But it's dying here in the USA. MLS Sees Game Viewership Decline On ESPN2; FSC Audience Flat ESPN2 averaged 249,000 viewers for its 25 MLS game telecasts this season, down 12.3% from the net's 284,000 average viewers for 24 telecasts last season. It is also down 1.6% from 253,000 viewers for 25 telecasts in '08. http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/143221 Can a major sports league survive if no one watches them on TV? We're about to find out.
Soccer in the us is a bunch of hipsters and liberals watching who think following the world cup is European.
If you look at the things Americans like now a days -cough- violence -cough- soccer doesn't fit in with that.
it will go up when people start seeing how fun it is here in the Northwest with Portland, Vancouver, and Seattle. Cascadia is Soccer's biggest hope here in the US!
first off, the mls is NOT a major sports league. and soccer has been "growing" here in the US since before i was born but that doesn't mean it will ever be a major professional sport here. the reason it's always growing is the fact that it's easy for a 5 year old to play. i played it when i was that age, did so for a few years but got bored of it and moved on to football. it's not a fun sport to watch on tv, with so few timeouts tv/radio can't sell spots without getting creative (which they hate to do) and those factors will continue to bog it down. It might be exciting to watch in person but the mls cannot survive without ratings and that will mean ANOTHER dead soccer league here in america. SHOCKER!
It is hard to watch on TV, especially if your not a big fan. But if you are, you thoroughly enjoy the limited commercials and advertising. It's one of the best things about Soccer IMO. That being said, it's all about people going out to games to become fans first. I have no doubt the new stadium and rivalries in the N.W. will produce a feverish fan base and a television following. As far as advertising dollars are concerned, if they really need it, why can't they just have pop-up ads in the corner of the screen?
Soccer is a fun game to play. Not so interesting to watch on TV. That's the big problem with Soccer and the US - we have tons of faster, more explosive and interesting sports to watch on TV. As far as "action on the field" soccer is slow. It is not uninteresting if you play it (especially) or watch in person - but it just does not translate to great visuals on TV. In a way, Formula 1 is the same kind of "slow action" on the field sport compared to say, NASCAR, but F1 is very photogenic on TV, especially with the in-car cameras and the track-mounted cameras - so it does not have this problem that Soccer has.
I'd argue that "the soccer that is so easy to play as a 5 year old" is no easier than the tee ball I played at 5, or the football I played in the street at 5 or the basketball I played at the Y at age 8. Soccer, in that state, is about as far removed from the real thing as playing 2 hand touch football in the street with 3 total players or playing horse on the hoop nailed to your garage. I'm curious as to why you got bored with the sport. Obviously everyone has their own opinion and likes/dislikes, but I'm curious. What made football, where you only play in 10 second spurts, more exciting to play than soccer? And about watching on TV. I agree that the lack of timeouts/breaks makes it hard to air, but how the hell does that make it hard to watch? I know it can be difficult to watch if you're not a fan, but that has nothing to do with the lack of breaks. If anything, that's a selling point. The TV ratings suck because people don't want to watch bad soccer. I have no rooting interest in MLS (not for a few months anyways) so I don't watch. But if there is a La Liga game, or EPL game on I'll watch, even if it is not a team I follow. Its all about name recognition and quality and people don't think, rightfully so or not, that the MLS has enough of either. That said, I don't think it'll ever become more than the 4th sport here. Without some major eff up by the NBA, MLB or NFL, I don't see any of those falling out of the top three.
Always busting out the quality posts. Here is your "safe" game [video=youtube;2cF4-rI_LjU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cF4-rI_LjU[/video] Is it American football, no, but its no baseball either.
MLS has had terible TV ratings for its entire existence. btw MLS will stay on TV as long as ESPN wants to own the rights to the World Cup, it's part of the deal.
The TV numbes are troubling, but MLS is doing fine in the stands: 1.Bundesliga (GER): 42,790 2.English Premier League (ENG): 34,088 3.La Liga (ESP): 28,971 4.Serie A (ITA): 23,899 5.Ligue 1 (FRA): 20,119 6.Eredivisie (NED): 19,319 7.MLS (USA): 18,452 8.Championship (ENG): 18,113 9.Scottish Premier League (SCO): 15,128 10.Bundesliga 2 (GER): 15,056 1.NFL – 67,508 (2009 season) 2.MLB – 30,213 (2009 season) 3.MLS – 18,452 (2010 season, as of 04/11/2010) 4.NBA – 17,110 (2009/10 season) 5.NHL – 17,004 (2009/10 season)
If you take Barcelona and Real out of La Liga, the average drops to 22k. I found a list of the top European clubs, by average attendance. nearly 50% of the top 20 are in the Bundesliga. Only 4 in the top 20 are English, and one of those was Newcastle who wasn't in EPL last year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average_attendances_of_European_football_clubs
