I would argue that the sport has a way to expand in North America.

I think people here under appreciate MLS. Sure I don’t expect an MLS team to do well against a European team but the games are great fun in the stadium or on TV —- in some markets it is pull ahead of MLB.

Sports photography has made me the kind of fan who looks at the composite schedule and go to whatever game is on that weekend regardless of the sport so I’ve seen them all as a spectator at Cornell, Ithaca College, and Cortland and again I think college soccer is underappreciated. It’s a very fun 90 minutes which can range from the very physical but kinda stupid games you see from the Ithaca men to the much smarter “beautiful” soccer played by the Ithaca women.

I saw the Cornell men yesterday and noticed, for whatever reason, more women in the crowd then men, I know some of the girls were saying they’d seen the women play before and some didn’t.

So I am a soccer fan but I get my fill with a 20 minute drive to an unticketed game, maybe an hour to go to an away game or to Cortland. I can see the appeal of going to a big game in Philly or NYC which is probably going to cost $400+ in terms of transportation and lodging but it is so cozy to go to local games where I can decide at the last minute if I want to go.