I don't think it's baseball that will move aside

Why is the price for the local cable rights to show Dodgers games not about baseball?

My point in citing that Dodgers sale had to do with the fact that there are a lot of people on Big Soccer who seem to think that the day when soccer will overtake baseball, or American football or basketball is just around the corner. Soccer definitely is growing, and baseball seems to be going in the other direction, but it's a slow process. Baseball is still way, way ahead.

Actually, they are not "future pros." They are pros right now.

MLS would kill to struggle for attendance the way those teams do. Incidentally, I am fairly certain that as I type this, the Marlins are playing the Cards in front of quite a few people. And the Pirates, after 19 straight losing seasons, have already sold out there home opener tomorrow.

Oh, and I have been to games at three of the cities you mention. They weren't hurting for fans in there teens, twenties and thirties

These kind of conversations are counter productive. Just support your team and enjoy going to the games.

And Baseball will probably remain way ahead until the MLS salary cap is loosened significantly, and MLS can afford the Messis, Ronaldos, Ronaldinhos, and Wayne Rooneys. Or we start developing some Ronaldos.

I don't see that happening til at least five years from now. More likely a decade from now, sometime around MLS's 25th or 30th season.

besides, im young and i know a lot more baseball fans my age than soccer fans... though a lot of the baseball fans i know also like soccer to an extent (and vice versa), but still.

I think soccer is growing, baseball is declining a bit but it will be a huge part of the country for awhile. I honestly just see soccer grouping itself with the other 4 or 5 major sports in the states. i don't think a sport will necessarily move aside.

I think the fact that the mls and a lot of important soccer tournaments here in the US occur in the summer (well technically mls is also spring and fall, but still) helps support that argument as well. It doesn't really conflict with the schedule of any of the sports here besides maybe baseball (which there are so many baseball games it's not like you wouldn't be able to watch both).

Don't forget that having cap space and having money to spend are not the same thing. Loosening the cap would not instantly create the sort of money it would take to buy Messi, etc.

The purpose of the cap in MLS, as it is in the NBA and the NFL, is to keep teams from getting into financial trouble by buying things they can't really afford.

Think of it in personal terms. The fact that I don't have an official cap on what I'm allowed to spend on a car doesn't mean that I'm driving around in a Lexus.

I havent read the whole thread but I few things I have seen around me that are interesting.

The bk courts usually have 2 or white guys for every 20 black dudes.

I was at a college baseball game the other day, a D2 school, and a white guy was playing on the side with his son.

his son had three balls with him, first he was throwing the little football, then they started kicking the soccer ball, then the ended up with the baseball.

interesting huh?

I saw that at a baseball game.

I doubt you will ever see kids and parents are a soccer game throwing a baseball.

What is very common is too see american kids throwing a football on the side on soccer games.

Football being the biggest, is either baskeball or baseball that are going to hang with soccer I think.

The purpose of the cap for the NFL at least, is not as noble as you stated IMO. It's actually put in place to keep all teams competitive. As in..."Let's keep the big market teams from being overly dominant" It's why you can see Green Bay and Pittsburg play in the Super Bowl. It's why Kansas City and New York both have a legitimate shot for the league title. Whereas the KC Royals and Brewers will never be in the same league as the Yankees (so to speak).
The thing about MLS, they seem to be going the MLB route. Big time players end up in the "big market" (financial-wise at least) teams like the Galaxy and NYRB. I'd like to see MLS use the NFL's business model.

Montreal doesn't have a team anymore. Too little support among the fans. They are now the Nationals with the best record in Baseball...with yet again....too little support among the fans. So yeah I can agree with some of what your saying.
But that same market: DC has some of the worst attendance in MLS and the NBA as well...it must be the town, and not the popularity of any one sport.

Someone stated that we shouldn't confuse the popularity of baseball with MLB. I read an article a few weeks ago about Newark "regretting" their decision to build a minor league stadium. Someone said they wish they could have somehow gotten a chance to host the NYRB instead.

You're right. Maintaining parity is the most important purpose of the cap. However, I will stick by the main point of my post, which was that fans should remember that having cap space and having money to spend are not the same thing. They shouldn't expect MLS teams to start buying players like Messi the minute the cap is removed.

http://fora.tv/2012/05/08/Ban_College_Football?utm_source=Outbrain

the popularity of March Madness didn't happen over night. It really took off in the 80's and started to become part of the culture but it took some really good marketing to do so. The secret is always the marketing.

First you have to penetrate the culture. Then you need to market the brand and grow an audience. This is happening with soccer in this country right now. Not with MLS, but with the World Cup and international soccer. The USNT is the most watched and most popular national sports team in this country. Hardly anyone gets excited about the national basketball or baseball teams. When it comes to national teams it's all about soccer. So, I think that's a pretty good start as far as the sport being part of the culture. The difficulty is transferring that support from the USNT into our domestic soccer league. One glaring difference is that the USNT involves everyone around the country while MLS involves just 18 cities. Not to beat a familiar drum but i don't think we'll have a domestic league soccer culture in this country until we involve a lot more of the country and this means a pyramid with promotion and relegation.

Not to beat a familiar drum, but really ? This shit again ?

I mean though, let's totally forget that every other Major Sports League in the country does it the way that Major League Soccer is doing it and all 4 are among the most successful sports leagues in the world.

Actually only 15.

3 Canadian, 2 teams in LA

But do not let your lack of knowledge about MLS stop you, go on brother.

To be fair, if the USA had the population of say Canada the 4 leagues would not be as successful as they are now, I mean the NFL would be like the CFL or something.

The CFL is still a very popular league, about 27K average going to the games, not to hate on Canada.

I thought that's what this thread was for.