The 2014 World Cup Final, Argentina vs Germany. Over 26.5 million Americans turned their attention to this event, breaking the previous record of 24.7 million US viewers. Since that fateful day, US audiences have shrunk. The 2018 World Cup saw an astonishing 44% fewer viewers in the United States. This is partly due to the United States men's national team failing to qualify for the tournament, marking an all-time low for the team. In 2014 the USMNT (United States Men's National Team) managed to get out of the group of death (Germany, Portugal, Ghana and the United States) that we should never have gotten out of. Reached the knockout stage where they lost to Belgium 1-0. Since then the quality of our team has dropped and many have missed matches, believing that the team should have won, as well as tournaments. The question has become why there is this dwindling talent and how it correlates with an unenthusiastic nation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The state of the game is declining in the United States. This is because the United States is alienating the sport, making it such that only wealthy kids can afford to play it. If you are a parent making 30,000 to 40,000 a year, how could you pay $3,000 to $4,000 a year for your child to play soccer, not including travel and hotel expenses. Very few minorities can afford to pay, which is shocking because there is talent at every income level with a passion for the game but you are told if you don't have the money you can't play. If we compare it to Europe or South America, some of the greatest players came from poverty. Dutch professional team AFC Ajax, widely known for player development, sends recruiters everywhere in search of kids with talent. They don't look for who runs faster or shoots harder, this could be an initial development factor, they look for how players run or their creativity on the pitch. Once the players have been chosen, they are invited to the Ajax youth sector. Where parents pay nothing more than an insurance fee of 12 euros per year. Where in the United States football has been transformed into compensation for playing sports. Doug Andreassen, the chair of U.S. Soccer's "diversity task force," looks at the game he loves and all he can see is a broken system in America. He wonders why no one seems to care. He used to carefully express what he said, taking care not to push or offend. But nothing seems to change. “People don't want to talk about it,” he says. “The system doesn't work for the disadvantaged community, it works for white kids.” Andreassen watches his country's national teams play and wishes there was more diversity. Like many of us, she can't ignore the fact that the 2015 Women's World Cup winners were almost all white, or that many of the non-white players on the U.S. Copa America team grew up abroad. Remember: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The talents of America's best prospects are stifled by a process that never lets them be seen. Now some people might say that football is not a very American sport. Why we should care about it and try to improve it. We have enough sports in America why not just let it die. These people don't want the game to progress in America, nor do they want the sport to become more diverse. Some might argue that.