In 2006, the season before David Beckham arrived in MLS the average attendance was around 15,500 and the league finished just shy of three million fans across the league. Interest among casual US sports fans, even soccer fans, and the ever-powerful TV industry, was luke warm at best. 2007 changed that, and everything else we know today.
There is an onslaught of soccer on US television today, and right alongside the Premier League on NBCSN and international competitions, MLS has become a weekly fixture. This weekend Orlando City and Kaka host the Friday night match-up on ESPN at their new beautiful soccer-specific – home to the Purple Wall.