Poll question: 10 years from now, which will be the more popular league?

Poll result (32 votes) NHL (Hockey) (11 votes) Vote MLS (Soccer) (14 votes) Vote AFL (Arena Football) (5 votes) Vote Other (2 votes) Vote

With ESPN now part owner of the AFL, something tells me this shit might jump off. The league now has a better TV deal then both the MLS and NHL. Of course the NHL will always be bigger in Canada but I'm talking about the states here.

minimum of 26 televised games per season with a weekly Monday night game. Slidding a football game into the Monday Night time slot once the NFL done is a smart move. You can check out the rest of the details on the AFL site. ABC will have the championship game.

http://www.arenafootball.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3500&ATCLID=727455&SPID=1563

I was worried that things were going to fall apart for them since NBC dropped them, this looks to be a better deal. Also the season won't overlap as much with the NBA playoffs.

I'm looking forward to this. I really hope this deal boosts the AFL up as the major second tier sport, but I don't know. I wonder how good a job ESPN will do handling it this time around.

I don't think the MLS will ever be anything but a senior's circuit where great players go for a final couple of years (ala Valderama and now Beckham)

And I'm a huge Boxing fan. But boxing has an aging fan base while UFC is attracting a lot of young people.

And I agree about the MLS. I'm surprised anyone would think it would overtake Hockey. 20-30 years ago I would hear how soccer was going to be the next big thing. Soccer has just never played well here in the US.

sports bar that I go to sometimes had some big UFC thing on PPV a few weeks ago and the place was PACKED, it was standing room only.

So it's apples and oranges when comparing the numbers. When your see these UFC fighters getting the type of payday an elite boxer gets, then you'll know it's arrived.

but fighter representation with agents and such is way behind every other sport

I would say there are as many or more *big* UFC events in a year than in boxing

you add on the cable deals and TUF...hell, Shamrock vs. Ortiz III outdrew the World Series running in the same time slot on Spike TV

MLS will grow in popularity if they stop trying to dumb down their product to reach a bigger audience.

MLS needs to have a fanbase like Hockey's (except bigger): smaller than NBA-MLB-NFL, but very passionate.

if they get a few older international stars and they start marketing to knowledgable soccer fans, they'll get popular, imo.

Everything you're saying was said about the NASL 30 years ago

and the America of 30 years ago are very different in terms of soccer fans.

it's easy to discount MLS through pure cyncism. But i really do think there's hope for professional soccer in North America.

so people did come at first. there was a lot of hype for the league with a weekly game on ABC. the reason it died was because America rejected the game of soccer. if it was too slow 30 years ago, it's sure as hell going to be too slow in the age of 500 channels and instant gratification. just because people will watch their kids play a game doesn't mean it's going to work as a pro sport.

DC United represents like it does becuase of the local growing latino population. That's different from 30 years ago.

As a matter of fact, they are almost half of what they were that first year. First season they pulled a 1.4 but for the last 5 years have been between 0.6 and 0.8

Those don't look like the numbers of a growing league to me

The first year had a certain novelty factor that's shown in the ratings but I think the economics of the league are better this go around than in years before.

I think the most important difference from previous soccer leagues is the MLS has so far avoided putting the cart in front of the horse... they've so far avoided paying up for aging stars like Ronaldo and Beckham.

While existing fans might love to see them play in the US, they're on the downsides of their careers and their impact on attendance is fleeting. Just think if the Wizards, for example, hadn't picked up Arenas after MJ was sent packing. MJ had an immediate impact on Wizards ticket sales but the effect would've immediately fizzled had they not replaced him with young talent.

If MLS teams can also finagle financing for new, soccer-only stadiums, they'll be able to tailor their expenses to their income. It's better to nearly sell-out a 40k seat soccer stadium than to half fill a 60k seat football stadium because the 60k seat football stadium has alot more overhead.

The league is going to have to bubble slowly for awhile and wait for the demographics to really catch up.

I honestly believe there's a growing number of american sports addicts who enjoy watching soccer. Especially premier soccer like EPL, UEFA, La Liga, Serie A, etc.

If American soccer improves, and ex-Euro stars come over, I don't see why the possibility doesn't exist that MLS & Soccer grow in popularity.

I just don't see it happening

Not in my lifetime any way

The game just isn't suited to american tastes

i just disagree with the belief that soccer is 100% doomed to fail in the U.S.

~~~~~

T&A plus dunks = success.

But honestly, I can give less than a shit about it right now.

Suggestions on how to make it bigger? I don't know enough about international soccer to compare it, so I'm all ears here.

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In my opinion, the NHL is as big as it's going to get. Meanwhile, I feel like something's going to happen that will grow the MLS to larger proportions than anyone though imaginable.

I mean, the L.A. Galaxy actually turns a profit now. That's fucking huge.

--Maurice

The DFL will kickoff

Whats the DFL (Dragon Football League, of course)

5 MIT grads will become inspired by the new Eragon movie, and will expedite the dragon evolution.

OR The XFL will be back

at least not to the extent it needs to beome more popular than the NHL. And it's not that people don't want to watch it. There are no commercial breaks so advertisers won't put the money up to back it.

>at least not to the extent it needs to beome more popular
>than the NHL. And it's not that people don't want to watch it.
>There are no commercial breaks so advertisers won't put the
>money up to back it.

every mls game in the 2007 season will be on tv.

or like UEFA is televised on ESPN 2

In fact it's growing. Kids don't play hockey anymore and Arena football will always be second class to the NFL. The reason why the NASL didn't survive was because no one played soccer at that time. Once the novelty wore off people realized that they didn't understand the rules, the strategy, the effort, or the skill involved. If it was to slow for people then how do you explain baseball or golf? The answer is that people played baseball and golf. Not only that but their parents played and their grandparents played.

Personally I have been playing soccer since I was four, as did tons of people my age. The problem now is that my parents generation didn't play soccer and their parents generation certainly didn't. This means that the only americans watching soccer are probably around 30 yrs old and younger. While this maybe the prime demographic targeted by television, it's not enough right now considering people of all ages watch football, baseball, and basketball.

In ten years my son will be twelve and probably very much interested in soccer, as will millions of kids across the country. I certainly wouldn't be surprised if by then more kids play soccer in the US than play any other sport. After all soccer is inexpensive and a relatively safe sport that at the very least gives kids a chance to run around and exercise. And, anyone who has played soccer a little bit will say its just as fun as any other sport.

The only thing really holding soccer back in the US is time.

>The problem now is that my parents
>generation didn't play soccer and their parents generation
>certainly didn't. This means that the only americans watching
>soccer are probably around 30 yrs old and younger. While this
>maybe the prime demographic targeted by television, it's not
>enough right now considering people of all ages watch
>football, baseball, and basketball.

That shit is on TV more than all three of the other options combined. In ten years I expect there to be poker arenas in major cities in the U.S.

None of those are ever going to be as big as MLB, NFL, or NBA.