MLS final tonight celebrates 20 years of the league but does anyone watch it?

[AkydefGoldberg]

A piece looking at 20 years of the MLS.

I've never been able to watch a game in full but kept abreast of how the league was doing whilst Beckham was there but since he left, not been interested and was amazed Sky Sports brought coverage of the MLS to the UK and relying on interest in Lampard/Gerrard to appeal to UK viewers.

MLS does have its plus points, such as the salary cap and the level playing field for all teams in terms of the rules, but facing to generate more interest for another 20 years and conjure up more sponsorship etc.

[SlightlyJames]

Why is this in the General Sports section?

[Str8Shooter]

I'm a fan of the Vancouver Whitecaps, so I'll watch quite a few of their games. But they're eliminated so my interest has waned. It's not a league where I'm going to watch a whole bunch of games not involving my team.

Watching a bit of the MLS Cup now, been a pretty wild game.

[flock u]

I've been a Chicago Fire fan for many years and have been to home games 8 times :) I missed most of this season though due to health problems and other things going on in life and family.

[Everlong]

Has it really only been 20 years? Crazy.

It's really hard to find MLS games on TV, especially for those of us without cable. But even when I had basic cable, very rarely were the games actually broadcast on television. You had to have special soccer packages.

So some teams definitely have big fan bases, but until they get better television presence it's going to be hard for the league to keep gaining momentum. Soccer as a whole is increasing in popularity here, but the league still needs more market saturation.

[Str8Shooter]

Has it really only been 20 years? Crazy.

It's really hard to find MLS games on TV, especially for those of us without cable. But even when I had basic cable, very rarely were the games actually broadcast on television. You had to have special soccer packages.

So some teams definitely have big fan bases, but until they get better television presence it's going to be hard for the league to keep gaining momentum. Soccer as a whole is increasing in popularity here, but the league still needs more market saturation.

Is it that hard to find them on TV there? I thought NBC Sports Network had some games and ESPN does as well?

The league is still growing all the time, I think they're pretty healthy. They just expanded and are going to expand again soon.

[Everlong]

Is it that hard to find them on TV there? I thought NBC Sports Network had some games and ESPN does as well?

Maybe they're carrying more now than they did when I had cable a couple years ago, but even then there were only a few here and there.

[Candyman44]

I don't think its particularly big in the UK. I work in a highstreet betting store and we are constantly trying to promote it but there seems to be very little interest. I do think they are moving in the right direction though, there have been some great high profile acquisitions in recent years. Toronto getting Giovinco in his prime was crazy.

[AkydefGoldberg]

Why is this in the General Sports section?

My attempt at being wild.

[flock u]

Has it really only been 20 years? Crazy.

It's really hard to find MLS games on TV, especially for those of us without cable. But even when I had basic cable, very rarely were the games actually broadcast on television. You had to have special soccer packages.

So some teams definitely have big fan bases, but until they get better television presence it's going to be hard for the league to keep gaining momentum. Soccer as a whole is increasing in popularity here, but the league still needs more market saturation.

Is it that hard to find them on TV there? I thought NBC Sports Network had some games and ESPN does as well?

The league is still growing all the time, I think they're pretty healthy. They just expanded and are going to expand again soon.

Yeah ESPN has been broadcasting games so has FSN on occasion and Comcast Sports Net Chicago has been doing games as well recently.