MLS gains ground as a major sport in the United States
Major League soccer according to research made by Nielsen Sports has an important growth in sports and society in the USA.
It has taken a long way for the MLS to step forward and made of soccer more than just a sport for kids, to gain ground and become a significant presence in American society. After 24 years since the league was born, the soccer fever broke out spreading all across the United States, with 47% of adults interested in the MLS according to a study from Nielsen Sports Sponsorlink.
We can sum this as part of the work from MLS Commissioner, Don Garber, who increased people's interest of in local soccer by creating new teams, with the signings of international players and broadcast access in the States to local and global soccer competitions.
On average, the interest in the MLS has grown 40% in markets like Orlando, Altando or Minnesota since 2012 as Nielsen Scarborough research showed, while the general interest in the sport has growth 29%. Other factors driving to the rise of soccer fandom in the United States are the increased in youth participation, diversification of the U.S. population as the performance of the USA Women's National Team and development of talent which fuels the appeal for the sport globally.
John Stainer, Managing Director of Nielsen Sports Americas, said: " The States market continues to develop at both talent and commercial level, increasing the attention of consumers, media and advertisers locally and nationally."
All this can reflect in the growth of the national fan bases in five MLS teams, which exceed 10 million fans in markets like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. LA Galaxy ranks 20th overall in national fan base across all the major sports leagues. Fans are even looking forward to seeing the 2019 MLS kits on the pitch, and a social analysis showed that from January 1 and February 28 nearly 35,000 tweets were mentioning MLS teams and their new apparel.