Ditto, though I havent had cable TV for probably at least 10 years. Even 10 years ago I seldom watched SportsCenter, there's only so much testosterone-drenched pseudo-pithy sarcasm I can take. Somehow I think I'd be disappointed if MLS got much coverage by SportsCenter, I doubt they'd do it much justice.
That seems fair. All the shows on ESPN basically debate the same 10 topics in slightly different formats. The problem is what they decide is worth talking about. Sometimes things become a story only because ESPN wants it to become a story, while other significant events that don't fit a certain narrative become marginalized.
The things that get covered on SportsCenter are typically things ESPN shows. Does anybody cover the X Games besides ESPN? When ESPN shows the USMNT games, they usually make SportsCenter.
They rarely ever show highlights of MLS matches they broadcast, unless David Beckham fights a mascot.
Graham Jones retired and so did soccer coverage in the LA times. The Orange County Register dropped the Galaxy and Chivas from their regular rotation a few years back. Even the Daily Breeze has relegated Nick Green's coverage of soccer to an online column only. It's not pretty here. Local TV completely ignored the Galaxy too. It doesn't help that the Lakers were going through the Mike Brown/Phil Jackson fiasco at the same time, but there was absolutely ZERO coverage of the Galaxy's dominant win over Seattle on the local news channels that I watch.
Sportscenter is still good exposure. I won't waste my time looking up their numbers, but my guess is that the 89th repeat of Sportscenter in a given day gets more viewers than any MLS game does.
In fairness to ESPN, the X Games result in a bump in interest for what are normally fringe sports as TV ratings are concerned. It's similar (though not quite as drastic as) the Olympic bump for sports no one else watches the rest of the year. IIRC, the Dew Tour on NBC has settled in at about 700-800k viewers per broadcast, while the X Games average anywhere from 1-1.4 million, with highs reaching near 2 million. It's a massive event, and while ESPN certainly has a lot invested in "extreme" sports, those sports don't really get disproportionate coverage outside of the one weekend a year where they really are among the biggest stories. (Granted I used to ride BMX when I was a kid, so take that with a grain of salt) I think I'm going to start keeping track of those USMNT mentions though. Soccer is in the range of sports that get enough attention that people may notice their absence (note I did not say MLS specifically, just the sport on the whole), and it's the only sport I know of that ESPN splits nationally with another general sports network. They share numerous other rights agreements, but none with NBCSN. It will become an even bigger if Fox ever launches FS1; later this decade, it will be near impossible to ignore the World Cup on what is supposed to be America's flagship sports news show.
Russia v US (shown on ESPN2) highlights were on SportsCenter this morning. Ibra's Sweden v England goalfest also made SC (shown on GOL TV). Hooray soccer!