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Message: [QUOTE="billsin01, post: 1080964, member: 837"] Dude, breathe. I don't know why you're so fired up. If you want numbers, I can give them to you. -- Baseball, with all it's old and dying fans, collects $1.5B annually from it's TV deals with three networks and that doesn't include anything generated from the MLB network. MLS's new watershed deal nets it $90M annually, which is obviously a huge increase from it's previous deals (roughly 5x as much). That's awesome. But even if MLS increases it's next deal 10-fold it's still pales in comparison to MLB's deals. Ratings-wise, it's a mixed bag for MLB. Houston, with it's cluster- TV situation drew a 0.0 rating for a game against the Angels, but Fox set all kinds of records on opening day this March. -- How about attendance? Well, MLS averaged 18,486 per game in 2014 (the rapidly growing MLS was actually down .66%, according to [URL='http://mlsattendance.blogspot.com/']this site[/URL] anyway), meaning it outdrew, on average, I believe one MLB team (the disaster that is Rays and Tropicana Field). Cleveland is down there as well, so perhaps two. MLB, meanwhile, is still drawing it's ancient fan base at a pretty phenomenal level, with the league average annually being around 3M fans (MLS plays what, 34 games, putting their total draw for the season at somewhere around 646,000/team). As far as trends go -- MLS is basically holding steady over 2013, MLB is in roughly the same boat. But, regardless, most MLB teams outdraw almost every MLS team (except SEattle) AND they do it 81 times a year. So, what do we draw from any of this? I think the bottom line is that the MLS has a long way to go financially and in terms of fan base to catch MLB. So yes, if MLS doubles in the next 10 years and half the old, decrepit baseball fans keel over and die, then will see this league dominating the sports scene. So there, you have some numbers. Regardless, I still think it's beside the point, which is that there is no reason soccer couldn't become a central part of the American sports scene -- particularly with ESPN behind it. I'd also suggest that MLB has some issues of it's own to deal with. But I think our disagreement comes down to a simple point: Do you believe the EPL is more talented than the MLS and, if your answer is no (Edit: sorry, confused myself), do you think the MLS can catch up in 10 years? That's really my only point -- for soccer to overtake MLB and even the NHL (which it hasn't yet) on the American sports scene, the MLS needs to be able to stake a legitimate claim as at least being the EPL's equal. I just don't see how it happens otherwise. And, anecdotally, I went to the Nats/O's game that got rained out last night and I only saw four colostomy bags. [/QUOTE]

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