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[QUOTE="Scooch, post: 1076831, member: 628"]
FWIW, I think this has been a very good thread.

I'll lob a couple data points I am able to share into the discussion...

A very relevant measure is the % avid fan base for leagues and sports.  Avid fans are what drive a sport on a day-to-day basis.  Moderate and casual fans may dip in and out, but it's the avids that sustain a league in terms of core attendance, TV ratings, etc.

Knowing that, about one-third of Americans age 12+ are avid fans of the NFL.  2nd place is college football, which counts about one-quarter of Americans as avid fans.  MLB, NBA and college hoops are in the 15-20% range.  International Soccer and MLS in the 5-10% range.

So, this isn't entirely correlative to TV ratings and attendance, but it's useful in a directional sense.  Soccer is on the rise, legitimately, and there is lots of evidence to support that.  We *also* are a sports-obsessed nation that has a VERY crowded sports landscape.  There are decades of fan behavior in place that make NFL, CFB, NBA, MLB and CBB major sports -- and keep in mind (especially on this board) that college sports is an [I]incredibly[/I] unique phenomena in the US -- what other country cares about college kids playing sports like we do?  A: None.

The notion that any of the 5 majors will see a rapid, massive decline in interest is not based in reality.  Since '94 the same pattern of soccer fandom plays out... large spike in interest during the World Cup, then a quick evaporation of that interest, but then the overall soccer interest level resets itself to a slightly higher place than pre-World Cup.  Visualize it like the steps on the side of the Schine Student Center: long with a small lift between them.
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Verification

What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?