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Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous
I don't think its silly, around the end of the World Cup there were a few analysis articles trying to explain why Brazil shit the bed so mightily and they mentioned the significant decline in the talent pool for Brazilian leagues because of competition with Europe and even MLS in attracting players. I agree with that "by default" its becoming the largest league outside of Europe, indeed in short time it may even surpass the smaller leagues there by the economic reality that the US is bigger half of Europe combined.
Of course, the major problem the MLS has at this point is something the European leagues have no problems with, attendance. In Europe, futbol is mostly the only game in town, people go to live matches even for smaller teams or leagues. In the US, there are so many sports venues and leagues, between professional and college sports, that its hard for MLS to gain ground. It does has a growing TV share, which is the bread, butter, meat, and potatoes of American sports so it is at least on a kind of sustained life-support until the live audience fan base can grow.
To be sure, MLS is more talented than its reputation abroad suggests, its just a matter of time before an American audience grows to realize this and buys into it. The market pitch for this current MLS season has been, "Watch some of your favorite stars from the World Cup" since practically the entire USMNT currently plays in the MLS..
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The attendance thing would surprise you. US figures are very good in that area. Its lack of tv coverage remains the real problem along with its uncompetitive (internationally) wage policy, both of which are apparently about to change dramatically in the next few years. What would also help would be a credible and properly marketed Americas club trophy equivalent to the Champions League, so teams like LA Galaxy would regularly have to compete against sides like Corinthians, Boca Juniors, etc. I think there'd be a real interest in Europe to watch that as they're teams we know about but never really get to see.