mls KANSAS CITY, KS – APRIL 07: Julio Cesar #55 of the Sporting Kansas City knocks the ball away from Landon Donovan #10 of the Los Angeles Galaxy at Livestrong Sporting Park on April 7, 2012 in Kansas City, Kansas. Sporting won 1-0. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
2016By Alex Putterman on

In a time-slot usually associated with another kind of football, MLS scored a big victory Sunday.

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In select cities, Fox aired a game between Sporting KC and the L.A. Galaxy at 2 p.m. ET and a game between Toronto FC and the New York Red Bulls at 5 p.m. ET, managing to draw 1.298 million viewers despite competition from the NFL.

A lot of factors contributed to this number. For one thing, there were some compelling on-field storylines, most notably the return of Landon Donovan, who came out of retirement last week and scored for the Galaxy on Sunday. All four teams that played on Fox Sunday will likely reach the playoffs, and three of the four are in first or second place in their respective conferences.

The Galaxy featured big-name international stars in Robbie Keane and Ashley Cole — in addition to Donovan —and Toronto FC (Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore) and Sporting KC (Matt Besler, Brad Davis, Benny Feilhaber) are stocked with recognizable names, past and present, from Team USA. Along with up and coming stars like the New York Red Bulls’ Bradley Wright-Phillips, MLS’ leading scorer this season, MLS is nearing the point where even a casual fan can find reason to watch almost any game.

Maybe most of all, the MLS games were helped by their lead-in from the NFL and the fact they were airing at times when most Americans are on their couches watching sports anyway. In a way, the soccer games likely benefited from their interactions with the NFL contests. For example, someone in Seattle or Los Angeles who tuned to Fox a little early in preparation for the 4 p.m. Seahawks-Rams game might have arrived just in time to see Donovan’s goal, and someone in New York who finished watching Giants-Saints might have been tempted to stick around to see the Red Bulls.

MLS continues to grow steadily (if slowly), and Sunday was another small victory along the league’s perpetual upward trajectory.

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.

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