While not untrue, I think this misses the fact why this exists. In the US, large accessible grass fields acceptable for playing soccer, especially in lower income areas, is practically nonexistent. Whereas, you can pretty much find a basketball court somewhere in every neighborhood in America, and sans that, a driveway that has one, which is why you see a lot of kids coming from nothing excelling in that sport, similar to soccer in other countries.
Soccer became so popular precisedly because if you buy the ball, you can find some place to kick it at.
I think the main reasons football is still lagging in the US (despite the undeniable recent growth) continue to be the same: the main sports (basketball, baseball, and gridiron) are culturally rooted in the mainstream in a way that nothing else can match.
I live in Uruguay and, as soon as one kid in a group has a ball, anything can be used for the goals: backpacks, bottles, or a garage door where the neighbor doesn't complain (or even better: isn't home).
There's a reason why the "Warning: children" traffic sign here has a human figure chasing a football (you can see it scrolling down here: https://www.academiadelmolino.com.uy/manual-conduccion/senal... or searching that page for "niños")
It's funny but the reverse is true here in terms of basketball in my experience. My kids like both sports and while it's very easy to find a place to play football, there are very few public basketball courts available.
toymin•11h ago