Posted by Stephen Kuzner

By Stephen Kuzner - WFD Fan Correspondent

It's that time of the year on the soccer calendar when MLS, European Club tours to the US, and the Europe's silly season get the headlines. Now is the time to take stock on where soccer in America is going, primarily the MLS. The Men's National Team will always be centerpiece of soccer in America, but its lifeblood comes from the MLS.

In 2010, the MLS has averaged 16,517 per game. The big question for the summer and fall is whether MLS will get a sustainable attendance bump from this year's World Cup. The tempting thing to do is to say it will get a bump when you consider the ratings ESPN got for its World Cup coverage outside of the US Team. However, when you consider we are in the beginning of slow economic recovery after a major recession, a growth in MLS popularity may be better reflected in a leveling-off for a year or two in attendance.

The near targets for the MLS to pass are the NHL at 17,070 per game and the NBA at 17,149 per game. A bump of only 1,000 would do this. However, the MLS passing the NHL and NBA in average attendance would be more of a headline than a reflection of MLS being bigger than the NHL and NBA because in total attendances (NHL's 21,236,255 and NBA's 21,389,899) the MLS lags far behind at 3,608,359 as discussed a few weeks ago. The number the MLS really should be hoping for is not 17,000 or 18,000, but 20,000+ in 5-10 years. At that point, say in 2020, an MLS of 20 teams and an average attendance over 20,000+, the MLS would be a legitimate 3rd rival to baseball and the gridiron, poised for rapid growth after the 2022 World Cup hopefully hosted in the US.

What should we make of the tours that the top European Clubs use in the summer to fine-tune before the start of the club seasons? We can gather two things. First, when the world's top clubs can sell-out gridiron stadiums in the 60,000-100,000 capacity range, it means the market for soccer in America can be as large as anywhere if the MLS gets its talent to that level or at least to be perceived at that level. The 20,000+ mark is attainable. The second thing we can gather is the relative talent level of the MLS. When you see Manchester United play the MLS All-stars, you'll get to see a top 4 or 5 European Club play the MLS's Best 11 in a preseason warm-up for Man U. We can't take it for anything more than that, but we can get a relative idea of the talent level of the players on the field. The same will go when UEFA Champions League Winners, Intermilan, play FC Dallas and LA Galaxy later this summer. The talent level of the MLS seems to be incrementally increasing every year.

Thierry Henry's move to New York Red Bulls would be a great symbol of this gradual increase of MLS's talent. Henry has more gas in the tank than David Beckham had a few years ago when he came to MLS. Although, he no longer is at his peak, Henry still has something to give a top flight European team. Instead, he is coming here. With Henry you have someone that has won a World Cup, European Championship, an Undefeated Title in England, and a Six-tuple at FC Barcelona. The way it looks is the last thing for him to do is conquer America the way a rock-band would. The best part may be that he wants to not just play for the New York Red Bulls, but represent them as a New Yorker.

Please send any feedback to skuzner@gmail.com.