When Joe Rogan got honest about why "soccer is a particularly difficult sport" while theorizing why it wasn't popular on American television

Joe Rogan once offered his perspective on why soccer hasn’t reached the same level of popularity in the United States as it has in other parts of the world. Many sports fans believe that soccer’s limited popularity in the U.S. stems from its non-stop gameplay, which offers minimal opportunities for commercial breaks and ultimately reduces its appeal to advertisers and major broadcasters.

In contrast, popular American sports like basketball and baseball are structured around commercial breaks, making them highly compatible with advertising-driven programming due to the frequent and well-timed pauses in play. This is exactly what Rogan believes is the reason football hasn’t become a household sport in the U.S.

During an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience featuring American author Bret Weinstein in January 2023, the veteran UFC commentator remarked that the U.S. television industry has yet to fully adjust to a sport like soccer, which lacks the frequent commercial interruptions that advertisers typically rely on:

"Soccer is a particularly difficult sport in terms of your cardiovascular function. Those guys are in insane shape. You have to be... One of the reasons why it’s not good for television in America is because they don’t take breaks. It’s not like, you know, you have to stop, ‘we’ll be right back’ or ‘we’re back with commercials,’ Pizza Hut and all that sh*t... that’s how you fund television, you need commercials."

He added:

"[In other sports], there are timeouts. There are things that happen where you get little breaks, but soccer just goes on and on and on."

Check out Joe Rogan's comments below (2:22:45):

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When Joe Rogan gave an oddly worded compliment to Lionel Messi

Joe Rogan is widely respected for his extensive knowledge and expertise in combat sports, particularly mixed martial arts (MMA). However, it’s fair to say that when it comes to soccer, it isn’t exactly his cup of tea.

During a December 2016 episode (via Sports Tak) of his podcast with American comedian Tom Segura, Rogan reacted to a video of legendary footballer Lionel Messi in action and showered praise on the Argentine forward’s exceptional talent, saying:

"What’s that little dude's name?... He's just a technical wizard... That guy moves like a wizard. What he is able to do with that is just f**king astounding. You have to be so much better than people to do something like that."