MLS Overview
Many Americans know that one of the greatest if not the greatest soccer player is playing in America right now even if you’re not a soccer fan. Lionel Messi came to America in July, 2023, and he has been playing in the MLS since then. Soccer has never been popular in America, but since Messi came, soccer has grown in popularity in America. Although one of the greats is playing in the MLS right now, most people still believe the top leagues in Europe are far superior to MLS. Is this true?
Exposure and talent
One major reason Premier League and other top leagues in Europe are superior is simply because of global exposure. The global reach of the Premier League is far better than MLS. In America, there 3.569 million viewers of European soccer. In the entire world, there are about 285 thousand viewers of MLS. That is not close, but some Europeans say that MLS is just under the top five leagues in Europe even though the numbers don’t support this theory.
Another huge reason why people believe this is because MLS struggles to compete with the depth and quality of talent found in Europe’s top leagues. There have been far more players in Europe that have made it pro and been successful in professional soccer than there have been in America.
MLS growth
Although it may not be as good as top leagues in Europe, MLS has grown in recent years. As for popularity and attendance, MLS has been growing. In 2019, MLS games had an average attendance of 8.6 million people. In 2023 that number increased to an average of 10.4 million.
MLS is also slowly becoming more popular in America. At the moment the top sport in America is still football (and it is far ahead of the other sports in popularity). However if MLS keeps growing at a consistent rate. it will be right up there with football, competing for America’s number one sport.
The Answer
In conclusion, unfortunately for Americans, the Europe’s League are more skilled and popular. I think in coming years there will be a chance for MLS to grow and compete with top European Leagues.
America’s number one sport is football but in Europe the most popular sport is soccer. That is one of the major reason why (unfortunately) MLS hasn’t been able to compete with European Leagues. A lot of kids in Europe grow up around soccer. In some cases that is all they have.
Like I said, if the growth of Major League Soccer continues, it can be right up there with European Leagues, but for now it has a long ways to go.
