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Originally Posted by demonrail666
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.
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True, I checked the MLS figures and I was very much surprised at the per match and average attendance. However in the aggregate (5,000,000 annually), its still relatively small behind NFL (18,000,000), NBA (21,000,000), NHL, (22,000,000), College Football (50,000,000) and especially the behemoth that is MLB (74,000,000 largest in the world!!)...
By per game NFL is largest in the world, but there are only 240 games a year. Also NHL, college football, and especially MLB NEED live attendance to make money and in many instances even just break even! Meanwhile NFL makes the most TV $ in the world and similar in its merchandising, the NBA also makes a large portion of its profits through TV and merchandise. MLS is like NHL and MLB, it needs live audience to make money but as you mentioned the new TV deals will change that significantly. Things should be very interesting in the new few years..
As it is US attendance figures dwarf anything in Europe at every scale, which is why Euroleague football are trying to make so many moves into the US market, including all these recent Euro team matches in America and bigger TV deals