US Soccer- MLS Attendance Figures Near Those of NHL and NBA

That is why football is coached by more than one person. I love playing soccer (played all throughout HS, near NYC and was a High School all-star). I would never miss a pro football, baseball, or hockey game at the expense of soccer though.

As far as the MLS goes, it is just growing little by little each year. It won't ever be as big as the NFL because of all the other alternatives for soccer around the world. But, the MLS has done a great job in such a short time. Where were the MLB, NFL, NBA in it's first 10 years? Probably not where the MLS is now.

No doubt Beckham mania has worn off by now.

I can't understand why your feckin' meatheads hate soccer so much? No one is asking you to play it or watch. Keep it to yourself.

MLS is a great league. It is still developing but it is getting better. MLS has passed up the Scottish Premier League in average game attendance. Our teams have had a lot of success in MLS v Euro team friendly matches (against full strength squads).

Some may argue that with new expansion teams the strength of the current MLS teams will be spread out and lose depth but the way MLS has set up their development teams and changes to the grass roots systems as well as international scouting I see the MLS only getting stronger.

The one thing that MLS needs to compete is better presentation. They need to broadcast soccer in HD. They need to educate commentators and camera crews.

Americans love soccer. Americans love MLS. Once it is given the priority other sports have then you will see the true interest of the sport go up (or at least the average viewer ratings. NFL, NBA, & MLB do not want to see their 80,000 seat stadiums go empty. So they will do the opposite of promote a sport that highly threatens their average viewer rating as well as over priced ticket sales.

People who complain that MLS has no quality are probably people who only compare it to soccer giants such as Man Utd., Barcelona FC, etc...

To bash and make any generalizations is quite absurd. Football is, yes, filled with incredibly strong athletes who are also fast and quick. There is strategy in the game, it is simply difficult to see from a novice stand point.

I have watched a couple MLS games (terrible) and the last three World Cups (much better), but the game is still painfully slow. The game is not as slow as baseball, but it is still difficult to watch unless you are raised in a culture (Europe, South America, counter cultural hipsters) that prefer the sport.

For all the running soccer fans talk about you would think the game would have constant attacks on the goal. Instead there is an awful lot of light jogging and standing still to position oneself according to game strategy. There is perpetual motion, but not incredibly active motion.

I used to play soccer as a kid and though this is obviously a much less skilled experience, it is representative of the sport.

Another problem with the MLS, is that it cannot keep interest up in its older markets. Most of the those teams such as New England, DC and New York have seen their attendance slip year by year. It is only the newer teams comming into the league, such as Seattle and Toronto that have kept the average attendance respectable. I would be willing to bet that attendance in those cities will start to fade in a couple of years. That is exactly what happened in the old NASL, and they had to start bringing in the aging European stars just to keep people interested. Hmmm, just what the MLS is starting to do!

The best example of where soccer in the US is headed would be my 7 year old son. He is in his third year of organized soccer and loves to play. But how many soccer games has he asked to watch on TV?........Zero. How many baseball games......hundreds. How many Earthquake games has he asked to go to.....zero. How many 49er (NFL) and Giants (Baseball) games.......hundreds.