MLS hopes Messi will boost attendance, TV viewers and market share
1 year, 9 months ago

MLS hopes Messi will boost attendance, TV viewers and market share

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — After two decades competing against Real Madrid, Manchester United and Brazil, Lionel Messi will be going against the NFL, Major League Baseball and the NBA. “Lionel Messi coming to MLS is an event that can’t be replicated in any other way,” former U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said. “You’ve got one of the best players of all time, if not the best player of all time, coming on the heels of a World Cup win and worldwide popularity joining an American soccer league. ”Messi is coming to a country which has millions of soccer players, where its national team draws packed crowds, its women’s national team draws packed crowds, its professional teams are at all kinds of levels — there are minor league teams tucked into villages and goodness where across the country, and kids playing soccer everywhere every day.” The NASL folded after the 1984 season and was replaced in 1996 by MLS, launched two years after the U.S. hosted the World Cup for the first time. “When you think about stadiums, infrastructure and soccer-specific stadiums, the training grounds, all of that makes it a great league,” said Gregg Berhalter, the U.S. coach at last year’s World Cup.

History of this topic

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