MLS Ratings Update, more new data from this week

Excerpted from our commissioner's blog from yesterday, on Galaxy v Toronto FC ratings...

I just received a research report on last weekend’s top 50 sports programs among Hispanic men. You might be interested to know that the TeleFutura MLS game was more popular than the Lakers/Spurs NBA game, the Yankees/Red Sox game on ESPN and the Masters on CBS.

• Full article, http://web.mlsnet.com/commissionerspeaks/

Excerpted from our founder's MVN Soccer article on attendances published this week...

I received many thanks and great responses on this piece, published for the opening weekend of this, the 13th MLS season.  “10 Important Facts About Soccer’s U.S. Popularity” includes reasons why I think soccer deserves more attention and respect from the mainstream press and all sportswriters in this country.

I believe this is the year that MLS league-wide attendance could surpass the NBA’s league-wide attendance.

I used the latest available data, which was from 2008 and 2007, while my detractors used date from 2006 and even in some cases, 2005.  Things have changed a great deal in that short time, so using the latest, most accurate and reliable data is of utmost importance.

I constantly research this, so I give it my best on all fronts when publishing any data.

• Full article, http://mvn.com/soccer/2008/04/16/mls-attendances-up-in-2008-league-average-could-top-nba-this-season/