Aren't there only like 300k people who live in St. Louis? Why not cheer for Kansas? Some of the MLS American expansion cities just baffle me, especially considering some of the options in Canada. Luckily it looks like Vancouver will be expanding in the next few years and hopefully Montreal will change their minds as well.

So ok, since I don't really follow MLS at all, why are the newer franchises doing so well in attracting fans and even when the older franchises get soccer-specific stadiums they're dropping attendance? (I'm looking at you FC Dallas and Chicago)

Excited to get new franchises I guess? I want to see how Philadelphia Union is going to do.

2.8 million in greater saint louis, which makes it 16th in the country (most of the others looking for a MLS bid have larger populations). Saint Louis gets special consideration because it's historically one of the hot beds of soccer in the country.

less than 300k in st louis city

but the metro area has well over 2 million people

st louis has a good soccer tradition too. an MLS team would do well here...with a viable location

combination of existing fan bases from USL teams, a new generation of fans adopting the team while watching teams playing abroad, and choosing the right cities that manage to reach critical mass

By the way Glare, why don't you go to Athletica games if you're desperate for first-tier soccer?

also, as far as I'm concerned; canada can take what we grant them from our league structure or they can **** off and build their own league.

We've got enough trouble trying to fit in enough of the American teams vying for a MLS spot without Canada trying to bird dog all the remaining slots.

It's completely silly to think that an entire region of the country will be locked out of the top level of the American league because a bunch of canadian teams can't put together their own league.

I still pray to the gods every day that the MLS will allow relegation and promotion from the USL and USL2.

well i wouldnt even call MLS first tier to be honest

let alone WPS

i may check out a game just to ogle hope solo but that's about it. (i think i'd be more keen to watch them play if they had drafted marta)

never going to happen
single entity + the cost to purchase a MLS team means that they would never get the approval from any MLS owner to do so

I come out to WUSA matches in Atlanta since there's not much else left :ralf:

MLS is a joke right now, really.

When ESPN advertises during some International game, me and my friends generally laugh and know we're not watching ESPN tonight.

We all do hope things change though.

Things aren't going to get magically better while people sit on the sidelines as euro-snobs.

If you want to get the standard of the league improved, then you need to actually do something to help improve it. The fewer people watching, the less impetus there is to attempt to improve because the available market is viewed to be much smaller.

I will watch the MLS if there isn't anything else on, especially because right now we have entered sports purgatory. Before football and soccer seasons begin the most exciting thing going on is summer transfers and other sports rumors. The MLS tides me over until real sports return to the television.

Yeah pretty much. Our soccer pyramids can't work like other countries because there simply isn't enough revenue to go around. You have multiple enclaves in cities that aren't even the size of Houston population wise that can support teams in the UK because that's really the only game around there.

We've got too many sports dividing the revenue in our major metro areas (Houston has the Rockets, Astros and Texans soaking up most of the sports revenue) to be able to support a relegation/promotion system. Any team relegated to USL-1 would fold immediately. If they can't be profitable now, how the **** could they be profitable on the second tier.

And Glare, please don't mistake my saying "first-tier" as comparing MLS to EPL or even the Championship League in Britain. I just meant first tier here in the US.

Seattle's success may have something to do with the fact that they are actually good, had a very exciting first game, and are one of the highest scoring teams in the league.

Yeah I'd rather watch any MLS match than baseball unless it's the Brewers or Cards. Summer pretty much sucks for sports unless it's an Olympics/World Cup year or you're a huge baseball fan and I am not.

gotcha

id actively support a local MLS team and thats why i hope they do it right if/when they bring a team here

They also benefited from some very savvy marketing by the ownership and the fact that the Sonics got shipped off to OKC and the metro area was left with just the Seahawks and Mariners.