Literally watching my boyfriend watch the Miami vs Austin game right now while texting his best friends his comments on the game. To be honest, I don't actually think my boyfriend loves soccer, I think he's just addicted to heartbreak.
I’ve always loved soccer and grew up in a very soccer oriented area in nyc. I didn’t wanna support the Red Bull or nycfc bc of the groups they are associated with and I never felt passionate about it. Most of my friends are the people who think the mls is below them and it’s too poor quality:/ i moved to Ohio when I was 17 and absolutely fell in love with the Columbus crew and felt like true local club I grew a deep connection too! Unfortunately still to this day all my friends who love soccer still refuse to watch the mls bc it’s poor quality 🙄 the only two friends I have that also follow the mls deeply aren’t Americans funny enough! Soccer is definitely growing in the US but I still find it kinda sad that so many Americans are so against supporting their local clubs bc it’s not the absolute best quality:/
hmm, It's more of an experience thing. Attendance at games is pretty good but viewership or controlling nationally narrative is not really there. I'd say right now the WNBA is getting more attention than MLS that has Messi.
I like it and follow closely but even among soccer fans EPL and Liga MX are more popular.
Kinda a lame fanbase here unfortunately. Off the pitch, the sense of community is strong, but on gameday, the chants are simply not intimidating or impactful at all.
Actually even some Americans who are into soccer refuse to watch MLS because they claim it’s low quality and beneath them so they only watch the European leagues. I watch MLS though LAFC fan 👏.
Yea I always found that weird. If there is a MLS team in your city and you’re a soccer fan you should support them. What if you’re in England and stuck in a 2nd or 4th division city with a team. Do you think the locals just not support them.
You’re cool. I like that thinking. See, I get wanting to follow one of the best soccer is played but you don’t have trash MLS in the process. It’s weird how MLS is one of the few leagues that people get mocked for following their local team
I've watched a lot of European leagues, especially English football, but recently I started watching MLS and especially Charlotte FC. Even if it's not as good a product, it feels a lot more meaningful to support a local team, even though I do enjoy European football still. It's also easier to pick up because I'm already a big Panthers fan.
Love both United and the Quakes. The one fun thing about MLS is the lack of on ball quality means that you see some absolute bangers scored that would never happen in a top 5 league
It's not that the MLS is beneath us. It's that it's clearly inferior as a product masquerading as a major league on par with the best leagues in the world.
Lol I'm an American Arsenal supporter and I probably watch MLS more than the Premier League, time zones having a lot to do with it. But I know a lot of the people you're talking about and it's like, do you even like football, or do you just like the status and branding of Arsenal? Because I like the level of talent in MLS. It is a good league! So are Liga MX and the Brasileirão! I've even watched the Irish league and the Australian A-League knowing the play quality is significantly lower but you know what? I'm still engaged. It's football! The beautiful game!
I watched soccer in Ireland mainly because it was the only sport on the island I was familiar with, but over time I learned about Gaelic football and loved it. I want to introduce Gaelic football and hurling to the USA, there are so many of those combination soccer goal/football goalposts that would be perfect for Gaelic games.
I dont particularly like the MLS but quality has little to do with it. The league has so many problems and the quality of players isnt even top 5 on that list.
I mean, it's absolutely a step or two behind Europe's major leagues, but they're still far better than I'll ever be. It's still professional sports at the end of the day.
On average, yeah. If you took all of the MLS teams and added them to the EFL they’d probably all end up somewhere from the top of League One to the upper half of the Championship.
I don't have a "local" MLS team though. I live in Michigan and my sports fandom is all teams Detroit, but Detroit doesn't have an MLS team (I do like Detroit City FC in the USL). Chicago is the closest MLS team to me, but I don't have much interest in supporting a team from 2 states away. If I'm gonna support a team that feels far away, I feel like I might as well choose a Premier League team that I can watch regularly.
I have the same issue here in Pittsburgh, and when people tell me to just support Columbus or Philly, I’m like well clearly you’ve never been to Pittsburgh if you think that’s gonna happen haha.
Maybe I wasn't clear, or maybe you misread my comment, but I don't live anywhere near Detroit, I'm just a fan of all Detroit sports teams; mainly because I live in Michigan. I actually live about a three hour drive from both Chicago and Detroit, but Detroit is my major sports market. Columbus is a 5.5 hour drive from me on a good day, and being from Michigan, I can't, in good conscience, support a team from Ohio.
Until I get an MLS team in Detroit, I really don't have much reason to watch the MLS. Even then I would have mixed feelings about the politics of that team competing for fans with the organically grown DCFC.
I support my local USL club and go to a lot of the home matches but can’t get myself to watch USL on tv. I think from a quality level I could watch MLS on TV, but if I’m already a neutral just watching it on TV I’d rather just watch EPL or Bundesliga. You know what I mean?
It’s kinda like watching British League Hockey, never ever follow it on TV but I’d go to games of that tier every other weekend for sure. More people should watch minor leagues and lower tiers, much cheaper and way better vibes.
I made 2 separate but tangentially-related statements, and the example I gave wasn't connected to the word "often". You do know the USOC isn't an MLS tournament, right...?
But I'll humour you: that bargain price of $20-30 is roughly what you'll pay for a standing ticket to watch Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga (with matches against Bayern being just 20% more expensive), and a season ticket for that section comes in at just under $18 per match. So yeah... MLS tickets are often more expensive.
Luckily LAFC and LA Galaxy are both teams that will actually invest in the roster and try to field a winning product.
It’d be a lot easier to support them than whatever the dumpster fire FC Dallas has been. They don’t give a piss about trying to win or even produce an exciting product for the fans.
I went to every timbers match for 5 years but I just cant pay to watch that product live anymore for the vibes. Its just not good compared to Europe. So slow and boring.
Jealous. I'm a Spurs fan and an Atlanta United fan and I love Son so much that my daughter and I were thinking of going to the next LAFC v ATLUTD game as neutrals with her Son flag she bought at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium bedoee he left to see if we could get it signed for her and then LA didn't come to Atlanta after he arrived last year and won't
come this year either
And the snobs are dumb. MLS is good enough to enjoy. It's like college football. Sure, it's not as technically good as the NFL, but honestly it can be more fun because of the slight raggedness combined with the fact everyone there is really auditioning for a bigger team.
I know no team in MLS could avoid relegation in the Premier League, but I'm as likely to be bored by their games as I am by an MLS game.
I’ve got a buddy who’s Irish but now lives in the US and in a city with an MLS team if we was a fan. His response was something along the lines of “They want too much fucking money to go see like the ninth best league in the world”. He also called it “a retirement league”. Thought that was hilarious.
It’s cheap generally and if you are a member even more so. It’s also often easy to just go. If you view football as a tv product it’s not great if football is something you actually go to it’s fine.
The point about prices is valid - LAFC wanted Champions League money for the best of 3 playoff series last season, and the greed when Miami is coming to town doesn't need any further explanation.
A lot of soccer fans just don't like the idea that the 20th best team in the league could end up winning the title 🤷🏻♂️ And I think the fact everything is such a blatant cash-grab has alienated a lot of people, too.
It’s cheaper than pretty much any other sporting event for a major league in the US. Calling it a blatant cash grab when the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL (and for the latter three, their inane broadcasting schemes) exist is pretty funny.
I'm not sure why you're assuming that soccer fans are jumping at the opportunity to blow fortunes on any American league.
I was an LAFC season ticket holder until last season, but I cancelled because resale tickets are less than "face value" for all but a handful of matches.
Then I guess if they want to go to a sporting event, don’t think American soccer is worth watching, and refuse to spend money to attend any other major league event in the US, they can pay for round trip airfare to and lodging in London and attend an Arsenal match.
I also don’t think I’ve spent a “fortune” at any MLS match I’ve been to, especially when compared to the cost of most other live entertainment options (sports, concerts, etc)
Or maybe they could just not attend MLS, which was my original point. You're suggesting that no-one is being driven away from MLS because of greed, even though you're literally talking to someone who just cancelled a pair of MLS season tickets because the league is constantly trying to find new ways to get money out of fans (Leagues Cup... Extra playoff matches... "Home" matches moved to larger neutral venues).
I don’t watch mainly because there’s no team I have a personal connection to. Grew up in Tampa Bay and live in Louisiana, never had a team close enough to me that it was covered by local media.
I watch MLS and USL Championship (my state got a club a few years ago) and English Premier League. EPL obviously has a higher quality of play, but MLS is still good and always getting better, and like you said supporting local teams is a vibe.
I mostly watch European leagues but im not above MLS, I still like to watch and support the Loons which is the closest we have to a local club here. I find the MLS broadcasts to be in higher definition than European leagues which is pretty nice.
I’m one of these Americans. I’m not here to support a bunch of guys who happen to play near where I live. I’m here for good, compelling football and that’s not what MLS offers.
I love soccer and follow European leagues and the UCL. I don’t follow the mls. Can’t name one player besides Messi. It’s not a top tier league. I would follow if we could start signing top prospects from South America and Europe, outbidding the major European clubs.
As a rabid, fanatic, Charlotte FC supporter (MLS), this is correct.
But it comes with one nice bonus. All our matches are streamed live and available for replay on Apple TV so I can watch other matches the next day without anyone spoiling the score for me… because no one cares enough to talk about it.
It's probably in the 3rd or 4th most popular tier of sports perhaps. The biggest tier is football, basketball, and baseball. Then car sports/racing. Then college sports. Then hockey. Then soccer.
I live in central florida and we have a very big soccer fan base, not just for orlando city but we have a lot of european and latino population where its popular. My son is a huge fan we had season tickets a while back. The games are really fun and well attended, the stadium is great and theyve made an effort to make it "local" with restaurants from the city having booths etc. We have a great time.
Most people who are into soccer (football) in the US have access to almost any European game or league they want to watch, especially the major European leagues and competitions. You can pretty easily watch Premier League, Champions League, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A games. I never watch MLS on tv but live in a city that has a team and will usually go to 2-3 games each season.
Most people who are into soccer (football) in the US have access to almost any European game or league they want to watch, especially the major European leagues and competitions. You can pretty easily watch Premier League, Champions League, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A games. I never watch MLS on tv but live in a city that has a team and will usually go to 2-3 games each season.
Very few. Most fans follow a European club and few people have enough time to follow one/multiple European leagues and MLS, especially as it is probably jot even a top 20 league worldwide and the quality is fairly low.
I’m sure some do, but no one I know. I can name a few teams and a few players but that’s about it. I could probably name more english football teams ngl. If I’m gonna watch american soccer I’d rather watch the women anyway.
Some do, but for many teams (especially the ones that play in enormous American football stadiums) good seats are often still available if you'd like to see a game.
Same here. More into the NWSL because I want to see people who are good at what they do. And NWSL athletes are good at it compared to women in the rest of the world. Can't say that about the MLS in relation to other to other men's leagues.
The MLS has definitely improved from the product it was 20 years ago. I don't think it has any team that would put up a fight in the Premier League (widely considered the gold standard in men's soccer). But I'm sure it's now somewhat comparable to other European leagues that aren't among the "big 5" leagues. That's nice, but it's still different in women's soccer because the NWSL is widely regarded as being among the top 2 women's soccer leagues.
That blip is gonna shrink because the MLS is going to a winter schedule soon. Nobody gonna give up a weekend of football for soccer. Another big mistake.
Yeah I’m a huge MLS fan and just can’t understand this decision. I probably go to 10 or so games for my local team per year, most of them throughout the summer. When other sports aren’t going. I have season tickets for my local college football team and absolutely won’t be missing those games for soccer. I’ll be lucky if I make it to 4 or 5 games a year after the change.
Probably the best answer - It's beginning to pressure the NHL from a popularity / viewership perspective in the top 5 sports.
The U.S. has a TON of sports options which makes competition among them so challenging. IIRC correctly, the top 5 are:
NFL
NBA
MLB
NHL
MLS
NBA and MLS have been trending far more with younger audiences.
The NBA has a pedigree, clear feeding system from NCAA (all 4 tops sports benefit from a draft process, but NBA and NFL perhaps the biggest as their NCAA versions are just as large as the Pro versions).
MLS on the otherhand has had more of a "grassroots" growth. The MLS is targeting different, mid-sized markets for teams which often leads to localized but very dedicated fanbases. FC Cincinnati, St. Louis FC, etc. are examples of smaller metropolitan areas with quickly growing fanbases. FC Cincinnati basically sells out every single home game (in the MLS, the other tournaments...ehhh) - and they have a dedicated stadium of about 25k.
Sounders avg home attendance is 30k and several years ago it was 50k so there is definitely negative growth as well. But the Sounders sell out the stadium if they play higher stakes games at 70k like MLS Cup 2019 CCC 2022 Leagues Cup 2025. Portland Match usually gets 50k as well
I’m posting quotes because they have been growing for the next big thing in America since the NY Cosmos is 74. I’ve been through 5 iterations of professional soccer in America and I’ve watched each fail. 30 teams that draw 10k fans including TV is let a market than South African cricket
You’re kinda moving the goalposts here. “Being the next big thing” is not the same as growing. They are objectively growing. They have been for 30 years.
Absolutely no one is saying they’re about to dethrone the NFL or MLB, which you seem to cite as your counter argument in another comment.
I am a huge fan of MLS, so am obviously biased. However the game has grown immensely here over the last 20 years. 15 years ago the only place you could find a packed stadium of raving soccer lunatics was Portland OR. Now they are all over the country.
I freaking love our USL club. There’s a big contingent here that wants pro/rel like everywhere else, but we don’t have the club culture in sports here. USL is doing pro/rel, which is great, but it is not our top league so it obviously has a ceiling.
Its kind of in this middle area at the moment where it is a big sport by other countries' standards (top 10 soccer league in the world by revenue, top 5 sports league in North America), but it's still very regional here in the US. The teams do draw in a bunch of money, however, as the average MLS team is worth damn near $1 billion at this point, and the buy in for new expansion teams is somewhere in the mid $100 millions
A small percentage compared to the other sports,. The big 4 are still supreme here. NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA. You can throw in NCCA stuff also. I consider football / soccer almost a niche viewership. Passionate but small.
I got to games in person, and ocassionally wwtch highlights, the games are behind the Apple Paywall. There are a lot of footy fans in the country that just prefer to watch the Prem, La Liga, bundesliga or Liga MX for Mexican-American fans.
Alwaystivi .com is definitely a whole vibe for my home cinema. the zapping speed is so fast, feels like i’m using actual premium cable but way better. 100% worth the hype fr, don't sleep on this one guys.
It varies, in Columbus most people know and attend the crew games and they have zero issue filling the stands, while there are a good chunk of other teams that have to basically beg people to go
I don't enjoy watching soccer but I enjoyed playing it, I wouldn't ever watch an MLS game and also have zero interest in the World Cup (I tried a little last time round but it didn't take).
But where I live the team is building a new stadium and is pretty popular, possibly buoyed by interest from immigrants.
In towns with MLS teams it’s pretty big. In places without a team it’s not really thought much about outside of hardcore soccer fans. Personally I love it, but I have a team in my hometown.
I've been a Portland Timbers fan since before they were in the MLS. I have gone to games every year since they joined the league. I watch almost every week during the season. Portland in particular cares about the MLS.
Hell yeah. For two reasons: I find soccer far more entertaining to watch than any other sport (though I will watch an occasional baseball game). And I have a team in my area that I can follow and attend games.
I mean I do. My local team, Chicago Fire, has a pretty good presence in the area and the games are well attended. The team I root for, Charlotte FC, also has a pretty real fan base in NC. It’s definitely nowhere near the big four, but I’d say the league is not totally obscure.
If I am the representation of Americans who watch MLS, the answer is nope. But I don’t like soccer so of course I wouldn’t watch it.
My soccer loving friends though don’t really pay attention to the MLS. They prefer the league in Europe cause the pool talent is better and overall the matches are better, in their opinions.
If you mean the average American, who generally has some idea of the major leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB) , I’d say no ..note I excluded NHL as I don’t believe it has the same level of following as the other 3 (and I say this as someone whose league of choice is NHL) ..I guess you could say that there is a tier system : NFL > MLB > NBA > NHL > MLS …with obvious overlaps in viewership
I actually only watch MLS and never found the higher levels very engaging. I was born and raised in Seattle and the Sounders have been around since before I was born and lots of the players have local connections and I buy into that kind of shit hard. Underappreciated for sure
I think they did pretty well in finding the places that are enthusiastic about supporting a team. Cities like Columbus, Austin, Salt Lake City and Portland have a second (or even first) pro team with MLS. Other smaller cities with already-established pro teams like Kansas City and Cincinnati (go FC!) were perfect homes for soccer. And in the big cities (LA, NYC), there's a lot of support from the Latin and Asian communities that allows them to support TWO teams.
I think MLS can only get better from here. Moving to the European schedule will help them attract better talent (particularly with loans from Premier League teams) and continue to be a last-stop for aging high-profile players like Son, Mueller and (or course) Messi.
No. I believe one of the reasons it won’t grow and get the platform it deserves in the US is due the fact the networks can’t sell a lot of commercials.
MLS is one of the fastest growing sports leagues in America experiencing a three fold growth in franchises in 20 years, and experiencing double digit viewership growth annually (29% in 2025 alone). It is rapidly closing in on the NHL for fourth place in American viewership, and will very likely exceed hockey fan base in the near future.
So, while MLS does not come anywhere close to football or baseball in terms of fanbase, it is becoming quite popular.
It’s pretty localized to areas that actually have a team. It’s also on Apple TV, so you need to be a fan to actually watch. Or those who happen to have Apple TV already might watch.
New England has a team. If you stopped and asked 100 people to name a single player who has ever played for the Revs you would be lucky to find 2 people who could answer. 100 out 100 could do it for the other four sports.
I know those names but I couldn't have told you off the top of my head that they played for the Bruins. Bobby Orr was the only one who came to mind when I thought about it, but I wasn't sure where he'd played.
I live in Columbus, OH. I know our team is The Crew, that we've won the cup a couple of times, including 2 or 3 years ago, and our former coach's name sounds an awfully lot like a certain German political party from 80-90 years ago lol
I know of their existence, but there is absolutely zero marketing or promotion done for the team.
they're fighting upstream against four of the largest and most successful sports franchises in their respective sports for eyeballs. It's been (and always will be) a losing battle for the Revs.
The only people I know who pay any attention to them are second-gen immigrants whose families/culture already love football/soccer, but the kids of the families who feel more culturally American than their parents want an American team to support, as opposed to teams from their home country that they don't have the same connection to as their parents or other family.
Second, I agree with all of this. I have a 10 year old interested in soccer, we picked a premier league team to support before even considering the Revs. Recently I got cheap tickets to a Revs game, first one for me since Gillette was CMGI and it was a lot of fun. Looked at going again and at $60 for a ticket I was out on that idea. I will keep an eye out for cheap tickets but will not pay for apple TV to watch games at home
I don't know what sport the Bruins are. Kevin Garnett? Kevin McHale? Bill Russell? - never heard of them. Larry Bird, know who he is but couldn't tell you what team he played for without looking it up. I know who Wade Boggs are Babe Ruth are but don't know teams.
I can name a Celtics player, at least. Now, if your criteria is "a Celtics player who played in the last 50 years," I'm not so sure - sorry, Bill Russell.
Those leagues are actually legitimately the best in the world unlike the MLS. If you were a basketball fan living in England, Spain, or Italy, would you pay money to stream your local basketball league on Apple TV? Or would you pay money to watch the NBA on Peacock? The answer is self evident. The product matters a lot. And the MLS product is completely inferior.
Seeing as I have never lived in Europe that is an impossible question for me to answer.
And what I was responding to was in reference to MLS’s ability to grow since they are now on Apple TV as opposed to before when they were on a combo of Fox and ESPN (and ESPN+), so it being all in one place where folks know they can go watch it gives it a better chance to grow.
The inferiority of the MLS wasn’t the question, it was if it can grow on Apple TV
Naturally, we agree that the MLS doesn't have the ability to grow as long as it's on AppleTV. Because it's that obvious. And to grow, they don't just need exposure via airwaves the way that the NFL capitalized on. They can't avoid the fact that European Soccer are their direct competitors. It's unambiguously part of the question whether you accept it or not. To compete with the superior European product, they need to be more accessible by being available for free at least for the majority of their games and not paywalled. If the product wasn't so terrible by comparison, then people would have no problem paying for it.
Your comment was removed as it violates Rule 9 which is “Treat the person you are replying to with respect and civility.” It means that your comment either contained an insult aimed at another user or it showed signs of causing incivility in the comments.
Please consider this a warning as repeated violations will result in a ban.
If you have questions regarding your submission removal - please contact the moderator team via modmail.
No leagues are available, in their entirety (if at all), over the air for free.
The realistic alternatives were a smattering of cable networks which makes it even harder to follow the league as a whole than a singular streaming service.
Okay that’s your opinion. I personally find it boring to watch PSG beat everyone due to having more money than god rather than actually needing to compete without money papering away every weakness.
Your elitist attitude also means you’re missing out on college football which as a product is vastly more entertaining than the NFL.
France is a boring league yeah. But the teams are still better than American teams. It's not elitism. It's just a fact. Some people enjoy watching high school football. I don't. I'd rather watch a more quality product like college football (the jokes on you bud) or the NFL.
College football is closer to the NFL than the MLS is to Ligue 1.
Not to mention that in the other major leagues (aside from football), many games are only broadcast on regional sports networks, which is just as exclusive, if not more so, than Apple TV.
Not sure how you figure that NESN is more exclusive than Apple TV. Baseball is the easiest of the sports to watch in major markets. Most games are free on the most basic TV packages, such as NESN.
And how many people don’t have cable television? A lot. NESN isn’t available on services like YouTube TV and Hulu, and while they have a streaming option, it costs $29.99 per month. Apple TV is $12.99 a month and includes non-sports programming. Aside from nationally televised games, the Red Sox are only available on NESN (which, coincidentally, is owned by Fenway Sports) and so the majority of their games aren’t available over the air.
In fact, one of the only ways I could watch the Red Sox legally is if they’re on Friday Night Baseball, which is on Apple TV.
I know for the NHL you can watch out of market games with an ESPN subscription, but local market games are blacked out, meaning you have to pay for the RSN unless it’s on a national broadcast.
There are multiple Premier League matches on NBC/USA every weekend, usually the better teams. All the rest is on Peacock, a pay service. So if you want to watch PL, you can at least watch quite a few matches every weekend.
People might watch matches on NBC for the hell of it, decide they enjoy it, then decide they want to pay to watch all the matches on Peacock.
MLS is 100% behind the Apple TV paywall. That's no way to grow an audience.
As an F1 fan I've considered following the Chicago Fire since I already have Apple TV. Also wtf is up with the name Chicago Fire? That's like calling teams the LA Riots or NY 9/11s.
You have to have the context of having watched MLS for the years prior. No feed was giving more than 720p before Apple. The games were split among as many as 4 different channels and game times were never the same. We'd get preempted for cornhole and little league games on ESPN.
The move to Apple improved the stream quality to a minimum of 1080p and had dedicated viewing times. Even adding a show that follows all the games at once (MLS 360.) It's not perfect but most old MLS fans would say it was an improvement.
Peacock, Paramount Plus and ESPN+ have the European leagues. A random game or two might be on linear TV but thats it. Same with the MLS that shows like 1-2 games a week on linear TV.
The only one that is broadcast with any regularity on linear TV is the Premier League. They usually have some Saturday and Sunday matches on USA and sometimes a match on NBC. Other than that, you can’t rely on linear television to watch any of the other leagues consistently, never mind a particular team.
Exactly. If you want to watch the Premier League in general, you can usually see some matches every weekend. But if you want a specific team every week? You’ll have to pay for Peacock.
I know most of the time when I see a game on tv it’s not MLS. And if I have to pay to watch then I’m going to pay for the top tier league, not a mid tier. Peacock and Paramount are also much more likely to be something you already have access to for free or a good discount through another service you’re already paying for.
European leagues barely air on over the air TV in the US; usually you get the occasional EPL match on NBC and maybe another league on CBS. Cable networks like CBS Sports and USA have coverage as well, but if you want to watch a particular team with any regularity you need to have a streaming subscription.
The Apple TV deal gives MLS the second best broadcasting position in the US, in my opinion. The NFL would be first, since you are guaranteed to have multiple games available over the air every week (Sunday afternoons on CBS/Fox, Sunday night on NBC, and most Monday nights on ABC) and your local team (if you have one) is required to be broadcast over the air, even if it’s a national game on Prime, ESPN, or NFL Network.
The NBA, MLB, and NHL all suck because their broadcast schemes are a hodgepodge of various national cable networks, over the air broadcasters, and regional sports networks, which aren’t available from all cable providers. I can’t watch the Bruins half the time because they’re usually on NESN (which isn’t carried by YouTube TV) and if you don’t have cable at all you can’t watch those games and the ones that air on basic cable like TNT.
At least with MLS, you have the Apple TV subscription and you can watch any match, anywhere. That’s it. Some of the matches aren’t blacked out, some of the matches aren’t only available on a regional sports networks. They’re all on Apple TV, regardless of where you live.
The RSN issue is very real, and was probably the biggest decision maker when deciding what to do when I ditched cable. I ended up with DirecTV Stream, because it’s the only one that carried MSG who carries Devils games, and YES who carry the Yankees. Since those are the two main things I watched on cable, I needed access to both (without paying for the terrible Gotham Sports app, which is absurdly expensive, and as previously stated, terrible).
Apple is by far the highest quality service for live sports stream. Clear, 4k with great color depth. Prime, Netflix and Peacock look like SD by comparison.
It looks good, but that doesn’t really help when it comes to trying to grow the fanbase. They need exposure if they want to grow, and they’re not going to get that when almost all of their games are behind a streaming service paywall. Especially a smaller one like Apple.
I thought it was a really strange move as well. I feel like they were at least on the right track with growth the league. Then they signed with Apple which sounds good on paper. Because you can at least watch every match. But I just don’t feel like this is going to actually get any new viewers.
Just as an example, Austin and San Antonio each only have one pro sports team. Austin has soccer, San Antonio has basketball. Austin mostly rides for the Spurs (although it gets a lot of Houston and North Texas transplants who take those teams). San Antonio does not give much of a crap about Austin FC.
It doesn't help that the names are tacky. This is America. Don't we think we're better than Europe? Why are we copying janky Euro soccer club naming traditions when we could have the Austin Weirdos, the Miami Caribeños, the Salt Lake Prophets, the Philadelphia Money (because they have the mint), the Orlando Thrill.
Last year, I decided to give MLS a try. Not because I am specifically a fan of soccer, but I enjoyed Ted Lasso, Wrexham, and was planning on taking my nephew to a World Cup game this summer, so I thought maybe I should start watching. Nope. Found out that I had for pay for AppleTV (and maybe a premium on top of that) and because my local-ish team was not good, the occasional network game never featured them. So I moved on.
If they could find a way for games not to end at 0-0, 1-0, 2-1, etc so often I might watch. And no I don’t watch hockey either but at least there is more excitement with the hits and smaller playing area. The soccer pitch is just too big with too much running around and not enough scoring.
Real soccer people in the US (often orig from other countries) care about real soccer in EMEA / LATAM. MLS feels more like the champions golf league, full of retirees. This is an outsider perspective as I don’t know about or care about soccer. I just know that MLS makes less revenue than all the rest.
American football reigns supreme by a magnitude of 5 to 1. GO BEARS
No, watch soccer often and follow it closely. MLS is a trash product and quality of the players and the product produced is awful. If ppl like it great but just no thank you for me
Even our soccer fans would rather follow European soccer. Some teams do have good follows like Portland or Miami, but for most fans they just pay for whatever service they need to watch their favorite club in Europe.
I still remember that goal Joveljić scored and how he recreated Keane's celebration. He didn't quite nail it, but the fact he did it at all warmed my heart.
I was never a soccer fan bit went to an Orlando City game last year because a friend had a spare ticket. Got season tickets for this year. I dont really follow like I do MLB and NHL, but really enjoy the games I go to. Even if the team is having a record horrible start this year.
Our MLS team has a cult following but its def not the most popular sport by any means here. I think it's a bigger following then some cities but Philly is also a werid cult city for sports. We'd cheer people climbing up greased poles (litterally) so MLS works here.
No one I know here cares about MLS, and I grew up in an area that was high percentage Latino compared to the rest of the country and thus very big on soccer.
Soccer viewership has been rising in the US according to multiple surveys. But according to those surveys, the English Premier League and Mexicsn league are more popular than the MLS in the US. The MLS I think is mostly watched and attended by fans in cities that have teams. Some neutrals watch it but it's not close to the other sports.
I personally watch US women's soccer because the US is better at women's soccer than most other countries. For men's soccer, I prefer English soccer/ football.
I followed my local MLS team until they moved to that $200 Apple TV subscription. I happened to have ESPN+ which has all La Liga (top Spanish league) intra league games for a lot lower price.
I think MLS moved to AppleTV normal sub which is cool, but I just can’t be bothered to pay for an additional sub to watch a non-competitive product (FC Dallas).
If my team actually cared about at least pretending to try to field a winning product, then I’d happily support by going to a few games.
The club owners don't care about performing good or bad, they have one of the safest investments they could ever ask for. If the MLS moved way from the single entity structure, we would have a better product. I understand it was necessary in the beginning (and the history of why it was necessary) But the league is too big now, and it has too much power. The league owns all of the teams and the player contracts. The teams should be their own separate independent clubs.
MLS wants to keep this closed system because it makes them more money, that's why they want to kill the US Open Cup. Because if that tournament was a success like the FA Cup it would get more eyeballs on the lower leagues and fans would ask for a promotion/relegation system, you cant coast till next season with the fear that you are going to get relegated to a lower division, it produces a better product. But the MLS doesn't care, and they convinced their fans that Pro/Rel is bad.
I’d say as far as team pro sports go, MLS is competing with NHL for #4 behind NFL, MLB, and NBA. They’ve expanded to 30 teams in recent years, which has helped, and they have improved their TV accessibility with their Apple partnership. With the World Cup coming back, I remember what that did for soccer last time. It was basically non-existent here before 1994.
With MLS switching to line up with the global calendar next year, I think it will help pick up more big stars and bring the competitiveness and quality of play closer to that of the main European leagues. But it will take some time.
There 100% is. It frustrates me that so many Americans support other teams when they have a local one. I get most Americans are used to having the best here, but having things here makes it better to me.
I think that VERY much depends on where you are. My city has a competitive MLS team and only a minor league hockey team. The MLS team is way more popular than any hockey team. Areas with deep NHL roots would be the opposite. Overall I’d say it evens out. To another’s point, MLS attendance is higher on average but I’d venture a guess that NHL TV viewership is higher.
You are correct. I’d say NHL capacity is higher but MLS has more fans in stands on average. MLS also has less than half the games so it’s more “scarce.”
I would say that both the NBA and MLS are lost in the US, but at least the MLS is gaining ground. My last company had Tix to the Commanders, Capitals, Nats, Wizards and United.
Commander's and Caps Tix were always an easy take. Nats and DC United were OK but we couldn't give away the Wizards Tix for anything.
I do watch MLS as a soccer fan. But I know many soccer fans don’t. Americans are used to the best players playing here. That isn’t the case for soccer. My opinion is it is best to watch local as I can meet them.
I do FCSD had a pretty strong inaugural season but it's a pretty fringe major sport in most to the country. You probably will find more people that are into F1 then MLS,
I do watch MLS but don’t “love it” yet because Detroit is not in it. At times I have liked Portland, Toronto, and New England but am not really passionate about those teams. I like watching Inter Miami because Messi plays for them and he’s a great footballer. I also enjoyed when Beckham played for LA Galaxy.
I’m glad that the MLS games are included with Apple TV this season so i can watch more. Last year i didn’t care enough to pay for the extra package.
Currently I’m more interested in USL Championship because Detroit competes in that league.
I'm sure there are a few. I don't know any. I know people who watch football, hockey, basketball, baseball, tennis, golf... soccer just isn't that popular around here.
I honestly clicked on here bc I didn’t know for sure what mls was. I’m a sports fan and I enjoyed watching my kids play youth soccer but otherwise not a fan.
Some, but it is definitely not the same level following as NFL or MLB. Personally I've attended I think two games ever and they were both like 20 years ago.
I mean, nothing compares to the NFL in the United States. A more fair comparison would be the other 3 major leagues NHL, NBA, and MLB which average around 2, 4, and 6 million on average. MLS is still a distant fifth but the gap between NFL and the other big leagues is even bigger.
This stuff is hyper local of course, but do people actually watch baseball? My city has MLS but no MLB or NFL and while everyone watches football, people definitely talk about soccer more than baseball. I don’t think I know anyone under the age of 60 who follows baseball.
There are definitely places in the US where baseball is still huge, and it’s actually growing again. NY for example is, and always has been, a baseball town.
That makes sense, I’ve lived in SLC for the past ten years and baseball just isn’t part of the conversation. Like every now and then you’d take the kids to a minor league game but then they moved the stadium out to the suburbs.
Actually there’s talk of Salt Lake getting a MLB team which would be pretty cool. I used to love going to Braves and Red Sox games when I lived in Atlanta and Boston.
The pitch count rules help out a lot, the game just feels a lot snappier. It honestly feels weird to see baseball be the sport that’s trying to adapt rules the most.
Being 1st generation American to European parents who love soccer, as a kid I watched the premier league and LaLiga every weekend morning with my dad but never heard or cared about MLS. Though I did recently just move to a city with an MLS club and very much intend on going and becoming a fan.
Not all of us. We don't have a local team, so no point to watch the league. Even the times I've tried, it's just not up to the level I'm used to watching in Europe.
I feel like if you have a team to support you might be really into it. Even then, I only watch my team and nothing else (in the MLS) except for closer to the end of season I might watch games of teams around mine in the table. I’m a Philadelphia Union fan and with their disappointing season so far, it’s even a chore to just watch their games. 😬
MLS as a let me tune into a random game and check it out is kind of a crapshoot. There can be good entertaining matchups and there can be totally boring slogs with poor play in low attendance situations and no atmosphere. As a former season ticket holder it was always difficult to get random friends to come and even then, I never knew if I was bringing them to a good game to experience or not.
I’ll add that a lot of people inside and outside if MLS fandom think that pro/rel would help the league and maybe it would for viewership. As an Aston Villa fan (by marriage) I once toasted champagne with my in-laws when Villa managed to not get relegated at the end of a season. Haha. I suppose that was exciting.
Unfortunately in US sports with how teams/franchises are established and run. Relegation would possibly kill a franchise.
I’ll be honest I know more people into European leagues than MLS, granted if you have a home team it’s not so much the case Atlanta instantly became obsessed with Atlanta United
Do I? No, but I’m not that into sports in general. But, soccer is definitely becoming a thing here. All the kids who grew up playing it are growing up to become fans! American Football is still the big thing, of course.
Even the people I know who are serious sports fans don't usually care about pro soccer; even the people I know who are into pro soccer specifically don't usually follow American pro soccer.
I try every year to get into it. I love the European domestic leagues, Champions League, and any international competition, but I just can't get into MLS. For some reason it feels like the entire league was created for the backstory of a soccer movie. Like whenever someone tries to make a film on American Football and they create fake teams, uniforms, etc...
Never feels like the games are that important, the caliber of skill is below what I want to watch, and the atmospheres are well-below what you can find in the NFL, CFB, CBB, NBA, MLB, and NHL
Not a huge fan but I will go to a few MLS and NWSL games cause they are close by, cheap, and really fun live. I only watch on TV if the local team made the playoffs
I am not a big sports person, but MLS and MLB are the only two sports I actually enjoy watching. I just don't have the mental bandwidth to follow them closely.
Personally no and idk anyone who does, even my soccer loving friends. Mostly it’s the big 3 (NFL, NBA, MLB). Even NHL gets talked about more than the MLS.
I would say most Americans have an "Oh, right, that also exists" attitude toward MLS. The big four professional spectator sports in the US are football, baseball, basketball, and hockey in that order. MLS doesn't really factor into most conversations about pro sports. I would wager most Americans could not name the MLS team closest to them.
Americans play soccer, but it isn't followed as a professional sport by most.
Not really. Some do. The fans are mostly limited to those who live near a team. For most Americans, soccer is still "foreign" and the MLS has done a poor job of making it appealing to Americans who aren't enmeshed in soccer culture. The league is called "Major League Soccer" but then there are teams calling themselves "football" clubs. There are some other team names that are really odd to an American who doesn't know about soccer culture. "Real Salt Lake", "Sporting Kansas City", "Inter Miami" are not in line with greater sports culture in the US, but are more in line with the international soccer culture. For soccer fans, that's great. They're getting to participate at home in what they wish they could participate in abroad. But for the average American, it's frankly kind of weird how US soccer culture is trying so hard to imitate foreign soccer culture (other examples are the chants and why are people wearing scarves?) instead of growing an organic soccer culture here. If the MLS wants to grow it's brand it needs to let American soccer find it's own identity, rather than try to artificially impose a foreign sports culture here.
Caveat to all of this is that I am not a soccer fan. These are all criticisms from an outside perspective.
Speaking as someone who’s lived in the us my whole life, I love the game. I’ve been to more games in person in Europe than I have watched a full mls matches on TV. Just can’t get into it.
Typical game viewership is 250k/game, less than 0.1% of Americans. That makes it 1/4 the size of hockey, the smallest of the traditional leagues in the US.
It depends on the city. FC Atlanta, LAFC, and Inter Miami all have passionate fan bases, and Seattle can fill an NFL stadium for a home match. People who love it, love it. But a lot of cities, especially strong NFL cities, have a harder time. But it's growing, little by little. I expect the world cup and the launch of the second top flight league with traditional pro-rel (USL Premier) in 2028 will bring in new fans.
Some cities have a lot of local support for their team, some don't.
Occasionally you have a team do really well and that generates additional support, but they're often in last place ratings wise against Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Hockey.
We don’t watch MLS often unless there’s a friendly. I don’t root for the US National team often. During WC I’m always pulling for The Netherlands, Belgium, and Mexico.
My nephew is a Liverpool fan so we tend to watch the Premier League. I’m a fan of PSV Eindhoven so we try and catch as many Eredivisie games as possible.
People who are into soccer usually follow it, though I bet TV viewership is higher for the Premier League honestly. And at least 80 percent of Americans probably never pay attention to it at all.
No, it's a vey niche sport. It's becoming slightly more popular, but still not even a blip on the radar.
For reference, I'm an American who loves soccer. I watch the English PL literally every weekend, and I've traveled to watch some matches in London. I never/rarely watch MLS, even though I have a local team.
I'm much more interested in the USL, both because my state's team is in the USLC, but also because I like the league better than the big cities-only, commercialized and money-focused MLS
I watch it but only my team. Because there is no pyramid system I feel as if most games “don’t count” for me as I have no skin in anything but my own teams games.
But I will watch any premier league or championship game just for fun
Soccer generally isn't big here. It is growing in interest, but it is far behind other professional sports like football, basketball, baseball, and hockey
No, it’s still a small market and doesn’t really get national attention. I follow sports and watch/listen to sports shows… I can’t even tell you who the good MLS teams are, when they have the championship or who the best players are. It’s just doesn’t come up in US sports media
I watch the euro cup, World Cup, copa America, etc. When I first started watching these, I said to myself, damn soccer is sick I need to watch more. I watched 3 NE Revolution games and it just is not the same and I stopped. My younger cousins who are huge into soccer watch it though. They prefer the premier and champions league though.
It's the database where houses for sale are listed, Multiple Listing Services. That's where Zillow and such get their information from, and where your real estate agent posts your house's info to make it available to buyers
Which is a little ironic, real estate is what is making the clubs rich, they don't care if they have a team that plays well or not, because there is no consequence to play poorly because there is no relegation system in place. So they build these 18k-30k seat stadiums near major cities and they watch their investments grow. If their MLS team doesn't sell enough tickets, that doesn't matter the calendar will fill up with other events such as concerts, festivals, rugby matches, international matches and college football games.
Audi Field in DC cost about $450mil to build and it has already doubled in value since it was built in 2018.
I wonder if they love it or hate it? It makes it easy for buyers to pre-select the homes they want to see, but it also makes agents less essential to the process.
I stopped watching the MLS in 2011 when I bought my house. I’d been waiting since 2003 for the market to correct, and boy, did it ever correct (in my favor).
I support the Revolution to an extent. My wife and I have a season membership with her parents. We go to a handful of matches every season. It’s fine.
But we support Arsenal primarily. We both found the club as teenagers and then eventually met watching Arsenal in Boston in our 20s.
The Revs are something she enjoyed as a kid. I like that we have something we can do with her parents that we all enjoy. But I absolutely hate the way the Revs go about getting people into their stadium. It has absolutely made me consider pulling out of the membership. Majority of the tickets in our section are disinterested youth soccer players and their awful suburbanite parents who spend the match taking pictures of their kids and arguing about who gets to drink in the second half. The Apple TV situation hasn’t helped.
The folks who have supported that club from the beginning deserve so much more, but the club’s priority, from my perspective, is and has been the “kids,” which is to say the priority is the kids’ parents money. It’s all so embarrassing.
Its not a good product, I hate how the league owns the teams, and there how there is no Pro/Rel. Die hard fans are obnoxious, they get real sensitive about any type of criticism of the league or about your club. It kind of feels like the die hard fans never were accepted into a group before and they found the MLS and its their special place with other unique misfits, so any kind of criticism they feel is a reflection of them personally, so they defend a shitty league and shitty owners who are comfortable missing out on the playoffs for an entire decade. You don't create a good product when there is no consequences of losing, one of the most exciting aspects of the PL right now is the relegation battle. And the stupid fucking league is trying to kill the oldest tournament this country has by not participating and by playing their C-Team. The MLS realized that if these other leagues would perform well against MLS clubs in the US Open Cup then that would make the fans want to merge leagues and form a proper football/soccer pyramid because of how popular the tournament was. But they chose to give the tournament almost zero coverage, they want to control the money and force the new leagues cup onto us so that they can push the other leagues out from the eyeballs of the public, and the USSF is just as much to blame for that. But all of the words they are saying are just to PROTECT THE CLOSED FRANCHISED MODEL of the MLS, meaning, protect billionaires and their investments. But the fans are too fucking brainwashed and will regurgitate exactly what the owners want, its such a fucked up system and the fanbase is swarmed with pussies who just accept what is going on or defend the actions of the league and the clubs.
With that being said, I live near DC and DC United is run like complete shit, and if the owners actually gave a single fuck about building a winning franchise or at least one that was competitive, I would love to go watch my local team. Fuck Jason Levien, you don't deserve a safe and comfortable investment.
I have never met someone who was openly a fan of the MLS, and I am from an area that has a team. They have fans because I can see them in the stadium, I just dont know who they are.
It has its fans and is growing, but it is way behind the “big 4” pro sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL), and behind NCAA (college) football and basketball, too.
The big 4 of American pro sports are the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL. Throw in college sports and MLS is way behind all of them. I’m from the New York area and we have 2 MLS teams in the area. I’m not alone in not having seen a game or being able to name a player on either team. The NFL owns sundays during the season. People religiously follow their baseball, basketball or hockey team. Soccer doesn’t have that appeal here. Soccer is growing exponentially as a youth sport (maybe as a pro sport?) but it’s going to be a long time until it’s on par with the big 4 leagues.
I don't know anyone who watches it. I even live 5 minutes from a stadium of an MLS team and I can't think of anyone I know who has been to a game there.
MLS is locked behind Apple TV streaming and is very inaccessible for casual growth, so only some soccer fans or people living near MLS teams really care about it. I went to an MLS game in Atlanta and the atmosphere was electric. It was at the Falcon's NFL stadium, and it was packed.
I mean you don't have to love it, but the fact that it has 5 billion fans means there's something exciting about it. No, it's not just because it's cheap to play, because it's the most popular sport in most rich countries too.
I can understand why someone who lives in the US where no elite men's soccer exists wouldn't be into soccer. If you've watched something like the UEFA Champions League finals, you might understand. We watch soccer not just because of goals. The quality of passes, not giving up possession for long stretches despite being chased by 10 people, dribbles, acrobatic saves etc. All these are super impressive and they happen very consistently at the elite level of soccer. Besides, manipulating objects accurately with feet is more impressive than with hands.
I'm American but having extensively traveled to Europe and Africa, I understand the appeal of soccer.
Nah, most are Premier League or La Liga fans, myself included. Most American sports fans enjoy watching the highest level of the sport which is why most basketball fans watch the NBA but not the G League or Euroleague. There’s also no relegation which kills it for most soccer fan.
MLS probably would attract more fans if was put on over-the-air broadcasts instead of streaming services and some prime time games during the week wouldn’t hurt
I do but it is not very popular in the grand scheme of things.
MLS has a great community and the people who are into it are very passionate but it just hasn’t hit the mainstream enough yet.
Messi will bring all of a town’s soccer fans out of the woodwork when Miami plays there but week to week, it’s nowhere near the level of interest of other sports.
Have you watched the English Premier League? It's definitely not "slow". The Spanish league might be slow though. The pace definitely depends on the style of play.
Yes. I love EPL and have been a City supporter for 15 years or so. I watch most games Saturday and Sunday mornings and weekday afternoons when I can. Champions league, FA cup League cup ( CITY!) They asked about MLS which compared to all European soccer is very plodding and slow.
I’ve tried numerous times to watch either MLS, Premier League or the World Cup. For me, it’s pleasant enough to have on in the background but I just don’t find the sport exciting.
To answer the question, sort of. I’m a huge soccer fan and since I’ve recently moved to a city with an MLS team I sort of follow it a little bit. But my main team that I support is in France.
However I’ve discovered recently that while the MLS is pretty cool, the real gold is in the USL (Championship, League 1, League 2) — aka the de facto lower leagues of American soccer. Real proper grassroots fan culture down there beneath the surface. Look into Portland Hearts of Pine, Vermont Green FC, etc if you’re curious.
Some do, but they are probably the more hardcore soccer fans. I have a co-worker who watches it, but that's probably the only person I know personally that watches it.
Just can't get into guys running around a field to a 0-0 or 1-0 score. Watching the flop around when someone hits them like they've been ran over by a car. Ive got much better sports to watch.
I don’t know a single person who does. Women’s soccer (the national team, at least) is much more respected here because they actually win. I couldn’t name an American male soccer player with a gun to my head.
I think what’s gonna hurt them more than they realize is moving to match the European calendar.
As someone who is a fan of an out of market team (sadly DC United because I lived there for 20 years and wanted a local team to root for) I can’t attend games in person often, but I watch most of them live.
When I have to choose between College Football and MLS, MLS is gonna lose every time.
It’s one thing to go up against summer baseball games that you generally can miss and it matters less, it’s another to go up against the NFL for your Sunday afternoon games and Saturday night college football for the first 4 months of your season.
There’s a lot of crossover between football and soccer fans and most will choose football each time.
Yeah I’m curious how the schedule change will shake out. I’m going to miss summer soccer.
I think the idea is that MLS and NFL are going to overlap either way. So they’re choosing to overlap early season games with NFL rather than the playoffs. Because as it stands MLS playoffs can’t command an audience in early/mid December when it’s bowl season for CFB and playoff push for NFL.
I think in 2024, the MLS Cup Final was on the same day as the CFB Championship, and they just don’t want that anymore lol
There are 350 million people in the United States. Or course some watch and love MLS. There wouldn’t be 30 teams and national television deals if people didn’t watch and love it.
I think the Americans in this thread should read your comment. I get that it’s kinda the point of this subreddit, but so many people’s answers boils down “well I don’t, so that must mean no one does.”
Soccer fans in cities with MLS teams watch and buy tickets and some of those teams sell out NFL stadiums. So yes, it's popular, but it's still the fifth most popular pro sports league, firmly behind the NBA/NHL/MLB. It's also not even the most popular soccer league on TV. The EPL and Liga MX both get better TV ratings (and did even before MLS moved to Apple TV)
Took my family to watch the Sounders for about 30 bucks a ticket. Great atmosphere, game wasn't all that great but it was a blast. Not a huge "football" fan but the experience in the stadium was way better than the Seattle Kraken (NHL). Those fans were horrible.
I'll be downvoted by MLS fans, but not really, no.
One of the reasons is the MLS started to go the European route in regards to team names, logos, uniforms, etc.
The average American or Canadian is used to stuff like the Detroit Pistons or the Toronto Maple Leafs with cool team names and logos, with uniforms to match. "Generic city soccer club" with a big ass advertisement on the jersey just turns people off of even giving the MLS a chance.
I worked for a marketing company and was part of a project doing studies on sports and we got a lot of feedback on that.
I don't think you're wrong, it sort of gives crappy knockoff vibes.
I think a big part is no promotion/relegation. There's no reason to invest in a team when you'll make the same money playing mediocre every year. It's the same with a lot of American sports but somehow seems worse with the MLS because soccer fans are used to the concept. So it ends up just being a bit of a retirement league (even though there is some talent being developed). The only marketing my local team is doing is for a game with Inter Miami to watch Messi play, not even for their own team lol.
Also anecdotally when I used to go to MLS games more often it just seemed super "family friendly" which kind of seems like a miss because other sports in the US aren't really like that.
Aside from the match day experience it's also impossible to watch because it's only on Apple TV.
When I lived in Omaha I followed the local team, went to a couple games. Had a good time. Since I moved I haven't followed since. NFL and F1 take up enough of my time.
I engage MLS the same way I engage every other sport (MLB, NFL, NBA, etc…): if it’s on tv, I don’t care and it’s not worth my time; if I’m watching in-person, I am 100% dedicated and a borderline obnoxious fan of my home team. There is no middle.
on tv? not really, no BUT i will tell you this: i live in portland, within walking distance from providence park where the timbers (and nwsl’s thorns) play, and have gotten people who never pay attention or even care about soccer to go to games with me on multiple occasions and they always have a blast. i think americans just love going to sporting events.
honestly, i feel like people just love their home teams rather than the actual league.
I hate the Timbers, but I can’t lie, the games and the supporters always look fun af. One of these days I gotta get up there when Galaxy is playing them haha
with the way they’ve been playing, i hate them too lol
come out! the atmosphere is always awesome at providence park whether it’s the timbers or the thorns playing
As a rule, not really. It's grown greatly over my lifetime, but is still pretty small in comparison to the other big major league sports. I'd say most of the popularity is due to the increase in Hispanic families immigrating to the US.
I've never watched more than a few seconds at a time of MLS, even though I have a local MLS Club. But I've spent hours at a time watching MLB, NFL, NHL, and NBA games over the years. That said, I also haven't watched much sports since the Cubs won their last World Series.
Put simply, no. Premiere league is substantially more watched than MLS and that is still well behind all the major American Leagues. Not to say there are fans and a healthy league, but it’s still a great distance behind.
Quite niche. Most Americans don't care about it and don't watch it and have no opinion on it at all. Those that do watch it tend to be very into it. A vocal and very online minority of soccer fans in the US actively hate the league and won't shut up about it. They also usually hate other more popular North American sports.
I watch all my home games. I just like sports so I watch all major leagues. I’m not a soccer fan in general though. It’s not talked about. Not even played in most bars IIRC. I’ll check next time
It’s definitely growing, especially with the Messi hype lately, but it still takes a backseat to the NFL and NBA for most people. The local stadium vibes are usually great, even if the general TV viewership isn't at European league levels yet.
No, my children played soccer at the YMCA when they were 4, that's about the extent of my viewing experience. I enjoy football, baseball, college basketball, and cheerleading.
I consider myself a pretty big sports fan. I’ve watched one MLS game in my life, because the team my step brother likes (sounders) was in the final. I’m much more likely to watch la liga or premier league, and even more likely than that to watch the World Cup.
I’m American. I’ve watched EPL for a long time. Have been to a Tottenham Hotspur home game. Love World Cup and Champion’s League. I live in Los Angeles with two MLS teams.
The fan base is very young. Not sure what that means about the future. If the young fans stay with it, there could be a lot of money in 20 years once they get disposable income.
The Apple TV deal makes it global without blackouts on a single platform.
The quality has its honest arguments but there is something to be said for a league with parity. It is improving and some youth programs are world class. Those world class players skip the league though or moonlight. I think Cavin Sullivan will be sent off to England soon.
There are some cities where it genuinely slaps. Atlanta, Miami, Nashville, Seattle are just a few examples. Atlanta has sold 70k seats before hitting its attendance on competitive levels with some of the biggest teams in the world.
They also own their stadiums. The growth potential is pretty wild.
I do, I'm a huge DCU fan and so are my best friends but MLS fans are unfortunately few and far between in my experience
Even Americans who DO watch soccer rwjd to watch premier or Liga and sometimes Liga MX
I've def seen it grow since messi and an influx of kids wearing inter Miami jerseys but overall I can't say it's super popular where I'm from rn, in Cali and Portland tho I've heard it's a different story
Just the Sounders. I think most people watching MLS have their teams, but wouldn’t go out of their way to watch some random game the same way people will watch any matchup on the sunday night nfl game.
It's pretty popular here in the Portland, Oregon area, but otherwise it's pretty niche. I lived in New England for most of my life and I rarely saw New England Revs posters hanging up in bars or restaurants. It's ALL over the place here in Portland for the Timbers.
No, we have a far more entertaining version of soccer called hockey. It’s faster paced, more physical, and has far more scoring chances. Oh and also the players don’t flop to the ground and fake injuries every 30 seconds.
Different strokes for different folks I guess, personally I don’t care to watch grown men roll around on the ground pretending to be hurt, just for the final score to be a 0-0 tie.
Really enjoyed going to RSL games when I liked in Salt Lake. My wife and I had season tickets for several years. It was pretty cool to see David Beckham in little old Sandy, Utah.
I’m a huge soccer fan and have coached at a very high level in youth academy soccer… to answer your question, outside of pockets surrounding SOME mls teams, not really. At least it’s more entertaining than baseball.
We're now in the second season for our local USL League 1 teams and they're sold out for the rest of the year. There's definitely interest in soccer, but even the diehard fans in our city couldn't give two shits about the Revolution. I hear way more about Premier League than anything else.
I don’t know the answer to that specific question, but soccer is definitely getting more popular. I saw a report that said we now watch more pro soccer than pro baseball nationally, but that included international soccer too.
Personally, I do think it’s a different experience here than around the world. I live part time in Medellin Colombia and going to the Atletico Nacional games is the best live sports experience I’ve had. MLS games don’t have the same atmosphere or energy.
No. Majority of soccer fans watch other leagues like Prem or La liga and champions league. I’d go as far as saying MLS is the fourth or fifth most popular soccer league in the country. If it weren’t for the league making an effort to pay for superstars like Messi, it would be even less popular.
MLS is the 5th largest league by viewership in the US, behind baseball. Personally I'm a big fan and you'll find it quite popular in cities with established teams.
3.7m is total for a weekend alate if games, not per game. It looks like average per game was 120k on Apple. I'm sure other tv partners brought those numbers up but no where near 1.3m
MLS has too many teams and not enough stars. The result is nobody wants to watch 2 random out of market teams on tv. So you can’t sell it the same as the NBA or NFL. But individual cities go crazy for it when the local club is winning. They need to embrace that and find a way to market it.
Makes sense. My grandfather was Canadian so my dad has always been a huge hockey fan and i grew up going to games with him. Any time he’s visiting a US (or canadian) city and its hockey season he goes out of his way to go to a hockey game. In LA the Kings definitely have a big fanbase (much more niche than the lakers or dodgers but still decent size) but I’m always surprised when someone I know casually mentions going to the MLS games or having season tickets for one of the teams. I feel like more people i know go to the MLS games than NHL at this point (also has two LA teams though). The MLS games just aren’t that exciting for me.
Cities that have an MLS team have core supporters that are true die-hard love their team fans. For the vast majority of American sports fans they don't think about the MLS at all. In terms of TV viewership it's the third most watched soccer league in the US.
Noooo. Haha. I’m fairly positive toward soccer compared to most Americans, and I’ve been to zero games. Maybe I’ll watch part of a broadcast game once or twice a year. But honestly, no one gives a shit. I can’t believe the league manages continued existence.
I'm assuming you are talking about Major League Soccer.
I did.
Then they pay-walled the league behind AppleTV+.
So I'll watch the hell out of the World Cup and as much Premier League as I am awake for. Until MLS becomes more accessible, I'm relegated to watching via tweets.
The following is, put harshly, pathetic compared to other major sports. The Super Bowl is an unfair example but just to paint the picture, avg viewer of 100m+ compared to under 1 million for MLS cup.
The Crew are popular here in Columbus but I honestly think its more of a city pride thing. I don’t think anyone outside of the hardcore fans actually care about the product on the field
I would if I could watch my local team more, but since most of my team is in Apple TV, I instead watch Premier League soccer.
It's kinda sad that the MLS is in its 30th year of play as a professional league, the top soccer league in the USA, and still hasn't caught up to the quality of the soccer in the rest of the world.
I live in Miami and watch Inter when I can, but anyone who has ever watched a single second of EPL, La Liga, or Bundesliga knows how much lower the level of quality in MLS is
Even having Messi and the MLS best top to bottom roster doesn’t make the quality any better. Straight unwatchable dog shit.
Despite soccer being the 4th most popular sport in the US, almost tied with baseball for 3rd, the MLS is the 5th most popular league, with a large gap between it ant the NHL.
Not anywhere close to the amount they love the other big sports. But it's slowly growing, and MLS won't fold now, they have a solid product that can buy and sell from Europe. So it will continue growing in the future.
I would say it’s very location dependent and kind of tied to your ethnicity/culture. I would argue that here in SoCal our two MLS teams (LAFC and LA Galaxy) attract more attention than the LA Kings, but then again I’m biased since a lot of my friends are Latino, but then again again LA is a predominantly Latino area which ties it back to the location thing
Good, fun league with lots of talent. Been a Quakes supporter since 2014. Don’t watch matches live mainly cause the Quakes are historically horrible and the Apple TV deal makes it hard.
We watch....I watch it and like it. Not as much as american football (college and professional) or baseball or hockey (watched LONG before the Olympics) but yes, it is enjoyable, it's catching on and a lot of fun to attend.
Do I wish more of us would watch MLS or soccer (football) in general, absolutely!
Do I think the World Cup will be successful? Yes, I think many many people around the world will be surprised at the energy and excitement Americans will bring to the tournament.
my take as a person that doesn't care about sports is that compared to the big 4 sports (football, baseball, basketball, and hockey) virtually no one cares about mls. hearing the general goings ons of the big 4 is pretty much unavoidable, and I never hear anyone talk about mls. hell, if I hear someone talking about soccer, it's usually about a foreign league like the premier League.
Not really, most of the nation prefers gridiron (American) football. Basketball is a close second, with baseball trailing behind. Hockey is also semi-popular, my family followed a local hockey team when I was a kid. But of all the sports games I went to or watched on TV, I think I only ever saw one soccer game, and it was when I was ten and my parents wanted to try something different.
Yes. It's not as big as baseball, gridiron football, or basketball. But MLS has a huge following, and football in general does as well. Our local stadium routinely has exhibition matches from other counties and there are tons of football bars that show La Liga, Champions, Premier League, and Liga MX games.
I love MLS, people love to hate on it because it's American in a very non-American sport
The quality obviously isn't on the level of top European leagues but it's still really fun to watch and has grown an insane amount since I started following in 2008
Watch? I mean….if I’m looking for background noise for my cat or I’m just kinda browsing here or working on putting together some miniatures I will put it on Apple TV. Baseball and it occupy a murky area where I don’t really follow or watch it like I do football or basketball, but I do find it entertaining some what and would rather have something like that on than whatever is on the local channels at the time.
Love? No, my friend. I can tell you what I do love to watch though. The Dallas Cowboys. I love watching them play and pretending it’s 30 years ago and they were actually kicking ass! The first professional sports team I ever remember watching on TV, and the start of a lifelong love of the gridiron(and 98 minutes of commercials in a three and a half hour long broadcast apparently).
I LOVE the way the NBA sets up their commercial breaks. I get an hour+ of squeaking shoes and jukes and flops at a time. I’m starting to wonder if my wife doesn’t turn on the game some times just to have a couple of hours to herself XD
I watch and love the Premiere League. My hometown got a MLS team recently and I would go to their games if I still lived there. But I don’t, and so I don’t follow MLS at all
Most people would be hard pressed to name the nearest MLS team, if they could name any at all. Same with players. I dont know who the biggest star in MLS is, and I bet 95% of Americans dont either.
Yea that makes sense. We play against Liga MX a lot, and always ends up feeling like it’s a home game for them whenever like Chivas, Cruz Azul or América come around haha
In my hometown (Kansas City) soccer is huge, both men’s and women’s. Our MLS team has historically been pretty good but right now they suck ass. Still love them though. I was sitting behind the goal during PK’s when we won the 2013 MLS Cup.
Our women’s team has the first purpose-built women’s soccer stadium in the country!
Canadian popping my head in. I went to a MLS game in Seattle a while back and it was very high energy. I’ve not been to an NFL game before but I’d imagine they are an order of magnitude larger.
I watch Premier League, Champions League, some Europa League, even throw in a little Bundesliga, but MLS is football cosplay. I don't know anyone who watches it.
I am American and watch some EPL and Champions League but will not watch the MLS. Why would I watch inferior players when I can watch better ones? It would be like watching Arena League Football instead of the NFL.
My kids were soccer players and we got into watching the Chicago Fire a lot. Nowadays the games aren’t on regular cable, so I have lost interest in the league.
I was going to say how much I love to look at real estate listings even though I’m not in the market for a home, but I see you might mean soccer. If so, no, it’s completely outside of the realm of my awareness.
Well, you don't have to watch it. But I think it having 5 billion fans means there must be something to it. And no, I don't want to hear "it's cheap to play". It's also the most popular sport in just about every other rich country.
I don't really watch sports, but my dad is a big soccer fan and watches all the games and a bunch of other leagues, especially South American leagues since he knows Spanish. Been to a bunch of home games with him and it's always fun
No, I love soccer and regularly go to USL games but MLS has got to be the biggest rip off in terms of attending sports games. Its low quality competition in high quality stadiums so most of what youre paying for is the stadium experience, not the sport.
I love soccer and grew up loving the world cup and international competitions, and going to Dallas Burn --> FC Dallas games. However, ever since you could easily stream games from Europe I much prefer watching those leagues. Also fuck the owners of FC Dallas they know what they did.
Only a small percentage of Americans. The ones that watch it love it, but soccer is maybe the 5th most popular sport in the US. A lot of Americans actively dislike soccer which is kind of weird. I personally mostly watch European football, though I do watch Loons and some Miami matches in MLS.
Seriously tho they get decent attendance and viewership but not great. Most stadiums have 15k to 25k seats and sell a good amount of spots. (there are a few massive stadiums but those aside) I looked it up and they averaged 3.7 millions viewers a week last year. Which isn't terrible. But the nfl averaged 19 million soo....
I'm a season ticket holder for a local team and have been for 17 years. When we were good it was standing room only 20k a week. Now that we suck I bet its closer to 15k.
19 million a week? Sunday night football, a single game averaged over 23 million viewers per week. For the week you're talking over 100 million viewers.
There are enough fans that attendance is pretty good at the games themselves. But the TV contract is pretty garbage. Owning an MLS team isn't making millionaires into billionaires or billionaires into multi-billionaires like owning an NFL or NBA team does. It's a vanity project that depends almost solely on the actual box office with a little bit of extra from the other revenue streams.
I’m a huge soccer fan, have been for 20+ years. If I didn’t have a local MLS team in my city, I probably wouldn’t follow MLS all that closely. But I do, so I have season tickets and have gone to almost every single home game for the last 10 years!
Well in my city the stadium is downtown and everytime there's a game I see loads of people walking to the stadium so I'd say it's pretty popular but not as popular as American football and Basketball
I do, it is the sport and league that matters most to me. My club in Cincinnati routinely sells out and has a great atmosphere with singing and chants.
I would say the passion is deep, but not broad. It takes time and skews young. We probably need a solid twenty years to see more and more sides get entrenched in their cities the way other major four team sport leagues have.
For a period of time, I followed MLS quite closely and was a fan of the New England Revolution as I live in that area of the country
One problem for me was that I lived quite far from the stadium. The team plays at, but I still try to get to a few games a season and watched a lot of of the games on TV.
But I kind of burned out from it after a while as the revolution had a period of success, but kept losing in the finals
And then I sort of slowly drifted back to following hockey around the time the Bruins ended up winning the Stanley Cup in 2011 so my interest in watching MLS faded at the time and I hardly watch it anymore
I do, and I go to several matches a year, but I'm definitely in the minority.
More American soccer fans are into the Premier League than MLS. Actually there are more Americans watching the PL every weekend than English people watching it.
I like soccer but football, baseball, basketball and hockey are far above it. Really enjoy hockey and football the most. Soccer is growing in the US but nothing is comparable to football in the US.
I like and watch MLS, but only because I grew up loving soccer, mostly due to my Mexican heritage on my Mom's side, as soccer/football is massive in Latin America. Soccer is reasonably big in America, fueled a lot from the immigrant communities here that come from places where the sport is very popular. I know a lot of people at my school watched and played it, but a lot of them are usually 1st & 2nd generation immigrants.
Although it's reasonably popular especially among those demographics and younger people, the biggest leagues in America are still the Premier League, which NBC has done a great job making reasonably known here, the UCL, which CBS has done a good job with too, and Liga MX, which is fueled from the Mexican diaspora here in America.
The Mexican National Team and other national teams like Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, will sellout NFL stadiums. Real Madrid vs Barcelona or Liverpool vs Man United friendlies will get massive crowds. But MLS is less talked about and the USMNT doesn't attract fans very well. Soccer has a respectable presence in America, but most fans are concentrated in certain demographics and care more about European or Latin American leagues.
I love it myself but it's really hard to watch on tv since most games appear to only be on Apple tv and as a #NeverApple kind of guy that makes watching difficult.
MLS needs an influx of money to attract more top quality players. The money comes from a major TV contract which is driven by more viewership due to top quality players. And that’s why it’s stuck in neutral.
Not many do. It’s popular in a few cities and is otherwise pretty niche. It’s still neck and neck with the EPL for most watched soccer league in the US.
NFL, NBA, MLB, college football, and NHL are all more popular than MLS or EPL.
That’s not including sports that aren’t overall popular, but have big events that are pooular. College basketball is big right now during March Madness, but nobody cares at all about its regular season. The golf majors have lost a lot of popularity post-Tiger, but I think they still do okay. And then the Olympics, of course.
I’m not sure where UFC and motor sports fit in.
It’s surprisingly difficult to get concrete numbers comparing the viewership of all these sports.
Anecdotally, where I’m at in Texas, football is by far king. NFL and college are easily the top two most talked about sports, and they’re the two I follow most closely. I think MLB seems to be coming back a bit whereas everyone seems to hate the NBA right now.
I found some data that says 13% of Americans follow MLS.
52% NFL
42% NBA
31% MLB (and dropping)
9% NHL
27% follow soccer in general, so MLS definitely struggles to compete with leagues abroad. USL is growing fast too and could shake things up here with promotion/relegation.
Messi coming to MLS increased viewership no doubt. You can also watch all MLS matches with an Apple TV subscription, so lots of people have access to the matches, but unfortunately soccer is just not that popular at the pro level in the US. Maybe the upcoming World Cup will be a force multiplier for MLS, but US fans demand excellence, so it’s unlikely MLS will compete with NFL and other leagues until more world stars are playing in the US.
Same. My first thought was that I watched the mls a lot when I was house hunting but now that I’ve bought I don’t at all. Then I realized they meant soccer. And that made me realize I’d rather just look at real estate listings all day than be forced to watch soccer.
Personally I don’t follow the MLS. I don’t really “follow” most sports but I like watching my favorite mlb and nfl teams from time to time. But, the MLS is still popular over here, I’ve been to a game and it was great! Shot the shit with some British folk who sat behind us.
I'd say small but devoted following. Even as someone who likes soccer, and would rather watch it than MLB (at least on TV) or NBA, I couldn't tell you when the MLS season is. Oddly I did attend an MLS game before ever going to an NFL or NHL game, but that's not a choice I'd make again.
I played soccer my whole life, but even I have a hard time watching it. It’s pretty underwhelming and all the teams are at essentially the same level. They basically just throw together a bunch of player from around the world that have zero chemistry and hope for the best. That said, I do watch my local team if they are on and I’m bored but😴
“True” soccer fans watch the Premier League, La Liga, and the Euro Cup.
Plenty of people want the MLS to be better and surely care about their team. But soccer is a distant fifth in American sports hierarchy, after hockey which is a distant fourth.
It’s certainly grown and in some ways exploded in popularity in recent years, and the league is constantly expanding into new markets. It’s not on the casual sports fan’s radar as much as the other “Big 4” leagues but it has a solid following.
I enjoy watching soccer, but the MLS is just a hard watch for me… even after trying to follow it for the past few years. Play seems much slower paced compared to Europe and Latam, the defending usually isn’t too good since teams usually spend their money upfront IIRC and the players dont seem to be that technically/tactically sound compared to Europe and Latam. I still enjoy it though!
I'm American and do support The Major League Soccer. I know that factually there are better leagues, but MLS is our league and I want to see it flourish. I live here, I'm from here and so I relate to it.
To this day, I have only seen DC United, and only once each in the US Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions Cup (another competition I like).
If they could change a few aspects of the game I’d be all in. Maybe instead of the constant flow of the ball the offense and defense line up on some sort of scrimmage line. Then the offense hikes the ball and has to advance it into the defense, say 10 yards? The offense could get four tries to do it and if they can’t manage the defense takes over. And to make it more exciting the offense can carry the ball and throw it. Also there’s tackling
No and I love soccer. Love it. Watch tons of European soccer. But the quality just isnt there for me. Lots of people i know take their kids though. Very few people tune in to games on tv.
The majority of Americans I would assume could not name a single player on an MLS team (unless it was some ringer coming over from Europe like when Beckham came over for a few years) and I doubt the majority of Americans could name more than 2-3 MLS teams (fewer if you're not counting local teams).
I would guess it's behind the 4 major sports leagues. Probably behind college football and basketball as well. Maybe even behind things like UFC and NASCAR.
It's getting more popular every year. Like most answers in this sub, USA is huge. Some people are CRAZY about it, but they are few and far between. A few cities are historically big soccer towns like LA, Seattle, and Portland. Other cities have a brand new following, like Miami. You can go to most other cities with teams and find that there are some major fans and some people who don't even know a team exists. Of the major sports leagues MLS is far and away the smallest, it is also the youngest.
For some perspective, the nfl averaged around 19-20 million viewers for each regular season game last year. The MLS Cup (ie the championship game) got lesson less than 5 million viewers last year, and that was a record.
Some, not a lot. In Los Angeles, we have two teams, and if you go to the games, you'll find a ton of people who love MLS soccer. But, there are SO many people in Los Angeles, and most of them don't watch.
Some do, it's sort of a niche sport. It's nowhere near the big 4 pro sports, even even way behind college sports.
Couple years ago I looked up average viewership of MLS games and compared that to average ESPN weeknight viewership of Sunbelt conference college football games and they were roughly the same.
None of the national sports shows or podcasts I watch talk about MLS. Nothing is as popular as the NFL and College Football. MLB and NBA are talked about just not as popular as football is. NHL is even less popular but still more relevant than MLS at least the NHL is sometimes covered. MLS and soccer in general coverage exists but you have to seek it out. They’re not talking about it on national sports media.
Hey. I watch the NFL religiously. A good amount of NHL, and NBA. Used to be big into baseball but not anymore.
I don’t watch MLS on tv often, but we do go to 2-3 Minnesota United games yearly. I’ll be aware of the team, but going to the games is great. It’s an incredible spectator sport and the arenas are great at keeping you close to the action. The game keeps getting bigger here, and now a lot of kids play it growing up. So it’s going to keep growing and it’s awesome.
I mean, I do - but I'm in a distinct minority. Until I moved too far away from my club, I was a season ticket holder and have followed the club since the inaugural season.
I still watch as many matches as I can, which is a bit easier with their Apple TV deal.
More of a fan of the FIFA events personally. Although overall USA soccer has come a LONG way, we are competitive internationally on only a whole-country effort basis; our individual clubs are not nearly at the level of our European and Central/Southern American friends.
I feel like, if it's on in a bar, someone will only complain if some other game is on, especially during football season. The worst is when football season starts in the fall, and even the baseball playoffs often get pushed out in favor of the NFL.
The MLS definitely has its fanbase, they're just less vocal.
Honestly, before this question, I'd never even heard of it.
I'm not a sports fan, but there are at least half a dozen leagues I've at least heard of, so the fact I didn't know that this one even existed might say something.
LimonesConSal94@reddit
Literally watching my boyfriend watch the Miami vs Austin game right now while texting his best friends his comments on the game. To be honest, I don't actually think my boyfriend loves soccer, I think he's just addicted to heartbreak.
MalevolentAnemone@reddit
No
Longjumping-Twist167@reddit
I’ve always loved soccer and grew up in a very soccer oriented area in nyc. I didn’t wanna support the Red Bull or nycfc bc of the groups they are associated with and I never felt passionate about it. Most of my friends are the people who think the mls is below them and it’s too poor quality:/ i moved to Ohio when I was 17 and absolutely fell in love with the Columbus crew and felt like true local club I grew a deep connection too! Unfortunately still to this day all my friends who love soccer still refuse to watch the mls bc it’s poor quality 🙄 the only two friends I have that also follow the mls deeply aren’t Americans funny enough! Soccer is definitely growing in the US but I still find it kinda sad that so many Americans are so against supporting their local clubs bc it’s not the absolute best quality:/
BKtoDuval@reddit
hmm, It's more of an experience thing. Attendance at games is pretty good but viewership or controlling nationally narrative is not really there. I'd say right now the WNBA is getting more attention than MLS that has Messi.
I like it and follow closely but even among soccer fans EPL and Liga MX are more popular.
RedBarron1354@reddit
I grew up near SJ and I’m an Earthquakes fan but honestly it’s low on my totem pole of sports.
International_Snow44@reddit
to put lightly, no. the best football is still played in Europe.
PMMeYourPupper@reddit
Sounders Til I Die!
jcoigny@reddit
Excuse me but you spelled Timbers wrong!
whelpshit@reddit
was hoping I’d find some RCTID in this thread
elpollodiablo63@reddit
Still riding the high from game 3 of the playoffs last year.
One_Over_Astro@reddit
I KNOW I AM, I'M SURE I AM, I'M SOUNDERS TILL I DIE
PMMeYourPupper@reddit
Best of luck to ye over there in Loons territory, lol
One_Over_Astro@reddit
Kinda a lame fanbase here unfortunately. Off the pitch, the sense of community is strong, but on gameday, the chants are simply not intimidating or impactful at all.
serpentjaguar@reddit
You mean "Rose City," obviously.
ChameleonCoder117@reddit
Fight, and win!!
RioTheLeoo@reddit
Boooooooo!!! (Except for Paulie Primetime, he’s alright 🥺)
PMMeYourPupper@reddit
Lisan Al-Gaib!
SweatyDeer2039@reddit
Only the people who are into soccer/football, otherwise it's not really talked about
WestCoastVybes@reddit
Actually even some Americans who are into soccer refuse to watch MLS because they claim it’s low quality and beneath them so they only watch the European leagues. I watch MLS though LAFC fan 👏.
Financial_Clue_2534@reddit
Yea I always found that weird. If there is a MLS team in your city and you’re a soccer fan you should support them. What if you’re in England and stuck in a 2nd or 4th division city with a team. Do you think the locals just not support them.
popepsg@reddit
I am one of those people
DankItchins@reddit
I only really follow the English leagues but I've gone to a couple MLS games in person and always had a blast.
WestCoastVybes@reddit
You’re cool. I like that thinking. See, I get wanting to follow one of the best soccer is played but you don’t have trash MLS in the process. It’s weird how MLS is one of the few leagues that people get mocked for following their local team
DarthPace@reddit
Most of us don't have a local MLS team though.
ivhokie12@reddit
Right? Its not like people mock you for going to minor league baseball games or (gasp) college football games.
devkdup@reddit
I get your point but college sports are age restricted rather than skill restricted so it’s quite different
AntiqueMusic97@reddit
Especially if you’re in Miami where this fall’s college football team will most likely be better than the professional team!
guitar_vigilante@reddit
I don't watch soccer at all but went to an MLS game for by birthday one year and had a blast.
SuperKmartCenter@reddit
I've watched a lot of European leagues, especially English football, but recently I started watching MLS and especially Charlotte FC. Even if it's not as good a product, it feels a lot more meaningful to support a local team, even though I do enjoy European football still. It's also easier to pick up because I'm already a big Panthers fan.
patil-triplet@reddit
Love both United and the Quakes. The one fun thing about MLS is the lack of on ball quality means that you see some absolute bangers scored that would never happen in a top 5 league
IMakeOkVideosOk@reddit
MLS does suck compared to the European leagues tho… I watch USMNT and teams with US players on them in Europe… MLS just isn’t for me
salazarraze@reddit
It's not that the MLS is beneath us. It's that it's clearly inferior as a product masquerading as a major league on par with the best leagues in the world.
btmg1428@reddit
I don't like you. 😠
✨💙💛🤍✨
ConsciousNet238@reddit
god I hate these people
They're usually Arsenal or Real Madrid fans and they love to shit on MLS
EcstasyCalculus@reddit
Lol I'm an American Arsenal supporter and I probably watch MLS more than the Premier League, time zones having a lot to do with it. But I know a lot of the people you're talking about and it's like, do you even like football, or do you just like the status and branding of Arsenal? Because I like the level of talent in MLS. It is a good league! So are Liga MX and the Brasileirão! I've even watched the Irish league and the Australian A-League knowing the play quality is significantly lower but you know what? I'm still engaged. It's football! The beautiful game!
KevrobLurker@reddit
I've watched Irish football, but only the GAA code. FIFA rules? Bleccch.
EcstasyCalculus@reddit
I watched soccer in Ireland mainly because it was the only sport on the island I was familiar with, but over time I learned about Gaelic football and loved it. I want to introduce Gaelic football and hurling to the USA, there are so many of those combination soccer goal/football goalposts that would be perfect for Gaelic games.
KevrobLurker@reddit
There are Stateside clubs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_GAA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_GAA
Good luck!
Redwings1927@reddit
I dont particularly like the MLS but quality has little to do with it. The league has so many problems and the quality of players isnt even top 5 on that list.
EcstasyCalculus@reddit
What would you say the biggest problems are from your perspective?
pbesmoove@reddit
Any American who says they watch European soccer means they watch one of like 9 clubs
MMARapFooty@reddit
I don't live near a MLS team the closest is 4 hours away
___daddy69___@reddit
to be fair, MLS is objectively much lower quality than the the major European leagues
Oexarity@reddit
I mean, it's absolutely a step or two behind Europe's major leagues, but they're still far better than I'll ever be. It's still professional sports at the end of the day.
Cheston1977@reddit
Yeah, quality-wise, isn't it between League One and the Championship in the EFL?
BottomHouse@reddit
It’s about the same as the championship
EyeofHorus55@reddit
On average, yeah. If you took all of the MLS teams and added them to the EFL they’d probably all end up somewhere from the top of League One to the upper half of the Championship.
CastyMcWrinkles@reddit
I don't have a "local" MLS team though. I live in Michigan and my sports fandom is all teams Detroit, but Detroit doesn't have an MLS team (I do like Detroit City FC in the USL). Chicago is the closest MLS team to me, but I don't have much interest in supporting a team from 2 states away. If I'm gonna support a team that feels far away, I feel like I might as well choose a Premier League team that I can watch regularly.
Adorable-Award-2975@reddit
I have the same issue here in Pittsburgh, and when people tell me to just support Columbus or Philly, I’m like well clearly you’ve never been to Pittsburgh if you think that’s gonna happen haha.
Atlas7-k@reddit
Unless you live far west or north of the city, the Columbus Crew are an hour closer to you than Chicago.
galacticdude7@reddit
most Michiganders would be deep in the cold, cold ground before they'd root for a team from Ohio
CastyMcWrinkles@reddit
Maybe I wasn't clear, or maybe you misread my comment, but I don't live anywhere near Detroit, I'm just a fan of all Detroit sports teams; mainly because I live in Michigan. I actually live about a three hour drive from both Chicago and Detroit, but Detroit is my major sports market. Columbus is a 5.5 hour drive from me on a good day, and being from Michigan, I can't, in good conscience, support a team from Ohio.
Until I get an MLS team in Detroit, I really don't have much reason to watch the MLS. Even then I would have mixed feelings about the politics of that team competing for fans with the organically grown DCFC.
Adorable-Award-2975@reddit
I support my local USL club and go to a lot of the home matches but can’t get myself to watch USL on tv. I think from a quality level I could watch MLS on TV, but if I’m already a neutral just watching it on TV I’d rather just watch EPL or Bundesliga. You know what I mean?
Ismdism@reddit
That's why I support USL.
Notansfwprofile@reddit
It’s kinda like watching British League Hockey, never ever follow it on TV but I’d go to games of that tier every other weekend for sure. More people should watch minor leagues and lower tiers, much cheaper and way better vibes.
smcl2k@reddit
MLS prices are often higher than European leagues, with even early playoff rounds rivaling the Champions League.
A few years ago, LAFC asked me for $60 to watch a reserve team lose to LA Galaxy in the Open Cup.
Alert-Painting1164@reddit
They aren’t. It’s buttons to go to a lot of MLS games especially if you have a season ticket.
smcl2k@reddit
A lot of MLS games are far cheaper on resale than they are for season ticket holders.
remix951@reddit
You're cherry picking from a top three big money club. Austin FC tickets are often $20-$30 even for first team games.
smcl2k@reddit
It's not "cherry-picking" to talk about personal experience.
remix951@reddit
It's cherry picking to take a single example to use the word "often" to describe something.
smcl2k@reddit
I made 2 separate but tangentially-related statements, and the example I gave wasn't connected to the word "often". You do know the USOC isn't an MLS tournament, right...?
But I'll humour you: that bargain price of $20-30 is roughly what you'll pay for a standing ticket to watch Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga (with matches against Bayern being just 20% more expensive), and a season ticket for that section comes in at just under $18 per match. So yeah... MLS tickets are often more expensive.
MadScallop@reddit
Luckily LAFC and LA Galaxy are both teams that will actually invest in the roster and try to field a winning product.
It’d be a lot easier to support them than whatever the dumpster fire FC Dallas has been. They don’t give a piss about trying to win or even produce an exciting product for the fans.
TheRtHonLaqueesha@reddit
MLS is the soccer what the KBO is to baseball. I don't watch MLS since there's no Detroit team.
RefrigeratorKey8156@reddit
I went to every timbers match for 5 years but I just cant pay to watch that product live anymore for the vibes. Its just not good compared to Europe. So slow and boring.
aracauna@reddit
Jealous. I'm a Spurs fan and an Atlanta United fan and I love Son so much that my daughter and I were thinking of going to the next LAFC v ATLUTD game as neutrals with her Son flag she bought at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium bedoee he left to see if we could get it signed for her and then LA didn't come to Atlanta after he arrived last year and won't come this year either
And the snobs are dumb. MLS is good enough to enjoy. It's like college football. Sure, it's not as technically good as the NFL, but honestly it can be more fun because of the slight raggedness combined with the fact everyone there is really auditioning for a bigger team.
I know no team in MLS could avoid relegation in the Premier League, but I'm as likely to be bored by their games as I am by an MLS game.
BasketballButt@reddit
I’ve got a buddy who’s Irish but now lives in the US and in a city with an MLS team if we was a fan. His response was something along the lines of “They want too much fucking money to go see like the ninth best league in the world”. He also called it “a retirement league”. Thought that was hilarious.
Alert-Painting1164@reddit
It’s cheap generally and if you are a member even more so. It’s also often easy to just go. If you view football as a tv product it’s not great if football is something you actually go to it’s fine.
smcl2k@reddit
The point about prices is valid - LAFC wanted Champions League money for the best of 3 playoff series last season, and the greed when Miami is coming to town doesn't need any further explanation.
RockShrimp@reddit
What year is it where he comes from?
smcl2k@reddit
A lot of soccer fans just don't like the idea that the 20th best team in the league could end up winning the title 🤷🏻♂️ And I think the fact everything is such a blatant cash-grab has alienated a lot of people, too.
Tired_CollegeStudent@reddit
It’s cheaper than pretty much any other sporting event for a major league in the US. Calling it a blatant cash grab when the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL (and for the latter three, their inane broadcasting schemes) exist is pretty funny.
smcl2k@reddit
I'm not sure why you're assuming that soccer fans are jumping at the opportunity to blow fortunes on any American league.
I was an LAFC season ticket holder until last season, but I cancelled because resale tickets are less than "face value" for all but a handful of matches.
Tired_CollegeStudent@reddit
Then I guess if they want to go to a sporting event, don’t think American soccer is worth watching, and refuse to spend money to attend any other major league event in the US, they can pay for round trip airfare to and lodging in London and attend an Arsenal match.
I also don’t think I’ve spent a “fortune” at any MLS match I’ve been to, especially when compared to the cost of most other live entertainment options (sports, concerts, etc)
smcl2k@reddit
Or maybe they could just not attend MLS, which was my original point. You're suggesting that no-one is being driven away from MLS because of greed, even though you're literally talking to someone who just cancelled a pair of MLS season tickets because the league is constantly trying to find new ways to get money out of fans (Leagues Cup... Extra playoff matches... "Home" matches moved to larger neutral venues).
Popular-Local8354@reddit
That’s understandable, soccer fans tend to love the less competitive leagues.
Hushchildta@reddit
I don’t watch mainly because there’s no team I have a personal connection to. Grew up in Tampa Bay and live in Louisiana, never had a team close enough to me that it was covered by local media.
CascadianCaravan@reddit
Tampa Bay has a USL team. They’ve done pretty decent! Check them out sometime.
Tired_CollegeStudent@reddit
Screw the Rowdies. All my homies hate the Rowdies.
Signed, an RIFC fan.
(No but for real you guys are really good overall, I just wish that you didn’t have to play that well against us.)
Tired_CollegeStudent@reddit
I watch MLS and USL Championship (my state got a club a few years ago) and English Premier League. EPL obviously has a higher quality of play, but MLS is still good and always getting better, and like you said supporting local teams is a vibe.
PeterNippelstein@reddit
I mostly watch European leagues but im not above MLS, I still like to watch and support the Loons which is the closest we have to a local club here. I find the MLS broadcasts to be in higher definition than European leagues which is pretty nice.
c0-pilot@reddit
And the irony is that the MLS can’t improve if people don’t watch/attend the games.
robotfoodab@reddit
I’m one of these Americans. I’m not here to support a bunch of guys who happen to play near where I live. I’m here for good, compelling football and that’s not what MLS offers.
Clearshade31@reddit
I think its a city to city thing, i live in a city with a USL team and people care about them a lot but nationally soccer is far more of a niche thing
SwolgeyBrin@reddit
I have been an active soccer fan my whole life and still don't watch it.
Sea_Light_6772@reddit
I love soccer and follow European leagues and the UCL. I don’t follow the mls. Can’t name one player besides Messi. It’s not a top tier league. I would follow if we could start signing top prospects from South America and Europe, outbidding the major European clubs.
funklab@reddit
As a rabid, fanatic, Charlotte FC supporter (MLS), this is correct.
But it comes with one nice bonus. All our matches are streamed live and available for replay on Apple TV so I can watch other matches the next day without anyone spoiling the score for me… because no one cares enough to talk about it.
TheScrote1@reddit
It probably says more about the people I know that like soccer but it seems like Mexican Premier League is more popular
rtd131@reddit
I'm pretty sure the Premier League and Liga MX are more popular.
superhex12345@reddit
For the majority, no. But there is a decent fan base. If you're asking whether most Americans watch the MLS, we do not.
Crafty_Ish1973@reddit
Yes, I do. I've even gone to a couple of matches in person. They're fun. I also keep up with the Premier League.
Poopee_v@reddit
Say you have a 3 inch dick. You wish it were 9inch but it is what it is. You like football, it is what it is. SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FOOTBALL/SOCCER TEAM.
beyondthedoors@reddit
No. Way more Americans watch the EPL than the MLS
Blahkbustuh@reddit
Short answer no. Soccer isn't big in the US.
It's probably in the 3rd or 4th most popular tier of sports perhaps. The biggest tier is football, basketball, and baseball. Then car sports/racing. Then college sports. Then hockey. Then soccer.
Skoolies1976@reddit
I live in central florida and we have a very big soccer fan base, not just for orlando city but we have a lot of european and latino population where its popular. My son is a huge fan we had season tickets a while back. The games are really fun and well attended, the stadium is great and theyve made an effort to make it "local" with restaurants from the city having booths etc. We have a great time.
Able_Hunter_7966@reddit
Sometimes yes. Though it’s probably not the most popular soccer league in the U.S. But Gen Z’ers like soccer at a higher rate.
gpat138@reddit
Most people who are into soccer (football) in the US have access to almost any European game or league they want to watch, especially the major European leagues and competitions. You can pretty easily watch Premier League, Champions League, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A games. I never watch MLS on tv but live in a city that has a team and will usually go to 2-3 games each season.
gpat138@reddit
Most people who are into soccer (football) in the US have access to almost any European game or league they want to watch, especially the major European leagues and competitions. You can pretty easily watch Premier League, Champions League, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A games. I never watch MLS on tv but live in a city that has a team and will usually go to 2-3 games each season.
SconnieGunner@reddit
Very few. Most fans follow a European club and few people have enough time to follow one/multiple European leagues and MLS, especially as it is probably jot even a top 20 league worldwide and the quality is fairly low.
Boricua1977@reddit
Everyone I know who loves soccer doesn't watch the MLS at all.
LunarVolcano@reddit
I’m sure some do, but no one I know. I can name a few teams and a few players but that’s about it. I could probably name more english football teams ngl. If I’m gonna watch american soccer I’d rather watch the women anyway.
Conscious-Zebra-7477@reddit
No. it has some fans but most teams struggle with attendance unless messi is in town
TrapdoorSolution@reddit
There is a select group of people who are die hard fans, but it’s not nearly as renowned as our other sports league.
Most soccer fans here like myself will watch the MLS here and there, but are much more into the Premier League and Champions League
mistertireworld@reddit
Some do, but for many teams (especially the ones that play in enormous American football stadiums) good seats are often still available if you'd like to see a game.
wiretail@reddit
I like MLS but love the NWSL.
Waltz8@reddit
Same here. More into the NWSL because I want to see people who are good at what they do. And NWSL athletes are good at it compared to women in the rest of the world. Can't say that about the MLS in relation to other to other men's leagues.
GustavesGhost@reddit
This just isn’t true anymore. There are several MOS teams that would be at least mid table in many of the European leagues.
Waltz8@reddit
The MLS has definitely improved from the product it was 20 years ago. I don't think it has any team that would put up a fight in the Premier League (widely considered the gold standard in men's soccer). But I'm sure it's now somewhat comparable to other European leagues that aren't among the "big 5" leagues. That's nice, but it's still different in women's soccer because the NWSL is widely regarded as being among the top 2 women's soccer leagues.
TsundereLoliDragon@reddit
It does well enough in live attendance but TV viewership is pretty bad. Way way under EPL. Being on AppleTV doesn't exactly help that either.
That being said it's still the 5th most popular pro team sport (even less including NCAA) and isn't even a tiny blip compared to American football.
ChasedWarrior@reddit
That blip is gonna shrink because the MLS is going to a winter schedule soon. Nobody gonna give up a weekend of football for soccer. Another big mistake.
GustavesGhost@reddit
Yeah I’m a huge MLS fan and just can’t understand this decision. I probably go to 10 or so games for my local team per year, most of them throughout the summer. When other sports aren’t going. I have season tickets for my local college football team and absolutely won’t be missing those games for soccer. I’ll be lucky if I make it to 4 or 5 games a year after the change.
Shepherd-Boy@reddit
Ya as a huge fan of my local mls team the schedule switch might just kill the league
Dio_Yuji@reddit
MLS is the 5th most popular league, but soccer as a whole is more popular than hockey and, by some measures, more popular than baseball
https://www.foxsports.com/articles/soccer/soccer-reportedly-overtakes-baseball-in-the-u-s-as-americas-third-favorite-sport
BadgemanBrown@reddit
There are far more football and basketball fans who have baseball as their #2 or #3 sport than there are people who have soccer as their #1.
wpotman@reddit
It’s growing, but still not greatly many in the grand scheme of things. Few people know how the season works or who won last year.
gundumb08@reddit
Probably the best answer - It's beginning to pressure the NHL from a popularity / viewership perspective in the top 5 sports.
The U.S. has a TON of sports options which makes competition among them so challenging. IIRC correctly, the top 5 are:
NFL
NBA
MLB
NHL
MLS
NBA and MLS have been trending far more with younger audiences.
The NBA has a pedigree, clear feeding system from NCAA (all 4 tops sports benefit from a draft process, but NBA and NFL perhaps the biggest as their NCAA versions are just as large as the Pro versions).
MLS on the otherhand has had more of a "grassroots" growth. The MLS is targeting different, mid-sized markets for teams which often leads to localized but very dedicated fanbases. FC Cincinnati, St. Louis FC, etc. are examples of smaller metropolitan areas with quickly growing fanbases. FC Cincinnati basically sells out every single home game (in the MLS, the other tournaments...ehhh) - and they have a dedicated stadium of about 25k.
GustavesGhost@reddit
College football is actually number 2.
prestieteste@reddit
Sounders avg home attendance is 30k and several years ago it was 50k so there is definitely negative growth as well. But the Sounders sell out the stadium if they play higher stakes games at 70k like MLS Cup 2019 CCC 2022 Leagues Cup 2025. Portland Match usually gets 50k as well
dgmilo8085@reddit
It’s been “growing” for 30 years.
GustavesGhost@reddit
It actually has though. This stuff doesn’t happen over night.
Jonathon_G@reddit
So has my bank account.
rhylte@reddit
Idk why you’re using quotes as if that’s not possible lol.
dgmilo8085@reddit
I’m posting quotes because they have been growing for the next big thing in America since the NY Cosmos is 74. I’ve been through 5 iterations of professional soccer in America and I’ve watched each fail. 30 teams that draw 10k fans including TV is let a market than South African cricket
rhylte@reddit
You’re kinda moving the goalposts here. “Being the next big thing” is not the same as growing. They are objectively growing. They have been for 30 years.
Absolutely no one is saying they’re about to dethrone the NFL or MLB, which you seem to cite as your counter argument in another comment.
awnomnomnom@reddit
My Rapids have the worst attendance in MLS and we still draw 15k.
Most teams avg 20k, with some has high as 30k and more
dgmilo8085@reddit
11 million fans attended matches in 2025, down from over 11.5 million in 2024. NFL doubled that with 16 games. MLB was 72M
rhylte@reddit
Nobody is saying it outdraws NFL or MLB though.
By any objective measure, MLS has grown quite substantially, especially compared to 30 years ago.
Hountoof@reddit
Well MLB has like 3 million games over a season.
GustavesGhost@reddit
I am a huge fan of MLS, so am obviously biased. However the game has grown immensely here over the last 20 years. 15 years ago the only place you could find a packed stadium of raving soccer lunatics was Portland OR. Now they are all over the country.
Disastrous-Ruin8411@reddit
In 39 years here, living in 4 different states among sports fans, the MLS has never once come up in any situation anywhere ever for any reason.
Bubzszs@reddit
Based on the avg number of viewers and attendance it's the 3rd most popular league behind the NBA and NFL. It has surpassed MLB (baseball) last year
ItchClown@reddit
It's pretty popular now, I used to go to a lot of Seattle Sounders FC matches. I wish Indianapolis had a team.
When I lived in St Louis, 2 blocks from my apartment they were building a stadium for a new MLS team. I moved shortly after it opened, though.
JourneysWithD@reddit
I freaking love our USL club. There’s a big contingent here that wants pro/rel like everywhere else, but we don’t have the club culture in sports here. USL is doing pro/rel, which is great, but it is not our top league so it obviously has a ceiling.
Elegant-Ad5705@reddit
Its kind of in this middle area at the moment where it is a big sport by other countries' standards (top 10 soccer league in the world by revenue, top 5 sports league in North America), but it's still very regional here in the US. The teams do draw in a bunch of money, however, as the average MLS team is worth damn near $1 billion at this point, and the buy in for new expansion teams is somewhere in the mid $100 millions
jwizzy15@reddit
Never met a single person that cares about it
Expert_Tomorrow_3915@reddit
A small percentage compared to the other sports,. The big 4 are still supreme here. NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA. You can throw in NCCA stuff also. I consider football / soccer almost a niche viewership. Passionate but small.
auntiechrist74@reddit
Watch? Yes.
Love? It’s complicated…
LemonCool2023@reddit
I got to games in person, and ocassionally wwtch highlights, the games are behind the Apple Paywall. There are a lot of footy fans in the country that just prefer to watch the Prem, La Liga, bundesliga or Liga MX for Mexican-American fans.
babbum@reddit
Im an American who likes Soccer. I do not watch the MLS, I mostly watch the Premier League, and follow European competitions.
Live-Pomegranate-511@reddit
Alwaystivi .com is definitely a whole vibe for my home cinema. the zapping speed is so fast, feels like i’m using actual premium cable but way better. 100% worth the hype fr, don't sleep on this one guys.
More-Worldliness-698@reddit
I do but id say even amongst soccer fans theres more interest in the english premier league than mls.
Inevitable_Bad1683@reddit
Ask anyone in the PNW that question lol
inraiolawetrust@reddit
It’s like watching high school football . It’s good if nothing else is on, but it’ll never be the NFL or even college football
BrewsWithTre@reddit
It varies, in Columbus most people know and attend the crew games and they have zero issue filling the stands, while there are a good chunk of other teams that have to basically beg people to go
Equivalent_Tonight66@reddit
No pro/rel, and the league decides where the top foreign talent lands. Like the NFL, it’s basically manicured sports entertainment like WWE.
Sea-Finance-8422@reddit
I don't enjoy watching soccer but I enjoyed playing it, I wouldn't ever watch an MLS game and also have zero interest in the World Cup (I tried a little last time round but it didn't take).
But where I live the team is building a new stadium and is pretty popular, possibly buoyed by interest from immigrants.
CokeColaPolarBear@reddit
All my friends that watch soccer either watch the Premier League or the Mexican league , never heard anyone talk about MLS.
Shepherd-Boy@reddit
In towns with MLS teams it’s pretty big. In places without a team it’s not really thought much about outside of hardcore soccer fans. Personally I love it, but I have a team in my hometown.
Verbz@reddit
I've been a Portland Timbers fan since before they were in the MLS. I have gone to games every year since they joined the league. I watch almost every week during the season. Portland in particular cares about the MLS.
jtp_311@reddit
Hell yeah. For two reasons: I find soccer far more entertaining to watch than any other sport (though I will watch an occasional baseball game). And I have a team in my area that I can follow and attend games.
nedschneebly09@reddit
Nope
Shoondogg@reddit
Chicago has a team, named it after the biggest disaster in the city’s history lol
Eedat@reddit
As an American, what is MLS?
VAGentleman05@reddit
I've never heard anyone bring it up in casual conversation. But in the inaugural season, I did look forward to the game when the Wiz took on the Burn.
stonksforthelawls@reddit
some do, most dont
EnvironmentalAss@reddit
Had season tickets for aufc for a few years. OFYO!
straight_trash_homie@reddit
I mean I do. My local team, Chicago Fire, has a pretty good presence in the area and the games are well attended. The team I root for, Charlotte FC, also has a pretty real fan base in NC. It’s definitely nowhere near the big four, but I’d say the league is not totally obscure.
DoubleResponsible276@reddit
If I am the representation of Americans who watch MLS, the answer is nope. But I don’t like soccer so of course I wouldn’t watch it.
My soccer loving friends though don’t really pay attention to the MLS. They prefer the league in Europe cause the pool talent is better and overall the matches are better, in their opinions.
mikeyrips@reddit
Not at all, the few soccer fans i’ve met watch the premier league. Americans do not care about soccer at all, it’s mainly just the immigrants
1952Rustbelt@reddit
The what?
Glad-Ad3208@reddit
FCC is where its at!
amazonlover668@reddit
If you mean the average American, who generally has some idea of the major leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB) , I’d say no ..note I excluded NHL as I don’t believe it has the same level of following as the other 3 (and I say this as someone whose league of choice is NHL) ..I guess you could say that there is a tier system : NFL > MLB > NBA > NHL > MLS …with obvious overlaps in viewership
prestieteste@reddit
I actually only watch MLS and never found the higher levels very engaging. I was born and raised in Seattle and the Sounders have been around since before I was born and lots of the players have local connections and I buy into that kind of shit hard. Underappreciated for sure
tcrhs@reddit
I did not know major league soccer exists.
cmet24@reddit
I’d rather watch the premiere league. It’s on USA regularly and early, which leads to morning beers on the weekend.
Norwester77@reddit
It’s very popular in certain areas, like here in the Pacific Northwest.
stubept@reddit
I think they did pretty well in finding the places that are enthusiastic about supporting a team. Cities like Columbus, Austin, Salt Lake City and Portland have a second (or even first) pro team with MLS. Other smaller cities with already-established pro teams like Kansas City and Cincinnati (go FC!) were perfect homes for soccer. And in the big cities (LA, NYC), there's a lot of support from the Latin and Asian communities that allows them to support TWO teams.
I think MLS can only get better from here. Moving to the European schedule will help them attract better talent (particularly with loans from Premier League teams) and continue to be a last-stop for aging high-profile players like Son, Mueller and (or course) Messi.
richEempire@reddit
No. I believe one of the reasons it won’t grow and get the platform it deserves in the US is due the fact the networks can’t sell a lot of commercials.
voltairesalias@reddit
MLS is one of the fastest growing sports leagues in America experiencing a three fold growth in franchises in 20 years, and experiencing double digit viewership growth annually (29% in 2025 alone). It is rapidly closing in on the NHL for fourth place in American viewership, and will very likely exceed hockey fan base in the near future.
So, while MLS does not come anywhere close to football or baseball in terms of fanbase, it is becoming quite popular.
Help1Ted@reddit
It’s pretty localized to areas that actually have a team. It’s also on Apple TV, so you need to be a fan to actually watch. Or those who happen to have Apple TV already might watch.
davdev@reddit
New England has a team. If you stopped and asked 100 people to name a single player who has ever played for the Revs you would be lucky to find 2 people who could answer. 100 out 100 could do it for the other four sports.
s1a1om@reddit
You overestimate the number of people that are about sports.
boulevardofdef@reddit
I live in New England and I'm not sure I can name a Bruins player off the top of my head, actually
davdev@reddit
All time? I didnt say current. You can't name Bobby Orr or Ray Borque?
boulevardofdef@reddit
I know those names but I couldn't have told you off the top of my head that they played for the Bruins. Bobby Orr was the only one who came to mind when I thought about it, but I wasn't sure where he'd played.
davdev@reddit
Are you a native New Englander or a transplant?
___daddy69___@reddit
to be fair, the Bruins (and frankly most of the “New England” teams are very focused on Boston and Massachusetts.
davdev@reddit
The Bruins fandom stretches all the way up to the Canadian Maritimes, so no idea what you are talking about.
CBus660R@reddit
I live in Columbus, OH. I know our team is The Crew, that we've won the cup a couple of times, including 2 or 3 years ago, and our former coach's name sounds an awfully lot like a certain German political party from 80-90 years ago lol
AceBongwaterJohnson@reddit
Name a player? Shit, I didn’t even know that we had a team.
Unusual_Artichoke_73@reddit
That’s genuinely surprising.
alxfx@reddit
I know of their existence, but there is absolutely zero marketing or promotion done for the team.
they're fighting upstream against four of the largest and most successful sports franchises in their respective sports for eyeballs. It's been (and always will be) a losing battle for the Revs.
The only people I know who pay any attention to them are second-gen immigrants whose families/culture already love football/soccer, but the kids of the families who feel more culturally American than their parents want an American team to support, as opposed to teams from their home country that they don't have the same connection to as their parents or other family.
Unusual_Artichoke_73@reddit
First off, sick flair.
Second, I agree with all of this. I have a 10 year old interested in soccer, we picked a premier league team to support before even considering the Revs. Recently I got cheap tickets to a Revs game, first one for me since Gillette was CMGI and it was a lot of fun. Looked at going again and at $60 for a ticket I was out on that idea. I will keep an eye out for cheap tickets but will not pay for apple TV to watch games at home
cans-of-swine@reddit
It's genuinely surprising that you find that genuinely surprising.
ConsciousNet238@reddit
I literally could not name a Red Sox, Celtics, or Bruins player lol
Perdendosi@reddit
Ever? Like that has ever played for the team?
Kevin Garnett? Kevin McHale? Bill Russell? Larry Bird?
Big Papi? Wade Boggs? Ted Wilkiams? Carl Yaz? (Babe Ruth?)
Bobby Orr?
cans-of-swine@reddit
I don't know what sport the Bruins are. Kevin Garnett? Kevin McHale? Bill Russell? - never heard of them. Larry Bird, know who he is but couldn't tell you what team he played for without looking it up. I know who Wade Boggs are Babe Ruth are but don't know teams.
davdev@reddit
That Tennessee flag isnt helping your New England credibility here.
cans-of-swine@reddit
Don't care.
imatthewhitecastle@reddit
I thought everyone in NE had heard of David Ortiz at this point. In Boston, he’s right there with Brady.
beenoc@reddit
I can name a Celtics player, at least. Now, if your criteria is "a Celtics player who played in the last 50 years," I'm not so sure - sorry, Bill Russell.
tussentweewindmolen@reddit
That would be even easier though - Larry Bird
Online_Discovery@reddit
I couldn't either! I only know NFL stuff and haven't heard of some of those teams
Mrsod2007@reddit
Ted Williams, Larry Bird, Bobby Orr
SuperKmartCenter@reddit
Tbf New England is spoiled with sports teams success. It's definitely a bit more relevant in Charlotte, Atlanta, Portland, Austin, etc
techieman33@reddit
Apple TV was a huge mistake. It really limits their ability to grow. Especially when European leagues are on over the air tv.
jacksonbeya@reddit
1) the Premier League is on Peacock mostly. There are I think 3-4 games a week tops not on Peacock. Maybe one NBC game the others USA/Univision.
2) La Liga and Bundesliga are mostly on ESPN+ I believe.
3) Serie A and the Champions League is on Paramount+.
4) almost everything else is on BeIn in America
So no, most of the European leagues aren’t on over the air TV.
Also, a lot of folks who watch F1 also now have Apple TV so there is an opportunity for them to grow there.
salazarraze@reddit
Those leagues are actually legitimately the best in the world unlike the MLS. If you were a basketball fan living in England, Spain, or Italy, would you pay money to stream your local basketball league on Apple TV? Or would you pay money to watch the NBA on Peacock? The answer is self evident. The product matters a lot. And the MLS product is completely inferior.
jacksonbeya@reddit
Seeing as I have never lived in Europe that is an impossible question for me to answer.
And what I was responding to was in reference to MLS’s ability to grow since they are now on Apple TV as opposed to before when they were on a combo of Fox and ESPN (and ESPN+), so it being all in one place where folks know they can go watch it gives it a better chance to grow.
The inferiority of the MLS wasn’t the question, it was if it can grow on Apple TV
salazarraze@reddit
Naturally, we agree that the MLS doesn't have the ability to grow as long as it's on AppleTV. Because it's that obvious. And to grow, they don't just need exposure via airwaves the way that the NFL capitalized on. They can't avoid the fact that European Soccer are their direct competitors. It's unambiguously part of the question whether you accept it or not. To compete with the superior European product, they need to be more accessible by being available for free at least for the majority of their games and not paywalled. If the product wasn't so terrible by comparison, then people would have no problem paying for it.
rhylte@reddit
Fox and ESPN weren’t free
salazarraze@reddit
Ok? Did I say it should be on ESPN or Fox Sports? I said free airwaves. Learn to read.
AskAnAmerican-ModTeam@reddit
Your comment was removed as it violates Rule 9 which is “Treat the person you are replying to with respect and civility.” It means that your comment either contained an insult aimed at another user or it showed signs of causing incivility in the comments.
Please consider this a warning as repeated violations will result in a ban.
If you have questions regarding your submission removal - please contact the moderator team via modmail.
rhylte@reddit
No leagues are available, in their entirety (if at all), over the air for free.
The realistic alternatives were a smattering of cable networks which makes it even harder to follow the league as a whole than a singular streaming service.
rhylte@reddit
Fox and ESPN were the only alternatives for broadcasting rights for the league.
Do you know anything about how this works?
Which league can you presently watch, in its entirety, for free over the air? None of the ones in the USA, that’s for sure
pbesmoove@reddit
You should educate yourself about stuff before paying stuff
devnullopinions@reddit
Okay that’s your opinion. I personally find it boring to watch PSG beat everyone due to having more money than god rather than actually needing to compete without money papering away every weakness.
Your elitist attitude also means you’re missing out on college football which as a product is vastly more entertaining than the NFL.
salazarraze@reddit
France is a boring league yeah. But the teams are still better than American teams. It's not elitism. It's just a fact. Some people enjoy watching high school football. I don't. I'd rather watch a more quality product like college football (the jokes on you bud) or the NFL.
College football is closer to the NFL than the MLS is to Ligue 1.
devnullopinions@reddit
Please share your results of multiple MLS teams playing multiple Ligue 1 teams upon which you’re basing this fact.
Shenanigangster@reddit
Tbh the tv options in most of Europe are so complicated or split among multiple providers Apple TV would probably be an upgrade for most
Tired_CollegeStudent@reddit
Not to mention that in the other major leagues (aside from football), many games are only broadcast on regional sports networks, which is just as exclusive, if not more so, than Apple TV.
Trick_Photograph9758@reddit
Not sure how you figure that NESN is more exclusive than Apple TV. Baseball is the easiest of the sports to watch in major markets. Most games are free on the most basic TV packages, such as NESN.
Tired_CollegeStudent@reddit
And how many people don’t have cable television? A lot. NESN isn’t available on services like YouTube TV and Hulu, and while they have a streaming option, it costs $29.99 per month. Apple TV is $12.99 a month and includes non-sports programming. Aside from nationally televised games, the Red Sox are only available on NESN (which, coincidentally, is owned by Fenway Sports) and so the majority of their games aren’t available over the air.
In fact, one of the only ways I could watch the Red Sox legally is if they’re on Friday Night Baseball, which is on Apple TV.
I know for the NHL you can watch out of market games with an ESPN subscription, but local market games are blacked out, meaning you have to pay for the RSN unless it’s on a national broadcast.
Trick_Photograph9758@reddit
There are multiple Premier League matches on NBC/USA every weekend, usually the better teams. All the rest is on Peacock, a pay service. So if you want to watch PL, you can at least watch quite a few matches every weekend.
People might watch matches on NBC for the hell of it, decide they enjoy it, then decide they want to pay to watch all the matches on Peacock.
MLS is 100% behind the Apple TV paywall. That's no way to grow an audience.
LouisRitter@reddit
As an F1 fan I've considered following the Chicago Fire since I already have Apple TV. Also wtf is up with the name Chicago Fire? That's like calling teams the LA Riots or NY 9/11s.
Ozzimo@reddit
You have to have the context of having watched MLS for the years prior. No feed was giving more than 720p before Apple. The games were split among as many as 4 different channels and game times were never the same. We'd get preempted for cornhole and little league games on ESPN.
The move to Apple improved the stream quality to a minimum of 1080p and had dedicated viewing times. Even adding a show that follows all the games at once (MLS 360.) It's not perfect but most old MLS fans would say it was an improvement.
devnullopinions@reddit
Not really.
Peacock, Paramount Plus and ESPN+ have the European leagues. A random game or two might be on linear TV but thats it. Same with the MLS that shows like 1-2 games a week on linear TV.
Tired_CollegeStudent@reddit
The only one that is broadcast with any regularity on linear TV is the Premier League. They usually have some Saturday and Sunday matches on USA and sometimes a match on NBC. Other than that, you can’t rely on linear television to watch any of the other leagues consistently, never mind a particular team.
devnullopinions@reddit
If you follow a premier league team you’re not going to be able to watch them without paying for subscription services.
Tired_CollegeStudent@reddit
Exactly. If you want to watch the Premier League in general, you can usually see some matches every weekend. But if you want a specific team every week? You’ll have to pay for Peacock.
techieman33@reddit
I know most of the time when I see a game on tv it’s not MLS. And if I have to pay to watch then I’m going to pay for the top tier league, not a mid tier. Peacock and Paramount are also much more likely to be something you already have access to for free or a good discount through another service you’re already paying for.
Tired_CollegeStudent@reddit
European leagues barely air on over the air TV in the US; usually you get the occasional EPL match on NBC and maybe another league on CBS. Cable networks like CBS Sports and USA have coverage as well, but if you want to watch a particular team with any regularity you need to have a streaming subscription.
The Apple TV deal gives MLS the second best broadcasting position in the US, in my opinion. The NFL would be first, since you are guaranteed to have multiple games available over the air every week (Sunday afternoons on CBS/Fox, Sunday night on NBC, and most Monday nights on ABC) and your local team (if you have one) is required to be broadcast over the air, even if it’s a national game on Prime, ESPN, or NFL Network.
The NBA, MLB, and NHL all suck because their broadcast schemes are a hodgepodge of various national cable networks, over the air broadcasters, and regional sports networks, which aren’t available from all cable providers. I can’t watch the Bruins half the time because they’re usually on NESN (which isn’t carried by YouTube TV) and if you don’t have cable at all you can’t watch those games and the ones that air on basic cable like TNT.
At least with MLS, you have the Apple TV subscription and you can watch any match, anywhere. That’s it. Some of the matches aren’t blacked out, some of the matches aren’t only available on a regional sports networks. They’re all on Apple TV, regardless of where you live.
OriginalSilentTuba@reddit
The RSN issue is very real, and was probably the biggest decision maker when deciding what to do when I ditched cable. I ended up with DirecTV Stream, because it’s the only one that carried MSG who carries Devils games, and YES who carry the Yankees. Since those are the two main things I watched on cable, I needed access to both (without paying for the terrible Gotham Sports app, which is absurdly expensive, and as previously stated, terrible).
Unique_Statement7811@reddit
Apple is by far the highest quality service for live sports stream. Clear, 4k with great color depth. Prime, Netflix and Peacock look like SD by comparison.
techieman33@reddit
It looks good, but that doesn’t really help when it comes to trying to grow the fanbase. They need exposure if they want to grow, and they’re not going to get that when almost all of their games are behind a streaming service paywall. Especially a smaller one like Apple.
Help1Ted@reddit
I thought it was a really strange move as well. I feel like they were at least on the right track with growth the league. Then they signed with Apple which sounds good on paper. Because you can at least watch every match. But I just don’t feel like this is going to actually get any new viewers.
sunburntredneck@reddit
Just as an example, Austin and San Antonio each only have one pro sports team. Austin has soccer, San Antonio has basketball. Austin mostly rides for the Spurs (although it gets a lot of Houston and North Texas transplants who take those teams). San Antonio does not give much of a crap about Austin FC.
It doesn't help that the names are tacky. This is America. Don't we think we're better than Europe? Why are we copying janky Euro soccer club naming traditions when we could have the Austin Weirdos, the Miami Caribeños, the Salt Lake Prophets, the Philadelphia Money (because they have the mint), the Orlando Thrill.
InHocBronco96@reddit
No
shanty-daze@reddit
Last year, I decided to give MLS a try. Not because I am specifically a fan of soccer, but I enjoyed Ted Lasso, Wrexham, and was planning on taking my nephew to a World Cup game this summer, so I thought maybe I should start watching. Nope. Found out that I had for pay for AppleTV (and maybe a premium on top of that) and because my local-ish team was not good, the occasional network game never featured them. So I moved on.
TyphonInc@reddit
I love and watch MLS soccer. I'm a big Supporter of the Columbus Crew.
Melinoe2016@reddit
If they could find a way for games not to end at 0-0, 1-0, 2-1, etc so often I might watch. And no I don’t watch hockey either but at least there is more excitement with the hits and smaller playing area. The soccer pitch is just too big with too much running around and not enough scoring.
TheRealTD44@reddit
No one watches it
sean8877@reddit
Not that I know of
j-rock-HW@reddit
Real soccer people in the US (often orig from other countries) care about real soccer in EMEA / LATAM. MLS feels more like the champions golf league, full of retirees. This is an outsider perspective as I don’t know about or care about soccer. I just know that MLS makes less revenue than all the rest.
American football reigns supreme by a magnitude of 5 to 1. GO BEARS
idreamsmash007@reddit
No, watch soccer often and follow it closely. MLS is a trash product and quality of the players and the product produced is awful. If ppl like it great but just no thank you for me
RedLegGI@reddit
Very few.
HoodieTR@reddit
Put british commentary over it and it would get a lot more eyes on it, just cant have shit football AND horrible American commentary
Legitimate-Fan-6295@reddit
In America MLS stands for mortgage listing service. It’s where we list houses for sale as required by law for people with real estate license
NicheRivers2000@reddit
Even our soccer fans would rather follow European soccer. Some teams do have good follows like Portland or Miami, but for most fans they just pay for whatever service they need to watch their favorite club in Europe.
94grampaw@reddit
Most Americans who like soccer, were not Americans 25 years ago, its mostly immigrants and young people
Candysasha88@reddit
No
InsectDapper@reddit
You never walk alone, even in Missouri.
Writerhaha@reddit
Yes.
RioTheLeoo@reddit
I live for MLS 💙🤍💛
LA Galaxy all the way x6 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
KopitarFan@reddit
G’s Up! Been a fan since the days of Beckham and, my favorite, Robbie Keane!
btmg1428@reddit
I still remember that goal Joveljić scored and how he recreated Keane's celebration. He didn't quite nail it, but the fact he did it at all warmed my heart.
RioTheLeoo@reddit
G’s up! Let’s hope we can turn things around this season and somehow repeat 2024 😝
-dag-@reddit
No
In2TheMaelstrom@reddit
I was never a soccer fan bit went to an Orlando City game last year because a friend had a spare ticket. Got season tickets for this year. I dont really follow like I do MLB and NHL, but really enjoy the games I go to. Even if the team is having a record horrible start this year.
Dangerous-Lunch647@reddit
The multiple listing service? Sure I like to keep an eye on real estate values in my area.
EaglesFanGirl@reddit
Our MLS team has a cult following but its def not the most popular sport by any means here. I think it's a bigger following then some cities but Philly is also a werid cult city for sports. We'd cheer people climbing up greased poles (litterally) so MLS works here.
Go BIrds!
A159746X@reddit
I do. I actually support my local team unlike the majority who watches European football only.
Particular_Bison8670@reddit
No one I know here cares about MLS, and I grew up in an area that was high percentage Latino compared to the rest of the country and thus very big on soccer.
kurai-tsuki@reddit
I doubt most Americans would know if they had a MLS team in their city.
Waltz8@reddit
Soccer viewership has been rising in the US according to multiple surveys. But according to those surveys, the English Premier League and Mexicsn league are more popular than the MLS in the US. The MLS I think is mostly watched and attended by fans in cities that have teams. Some neutrals watch it but it's not close to the other sports.
I personally watch US women's soccer because the US is better at women's soccer than most other countries. For men's soccer, I prefer English soccer/ football.
Jonathon_G@reddit
This is a typical American thing to say. Only want to watch the best, regardless of what is local. I don’t blame you, we are conditioned that way
MadScallop@reddit
I followed my local MLS team until they moved to that $200 Apple TV subscription. I happened to have ESPN+ which has all La Liga (top Spanish league) intra league games for a lot lower price.
I think MLS moved to AppleTV normal sub which is cool, but I just can’t be bothered to pay for an additional sub to watch a non-competitive product (FC Dallas).
If my team actually cared about at least pretending to try to field a winning product, then I’d happily support by going to a few games.
PhilosophyBitter7875@reddit
The club owners don't care about performing good or bad, they have one of the safest investments they could ever ask for. If the MLS moved way from the single entity structure, we would have a better product. I understand it was necessary in the beginning (and the history of why it was necessary) But the league is too big now, and it has too much power. The league owns all of the teams and the player contracts. The teams should be their own separate independent clubs.
MLS wants to keep this closed system because it makes them more money, that's why they want to kill the US Open Cup. Because if that tournament was a success like the FA Cup it would get more eyeballs on the lower leagues and fans would ask for a promotion/relegation system, you cant coast till next season with the fear that you are going to get relegated to a lower division, it produces a better product. But the MLS doesn't care, and they convinced their fans that Pro/Rel is bad.
rb928@reddit
I’d say as far as team pro sports go, MLS is competing with NHL for #4 behind NFL, MLB, and NBA. They’ve expanded to 30 teams in recent years, which has helped, and they have improved their TV accessibility with their Apple partnership. With the World Cup coming back, I remember what that did for soccer last time. It was basically non-existent here before 1994.
With MLS switching to line up with the global calendar next year, I think it will help pick up more big stars and bring the competitiveness and quality of play closer to that of the main European leagues. But it will take some time.
shnieder88@reddit
Yeah i think the MLS is the clear #5 team sports league in the US
Messi has certainly provided a boost
MarkNutt25@reddit
I'm not even sure MLS is even the most-watched professional soccer league on American TV!
There might literally be more Americans watching the EPL or Ligua MX than the MLS.
Jonathon_G@reddit
There 100% is. It frustrates me that so many Americans support other teams when they have a local one. I get most Americans are used to having the best here, but having things here makes it better to me.
DrMindbendersMonocle@reddit
If you include college sports MLS is even lower
thisrockismyboone@reddit
There's absolutely no way MLS is even remotely competitive with the NHL
rb928@reddit
I think that VERY much depends on where you are. My city has a competitive MLS team and only a minor league hockey team. The MLS team is way more popular than any hockey team. Areas with deep NHL roots would be the opposite. Overall I’d say it evens out. To another’s point, MLS attendance is higher on average but I’d venture a guess that NHL TV viewership is higher.
thisrockismyboone@reddit
I just looked it up and apparently my cities soccer team is in the tier below MLS but does have an NHL team so that makes more sense for my view
RockShrimp@reddit
IIRC mls has higher annual attendance than the nhl but the stadiums are bigger.
rb928@reddit
You are correct. I’d say NHL capacity is higher but MLS has more fans in stands on average. MLS also has less than half the games so it’s more “scarce.”
lil-birdy4@reddit
I would say that both the NBA and MLS are lost in the US, but at least the MLS is gaining ground. My last company had Tix to the Commanders, Capitals, Nats, Wizards and United.
Commander's and Caps Tix were always an easy take. Nats and DC United were OK but we couldn't give away the Wizards Tix for anything.
Adorable_Dust3799@reddit
Isn't that a real estate listing thing?
Jonathon_G@reddit
I do watch MLS as a soccer fan. But I know many soccer fans don’t. Americans are used to the best players playing here. That isn’t the case for soccer. My opinion is it is best to watch local as I can meet them.
dragon4panda@reddit
I know the Columbus Crew is fairly popular here in Ohio
Alarmed-Extension289@reddit
I do FCSD had a pretty strong inaugural season but it's a pretty fringe major sport in most to the country. You probably will find more people that are into F1 then MLS,
Desertswampfrog-99@reddit
They seem to be popular in cities that don’t have any NFL teams.
Agitated_Ad7516@reddit
I’d say 35% of the people I know who are into soccer appreciate/watch mls
GrouchyMushroom3828@reddit
I do watch MLS but don’t “love it” yet because Detroit is not in it. At times I have liked Portland, Toronto, and New England but am not really passionate about those teams. I like watching Inter Miami because Messi plays for them and he’s a great footballer. I also enjoyed when Beckham played for LA Galaxy.
I’m glad that the MLS games are included with Apple TV this season so i can watch more. Last year i didn’t care enough to pay for the extra package.
Currently I’m more interested in USL Championship because Detroit competes in that league.
MMARapFooty@reddit
Liga MX and EPL get higher ratings than MLS
odom_insea@reddit
Charlotte FC 4th in Eastern Conference baby!!!!!
DrBlankslate@reddit
Couldn't care less about it. It's not a thing here.
Designer-Travel4785@reddit
I'm sure there are a few. I don't know any. I know people who watch football, hockey, basketball, baseball, tennis, golf... soccer just isn't that popular around here.
personwhoisok@reddit
Me and my friends in Minneapolis MN all watch premier League
Zziggith@reddit
Didn't even know it existed
Mayor_of_BBQ@reddit
most americans don’t watch soccer at all it’s considered a kids/school/intramural type sport.
Those that do watch it are more into whatever leagues or teams that play in europe or maybe bandwagon when they have the world cup every few years
skaliton@reddit
OP the fact that you had to edit it to explain what that is should be enough of an answer
RobotShlomo@reddit
Only hipsters in the US watch soccer, and they go out of their way to remind you that you "wouldn't understand."
ChristyLovesGuitars@reddit
I do, MLS is fun. I don’t watch as much as I watch College football, but soccer is my favorite sport (after ice hockey). Go Crew!!
Tippacanoe@reddit
Columbus with OSU, Jackets, and Crew is the capital of “niche” major sports lol
GABigBear@reddit
I think realtors enjoy the MLS listings.
jldinatl@reddit
What is that?
Oreo_Cow@reddit
No, we have more interesting sports to watch.
ybarracuda71@reddit
I didnt even know what MLS was until your explanation
Aloh4mora@reddit
Masters in Library Science? I admire those who have earned one, lol!
DadooDragoon@reddit
I didn't even know MLS was a thing
Adorable-Award-2975@reddit
No. The premier league and Liga Mx beat it in ratings for the ones who even like the sport at all.
Slow_Bumblebee915@reddit
I honestly clicked on here bc I didn’t know for sure what mls was. I’m a sports fan and I enjoyed watching my kids play youth soccer but otherwise not a fan.
AllPeopleAreStupid@reddit
I only watch world cup. MLS is bigger than it used to be, but usually never talked about all that much.
Old-Ad-3268@reddit
My and my friends watch Englisha dn European football, non of us watch the MLS. I do however go to the local USL-C team games.
flp_ndrox@reddit
In my experience it's only people that don't follow any other sports.
Danktizzle@reddit
I pay attention to my local USL team, because I am so annoyed that all of the big cities always monopolized all the pro teams.
ToxDocUSA@reddit
Some, but it is definitely not the same level following as NFL or MLB. Personally I've attended I think two games ever and they were both like 20 years ago.
AGreatBandName@reddit
For some numbers, google claims the MLS playoffs averaged 711,000 TV viewers in 2025. The NFL playoffs averaged 37 million. So about 50x.
Fragrant-Guest-8147@reddit
I mean, nothing compares to the NFL in the United States. A more fair comparison would be the other 3 major leagues NHL, NBA, and MLB which average around 2, 4, and 6 million on average. MLS is still a distant fifth but the gap between NFL and the other big leagues is even bigger.
samelaaaa@reddit
This stuff is hyper local of course, but do people actually watch baseball? My city has MLS but no MLB or NFL and while everyone watches football, people definitely talk about soccer more than baseball. I don’t think I know anyone under the age of 60 who follows baseball.
OriginalSilentTuba@reddit
There are definitely places in the US where baseball is still huge, and it’s actually growing again. NY for example is, and always has been, a baseball town.
samelaaaa@reddit
That makes sense, I’ve lived in SLC for the past ten years and baseball just isn’t part of the conversation. Like every now and then you’d take the kids to a minor league game but then they moved the stadium out to the suburbs.
Actually there’s talk of Salt Lake getting a MLB team which would be pretty cool. I used to love going to Braves and Red Sox games when I lived in Atlanta and Boston.
D4rthLink@reddit
The sport is rebounding quite heavily in popularity. This most recent World Series was one of the most popular/watched in the last 20 years
samelaaaa@reddit
Oh hey that’s actually super cool. I just looked at the numbers and it looks like it was declining for ~decades but is picking up again now.
pcrackenhead@reddit
The pitch count rules help out a lot, the game just feels a lot snappier. It honestly feels weird to see baseball be the sport that’s trying to adapt rules the most.
DrMindbendersMonocle@reddit
Baseball is very popular
Brrrrrrrrrm@reddit
I’m in my 20s and have something like 30 American friends and only one of them is a soccer fan. Other follow the 4 major sports
silvermoonhowler@reddit
I'd say only the ones that are actually into the sport and live in or near a market that has a team
Basic-Lawfulness-268@reddit
Being 1st generation American to European parents who love soccer, as a kid I watched the premier league and LaLiga every weekend morning with my dad but never heard or cared about MLS. Though I did recently just move to a city with an MLS club and very much intend on going and becoming a fan.
alamo_nole@reddit
Nope.
chowbrador@reddit
As an American, I had to look at the rest of your post to see what MLS stood for.
itsmyhotsauce@reddit
Some do. Most? Nope
DepthPuzzleheaded494@reddit
I do. I’m a big New York redbulls fan.
Haboob_AZ@reddit
Not all of us. We don't have a local team, so no point to watch the league. Even the times I've tried, it's just not up to the level I'm used to watching in Europe.
KevrobLurker@reddit
Metric feetsból is unAmerican. 😉
HookEm25@reddit
yearofplenty@reddit
I think the fact that you had to edit your post to include what MLS stands for says a lot.
Err_rrr_rrrr@reddit
I love it because tickets to games are very affordable were I’m from
Lower_Kick268@reddit
I've never met someone that voluntarily watches the MLS.
Spirited_Season2332@reddit
I didn't even know what the MLS was so yea, guess there's your answer
Daddi-Yo@reddit
I feel like if you have a team to support you might be really into it. Even then, I only watch my team and nothing else (in the MLS) except for closer to the end of season I might watch games of teams around mine in the table. I’m a Philadelphia Union fan and with their disappointing season so far, it’s even a chore to just watch their games. 😬
MLS as a let me tune into a random game and check it out is kind of a crapshoot. There can be good entertaining matchups and there can be totally boring slogs with poor play in low attendance situations and no atmosphere. As a former season ticket holder it was always difficult to get random friends to come and even then, I never knew if I was bringing them to a good game to experience or not.
Daddi-Yo@reddit
I’ll add that a lot of people inside and outside if MLS fandom think that pro/rel would help the league and maybe it would for viewership. As an Aston Villa fan (by marriage) I once toasted champagne with my in-laws when Villa managed to not get relegated at the end of a season. Haha. I suppose that was exciting.
Unfortunately in US sports with how teams/franchises are established and run. Relegation would possibly kill a franchise.
wyatt_sw@reddit
I am a massive football fan but I only really watch European leagues. The massive drop in skill between euro leagues and MLS is just a turnoff for me.
TheBeefiestSquatch@reddit
The only way to watch it is on Apple, so on average, not at all.
Competitive-Bus1816@reddit
No
Suppafly@reddit
Some Americans do, but not most or even many.
Dai-The-Flu-@reddit
Some do. Soccer is my favorite sport, but I don’t watch any MLS honestly.
gmanose@reddit
What’s MLS, which should answer your question
Ruthrfurd-the-stoned@reddit
I’ll be honest I know more people into European leagues than MLS, granted if you have a home team it’s not so much the case Atlanta instantly became obsessed with Atlanta United
Fast-Plane-2925@reddit
MLS. Love it. I’m a Gary all the way.
SpatchcockZucchini@reddit
Do I? No, but I’m not that into sports in general. But, soccer is definitely becoming a thing here. All the kids who grew up playing it are growing up to become fans! American Football is still the big thing, of course.
Holiday_Sale5114@reddit
I started to get into it to watch Messi and only because (at the time) it was free through T-Mobile
fickystingers@reddit
Even the people I know who are serious sports fans don't usually care about pro soccer; even the people I know who are into pro soccer specifically don't usually follow American pro soccer.
drumberg@reddit
The fact that you had to edit it to clarify what MLS is probably answers the question.
GigaG@reddit
Professional soccer here is fairly niche compared to (American/gridiron) football, basketball, baseball and hockey.
Yankee_chef_nen@reddit
I’m late but just want to add that there probably is good number of American sports fans that don’t even know what the MLS means.
Forsaken-Cattle2659@reddit
I try every year to get into it. I love the European domestic leagues, Champions League, and any international competition, but I just can't get into MLS. For some reason it feels like the entire league was created for the backstory of a soccer movie. Like whenever someone tries to make a film on American Football and they create fake teams, uniforms, etc...
Never feels like the games are that important, the caliber of skill is below what I want to watch, and the atmospheres are well-below what you can find in the NFL, CFB, CBB, NBA, MLB, and NHL
MiddleRiverTerp@reddit
American Everton supporter and Orlando City. You can and should support your local MLS team if you enjoy soccer.
mrporter2@reddit
No and most of us into soccer watch premier league instead mls isn’t well timed for viewers and the product has taken a nose dive after Messi joined.
Cpt_Rossi@reddit
I don't. I played soccer as a kid but never watched it
thatrightwinger@reddit
If you can sit through soccer, sure. I can't imagine trying it sober, which is my lifestyle.
Dapper_Peace2019@reddit
I am a big sports fan. Follow baseball and football in particular. I can't name a single MLS team. It is just not on the radar for me.
miketugboat@reddit
Not a huge fan but I will go to a few MLS and NWSL games cause they are close by, cheap, and really fun live. I only watch on TV if the local team made the playoffs
ham_solo@reddit
I am not a big sports person, but MLS and MLB are the only two sports I actually enjoy watching. I just don't have the mental bandwidth to follow them closely.
Drisurk@reddit
Personally no and idk anyone who does, even my soccer loving friends. Mostly it’s the big 3 (NFL, NBA, MLB). Even NHL gets talked about more than the MLS.
Over-Policy-5636@reddit
nope it would be like watching european basketball
SteveArnoldHorshak@reddit
Multiple Listing Service????
anonymouse278@reddit
I would say most Americans have an "Oh, right, that also exists" attitude toward MLS. The big four professional spectator sports in the US are football, baseball, basketball, and hockey in that order. MLS doesn't really factor into most conversations about pro sports. I would wager most Americans could not name the MLS team closest to them.
Americans play soccer, but it isn't followed as a professional sport by most.
Headoutdaplane@reddit
This, I love to play soccer, but do not like to watch it.
Pinwurm@reddit
It's getting more popular every year, but it's peanuts compared to the 'Big Four' sports: NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL.
The folks I know that watch soccer prefer the EPL.
AncientGuy1950@reddit
Pretty much any question that starts "Do Americans..." can be truthfully answered no.
There are 350 million of us. A minority of that number watches and loves MLS, the rest not so much.
I personally know that 'Major League Soccer' is a thing that exists, but beyond that, I don't care.
whatsa_matta_u@reddit
No
CH11DW@reddit
Mist people are unaware if their city has a team. Which is not something you can say about the top four sports in the US.
ButtToucherPhD@reddit
Not really. Some do. The fans are mostly limited to those who live near a team. For most Americans, soccer is still "foreign" and the MLS has done a poor job of making it appealing to Americans who aren't enmeshed in soccer culture. The league is called "Major League Soccer" but then there are teams calling themselves "football" clubs. There are some other team names that are really odd to an American who doesn't know about soccer culture. "Real Salt Lake", "Sporting Kansas City", "Inter Miami" are not in line with greater sports culture in the US, but are more in line with the international soccer culture. For soccer fans, that's great. They're getting to participate at home in what they wish they could participate in abroad. But for the average American, it's frankly kind of weird how US soccer culture is trying so hard to imitate foreign soccer culture (other examples are the chants and why are people wearing scarves?) instead of growing an organic soccer culture here. If the MLS wants to grow it's brand it needs to let American soccer find it's own identity, rather than try to artificially impose a foreign sports culture here.
Caveat to all of this is that I am not a soccer fan. These are all criticisms from an outside perspective.
HalfManHalfManatee@reddit
Speaking as someone who’s lived in the us my whole life, I love the game. I’ve been to more games in person in Europe than I have watched a full mls matches on TV. Just can’t get into it.
SkittleCar1@reddit
I can name more WNBA players than MLS players.
adultdaycare81@reddit
My highschool has a larger stadium
waerrington@reddit
Typical game viewership is 250k/game, less than 0.1% of Americans. That makes it 1/4 the size of hockey, the smallest of the traditional leagues in the US.
So, no. Not really.
usefulchickadee@reddit
Some do. I do. Believe it or not, the 300 something million people who live in America don't all watch the same things.
Astute_Primate@reddit
It depends on the city. FC Atlanta, LAFC, and Inter Miami all have passionate fan bases, and Seattle can fill an NFL stadium for a home match. People who love it, love it. But a lot of cities, especially strong NFL cities, have a harder time. But it's growing, little by little. I expect the world cup and the launch of the second top flight league with traditional pro-rel (USL Premier) in 2028 will bring in new fans.
Sea2Chi@reddit
It depends on the city.
Some cities have a lot of local support for their team, some don't.
Occasionally you have a team do really well and that generates additional support, but they're often in last place ratings wise against Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Hockey.
monkeymind009@reddit
I watch and love MLS. But as others have said, it’s not nearly as popular as NFL, NBA, MLB. It is catching up to NHL though.
Diligent_Mulberry47@reddit
We don’t watch MLS often unless there’s a friendly. I don’t root for the US National team often. During WC I’m always pulling for The Netherlands, Belgium, and Mexico.
My nephew is a Liverpool fan so we tend to watch the Premier League. I’m a fan of PSV Eindhoven so we try and catch as many Eredivisie games as possible.
Ontilt1492@reddit
As a American What's MLS?
Edit: What's Major League Soccer?
Deep_Contribution552@reddit
People who are into soccer usually follow it, though I bet TV viewership is higher for the Premier League honestly. And at least 80 percent of Americans probably never pay attention to it at all.
deltagma@reddit
Evidenced by needing to say what MLS stands for the general answer is no
Trick_Photograph9758@reddit
No, it's a vey niche sport. It's becoming slightly more popular, but still not even a blip on the radar.
For reference, I'm an American who loves soccer. I watch the English PL literally every weekend, and I've traveled to watch some matches in London. I never/rarely watch MLS, even though I have a local team.
FrenchFreedom888@reddit
I'm much more interested in the USL, both because my state's team is in the USLC, but also because I like the league better than the big cities-only, commercialized and money-focused MLS
Indig012@reddit
I watch it but only my team. Because there is no pyramid system I feel as if most games “don’t count” for me as I have no skin in anything but my own teams games.
But I will watch any premier league or championship game just for fun
TheSiegeWurm@reddit
The what?
Efficient_Advice_380@reddit
I'll casually watch my home team (Chicago Fire) on occasion, but it's my least watched of the major sports leagues in the US
Revolutionary-Cup954@reddit
Mls has a small, cult following, but i wouldn't say its mainstream. Im jot even sure ive ever seen a game on tv
Impulse2915@reddit
Soccer generally isn't big here. It is growing in interest, but it is far behind other professional sports like football, basketball, baseball, and hockey
Nofanta@reddit
No, that’s a third world and euro sport.
okthatscoolll@reddit
No, it’s still a small market and doesn’t really get national attention. I follow sports and watch/listen to sports shows… I can’t even tell you who the good MLS teams are, when they have the championship or who the best players are. It’s just doesn’t come up in US sports media
Candid-Math5098@reddit
It varies. In the northwest, the Sounders and Timbers are a big deal.
Pbferg@reddit
A very small number. Football, Basketball, Baseball, Hockey, NASCAR, Golf and probably even Tennis are all more popular in America.
BigScoops96@reddit
I watch the euro cup, World Cup, copa America, etc. When I first started watching these, I said to myself, damn soccer is sick I need to watch more. I watched 3 NE Revolution games and it just is not the same and I stopped. My younger cousins who are huge into soccer watch it though. They prefer the premier and champions league though.
itcheyness@reddit
I do.
Go Sounders!
seancbo@reddit
Only the real estate agents
ComprehensiveCoat627@reddit
I didn't even realize this was a joke until I read more comments. First association with MLS is with real estate
rawbface@reddit
What is MLS in this context? I own a house, and i have no idea what y'all are on about.
ComprehensiveCoat627@reddit
It's the database where houses for sale are listed, Multiple Listing Services. That's where Zillow and such get their information from, and where your real estate agent posts your house's info to make it available to buyers
PhilosophyBitter7875@reddit
Which is a little ironic, real estate is what is making the clubs rich, they don't care if they have a team that plays well or not, because there is no consequence to play poorly because there is no relegation system in place. So they build these 18k-30k seat stadiums near major cities and they watch their investments grow. If their MLS team doesn't sell enough tickets, that doesn't matter the calendar will fill up with other events such as concerts, festivals, rugby matches, international matches and college football games.
Audi Field in DC cost about $450mil to build and it has already doubled in value since it was built in 2018.
glomar-recovery-co@reddit
As always the joke is about location location location
CoxswainYarmouth@reddit
A little HomesPun humor…
SuzQP@reddit
I wonder if they love it or hate it? It makes it easy for buyers to pre-select the homes they want to see, but it also makes agents less essential to the process.
WAR_T0RN1226@reddit
"makes agents less essential to the process" aka "slightly reduces the fake job aspect" of realtors
seancbo@reddit
Most agents I knew found it pretty essential. Cause you get way more tools on the backend than normal people do on the front end.
DJPaige01@reddit
That was exactly what I thought. I had no idea what this person was referring to. I had to Google it.
Jeff_Hinkle@reddit
Cheers
mofa90277@reddit
I stopped watching the MLS in 2011 when I bought my house. I’d been waiting since 2003 for the market to correct, and boy, did it ever correct (in my favor).
pixienightingale@reddit
Real estate was where I went first too
Mike312@reddit
Clever
MidwestDYIer@reddit
I guess? That's what I thought they post meant
Oenonaut@reddit
In this economy?
thelimeisgreen@reddit
Yeah, it’s a buyer’s market… just most buyers haven’t figured it out yet. They will soon…
N_Huq@reddit
smart, even
ChristyLovesGuitars@reddit
Read, thought it was a dig at players moving, minimized, realized, re-opened, and liked. Would have awarded, if I had one to give.
OnlyCome2CTheArsenal@reddit
I support the Revolution to an extent. My wife and I have a season membership with her parents. We go to a handful of matches every season. It’s fine.
But we support Arsenal primarily. We both found the club as teenagers and then eventually met watching Arsenal in Boston in our 20s.
The Revs are something she enjoyed as a kid. I like that we have something we can do with her parents that we all enjoy. But I absolutely hate the way the Revs go about getting people into their stadium. It has absolutely made me consider pulling out of the membership. Majority of the tickets in our section are disinterested youth soccer players and their awful suburbanite parents who spend the match taking pictures of their kids and arguing about who gets to drink in the second half. The Apple TV situation hasn’t helped.
The folks who have supported that club from the beginning deserve so much more, but the club’s priority, from my perspective, is and has been the “kids,” which is to say the priority is the kids’ parents money. It’s all so embarrassing.
Rocket1575@reddit
The people who like soccer do, but it is not a majority of Americans. It is not a major sport and most Americans do not follow it.
osudude80@reddit
Me! I'm one of them!
PhilosophyBitter7875@reddit
Its not a good product, I hate how the league owns the teams, and there how there is no Pro/Rel. Die hard fans are obnoxious, they get real sensitive about any type of criticism of the league or about your club. It kind of feels like the die hard fans never were accepted into a group before and they found the MLS and its their special place with other unique misfits, so any kind of criticism they feel is a reflection of them personally, so they defend a shitty league and shitty owners who are comfortable missing out on the playoffs for an entire decade. You don't create a good product when there is no consequences of losing, one of the most exciting aspects of the PL right now is the relegation battle. And the stupid fucking league is trying to kill the oldest tournament this country has by not participating and by playing their C-Team. The MLS realized that if these other leagues would perform well against MLS clubs in the US Open Cup then that would make the fans want to merge leagues and form a proper football/soccer pyramid because of how popular the tournament was. But they chose to give the tournament almost zero coverage, they want to control the money and force the new leagues cup onto us so that they can push the other leagues out from the eyeballs of the public, and the USSF is just as much to blame for that. But all of the words they are saying are just to PROTECT THE CLOSED FRANCHISED MODEL of the MLS, meaning, protect billionaires and their investments. But the fans are too fucking brainwashed and will regurgitate exactly what the owners want, its such a fucked up system and the fanbase is swarmed with pussies who just accept what is going on or defend the actions of the league and the clubs.
With that being said, I live near DC and DC United is run like complete shit, and if the owners actually gave a single fuck about building a winning franchise or at least one that was competitive, I would love to go watch my local team. Fuck Jason Levien, you don't deserve a safe and comfortable investment.
thisrockismyboone@reddit
I have never met someone who was openly a fan of the MLS, and I am from an area that has a team. They have fans because I can see them in the stadium, I just dont know who they are.
OriginalSilentTuba@reddit
It has its fans and is growing, but it is way behind the “big 4” pro sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL), and behind NCAA (college) football and basketball, too.
TK1129@reddit
The big 4 of American pro sports are the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL. Throw in college sports and MLS is way behind all of them. I’m from the New York area and we have 2 MLS teams in the area. I’m not alone in not having seen a game or being able to name a player on either team. The NFL owns sundays during the season. People religiously follow their baseball, basketball or hockey team. Soccer doesn’t have that appeal here. Soccer is growing exponentially as a youth sport (maybe as a pro sport?) but it’s going to be a long time until it’s on par with the big 4 leagues.
MinimumPosition979@reddit
I don't know anyone who watches it. I even live 5 minutes from a stadium of an MLS team and I can't think of anyone I know who has been to a game there.
UnKnOwN769@reddit
MLS is locked behind Apple TV streaming and is very inaccessible for casual growth, so only some soccer fans or people living near MLS teams really care about it. I went to an MLS game in Atlanta and the atmosphere was electric. It was at the Falcon's NFL stadium, and it was packed.
Mental_Internal539@reddit
I do not watch any sports, I understand the interest in watching people run around with a ball. Go outside and do it, that's way more enjoyable.
SenseNo635@reddit
No, soccer is not popular in this country. Football, baseball, basketball and hockey are our major sports.
WorkerAmbitious2072@reddit
No
Royal_Success3131@reddit
I hear sport talk at work, 40 hours a week. I didn't even know we had MLS.
No_Nail_8169@reddit
I watch the Mexican league (Liga mx) more than the MLS and I have zero Mexican ties
Synseer83@reddit
do i watch it? yes.
do i love it? ehhhhhhhh
1MrE@reddit
Didn’t even know what it was until I opened the post and saw the edit.
JuanSolo9669@reddit
I don't watch kick ball
JJKEISER@reddit
Some do. But the football is barely watchable. Europe is where real football is played.
billymondy5806@reddit
When is mls?
AcanthaceaeOk3738@reddit
It has a dedicated following. But it’s nowhere near as big as football, baseball, hockey or basketball.
Lojackbel81@reddit
Yes and the fan base is growing rapidly.
BoSKnight87@reddit
I don’t really know anybody who watches soccer tbh
No_Engineering_718@reddit
Never watched a second of it
phred_666@reddit
To me, watching paint dry is more exciting than MLS.
RioTheLeoo@reddit
That’s how I feel watching out football. It annoys tf out of me that the game is constantly stopping.
No_Weakness_2135@reddit
American football is very boring
Popular-Local8354@reddit
That’s just soccer in general tbh
Waltz8@reddit
I mean you don't have to love it, but the fact that it has 5 billion fans means there's something exciting about it. No, it's not just because it's cheap to play, because it's the most popular sport in most rich countries too.
I can understand why someone who lives in the US where no elite men's soccer exists wouldn't be into soccer. If you've watched something like the UEFA Champions League finals, you might understand. We watch soccer not just because of goals. The quality of passes, not giving up possession for long stretches despite being chased by 10 people, dribbles, acrobatic saves etc. All these are super impressive and they happen very consistently at the elite level of soccer. Besides, manipulating objects accurately with feet is more impressive than with hands.
I'm American but having extensively traveled to Europe and Africa, I understand the appeal of soccer.
Popular-Local8354@reddit
Oh, I’m sure there’s something appealing, people wouldn’t watch otherwise. It’s just not for me.
phred_666@reddit
I was trying to be nice (for once).
eggwhite0@reddit
Nah, most are Premier League or La Liga fans, myself included. Most American sports fans enjoy watching the highest level of the sport which is why most basketball fans watch the NBA but not the G League or Euroleague. There’s also no relegation which kills it for most soccer fan.
Civil_Hour_3031@reddit
Fuck no
RainRepresentative11@reddit
I don’t know anyone who does. Even my friends who watch soccer just watch EPL.
BaronDoc@reddit
MLS probably would attract more fans if was put on over-the-air broadcasts instead of streaming services and some prime time games during the week wouldn’t hurt
minnick27@reddit
The fact you had to add the edit should tell you all you need to know
Meilingcrusader@reddit
Not really no. Even the few Americans really into soccer tend to prefer watching European soccer like the English Premier League
Far-Jury-2060@reddit
No. In my opinion, the Premier and Champions leagues just have a more amped up energy to them, which makes them better to watch.
FatherOfTheSkye@reddit
Most people can’t even name their local team.
Quenzayne@reddit
I do but it is not very popular in the grand scheme of things.
MLS has a great community and the people who are into it are very passionate but it just hasn’t hit the mainstream enough yet.
Messi will bring all of a town’s soccer fans out of the woodwork when Miami plays there but week to week, it’s nowhere near the level of interest of other sports.
ermghoti@reddit
It's not as popular as pickleball, and slightly more popular than shirling.
big_shidd@reddit
No, soccer is the 5th most popular sport here
Guinnessron@reddit
I can’t it’s so slow and deliberate…. Boring as hell
Waltz8@reddit
Have you watched the English Premier League? It's definitely not "slow". The Spanish league might be slow though. The pace definitely depends on the style of play.
Guinnessron@reddit
Yes. I love EPL and have been a City supporter for 15 years or so. I watch most games Saturday and Sunday mornings and weekday afternoons when I can. Champions league, FA cup League cup ( CITY!) They asked about MLS which compared to all European soccer is very plodding and slow.
RioTheLeoo@reddit
I don’t see how people can say that but then watch football and baseball which is a far greater offender in both regards
Guinnessron@reddit
To be clear, I love European soccer especially EPL. MLS is like they’re in molasses compared to that is all I meant
Dgp68824402@reddit
There is good support in the cities that have MLS teams, but mediocre support broadly.
Street_Pause_6224@reddit
Fire fan checking in!
pslater15@reddit
I watch it and like it a lot. It's soccer in primetime.
Tricklaw_05@reddit
I’ve tried numerous times to watch either MLS, Premier League or the World Cup. For me, it’s pleasant enough to have on in the background but I just don’t find the sport exciting.
anarcurt@reddit
Season tickets here. Fc Cincinnati
Atlas7-k@reddit
Hell is Real
Dangerous_Pattern_81@reddit
What’s MLS?
AMMJ@reddit
I tried.
MLS is not as approachable as NFL, or MLB.
Time keeping seems subjective, the size of the field loses context, and the flopping made it unwatchable.
Ok-Answer-6951@reddit
LOL no.
One-Hand-Rending@reddit
The real estate listings ? I never even think about it if I’m not buying a home.
gasolinedreaming@reddit
To answer the question, sort of. I’m a huge soccer fan and since I’ve recently moved to a city with an MLS team I sort of follow it a little bit. But my main team that I support is in France.
However I’ve discovered recently that while the MLS is pretty cool, the real gold is in the USL (Championship, League 1, League 2) — aka the de facto lower leagues of American soccer. Real proper grassroots fan culture down there beneath the surface. Look into Portland Hearts of Pine, Vermont Green FC, etc if you’re curious.
surgeryboy7@reddit
Some do, but they are probably the more hardcore soccer fans. I have a co-worker who watches it, but that's probably the only person I know personally that watches it.
FoolhardyBastard@reddit
No not really. I’ve known like one person who was really into it. I myself couldn’t even tell ya the teams.
Pugilist12@reddit
No
Just1Pepsimum@reddit
Just can't get into guys running around a field to a 0-0 or 1-0 score. Watching the flop around when someone hits them like they've been ran over by a car. Ive got much better sports to watch.
1029394756abc@reddit
Soccer is my least favorite sport. Even after baseball.
NCStateFan13@reddit
No and no.
tussentweewindmolen@reddit
I don’t know a single person who does. Women’s soccer (the national team, at least) is much more respected here because they actually win. I couldn’t name an American male soccer player with a gun to my head.
DefendTheStar88x@reddit
If you you watch games the stands are full but nobody ever brings them up the way they do football or baseball pros.
Iamoleskine123@reddit
No. It’s too slow, and nothing that exciting ever really happens. Even the style of play is boring.
Iamoleskine123@reddit
I’d go to live games if there was a team in my city though
Ok_Orchid1004@reddit
I could not tell you one team name in MLS. I’ve never watched a game and I never will.
MoronLaoShi@reddit
I love Miles Lewis Skelly.
loweffortchamp@reddit
No
jacksonbeya@reddit
I think what’s gonna hurt them more than they realize is moving to match the European calendar.
As someone who is a fan of an out of market team (sadly DC United because I lived there for 20 years and wanted a local team to root for) I can’t attend games in person often, but I watch most of them live.
When I have to choose between College Football and MLS, MLS is gonna lose every time.
It’s one thing to go up against summer baseball games that you generally can miss and it matters less, it’s another to go up against the NFL for your Sunday afternoon games and Saturday night college football for the first 4 months of your season.
There’s a lot of crossover between football and soccer fans and most will choose football each time.
rhylte@reddit
Yeah I’m curious how the schedule change will shake out. I’m going to miss summer soccer.
I think the idea is that MLS and NFL are going to overlap either way. So they’re choosing to overlap early season games with NFL rather than the playoffs. Because as it stands MLS playoffs can’t command an audience in early/mid December when it’s bowl season for CFB and playoff push for NFL.
I think in 2024, the MLS Cup Final was on the same day as the CFB Championship, and they just don’t want that anymore lol
Archercrash@reddit
No
dc912@reddit
There are 350 million people in the United States. Or course some watch and love MLS. There wouldn’t be 30 teams and national television deals if people didn’t watch and love it.
rhylte@reddit
I think the Americans in this thread should read your comment. I get that it’s kinda the point of this subreddit, but so many people’s answers boils down “well I don’t, so that must mean no one does.”
MH_75@reddit
You made me Google "MLS". I too thought real estate when I first saw your question
Snarky75@reddit
No. My dad is a huge sports fan. This is one he doesn't watch.
GandalfTheShmexy@reddit
everyone I know who watches soccer watches the big foreign leagues
Carlpanzram1916@reddit
It’s like the 5th or 6th most popular sport in the U.S.
lavatec@reddit
Nope, kinda seen as a joke here
GenericUsername19892@reddit
I don’t know what it was til I read the comments.
I know the name of one soccer team, a women’s state team because a childhood friend played for a couple years.
saberlight81@reddit
Soccer fans in cities with MLS teams watch and buy tickets and some of those teams sell out NFL stadiums. So yes, it's popular, but it's still the fifth most popular pro sports league, firmly behind the NBA/NHL/MLB. It's also not even the most popular soccer league on TV. The EPL and Liga MX both get better TV ratings (and did even before MLS moved to Apple TV)
jmort619@reddit
I watch and enjoy MLS but I like the Mexican league more although I can’t understand much during the telecast.
Frequent-Account-344@reddit
Took my family to watch the Sounders for about 30 bucks a ticket. Great atmosphere, game wasn't all that great but it was a blast. Not a huge "football" fan but the experience in the stadium was way better than the Seattle Kraken (NHL). Those fans were horrible.
AllTheSpuds@reddit
NWSL all the way.
pinniped90@reddit
Yes but it's very provincial and still pretty much an in-person thing.
I will occasionally go watch Sporting KC at the stadium, but I've never watched them on TV. And I have never watched other clubs play on TV.
The matches are fun but I don't really care about the table or the league as a whole.
TV numbers are minuscule (it's mostly pay walled anyway) but every team seems to have a super dedicated group of supporters.
Mysterious_Jello69@reddit
I'll be downvoted by MLS fans, but not really, no.
One of the reasons is the MLS started to go the European route in regards to team names, logos, uniforms, etc.
The average American or Canadian is used to stuff like the Detroit Pistons or the Toronto Maple Leafs with cool team names and logos, with uniforms to match. "Generic city soccer club" with a big ass advertisement on the jersey just turns people off of even giving the MLS a chance.
I worked for a marketing company and was part of a project doing studies on sports and we got a lot of feedback on that.
rtd131@reddit
I don't think you're wrong, it sort of gives crappy knockoff vibes.
I think a big part is no promotion/relegation. There's no reason to invest in a team when you'll make the same money playing mediocre every year. It's the same with a lot of American sports but somehow seems worse with the MLS because soccer fans are used to the concept. So it ends up just being a bit of a retirement league (even though there is some talent being developed). The only marketing my local team is doing is for a game with Inter Miami to watch Messi play, not even for their own team lol.
Also anecdotally when I used to go to MLS games more often it just seemed super "family friendly" which kind of seems like a miss because other sports in the US aren't really like that.
Aside from the match day experience it's also impossible to watch because it's only on Apple TV.
Cyndagon@reddit
When I lived in Omaha I followed the local team, went to a couple games. Had a good time. Since I moved I haven't followed since. NFL and F1 take up enough of my time.
iamslevemcdichael@reddit
I engage MLS the same way I engage every other sport (MLB, NFL, NBA, etc…): if it’s on tv, I don’t care and it’s not worth my time; if I’m watching in-person, I am 100% dedicated and a borderline obnoxious fan of my home team. There is no middle.
PseudoCalamari@reddit
What are/is the MLS?
LagunaBladeee@reddit
on tv? not really, no BUT i will tell you this: i live in portland, within walking distance from providence park where the timbers (and nwsl’s thorns) play, and have gotten people who never pay attention or even care about soccer to go to games with me on multiple occasions and they always have a blast. i think americans just love going to sporting events.
honestly, i feel like people just love their home teams rather than the actual league.
RioTheLeoo@reddit
I hate the Timbers, but I can’t lie, the games and the supporters always look fun af. One of these days I gotta get up there when Galaxy is playing them haha
LagunaBladeee@reddit
with the way they’ve been playing, i hate them too lol come out! the atmosphere is always awesome at providence park whether it’s the timbers or the thorns playing
TankDestroyerSarg@reddit
As a rule, not really. It's grown greatly over my lifetime, but is still pretty small in comparison to the other big major league sports. I'd say most of the popularity is due to the increase in Hispanic families immigrating to the US. I've never watched more than a few seconds at a time of MLS, even though I have a local MLS Club. But I've spent hours at a time watching MLB, NFL, NHL, and NBA games over the years. That said, I also haven't watched much sports since the Cubs won their last World Series.
Distinct_Abrocoma_67@reddit
I’m a huge sports guy but I’ve only watched MLS when Messi debuted for Miami’s team. It’s a fun live event but that’s about it
AdamOnFirst@reddit
Put simply, no. Premiere league is substantially more watched than MLS and that is still well behind all the major American Leagues. Not to say there are fans and a healthy league, but it’s still a great distance behind.
Cubsof2016@reddit
Quite niche. Most Americans don't care about it and don't watch it and have no opinion on it at all. Those that do watch it tend to be very into it. A vocal and very online minority of soccer fans in the US actively hate the league and won't shut up about it. They also usually hate other more popular North American sports.
Astraltraumagarden@reddit
I watch all my home games. I just like sports so I watch all major leagues. I’m not a soccer fan in general though. It’s not talked about. Not even played in most bars IIRC. I’ll check next time
Sassy_Sausages22@reddit
If i had to guess the English premier league and la liga are significantly more popular here than MLS
LilLebowskiAchiever@reddit
The what?
Popular-Local8354@reddit
English and Mexican leagues, and he’s right. They outclass MLS viewership in the US.
LilLebowskiAchiever@reddit
TBH I guessed Italy or Spain???
I pay attention to the American women in their World Cup and the Olympics, because they are always contenders.
I think mens soccer will gradually get more popular in the US as the Hispanic demographic grows in the US.
lil-birdy4@reddit
100%
dangleicious13@reddit
MLS is the 3rd most watched soccer league in the US behind the EPL and Liga MX.
awmaleg@reddit
Definitely agree. EPL for my friend group. CL and World Cup are big too
Legal_Beats@reddit
It’s definitely growing, especially with the Messi hype lately, but it still takes a backseat to the NFL and NBA for most people. The local stadium vibes are usually great, even if the general TV viewership isn't at European league levels yet.
StrongStyleDragon@reddit
It’s gotten more popular. Premiere league is still the king. I feel like NWSL is more popular than MLS.
DJPaige01@reddit
No, my children played soccer at the YMCA when they were 4, that's about the extent of my viewing experience. I enjoy football, baseball, college basketball, and cheerleading.
HorrorAlarming1163@reddit
I consider myself a pretty big sports fan. I’ve watched one MLS game in my life, because the team my step brother likes (sounders) was in the final. I’m much more likely to watch la liga or premier league, and even more likely than that to watch the World Cup.
NoCaterpillar2051@reddit
I don’t know what that is. Hopefully you find that answer helpful
Middle-Wealth-6755@reddit
Watch, yes. Love? No. It's not a very pretty style of soccer, IMHO. I enjoy watching the EPL. Haven't quite gotten into the Bundesliga.
Infinite-Surprise-53@reddit
It's like the 4th most popular soccer league in the US
Dragonflies3@reddit
Is MLS soccer? I hate soccer, so no.
Calm_Madness7799@reddit
I’m American. I’ve watched EPL for a long time. Have been to a Tottenham Hotspur home game. Love World Cup and Champion’s League. I live in Los Angeles with two MLS teams.
I have never watched MLS. Ever. Not a minute.
RioTheLeoo@reddit
I’m surprised you haven’t watched any LAFC (boooo) games as a Tottenham fan ever since Son moved over
Calm_Madness7799@reddit
MLS really needs to figure out why I don’t watch the MLS. I should be their target audience!
Rolenalong@reddit
the what now?
thedeepfake@reddit
No, soccer sucks.
Savilly@reddit
The fan base is very young. Not sure what that means about the future. If the young fans stay with it, there could be a lot of money in 20 years once they get disposable income.
The Apple TV deal makes it global without blackouts on a single platform.
The quality has its honest arguments but there is something to be said for a league with parity. It is improving and some youth programs are world class. Those world class players skip the league though or moonlight. I think Cavin Sullivan will be sent off to England soon.
There are some cities where it genuinely slaps. Atlanta, Miami, Nashville, Seattle are just a few examples. Atlanta has sold 70k seats before hitting its attendance on competitive levels with some of the biggest teams in the world.
They also own their stadiums. The growth potential is pretty wild.
boodyclap@reddit
I do, I'm a huge DCU fan and so are my best friends but MLS fans are unfortunately few and far between in my experience
Even Americans who DO watch soccer rwjd to watch premier or Liga and sometimes Liga MX
I've def seen it grow since messi and an influx of kids wearing inter Miami jerseys but overall I can't say it's super popular where I'm from rn, in Cali and Portland tho I've heard it's a different story
Derplord4000@reddit
I prefer the MCU personally.
Specialist-Solid-987@reddit
I prefer the premier league
fairfax_maddax@reddit
I have a season seat for inter miami/messi but I won’t watch on TV
Jeff_Hinkle@reddit
Just the Sounders. I think most people watching MLS have their teams, but wouldn’t go out of their way to watch some random game the same way people will watch any matchup on the sunday night nfl game.
Nercow@reddit
It's pretty popular here in the Portland, Oregon area, but otherwise it's pretty niche. I lived in New England for most of my life and I rarely saw New England Revs posters hanging up in bars or restaurants. It's ALL over the place here in Portland for the Timbers.
Tom_Brady6969@reddit
No, we have a far more entertaining version of soccer called hockey. It’s faster paced, more physical, and has far more scoring chances. Oh and also the players don’t flop to the ground and fake injuries every 30 seconds.
RioTheLeoo@reddit
Hockey sucks
Tom_Brady6969@reddit
Different strokes for different folks I guess, personally I don’t care to watch grown men roll around on the ground pretending to be hurt, just for the final score to be a 0-0 tie.
RioTheLeoo@reddit
That’s fair. I’m not a huge fan of Disney on Ice but with 20% more punching, but to each their own 😉
(I’m mostly joking btw, go Kings!)
Trick_Meringue_5622@reddit
No
GreenBeanTM@reddit
As I’ve stated many times before on the sub: the vast majority of Americans do not care about soccer.
Evenfisher01@reddit
Enough go to the games to fill a 25k person stadium but overall it is niche.
pikkdogs@reddit
I’ve never met anyone who does.
I’ve met a couple who secretly watch European soccer, but not American.
noseleaptilbklyn@reddit
I love World Cup! Not a sports person but Olympics and WC are two sports events I really get into.
Sea_Macaron_7962@reddit
I watch and love the game.
Derplord4000@reddit
Not me, I don't like soccer.
scottypotty79@reddit
Really enjoyed going to RSL games when I liked in Salt Lake. My wife and I had season tickets for several years. It was pretty cool to see David Beckham in little old Sandy, Utah.
Mountain-Occasion432@reddit
No. We watch the Premier League.
Necessary_Ad9008@reddit
I like soccer, sometimes following the news about Inter Miami & Messi, but I don’t like the league itself.
I’m a proud capitalist pig, but I just don’t like how corpo-washed the MLS franchise is.
Cantseetheline_Russ@reddit
I’m a huge soccer fan and have coached at a very high level in youth academy soccer… to answer your question, outside of pockets surrounding SOME mls teams, not really. At least it’s more entertaining than baseball.
Capable-View4706@reddit
Sporting KC fan but watching less because team hasn’t been very competitive of late.
derkokolores@reddit
We're now in the second season for our local USL League 1 teams and they're sold out for the rest of the year. There's definitely interest in soccer, but even the diehard fans in our city couldn't give two shits about the Revolution. I hear way more about Premier League than anything else.
Any-Contract-9152@reddit
The Who ???
SrWaterdoggy@reddit
I don’t know the answer to that specific question, but soccer is definitely getting more popular. I saw a report that said we now watch more pro soccer than pro baseball nationally, but that included international soccer too. Personally, I do think it’s a different experience here than around the world. I live part time in Medellin Colombia and going to the Atletico Nacional games is the best live sports experience I’ve had. MLS games don’t have the same atmosphere or energy.
Historical-Run164@reddit
No. Majority of soccer fans watch other leagues like Prem or La liga and champions league. I’d go as far as saying MLS is the fourth or fifth most popular soccer league in the country. If it weren’t for the league making an effort to pay for superstars like Messi, it would be even less popular.
BalrogRuthenburg11@reddit
I only watch micro lemur sex when I’m feeling especially randy.
Enchant23@reddit
MLS is the 5th largest league by viewership in the US, behind baseball. Personally I'm a big fan and you'll find it quite popular in cities with established teams.
bandit1206@reddit
It’s fifth behind hockey, its half of baseball by viewership
Enchant23@reddit
Chart: Americans Love the NFL, But Change Is Looming | Statista https://share.google/vWIWsIL0ZXAi55NPi
bandit1206@reddit
2025 viewership data.
Bigbadbrindledog@reddit
I think they have been surpassed by WNBA at this point.
Fit_Advantage5096@reddit
Not quite. Wnba sits at 1.3M viewership on average, mls sits at 3.7M, gap has closed tremendously in the past 3 years though.
TheROL1@reddit
I'm sorry, but if 3.7M for an MLS game doesn't immediately hit your ear as egregiously wrong, you don't know enough this stuff to be speaking on it.
lil-birdy4@reddit
WNBA, Hahaahahahahahaha
Bigbadbrindledog@reddit
3.7m is total for a weekend alate if games, not per game. It looks like average per game was 120k on Apple. I'm sure other tv partners brought those numbers up but no where near 1.3m
RioTheLeoo@reddit
WNBA is more accessible, MLS just became available without any extra subscription on Apple TV this year
Overall MLS is still more valuable, and engagement surpasses hockey in non northern markets
deelca@reddit
MLS has too many teams and not enough stars. The result is nobody wants to watch 2 random out of market teams on tv. So you can’t sell it the same as the NBA or NFL. But individual cities go crazy for it when the local club is winning. They need to embrace that and find a way to market it.
wegochai@reddit
I can’t believe it passed hockey. I much prefer hockey and going to hockey games.
Popular-Local8354@reddit
Hockey is still more regional. In areas where hockey is a thing, it’s huge.
wegochai@reddit
Makes sense. My grandfather was Canadian so my dad has always been a huge hockey fan and i grew up going to games with him. Any time he’s visiting a US (or canadian) city and its hockey season he goes out of his way to go to a hockey game. In LA the Kings definitely have a big fanbase (much more niche than the lakers or dodgers but still decent size) but I’m always surprised when someone I know casually mentions going to the MLS games or having season tickets for one of the teams. I feel like more people i know go to the MLS games than NHL at this point (also has two LA teams though). The MLS games just aren’t that exciting for me.
LaSerenita@reddit
I am not selling nor buying any real estate at this time. Personally not a fan of the MLS after spending 10 years as a Realtor.
maxman1313@reddit
Cities that have an MLS team have core supporters that are true die-hard love their team fans. For the vast majority of American sports fans they don't think about the MLS at all. In terms of TV viewership it's the third most watched soccer league in the US.
SomeBroOnTheInternet@reddit
No idea what this acronym even is. So, guessing not.
TopperMadeline@reddit
Major league soccer
TopperMadeline@reddit
Some do. But it’s on the low end of totem poll when it comes to sports here.
Football
Basketball
Baseball
Hockey
Soccer
1Negative_Person@reddit
Noooo. Haha. I’m fairly positive toward soccer compared to most Americans, and I’ve been to zero games. Maybe I’ll watch part of a broadcast game once or twice a year. But honestly, no one gives a shit. I can’t believe the league manages continued existence.
Cassidy_Cloudchaser@reddit
What?
JuanG_13@reddit
I think it's boring, so no I don't
Forsaken_Hermit@reddit
I don't even know how many soccer enthusiasts watch the MLS. I mean it does okay but even here the European leagues get more hype than the MLS.
RabidWolverine2021@reddit
What is the MLS?
xristosdomini@reddit
I'm assuming you are talking about Major League Soccer.
I did.
Then they pay-walled the league behind AppleTV+.
So I'll watch the hell out of the World Cup and as much Premier League as I am awake for. Until MLS becomes more accessible, I'm relegated to watching via tweets.
RioTheLeoo@reddit
It’s just on regular AppleTV now which is nice
xristosdomini@reddit
Yep. I also have zero desire to pay for yet another streaming service that I barely use.
RioTheLeoo@reddit
I only got it because AppleTV was free with T Mobile lol. MLS being part of it was just a happy coincidence xD
Ananvil@reddit
Don't know what that acronym means
yummisammy@reddit
The following is, put harshly, pathetic compared to other major sports. The Super Bowl is an unfair example but just to paint the picture, avg viewer of 100m+ compared to under 1 million for MLS cup.
trentismad@reddit
Everyone i know that watches soccer watches the European stuff. My entire circle is into sports, but none of them watch MLS.
Sad-Corner-9972@reddit
Soccer is a game for kids, American women and non-American men (futbol).
DreamingTree808@reddit
The Crew are popular here in Columbus but I honestly think its more of a city pride thing. I don’t think anyone outside of the hardcore fans actually care about the product on the field
Virlutris@reddit
Only when it’s so.ewhere other than appleTV.
ChasedWarrior@reddit
I would if I could watch my local team more, but since most of my team is in Apple TV, I instead watch Premier League soccer.
It's kinda sad that the MLS is in its 30th year of play as a professional league, the top soccer league in the USA, and still hasn't caught up to the quality of the soccer in the rest of the world.
Haunting-Report-7286@reddit
MLS is shit.
I live in Miami and watch Inter when I can, but anyone who has ever watched a single second of EPL, La Liga, or Bundesliga knows how much lower the level of quality in MLS is
Even having Messi and the MLS best top to bottom roster doesn’t make the quality any better. Straight unwatchable dog shit.
MonkMajor5224@reddit
Im a season ticket holder for my team and I enjoy it.
the-quibbler@reddit
No.
Adjective-Noun123456@reddit
I legitimately cannot recall ever having a conversation about soccer that didn't involve someone talking about taking their kids to play it.
I only learned my state even had a team like a year ago via Reddit.
ChameleonCoder117@reddit
Despite soccer being the 4th most popular sport in the US, almost tied with baseball for 3rd, the MLS is the 5th most popular league, with a large gap between it ant the NHL.
furie1335@reddit
Love? No. Mild curiosity at best
futbolclif@reddit
It’s, at best, the 5th most popular sport and you could argue it’s probably even below golf, tennis and NASCAR. Might even be below F1 at this point.
kevin_m_fischer@reddit
Some do, like me
CornyOne@reddit
No no no no......
donuttrackme@reddit
Not anywhere close to the amount they love the other big sports. But it's slowly growing, and MLS won't fold now, they have a solid product that can buy and sell from Europe. So it will continue growing in the future.
1CraftyDude@reddit
There are dozens of us.
Bexar1986@reddit
BTW my MLS teams are Dallas and Kansas City. My premier league is Man City. The rest...I don't really keep up with.
Powerful_Image6294@reddit
I would say it’s very location dependent and kind of tied to your ethnicity/culture. I would argue that here in SoCal our two MLS teams (LAFC and LA Galaxy) attract more attention than the LA Kings, but then again I’m biased since a lot of my friends are Latino, but then again again LA is a predominantly Latino area which ties it back to the location thing
RioTheLeoo@reddit
Yea our market is kinda unique. LA Galaxy, LAFC and the LA Kings can all be playing on the same night, and both MLS teams will each outsell the Kings
Which, as a Latino soccer fan, is pretty sick. I love the Galaxy v LAFC rivalry. The games between the two are so fun and chaotic
Archlefirth@reddit
Good, fun league with lots of talent. Been a Quakes supporter since 2014. Don’t watch matches live mainly cause the Quakes are historically horrible and the Apple TV deal makes it hard.
Leezwashere92@reddit
Nobody I know 🤷🏻♀️
Bexar1986@reddit
We watch....I watch it and like it. Not as much as american football (college and professional) or baseball or hockey (watched LONG before the Olympics) but yes, it is enjoyable, it's catching on and a lot of fun to attend.
Do I wish more of us would watch MLS or soccer (football) in general, absolutely!
Do I think the World Cup will be successful? Yes, I think many many people around the world will be surprised at the energy and excitement Americans will bring to the tournament.
msivoryishort@reddit
I prefer the nwsl
lt_dan_zsu@reddit
my take as a person that doesn't care about sports is that compared to the big 4 sports (football, baseball, basketball, and hockey) virtually no one cares about mls. hearing the general goings ons of the big 4 is pretty much unavoidable, and I never hear anyone talk about mls. hell, if I hear someone talking about soccer, it's usually about a foreign league like the premier League.
greendogufo@reddit
USL > MLS
Texan2116@reddit
Not really
94plus3@reddit
Dude, I don't even know what channel it's on
LimeSalty4092@reddit
No
The12th_secret_spice@reddit
Not sure but Denver women’s pro team Summit FC has sold 50,000 tickets for their season opener on Saturday. They’re building a stadium for them too.
TractorDrawnAerial@reddit
Hell no
ThexLoneWolf@reddit
Not really, most of the nation prefers gridiron (American) football. Basketball is a close second, with baseball trailing behind. Hockey is also semi-popular, my family followed a local hockey team when I was a kid. But of all the sports games I went to or watched on TV, I think I only ever saw one soccer game, and it was when I was ten and my parents wanted to try something different.
Flimsy-Surprise-4914@reddit
Yes but only after the nfl season lol
JZN20Hz@reddit
MLS means realty here
cat_prophecy@reddit
Yes. It's not as big as baseball, gridiron football, or basketball. But MLS has a huge following, and football in general does as well. Our local stadium routinely has exhibition matches from other counties and there are tons of football bars that show La Liga, Champions, Premier League, and Liga MX games.
capsrock02@reddit
Some of them.
ConsciousNet238@reddit
I love MLS, people love to hate on it because it's American in a very non-American sport
The quality obviously isn't on the level of top European leagues but it's still really fun to watch and has grown an insane amount since I started following in 2008
TwincessAhsokaAarmau@reddit
What?
Understruggle@reddit
Watch? I mean….if I’m looking for background noise for my cat or I’m just kinda browsing here or working on putting together some miniatures I will put it on Apple TV. Baseball and it occupy a murky area where I don’t really follow or watch it like I do football or basketball, but I do find it entertaining some what and would rather have something like that on than whatever is on the local channels at the time.
Love? No, my friend. I can tell you what I do love to watch though. The Dallas Cowboys. I love watching them play and pretending it’s 30 years ago and they were actually kicking ass! The first professional sports team I ever remember watching on TV, and the start of a lifelong love of the gridiron(and 98 minutes of commercials in a three and a half hour long broadcast apparently).
I LOVE the way the NBA sets up their commercial breaks. I get an hour+ of squeaking shoes and jukes and flops at a time. I’m starting to wonder if my wife doesn’t turn on the game some times just to have a couple of hours to herself XD
sprout92@reddit
Nope lol
I know exactly one single human that cares in any way.
rhylte@reddit
If your flair is accurate then you must not get out much because the Sounders are quite popular in Seattle lol
purplishfluffyclouds@reddit
The what?
forceghost187@reddit
I watch and love the Premiere League. My hometown got a MLS team recently and I would go to their games if I still lived there. But I don’t, and so I don’t follow MLS at all
promotherobot@reddit
Premier League is way more popular than MLS because it's shown in a major network. (NBC) I can't even tell you what channel MLS games are on.
back-better007@reddit
There is a very dedicated base, but not generally popular
december151791@reddit
The what?
EuphoricMoose8232@reddit
LAFC has a very passionate fan base. They really get into the action. Look up the 3252
KingDarius89@reddit
No.
TheRealNicCage@reddit
I don’t even think soccer fans care about the MLS lol
juan_humano@reddit
Most people would be hard pressed to name the nearest MLS team, if they could name any at all. Same with players. I dont know who the biggest star in MLS is, and I bet 95% of Americans dont either.
RioTheLeoo@reddit
The biggest MLS star is the most famous athlete in the world, Lionel Messi lol
Popular-Local8354@reddit
I literally had to google him.
RioTheLeoo@reddit
You’ve really never heard of Messi before? I’d have thought him, Ronald and Beckham are basically household names for nearly everybody on earth
Waltz8@reddit
To be fair, he's fairly famous in the urban US. Most teams that have played Messi's team have had over 70k fans in attendance.
Popular-Local8354@reddit
Thankfully, I do not live in an urban area.
riarws@reddit
I didn’t even know he’d moved to the US.
I know a number of soccer fans, but they all follow whatever league is located in the country they (or their parents) immigrated from.
RioTheLeoo@reddit
Yea that makes sense. We play against Liga MX a lot, and always ends up feeling like it’s a home game for them whenever like Chivas, Cruz Azul or América come around haha
ThePickleConnoisseur@reddit
I’ve never watched a single game
Scott72901@reddit
Watch? Occasionally. It’s on Apple TV, so I forget the matches are on.
Love? No. Enjoy? Yes.
But I’m a four-hour drive from the nearest clubs.
klimekam@reddit
In my hometown (Kansas City) soccer is huge, both men’s and women’s. Our MLS team has historically been pretty good but right now they suck ass. Still love them though. I was sitting behind the goal during PK’s when we won the 2013 MLS Cup.
Our women’s team has the first purpose-built women’s soccer stadium in the country!
Waltz8@reddit
First purpose built women's stadium in the world actually
hello8437@reddit
NFL / College Football
NBA
MLB
Hockey
Golf
MMA / Boxing
F1 / NASCAR
Tennis
are all ahead of Soccer, perhaps more
jeremyw0918@reddit
I’m 30 minutes from a MLS stadium and never been.
Playful_Question538@reddit
No and no.
frodosbitch@reddit
Canadian popping my head in. I went to a MLS game in Seattle a while back and it was very high energy. I’ve not been to an NFL game before but I’d imagine they are an order of magnitude larger.
i40west@reddit
I watch Premier League, Champions League, some Europa League, even throw in a little Bundesliga, but MLS is football cosplay. I don't know anyone who watches it.
wwhsd@reddit
Before reading any of the other comments or going to google to find out.
What’s the MLS?
Mystery1001@reddit
Apparently it's Major League Soccer.
permalink_child@reddit
MLS? Not sure Americans celebrate that holiday much.
Redbubble89@reddit
No. A lot of us watch England or Europe for soccer. MLS has fans but it's a retirement home for former European stars and guys you've never heard of.
Cache-Cow@reddit
Nah, USL is better. Wake me up when MLS adds pro/rel. until then it’s not worth my time.
adc1369@reddit
I am American and watch some EPL and Champions League but will not watch the MLS. Why would I watch inferior players when I can watch better ones? It would be like watching Arena League Football instead of the NFL.
Augen76@reddit
Because one has an emotional connection to their club and city.
alittledanger@reddit
I enjoy it a lot. The games are always fun. The league is still developing though, there’s no doubt about that.
ironmanchris@reddit
My kids were soccer players and we got into watching the Chicago Fire a lot. Nowadays the games aren’t on regular cable, so I have lost interest in the league.
MetroBS@reddit
It’s very solidly in 7th place as far as our sports leagues go
And a pretty distant 7th
devnullopinions@reddit
I do.
Otherwise-OhWell@reddit
Some do.
I personally have enjoyed many soccer games - MLS or WC or Olympic or what have you - on a few Sunday afternoons while taking a nap.
Pitiful_Objective682@reddit
The what?
Mushrooming247@reddit
I was going to say how much I love to look at real estate listings even though I’m not in the market for a home, but I see you might mean soccer. If so, no, it’s completely outside of the realm of my awareness.
caphair@reddit
I would be interested in knowing the number of Americans who watch MLS vs Americans watching all other footy. To me, MLS just isn’t a good product.
liquidsparanoia@reddit
It has a growing, active, and loyal following but it is a distant 5th among pro sports in the US.
bad_things_ive_done@reddit
The what?
schoolydee@reddit
no
gummibearhawk@reddit
Id rather watch paint dry than soccer
Waltz8@reddit
Well, you don't have to watch it. But I think it having 5 billion fans means there must be something to it. And no, I don't want to hear "it's cheap to play". It's also the most popular sport in just about every other rich country.
acquiesce011979@reddit
Average attendance per match is actually 3rd among the US pro-leagues behind only NFL and MLB.
StormFallen9@reddit
I don't really watch sports, but my dad is a big soccer fan and watches all the games and a bunch of other leagues, especially South American leagues since he knows Spanish. Been to a bunch of home games with him and it's always fun
Illustrious-Art-7465@reddit
No, I love soccer and regularly go to USL games but MLS has got to be the biggest rip off in terms of attending sports games. Its low quality competition in high quality stadiums so most of what youre paying for is the stadium experience, not the sport.
yummyjackalmeat@reddit
I love soccer and grew up loving the world cup and international competitions, and going to Dallas Burn --> FC Dallas games. However, ever since you could easily stream games from Europe I much prefer watching those leagues. Also fuck the owners of FC Dallas they know what they did.
PeterNippelstein@reddit
Only a small percentage of Americans. The ones that watch it love it, but soccer is maybe the 5th most popular sport in the US. A lot of Americans actively dislike soccer which is kind of weird. I personally mostly watch European football, though I do watch Loons and some Miami matches in MLS.
elfstone21@reddit
There are 10s of us!
Seriously tho they get decent attendance and viewership but not great. Most stadiums have 15k to 25k seats and sell a good amount of spots. (there are a few massive stadiums but those aside) I looked it up and they averaged 3.7 millions viewers a week last year. Which isn't terrible. But the nfl averaged 19 million soo....
I'm a season ticket holder for a local team and have been for 17 years. When we were good it was standing room only 20k a week. Now that we suck I bet its closer to 15k.
HuskerPhil11@reddit
19 million a week? Sunday night football, a single game averaged over 23 million viewers per week. For the week you're talking over 100 million viewers.
JohnnyC300@reddit
There are enough fans that attendance is pretty good at the games themselves. But the TV contract is pretty garbage. Owning an MLS team isn't making millionaires into billionaires or billionaires into multi-billionaires like owning an NFL or NBA team does. It's a vanity project that depends almost solely on the actual box office with a little bit of extra from the other revenue streams.
hung_like__podrick@reddit
No
SmokinSkinWagon@reddit
I’m a huge soccer fan, have been for 20+ years. If I didn’t have a local MLS team in my city, I probably wouldn’t follow MLS all that closely. But I do, so I have season tickets and have gone to almost every single home game for the last 10 years!
r2k398@reddit
I can’t say I have ever watched a match but it draws enough support to say in existence.
Major_Enthusiasm1099@reddit
Well in my city the stadium is downtown and everytime there's a game I see loads of people walking to the stadium so I'd say it's pretty popular but not as popular as American football and Basketball
RockShrimp@reddit
Been watching MLS since 96. You can tell me the soccer isn’t as good as Europe but it’s more fun.
shelwood46@reddit
Watch? No. Love? Also no.
desperatehousecat2@reddit
No never heard of it
Augen76@reddit
I do, it is the sport and league that matters most to me. My club in Cincinnati routinely sells out and has a great atmosphere with singing and chants.
I would say the passion is deep, but not broad. It takes time and skews young. We probably need a solid twenty years to see more and more sides get entrenched in their cities the way other major four team sport leagues have.
Vyckerz@reddit
Some do, the majority don’t
For a period of time, I followed MLS quite closely and was a fan of the New England Revolution as I live in that area of the country
One problem for me was that I lived quite far from the stadium. The team plays at, but I still try to get to a few games a season and watched a lot of of the games on TV.
But I kind of burned out from it after a while as the revolution had a period of success, but kept losing in the finals
And then I sort of slowly drifted back to following hockey around the time the Bruins ended up winning the Stanley Cup in 2011 so my interest in watching MLS faded at the time and I hardly watch it anymore
garulousmonkey@reddit
Some do. Most don’t.
FYI…MLS has two meaning in the US.
Major league soccer and “Multiple Listing Service”
The latter one is used to list houses for sale.
Big_Act5424@reddit
soccer is more of a children's sport in the USA. It's really popular with elementary through college aged people.
wiretail@reddit
Hey, go easy. Some of us old ass adults are soccer crazy.
machagogo@reddit
Some. Most do not.
Lzinger@reddit
Nope. Only context I've ever heard anyone talk about it is "oh Miami is playing in NY? We could see messi play"
notonrexmanningday@reddit
I do, and I go to several matches a year, but I'm definitely in the minority.
More American soccer fans are into the Premier League than MLS. Actually there are more Americans watching the PL every weekend than English people watching it.
rdldr1@reddit
Soccer? No.
happyfirefrog22-@reddit
I like soccer but football, baseball, basketball and hockey are far above it. Really enjoy hockey and football the most. Soccer is growing in the US but nothing is comparable to football in the US.
BananaMapleIceCream@reddit
No, I had to think about what MLS stands for:
msabeln@reddit
MLS Is awesome:
https://www.mls.com
mnpc@reddit
Most Americans that hear MLS probably think real estate well before they think of sports.
Slight_Manufacturer6@reddit
What’s the MLS?
garbageman2112@reddit
In Seattle it is pretty huge. The Sounders choke up downtown every game.
UnbiasedSportsExpert@reddit
I do but it's dependent on living in a city with a team . We're a top 10 attendance league
doonerthesooner@reddit
Probably the 6th most popular sport, maybe 7th.
My local team is worth like a billion dollars so someone is watching
RedRising1917@reddit
I love soccer and so do a lot of my friends, but not really no. MLS is the third most popular league in the US behind the prem and Liga MX.
SuperKmartCenter@reddit
I like and watch MLS, but only because I grew up loving soccer, mostly due to my Mexican heritage on my Mom's side, as soccer/football is massive in Latin America. Soccer is reasonably big in America, fueled a lot from the immigrant communities here that come from places where the sport is very popular. I know a lot of people at my school watched and played it, but a lot of them are usually 1st & 2nd generation immigrants.
Although it's reasonably popular especially among those demographics and younger people, the biggest leagues in America are still the Premier League, which NBC has done a great job making reasonably known here, the UCL, which CBS has done a good job with too, and Liga MX, which is fueled from the Mexican diaspora here in America.
The Mexican National Team and other national teams like Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, will sellout NFL stadiums. Real Madrid vs Barcelona or Liverpool vs Man United friendlies will get massive crowds. But MLS is less talked about and the USMNT doesn't attract fans very well. Soccer has a respectable presence in America, but most fans are concentrated in certain demographics and care more about European or Latin American leagues.
flora_poste_@reddit
I look at the MLS when I’m selling or buying a house. Otherwise, no.
jcoigny@reddit
I love it myself but it's really hard to watch on tv since most games appear to only be on Apple tv and as a #NeverApple kind of guy that makes watching difficult.
jhamilt6@reddit
It's a small, but very passionate group
Blue_9320_@reddit
MLS needs an influx of money to attract more top quality players. The money comes from a major TV contract which is driven by more viewership due to top quality players. And that’s why it’s stuck in neutral.
AchtungCloud@reddit
Not many do. It’s popular in a few cities and is otherwise pretty niche. It’s still neck and neck with the EPL for most watched soccer league in the US.
NFL, NBA, MLB, college football, and NHL are all more popular than MLS or EPL.
That’s not including sports that aren’t overall popular, but have big events that are pooular. College basketball is big right now during March Madness, but nobody cares at all about its regular season. The golf majors have lost a lot of popularity post-Tiger, but I think they still do okay. And then the Olympics, of course.
I’m not sure where UFC and motor sports fit in.
It’s surprisingly difficult to get concrete numbers comparing the viewership of all these sports.
Anecdotally, where I’m at in Texas, football is by far king. NFL and college are easily the top two most talked about sports, and they’re the two I follow most closely. I think MLB seems to be coming back a bit whereas everyone seems to hate the NBA right now.
PeppyQuotient57@reddit
No
Double-Bend-716@reddit
In my experience, it’s popular in cities with teams in the league.
I’m in Cincinnati, and you see FCC apparel and bumper stickers and things like that all over the place
Pretty_Original124@reddit
I found some data that says 13% of Americans follow MLS. 52% NFL 42% NBA 31% MLB (and dropping) 9% NHL
27% follow soccer in general, so MLS definitely struggles to compete with leagues abroad. USL is growing fast too and could shake things up here with promotion/relegation.
silversurf1234567890@reddit
No. I mean some do but not a majority
Chessdaddy_@reddit
depends if you live in a city with a established team.
blinkertx@reddit
Messi coming to MLS increased viewership no doubt. You can also watch all MLS matches with an Apple TV subscription, so lots of people have access to the matches, but unfortunately soccer is just not that popular at the pro level in the US. Maybe the upcoming World Cup will be a force multiplier for MLS, but US fans demand excellence, so it’s unlikely MLS will compete with NFL and other leagues until more world stars are playing in the US.
MsPennyP@reddit
First thing that came to mind was the real estate listings. I'm assuming that's not what you meant. So no.
MeInSC40@reddit
Same. My first thought was that I watched the mls a lot when I was house hunting but now that I’ve bought I don’t at all. Then I realized they meant soccer. And that made me realize I’d rather just look at real estate listings all day than be forced to watch soccer.
ChickenFriedRiceee@reddit
Personally I don’t follow the MLS. I don’t really “follow” most sports but I like watching my favorite mlb and nfl teams from time to time. But, the MLS is still popular over here, I’ve been to a game and it was great! Shot the shit with some British folk who sat behind us.
MysteriousEdge5643@reddit
Most dont.
Shoddy-Discount9814@reddit
Baseball is boring to watch but I enjoyed playing it as a kid
asteriskelipses@reddit
Every sport has a following
RCM19@reddit
I'd say small but devoted following. Even as someone who likes soccer, and would rather watch it than MLB (at least on TV) or NBA, I couldn't tell you when the MLS season is. Oddly I did attend an MLS game before ever going to an NFL or NHL game, but that's not a choice I'd make again.
TotalHistorian9142@reddit
I played soccer my whole life, but even I have a hard time watching it. It’s pretty underwhelming and all the teams are at essentially the same level. They basically just throw together a bunch of player from around the world that have zero chemistry and hope for the best. That said, I do watch my local team if they are on and I’m bored but😴
Euphoric-Bat7582@reddit
Generally? No and no.
“True” soccer fans watch the Premier League, La Liga, and the Euro Cup.
Plenty of people want the MLS to be better and surely care about their team. But soccer is a distant fifth in American sports hierarchy, after hockey which is a distant fourth.
iowaman79@reddit
It’s certainly grown and in some ways exploded in popularity in recent years, and the league is constantly expanding into new markets. It’s not on the casual sports fan’s radar as much as the other “Big 4” leagues but it has a solid following.
Ill_Pressure3893@reddit
Not really.
NatureChannel@reddit
I enjoy watching soccer, but the MLS is just a hard watch for me… even after trying to follow it for the past few years. Play seems much slower paced compared to Europe and Latam, the defending usually isn’t too good since teams usually spend their money upfront IIRC and the players dont seem to be that technically/tactically sound compared to Europe and Latam. I still enjoy it though!
Your_Worship@reddit
You know, it’s pretty bad taste to watch MLS, much less love it.
Hopefully we find a cure one day.
DharmaCub@reddit
I talked to the first person I've ever met who watched MLS today and even they were like it just okay.
DrDentonMask@reddit
I'm American and do support The Major League Soccer. I know that factually there are better leagues, but MLS is our league and I want to see it flourish. I live here, I'm from here and so I relate to it.
To this day, I have only seen DC United, and only once each in the US Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions Cup (another competition I like).
American Soccer First!
wefr5927@reddit
Not really
ASingleBraid@reddit
No one I know.
Neo_Man_Dude@reddit
Typical it’s foreign born or 2nd gen people or children. After that it’s the NFL by far is wayyyyy more popular.
Prize_Ambassador_356@reddit
Some do, but it’s niche, and nowhere near the popularity of the big four
78723@reddit
I don’t know what that stands for.
sandbagger45@reddit
I watch football but European leagues. I do not watch the MLS though.
Current-Barber360@reddit
I think the broadcasts going to AppleTV has hurt the visibility among the average Joe.
LuckyStax@reddit
Mainly in cities without a lot fo other pro sports, MLS tends to do better
Rox217@reddit
The Rapids are pretty popular here in Denver. I really need to make it to a match, looks fun.
ayebrade69@reddit
If they could change a few aspects of the game I’d be all in. Maybe instead of the constant flow of the ball the offense and defense line up on some sort of scrimmage line. Then the offense hikes the ball and has to advance it into the defense, say 10 yards? The offense could get four tries to do it and if they can’t manage the defense takes over. And to make it more exciting the offense can carry the ball and throw it. Also there’s tackling
BreezyBill@reddit
Way more than half of us: The what?
tnred19@reddit
No and I love soccer. Love it. Watch tons of European soccer. But the quality just isnt there for me. Lots of people i know take their kids though. Very few people tune in to games on tv.
krill482@reddit
No
dangleicious13@reddit
Many do.
WorldlinessThat2984@reddit
The majority of Americans I would assume could not name a single player on an MLS team (unless it was some ringer coming over from Europe like when Beckham came over for a few years) and I doubt the majority of Americans could name more than 2-3 MLS teams (fewer if you're not counting local teams).
YupThatWasAShart@reddit
STL CITY baby!!!
Many_Pea_9117@reddit
No idea what this is.
dajadf@reddit
I would guess it's behind the 4 major sports leagues. Probably behind college football and basketball as well. Maybe even behind things like UFC and NASCAR.
russgrim@reddit
The majority of people would expect MLS to be a disease: "If you or someone you know suffers from mild to moderate symptoms of MLS..."
DNSGeek@reddit
Most Americans view soccer like this
salazarraze@reddit
Nope. Almost nobody talks about it. Anecdotally, way more people are interested in European soccer.
Although I'll say this. I don't live in an MLS city. There's probably more engagement the closer you are to an actual MLS team.
sgthatred77@reddit
It's getting more popular every year. Like most answers in this sub, USA is huge. Some people are CRAZY about it, but they are few and far between. A few cities are historically big soccer towns like LA, Seattle, and Portland. Other cities have a brand new following, like Miami. You can go to most other cities with teams and find that there are some major fans and some people who don't even know a team exists. Of the major sports leagues MLS is far and away the smallest, it is also the youngest.
Atomic_Horseshoe@reddit
For some perspective, the nfl averaged around 19-20 million viewers for each regular season game last year. The MLS Cup (ie the championship game) got lesson less than 5 million viewers last year, and that was a record.
usuallyouttapocket@reddit
Meh. Its fun to watch. But it doesn't have the gut of football or the comraderie of the MLB.
Mike312@reddit
I have friends who play soccer and watch MLS religiously.
I have far, far more friends who have no idea what that stands for.
Mike_in_San_Pedro@reddit
Some, not a lot. In Los Angeles, we have two teams, and if you go to the games, you'll find a ton of people who love MLS soccer. But, there are SO many people in Los Angeles, and most of them don't watch.
G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit
Some do, it's sort of a niche sport. It's nowhere near the big 4 pro sports, even even way behind college sports.
Couple years ago I looked up average viewership of MLS games and compared that to average ESPN weeknight viewership of Sunbelt conference college football games and they were roughly the same.
bandit1206@reddit
The what? I don’t even know what that is.
CorrugationDirection@reddit
Im in my late 30s, have played soccer all of my life, and still do. I think Ive watched maybe 2 MLS games, ever.
IA_Royalty@reddit
Yes, it's I think the 4th most popular sport in the country behind football (both NFL and NCAA), NBA, and MLB.
People that want nothing to do with soccer don't realize how large of a following it actually has.
VeteranYoungGuy@reddit
None of the national sports shows or podcasts I watch talk about MLS. Nothing is as popular as the NFL and College Football. MLB and NBA are talked about just not as popular as football is. NHL is even less popular but still more relevant than MLS at least the NHL is sometimes covered. MLS and soccer in general coverage exists but you have to seek it out. They’re not talking about it on national sports media.
Killahdanks1@reddit
Hey. I watch the NFL religiously. A good amount of NHL, and NBA. Used to be big into baseball but not anymore.
I don’t watch MLS on tv often, but we do go to 2-3 Minnesota United games yearly. I’ll be aware of the team, but going to the games is great. It’s an incredible spectator sport and the arenas are great at keeping you close to the action. The game keeps getting bigger here, and now a lot of kids play it growing up. So it’s going to keep growing and it’s awesome.
hobokobo1028@reddit
Not really
PresidentKansas@reddit
I mean I like it and will watch on occasion, but it's not very big here.
RLsSed@reddit
I mean, I do - but I'm in a distinct minority. Until I moved too far away from my club, I was a season ticket holder and have followed the club since the inaugural season.
I still watch as many matches as I can, which is a bit easier with their Apple TV deal.
Lemfan46@reddit
Quality of play is not good compared to other leagues.
LonJohnson@reddit
More of a fan of the FIFA events personally. Although overall USA soccer has come a LONG way, we are competitive internationally on only a whole-country effort basis; our individual clubs are not nearly at the level of our European and Central/Southern American friends.
MalarkeyMcGee@reddit
Fuck no
DomineAppleTree@reddit
Fuck yeah some of us do
jwbourne@reddit
I live like an hour and half drive from St Louis, which has an MLS team. I don't know anybody who has been to a game or watches them.
DesertWanderlust@reddit
I feel like, if it's on in a bar, someone will only complain if some other game is on, especially during football season. The worst is when football season starts in the fall, and even the baseball playoffs often get pushed out in favor of the NFL.
The MLS definitely has its fanbase, they're just less vocal.
Blutrumpeter@reddit
I used to like it until they went to Apple TV and now I can't watch it
Miserable-Lawyer-233@reddit
No
omnipresent_sailfish@reddit
There’s dozens of us!
shammy_dammy@reddit
Some do. I don't know any of those some do people but they must exist.
C0rrelationCausation@reddit
I prefer USL
MukadeYada@reddit
Honestly, before this question, I'd never even heard of it.
I'm not a sports fan, but there are at least half a dozen leagues I've at least heard of, so the fact I didn't know that this one even existed might say something.
slayer1am@reddit
What's that? Major league Soccer? Never watched a single game of it and don't plan to.
e430doug@reddit
A few.
JustAnotherDay1977@reddit
Some do, but it’s a very small percentage.
wormbreath@reddit
Not a lot of them
anneofgraygardens@reddit
some do.