thefan
TheAmericansAreComing
TheprofessionalU.S. soccer league is steadilygaining fans in…England?
BYCHRISWRIGHT
L
ast June, during a groupmatch at
theFIFAWorldCup inBrazil,the
USA andPortugal played to a steamy
2-2draw in themiddleof theAmazon
rainforest.Itwasadisappointing result
for theAmerican team,whichhad led
thegameuntilthedyingseconds.Butfor
thosewhohavebeenwaiting forsoccer
tobreak through stateside, thatmatch
was seen as a huge, hats-in-the-air
victory.Witharound25millionpeople
tuning in to watch, USA-Portugal
achieved higher ratings thanGame
Fiveof the2014NBA finalsandGame
Six of the 2013WorldSeries.“Bigger
ThanBaseball,”blaredaheadline inthe
next day’s
NewYorkTimes
.
ExecutivesatESPN,FoxandUnivi-
sion certainly had to be pleasedwith
the levelofenthusiasm,given that they
had just agreed to triple the collective
amounttheypaytobroadcastAmerica’s
domestic league,MajorLeagueSoccer
(from $30 million to $90 million),
which kicks off its 2015 season this
month.Bigger than baseball?Maybe
not,but at lastMLS can boast higher
U.S. television revenue than theEng-
lishPremierLeague,whose games are
shownonNBC for theprincelysumof
a littlemore than $80million.Given
themassivegulf in talent,finances and
prestigebetweenthe leagues—theEPL
is the richest,most popular league in
the world—the coup is particularly
impressive: a giant killing, as English
soccer fansmight say.
Thereareotherbrightspots:average
stadium attendance forMLS games
last year (19,000-plus) outstripped
theNBA and theNHL; this season,
the league will feature an expansion
team inNewYork City (bankrolled
by theNewYorkYankeesand theAbu
Dhabi–based owners of EPL club
Manchester City),whichwill show-
case the talents of superstars Frank
Lampard andDavidVilla.Of all the
positive indications forMLS,however,
none ismoreremarkable than itsrising
popularity in theU.K., a country that
is up to its eyeballs in soccer.With the
likes of Chelsea,Manchester United
andLiverpool battling it out forEPL
supremacy everyweek,who has time
for adiddly littleoperation likeMLS?
Well, Louis East, for one. A
Canterbury-based journalism student
(andsupporterofEPLteamTottenham
Hotspur), East is also the founding
editor ofMLSGB, aU.K.-based fan
siteaimedatMLSenthusiastsonboth
sides of the pond.East launched the
site about a year ago, and during that
time,he says, interest in the leaguehas
become bothmorewidespread
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
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MARCH2015
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