U.S. Soccer: Gaining Popularity or just a 4-Year Fad?

While soccer obviously isn’t the most popular sport in America, it is certainly one that seems to be gaining more popularity with each World Cup.  With high hopes and consistent play coming from the men’s national team, more Major League Soccer (MLS) teams are seeing a rise in attendance.  According to MLS.com, in 2012 the league saw an average of more than 5% growth in attendance per match from 2011.  The MLS also came in at 7^th in the global average attendance per match.

While researching the TV ratings from the 2010 World Cup,  I discovered an 80% increase in average viewers (4,247,000 viewers per match) when compared to the 2006 World Cup.  In 2006, the MLS total attendance was 2,976,787 while in 2010 the total game attendance for the MLS was 4,002,039¹.  It is hard to say whether the TV ratings have any correlation to the MLS attendance numbers, but it is difficult to ignore them.

I see the interest in soccer increase every 4 years for the World Cup, much like the interest in swimming during the Olympics.  However after researching the attendance numbers and TV ratings since 2006, there is an argument against what some sports fans say it is just a fad and that there is a viewing spike “because it’s the World Cup”.  With MLS attendance up, it is safe to say that we may see some of the highest TV ratings this country has ever seen for a soccer match during the 2014 World Cup. 

¹ Attendance numbers were found at kenn.com.