When you think of sports in America, the MLB, NFL and NBA spring to mind, as all enjoy long-running success across the pond in the sporting sphere.
Major League Soccer, though, and in turn soccer betting at 888 Sport NJ, are enjoying a surge in popularity as ‘football’ continues to expand further across the 50 states, and hit new territories like Cincinnati and Miami. The Orange and Blue of Cincinnati even boasted over 30,000 supporters in attendance for their first-ever competitive home game, before selling out the Nippert Stadium for their next.
Yet, while the MLS is managing to get vast numbers through the turnstiles, those enjoying the beautiful game from home still prefer to get up in the early hours of the day and stick on the Premier League, and watch the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Man United et al. tackle one of the world’s leading domestic leagues.
World Soccer Talk recently revealed the grand total of viewers opting to watch the MLS totalised 90,847,500 over 2016, ’17, and ’18 – 71,762,500 fewer than those who opted to watch the Premier League, as the MLS could only increase their numbers by 8%, while the Premier League leapt to a 69% increase.
Clearly, while the MLS may be enjoying a surge in popularity, it still has a long way to go before it can challenge, let alone better, its leading rivals.
That goes for Manchester City, as well. As while they may be dominating the footballing landscape in England by swooping to a domestic treble, the Citizens find themselves far from the most popular side in the States, where the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool dominate the scene.
Back in November, Soccer.com looked at which states had ordered the most of one club’s latest kit over the prior six months, with only one state favouring the Etihad Stadium natives.
That state was New Jersey, a state where their NFL franchises the New York Giants and Jets have struggled in recent years to achieve anywhere near the same level of success as Pep Guardiola’s City. It also happens to be where New York City FC reside, who fall under the same City Football Group umbrella as Man City.
So if the Citizens want to better their presence in the Red, White and Blue, they face an uphill fight, but the Sky Blues have shown they are capable of rising to a challenge in the Premier League. Next stop, America.