Atlanta & MLS? Incredible.....

[King Futcha]

we go from its always packed, to average of 17k to 11k at the game in question... ok.

[BAP]

we go from its always packed, to average of 17k to 11k at the game in question... ok.

It was a midweek game . You will obviously have fewer people but again the stats dont lie . They aver 17.5k games per week far different from the 5 you reported . End of story

[Bell]

IF YOU WANT TO SEE SERIOUS SOCCER RIVALRY AND ATTENDANCE...

...try the northwest with the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers. Their stadiums are always sold out and the rivalry between the teams and the raucous they generate would match any in college basketball. Not sure why this is still a secret. There's genuine dislike between the teams, a possible rivalry between the states even at the college level.

Swinging down to the SW, the Galaxy will get a new rival when Magic Johnson/Mia Hamm & Husband/Hollywood celebrities-owned LAFC begins play next season in a brand spanking new stadium.
Bell

[Enugu II]

IF YOU WANT TO SEE SERIOUS SOCCER RIVALRY AND ATTENDANCE...

...try the northwest with the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers. Their stadiums are always sold out and the rivalry between the teams and the raucous they generate would match any in college basketball. Not sure why this is still a secret. There's genuine dislike between the teams, a possible rivalry between the states even at the college level.

Swinging down to the SW, the Galaxy will get a new rival when Magic Johnson/Mia Hamm & Husband/Hollywood celebrities-owned LAFC begins play next season in a brand spanking new stadium.
Bell

Bell,

It is important to keep reminding people, particularly those outside the USA who think American soccer is still warped in the 1980s.

[Bell]

IF YOU WANT TO SEE SERIOUS SOCCER RIVALRY AND ATTENDANCE...

...try the northwest with the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers. Their stadiums are always sold out and the rivalry between the teams and the raucous they generate would match any in college basketball. Not sure why this is still a secret. There's genuine dislike between the teams, a possible rivalry between the states even at the college level.

Swinging down to the SW, the Galaxy will get a new rival when Magic Johnson/Mia Hamm & Husband/Hollywood celebrities-owned LAFC begins play next season in a brand spanking new stadium.
Bell

Bell,

It is important to keep reminding people, particularly those outside the USA who think American soccer is still warped in the 1980s.

Enugu ii, FOR THE PROVERBIAL EONS...

...I've been telling people who delighted in bleating the conventional wisdom that "soccer will never make it in America" that not only will soccer make it, it would become the no. 1 sport in the country. I told them that soccer would make it because, one, it is a better sport (I'm sorry) than anything in America, and two, being international, it brings America behind one team the way the others can't. The only question is how soon.

These people, mostly over 40, would respond with a lot of reasons why I was wrong: just not American, not enough scoring, not allowed to use your hands, too slow, abandoned by kids when they get into high school, blah, blah, blah. And I'd come by telling them it's not about them because nature would take care of them in a few years. It was always about the coming generations.

To this new generation soccer is not foreign because it's all over the tv and they grew up with. They find it cool to identify with a European club or one of the top players. These kids have the total support of their parents, some of whom spend up to $300 for a pair of shoes and ferrying them around for practice during the week and for tournaments on weekends.

Now the naysayers have changed their tune: they'll grant that soccer will make it but only as a niche sport. I ask them to smell the coffee. Everywhere you look there are positive signs. More schools and colleges are providing it and municipalities are providing parks. The media report it more seriously and tv covers it at all levels - high school, college, pro, men, women, domestic, international.

More significantly, cities are clamoring to get on the MLS franchise waiting list complete with plans for soccer-specific stadiums and an increasing franchise fee. Attendance goes up every year. Pros form other sports (Steph Curry, LeBron, Kobe, Embiid, etc) find themselves associating with the game.

There are two other UNFORTUNATE factors that could help. One, the incidents of concussion is making many rethink their participation. Quite a few parents including those of pro athletes (Lebron, Brett Favre, etc) are beginning to say their kids would not play gridiron football. Also, the failure of the US team to make Russia could spark a debate come June 2018 when Americans are watching the rest of the world strut their force without their representative. The anger could bring reforms that would accelerate growth.

America has the love, the resources, the knowhow and the athletes to vault the country into the top echelon of world soccer. As I love to tell people, if you have money parked somewhere you may want to buy shares of a soccer franchise: your descendants would thank you for such foresight.
Bell