I must echo CKMWM's sentiments and point out that Canada would hate this thread.
Ice Hockey and Football (Soccer) are pretty similar to me in terms of how entertaining they are as sports. I sincerely wish Ice Hockey was bigger in England than it is. The closest team to me get attendances of about 800 people.
Obviously I am a full time home & away season ticket holder for my local Football (Soccer) club - if Hockey were bigger here, I'd struggle to know which season ticket to have I think.
Having said that... you can't beat the atmosphere at a Football (Soccer) match, whether it's a 90,000 seater stadium or a 4,000 terraced stadium, there's something special about the atmosphere and tension that this particular sport generates. It's something to do with how victory can so often come down to such fine margins. It's a shame that it never really took off as much as it could in the US, because of the lack of scantily clad teenage girls with pom-poms, and the fact that the tv companies never pushed it because of the lack of stoppages in the game for forced advertising. I'm also glad, in a way, that it has never really taken off in the US like it has elsewhere - because there are over 300,000,000 of you, you'd win everything every bloody year.