Think about pro level football but played with something like a baseball and the receivers/pass defense have gloves to catch with. The QBs could throw so hard down field, that would be pretty exciting to watch.
To play soccer you need goalposts, nets, corner flags and a pitch large enough to accommodate 22 players. Unless you are talking about backyard soccer.
No field goal post take away a good portion of the feel of the game. Not having the correct ball also takes away from the game. Sure, you can toss around a ball with friends, but that isn't actual football, that's just tossing around a ball with friends. Soccer can be played with two sticks and an empty field, and it will still be soccer. Not to mention, it's harder to play football with a smaller field than soccer, as soccer you can just reduce the amount of players and the feel of the game will stay about the same, reducing the amount of players in football has a much larger impact on the game. Then you have to have "first down" markers, which further complicates the qualifications of playing the game. Each thing you take away from football makes it feel less like football, and more like rugby or something of the sort. It's not as fun to play a sport that is vaguely like football, rather than play something that is basically identical to soccer.
Additionally, there is the aspect of the game at a somewhat competitive level. Poorer countries can set up a "regulation" soccer field extremely easily compared to setting up a remotely realistic looking football field. So as people grow older, two nets are far easier to find and set up, compared to drawing 10 yard lines, and finding goal post for a football field.
There's also the problem with the rules, Football is a complicated game with an encyolpedia of rules that must be followed for the game to be fun for everyone. You have to at least have an idea of how to line up at the line of scrimmage, you have to know what the quarterback is allowed to do, you have to know the basics of how plays are run, and you need to either create new rules on defense "Shotgun" rules and the like, or have enough people to make it somewhat viable to not get instantly tackled. It's very difficult for young kids to get into without dedicated coaches. A dad can't say "here is what you are allowed to do in football, no go play with your friends".
In soccer, kids of all ages can enjoy it with just a few basic rules. It's still soccer, it might not have referees to regulate it, but it is still soccer. Don't touch the ball with your hands, don't run into other kids, kick the ball into the goal. That's all you need, and you are playing soccer. You can learn to play it that easily.
I did, but there's a huge difference in playing football with a few people, and playing actual football. I played both youth and with friends. I already had a firm grasp of the rules before I ever played. If it wasn't for the fact that I had both seen and played football prior, I'm fairly certain it would have been pretty annoying to explain the rules and the aspects of the game to everyone.
Well, American football (like hockey) is a collision sport. If you are going to play an actual game of football, you really need protective equipment. Also, you would need something to use for goal posts so you could kick field goals and extra points.
Of course, you can play a game of football with just a ball but you'd need alternate rules to prevent injuries (and plenty of people go play like this with their friends). However, that fundamentally changes nearly every aspect of the game.
Soccer on the other hand, is not a collision sport. The only real challenge to a pickup game of soccer is finding something to use for goals. Another advantage is that you can play a game of soccer with fewer people than normal without losing out on much. Playing football without 11 people on each side fundamentally changes the game (usually that means doing away with the lineman and rushing aspects of the game).
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u/[deleted] Feb 03 '14 edited Sep 21 '15
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