Soccer is the next big thing in America. Always has been, always will be.

Hey... the way the NHL is sinking it may pass the NHL.  Hell it probably has already what with the NHLs self exile from any channels people would want to watch hockey on.  Then there's Nascar, and Golf.

I don't see it ever happening, It's just natural growth as the population in this country grows. I don't see it ever becoming more popular than baseball, but it could happen. However, I can say without any doubt it won't ever become more popular than basketball or american football.

Soccer is the most played sport by children in Australia (I believe) yet it isn't the most popular sport here. I doubt it ever will be to be honest.

I don't know why we like baseball so much, it really is boring to watch. I can only stand to watch the playoffs. Basketball is the most exciting to watch.

It's actually a pretty close toss up to me to which is more boring, baseball or soccer.  Which is probably why neither really get very good ratings anymore... but at least baseball still gets primetime tv spots when the world series hits... does soccer even have playoffs?

The NHL been growing since the lockout! It is definately not sinking. Untraditional markets like San Jose are starting to get better NHL ratings than NBA ratings!

Chicago has just been revived, as well as Washington, and with the salary cap in place more and more teams will stay competitive for more of the season. The NHL is definately rising... not that it was ever anywhere to brag with to start.

As for the original topic, MLS will never surpase MLB in popularity, at least not in our lifetime. Currently the order of popularity goes like so:

1. NFL

2. MLB

3. NBA

4. NHL

5. MLS

(Note: this is excluding Nascar and other fake-sports)

With that in mind MLS will have to surpass THREE leagues in popularity, doesn't look like that is going to happen soon. At least IMO.

 Whether MLS will even stay relelvent is doubtful. I recall hearing about them losing some TV slots on ESPN (not 100% sure).

I will attend a couple Whitecaps games and see if I like it, perhaps I will become a crazy soccer hooligan!

I thought NBA was above MLB...

I know it is only one example, but I believe it tells a lot. We should all be able to agree that the NFL is number. That should be of no concern.

As for the second spot, I still believe it is retained by MLB. Even though the Celtics have just come off of an NBA title, and have much fewer games, they still cannot come anywhere close to the popularity of the Red Sox. Even the champion-ship less (of late) Bruins have numbers that are getting close to the Celtics.

Once again, I know it is only one example, but I think it is a pretty good indication of how the country as a whole regards the top four leagues.

Jaycee_Bam
why are you calling Nascar a fake sport ?