COMMERCE CITY, CO – JULY 29: Kaka #22 of MLS All-Stars strikes a penalty kick for a goal in the 20th minute to take a 1-0 lead over the Tottenham Hotspur during the 2015 AT&T Major League Soccer All-Star game at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on July 29, 2015 in Commerce City, Colorado. The MLS All-Stars defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-1. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Here’s more evidence that the notion of any “bumps” from one very successful highly-watched event creating a higher audience for a less-watched event is just a myth.

The Summer of Soccer on Fox Sports 1 and the momentum from the USA’s victory in the Women’s World Cup didn’t help the MLS All-Star Game on Wednesday night.  The game registered only 548,000 viewers on Fox Sports 1 – down a healthy chunk from last year on ESPN2 when it garnered 862,000 viewers when MLS hosted Bayern Munich.

How low was the viewership for FS1?  The MLS All-Star Game on FS1 was defeated head-to-head by the Copa Libertadores Final on Fox Deportes between Tigres and River Plate, which had 701,000 viewers.

On the bright side, the MLS All-Star Game is up versus 2013 (AS Roma, 319k) and 2012 (Chelsea, 530k) when both of those games were also on ESPN2.

Tottenham Hotspur might not be the sexiest opposition for the MLS All-Stars, especially when compared to perennial Champions League contender Bayern Munich in last year’s game.  They don’t quite have the global brand that the other members of England’s Top 6 have like Manchester United or Liverpool or Arsenal.  Perhaps that affected the viewership this year, but with more global stars like Kaka and David Villa in the lineup, MLS would have hoped for a boost.

At halftime of the game, commissioner Don Garber floated the idea of MLS perhaps returning to an East vs West format where the All-Star Game would return to an entirely MLS production.  Given the rapid expansion of the league and the increasing number of DP slots and high-profile players, maybe that’s not a bad idea.  Unless MLS can invite someone like Barcelona or Bayern or Manchester City, is it really worth continuing the tradition?  After several years of seeing foreign opposition, it might be worth tinkering with the format of the MLS All-Star Game.  Oh well, I suppose a struggling All-Star Game is at least one sign that MLS has made it as a big-time league.

[Sports TV Ratings]