Here's a good video that has some really good points about MLS being big in the USA [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88Yw97BCYUo&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88Yw97BCYUo&feature=related[/ame]
Well are we even the 5th most popular American Professional league? I guess first thing is define how to measure popularity? TV ratings? Attendance? Money, Revenue? Also: NASCAR / MMA / Wrestling / Boxing; are they included?
Yes, we have to be picky on how to measure popularity, I mean the DJ dude said that soccer may be really close to baseball, but shit, we are not even close. MLB average is 30.3K and total 73.4 Million We are obviously not going to be top 2; the question is really top 3 or top 5. So the targets are the NBA and the NHL; weird that they did not mentioned the NHL, maybe they are racist (just kidding) Edit: also as DC pointed out I think that the title of the thread is misleading. They are talking soccer overall becoming more popular than baseball, that may be possible. Soccer popularity > than MLS popularity.
MLS will pass Hockey/Baseball by 2022. MLS will pass basketball by 2030. And MLS will pass the NFL by 2060. Not sarcasm, I'm completely serious. Non-MLS soccer will pass Hockey well before 2022.
no MLS wont, maybe the sport itself could pass hockey Mexican league and EPL are way more popular than MLS in this country. The most popular national team is Mexico.
TV ratings are definitely the most accurate mark of popularity because it transcends so many things like income and geography... when MLS surpasses NHL tv ratings, then it's on its way, but not now.
I think it has to be a combination of things, I mean the WNBA gets about the same ratings as MLS, I would say overall MLS is more popular than the WNBA.
this will never happen unless obama buy a time machine so that pele, maradona, cruyff, messi and di stefano born again and he can nationalize them american.
MLS overtaking NFL by 2060? So what makes you think that? Sure your serious, but many crazy things were taken "serious" unfortunately.
Again it is, 'you're' not your.. but I digress. Big three? It seems to me that their is only one real challenger to MLS out there. Baseball is dead compared to the big following that it had when I was young and I suspect the only reason new fans go is that it is a tradition in their family.. yet as family values and tradition die out, so will baseball. Basketball is competing for different demographics and MLS beats them in attendance anyway. Only the NFL can keep MLS from being the best in the land. Hopefully though as the economy gets worse, there is an outburst of intellectual and artistic innovation similar to the Renaissance that will lead soccer to the top. Anyways, here is a good article from forbes on soccer vs. baseball. http://www.forbes.com/2004/04/13/cz_kb_0413match.html
Depends on what you look at. Total North America MLS is # 5 by a lot. (MLS would be #7 if we include Minor league baseball, not sure about Canadian Hockey) this is just pro, imagine with College B-ball or College Football. MLB Total = 73.4 Million NBA Total = 21.3 Million NHL Total = 20.9 Million NFL Total = 17.1 Million MLS Total = 5.4 Million CFL Total = 2 Million UFL Total = 300K By Average MLS is #4 in North America. NFL = 66.9 K MLB = 30.3 K CFL = 27.7K MLS = 17.8K NBA = 17.3 K NHL = 17.1K UFL = 14.9K Also in your mind what is more popular (better attended) the UFL or the WNBA?
Right because missing an apostrophe over a comment made in the BigSoccer forum will disproves everything said. Why bring up an eight year old Forbes article about soccer in general when we are talking about MLS. The Forbes article wants to bring up the issue of finances, and yet it compares European soccer teams with Baseball teams in the U.S. We are talking MLS. Not the Premier League. It also reiterates things we have known all along. Like the amount of soccer players in the U.S. It also claims "the World Series, is a non-event outside of North America and Japan..." yet the World Series gathers major attention in Cuba, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and even Mexico. Sorry, but Baseball is here to stay, and within the U.S. it's going to stay higher than Soccer, just like it'll stay the top sport in Venezuela.
Actually you are not missing an apostrophe, you are using the wrong word... but once again, I digress. I was more intereted in the statistics that showed just how drastically baseball participation has fallen at the same time that soccer is rising. Do you realize that three out of the four places that you mentioned are considered part of North America? Venezuela??? I rest my case. Baseball is done. Once the baby boomers are gone, so is baseball.
And Again, you appeal to grammar when you have nothing else. Fair enough, but soccer has always had a large amount of players in the U.S. What's your point? You have issues with Venezuela as well? The Forbes article said that the World Series is only an issue in Japan and the U.S. I named a few more countries where Baseball is still king. Sorry but Baseball will always be king in those countries. Once the baby boomers die off, you'll realize that there are people who play and still follow the sport...considering there tends to be no MLB players over 60 years old. And yes, the world exists outside of the Untied States. You might want to read about it someday.