Both sports require the athletes to be in shape and fit, but endurance might be more important among soccer players, while exquisite skill is the more important factor in basketball. Many of the major differences between soccer and basketball are being subdued, due to the fact that basketball is becoming more and more popular in Europe, and soccer in the United States.



In the United States, most of the sports television broadcasts on network TV are of sports other than soccer. You generally need to have cable to catch a glimpse of a professional soccer game, and even then only a portion of the games are broadcast, compared to a majority of games of other sports. In Europe, soccer is a favorite pastime, and most of the games are broadcast over other sporting events such as basketball.

However, the United States is becoming more involved in the soccer world since they introduced the World Cup, and maybe the gap between football and futbol is finally diminishing. It is still more likely than not that more American's, if asked to name 10 professional basketball players, then 10 professional soccer players, would have a much easier time naming the basketball players.

The fact still remains that American's simply do not consider soccer to one of the traditional, all-American sports that it does football, basketball, and baseball. Regardless of the fact that soccer has been around and played for many, many years, much like the sports that are considered to be favorite pastimes in the United States, it just hasn't been played religiously in the United States for individuals to simply give up our sports that consist mainly of players throwing balls, to players kicking balls instead.

It's projected that within a few more years, the exposure of soccer in the United States, as well basketball in Europe and other countries, will begin to gain to popularity and respect as a sport well played by athletes who train just as hard as any other professional athlete. The media can help to play a huge role in broadening the horizons of soccer by simply making broadcasts of games more readily available and easier to access, as well as on other channels rather than only cable.