NFL, NBA, MLB). Simply because of the flow of talent is very unbalanced, and it's built on a system of infrastructure instead of skill. Oddly enough, soccer isn't on a level playing field worldwide. But that doesn't stop anyone from predicting the rise of Chinese and Indian superclubs like Barcelona or Real Madrid. Personal side note, there's definitely a lot of social leverage there too. Figure out how to pair something to soccer, like education or clean water, and it has to power to spread like crazy. In any case, I think pg's point was that when you've got a scoring chance to go one up, you don't go down for a cheap foul. You take the shot and end the game. * Which is what he's hoping the sleeper underdog startup will do, instead of taking the easy route a-la los Merengues. Yup, I just went there.
- kooshball 15y ago
  > Oddly enough, soccer isn't on a level playing field worldwide. I dont see why you would think anything should naturally be on a "level playing field worldwide." Obviously soccer is not since there are certain places where there are huge cash flow in and out and naturally that's where the talents gravitates towards. Both because of massive contracts, prestige, sponsorship, and because of much better training systems from a very young age. There's no one regulating "drafts" like NBA/NFL so it's almost a free market on talents.
  - irollboozers 15y ago
    You've never heard of 'soccer is the great equalizer' as a phrase? And drafts are actually very tightly regulated. It's essentially the only entry point in both leagues. Not so with soccer.
    - kooshball 15y ago
      'soccer is the great equalizer' might apply when you have kids playing. But at a pro level, I'm sure you can agree it's clearly not the case. You misread my last sentence there. I should have made it more clear. My point is soccer is NOT regulated, unlike NBA/NFL which is regulated.

kreek 15y ago

Speaking of soccer in terms of entertainment it is almost as bad as Hollywood and in some areas worse. Like Hollywood all online deals are careful not on step on established players toes (DirectTV, TimeWarner, et al). You can pay $15/month to watch games live online, but any game involving marquee teams is delayed. The FA in England takes it a step further and doesn't even allow unauthorized publication of fixtures and statistics. Fan blogs can't post upcoming matches unless they pay a annual fee. A license to display statistics in any media starts at 5,000 pounds ($7,770). A few years back they sued every blog that listed upcoming matches. Suing your biggest fans! It's madness.

malandrew 15y ago
How is that even legal? The UK is a common law system like the US. Doesn't it have a court case similar to Feist v. Rural in the US that establishes jurisprudence that data cannot be copyrighted? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feist_v._Rural http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feist_v._Rural
- mooism2 15y ago
  The EU invented the Database Right, which is like copyright but for collections of facts. Not their finest hour.

pg 15y ago

Yes, but in practice a forward won't take a dive unless he's lost control of the ball.

baha_man 15y ago
This just isn't true. In today's game it's very common for a player with the ball, in the area, to go down after the slightest contact from an opposing player, rather than stay on their feet and shoot.

irollboozers 15y ago

Soccer as an international industry needs to be 'disrupted', more so than any other professional sport leagues in the US (NFL, NBA, MLB). Simply because of the flow of talent is very unbalanced, and it's built on a system of infrastructure instead of skill. Oddly enough, soccer isn't on a level playing field worldwide. But that doesn't stop anyone from predicting the rise of Chinese and Indian superclubs like Barcelona or Real Madrid. Personal side note, there's definitely a lot of social leverage there too. Figure out how to pair something to soccer, like education or clean water, and it has to power to spread like crazy. In any case, I think pg's point was that when you've got a scoring chance to go one up, you don't go down for a cheap foul. You take the shot and end the game. * Which is what he's hoping the sleeper underdog startup will do, instead of taking the easy route a-la los Merengues. Yup, I just went there.

kooshball 15y ago
> Oddly enough, soccer isn't on a level playing field worldwide. I dont see why you would think anything should naturally be on a "level playing field worldwide." Obviously soccer is not since there are certain places where there are huge cash flow in and out and naturally that's where the talents gravitates towards. Both because of massive contracts, prestige, sponsorship, and because of much better training systems from a very young age. There's no one regulating "drafts" like NBA/NFL so it's almost a free market on talents.
- irollboozers 15y ago
  You've never heard of 'soccer is the great equalizer' as a phrase? And drafts are actually very tightly regulated. It's essentially the only entry point in both leagues. Not so with soccer.
  - kooshball 15y ago
    'soccer is the great equalizer' might apply when you have kids playing. But at a pro level, I'm sure you can agree it's clearly not the case. You misread my last sentence there. I should have made it more clear. My point is soccer is NOT regulated, unlike NBA/NFL which is regulated.