Soccer isn't popular for several reasons:
-Small tv coverage...this ones a catch-22.
-Our best athletes aren't highly compensated to play it...another catch-22.
-Many other competing sports and other diversions...baseball, NFL football, basketball, golf, fishing, reality tv, movie theaters, camping, sailing/boating, surfing, concerts, clubbing, etc. (I personally like the sport, as well as all of the above...except reality tv.)
I don't buy too much into the low-scoring aspect turning people off. Baseball and hockey are often low-scoring.
I do buy into us liking only the sports where we can win; but then again, so are other countries. Eventually, sports do catch on elsewhere. Baseball is #1 in Japan and in several Latin-American countries. Basketball is huge in Europe now.
The two things I do know as an American after watching a few World Cups:
- Europeans always think they are the best in soccer...despite competitive countries like Brazil and Argentina.
- England is over-rated!
