Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

For almost a decade, Major League Soccer (MLS) executives have become obsessive about television ratings in the United States. While slight upticks in performance have taken place due to improved time slots on both the ESPN and FOX family of networks, the league’s ratings continue to lag well behind where they need to be. MLS has benefited from increased promotion and visibility, yet the television numbers continue to be about as low as possible for a league with the amount of investment and exposure that MLS enjoys.

Having just completed year two of a seven year TV deal with ESPN, Univision and FOX, MLS’ ratings enjoying a significant bump might be contingent on whatever bump in interest new teams in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Minnesota bring because the die appears to be cast in terms of MLS’ perception to the American public in general.

Several factors can be attributed to why MLS TV ratings will not improve substantially in the near future. Here are three main reasons:

Quality of play

This topic is bandied about regularly but solving it is not as easy as many MLS critics believe it is. The United States has a sporting culture developed around competitiveness and parity that could very well rebel against the creation of the types of superclubs that drive the TV profile of major European league.

Additionally, in the post Bosman-ruling world, it is very difficult for a league outside the European Union to compete toe-to-toe for the quality in player depth required to create an entire league of standout players and teams. Many critics of MLS believe simply spending more money will solve this problem but it won’t – unless restrictions are removed on international player slots and the process for obtaining work related visas for the United States is greatly liberalized (which given the recent political tone is inconceivable) MLS won’t improve enough to be truly competitive with top European leagues.

MLS does not fit the personal preferences of the majority of American soccer fans

Most American soccer fans rightly or wrongly have made a judgement about MLS which is often based on external factors and not the actual product on the field of play. The divide over MLS has created camps of tribal fans – those who cheer on the league like it is a club or a cause and those who simply won’t give the league a fair chance.

A theory exists among the league’s proponents that MLS’ competitiveness and parity should create more compelling television viewing. But what appears to have happened is that soccer fans in the United States have a different set of personal preferences than general US sports fans. Soccer fans have by and large rejected MLS as a watchable TV product unless they have a rooting interest in a match.

The personal preferences of American soccer fans tend to involve stadium ambience and atmosphere (produced in Seattle, Portland and maybe next season in Orlando but really not replicated elsewhere at the level required) as well as matches that impact relegation fights. Some fans also complain about the number of American accents on MLS broadcasts. It is after all an American/Canadian league regardless of what you believe about commentators this is a factor.

As for mainstream sports fans, they either don’t like soccer, don’t understand the governance of the sport or know that MLS isn’t a top global league and thus have not been motivated to watch except on limited occasions.

Franchise model appears unauthentic to soccer fans

Developing relevance and interest among soccer fans is something the Premier League has done with remarkable success to foreign audiences including those here in the United States. MLS, on the other hand, has failed to develop the context and perspective needed for most fans to embrace the league. The vocal and largely defensive nature of many fans of MLS clubs and of the league itself further poisons the well of discourse and motivates hardcore world soccer fans. At the heart of this dispute is the creation of manufactured clubs without the types of legacies and backstories that appeal to American soccer fans. However, MLS’ recent trend of bringing clubs from the American lower divisions up to the top division might bear fruit eventually. But that takes time.

Summary

The die is cast and MLS’ fits a niche market that it cannot move beyond. Despite the vocal boosterism of those who support the league and promote it as if it’s a cause, the television ratings aren’t improving significantly. The elements existing in the American sporting landscape and in the world of world soccer will prevent MLS from making any major progress in terms of TV numbers in the near future.

It’s unfortunate that many soccer fans won’t give MLS a chance but it is a reality of this era. The league has tried every conceivable trick in the book to raise television viewership and has quite frankly run out of ideas. The audience is basically set and attitudes about the league one way or another have hardened.