Which metrics are those?
Overall attendance, attendance per match, total juniors and amateurs playing the sport, age demographics of fans. Interestingly found that in cities with both an nhl and mls team that it’s pretty close in terms of average attendance figures.
Tv and online viewership figures are probably the main area where nhl is still well ahead, but my understanding is that mls has a pretty crappy tv deal when compared to the other big 4. I think it will also be a while before it changes in the psyche of people though - I was just in the states and the big 4 still dominate the sports programs and a lot of conversation.
Hard comparison, NHL stadia are 15-20k, MLS stadia are mostly larger, in some cases much larger. This is somewhat balanced by the number of games, NHL teams play 41 home games, MLS play 17
Yeah it’s not really apples and apples, particularly with weird outliers like Atlanta who use an nfl stadium but actually fill most of it for a lot of MLS games. Per game and head to head in a city with both a team in both comps seem to give a better picture.
wait what? They have 82 games a season??
Wait till he hears about baseball
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Your second paragraph is accurate. The media coverage and conversation amongst the people for the NHL is far greater than MLS. Juniors and amateurs playing a sport just doesn’t translate to anything meaningful. Juniors have been playing soccer in far, far greater numbers than (American) football forever and look how that’s worked out?
Attendance numbers are heavily skewed as well due to cost. It would cost me about $100-$150 to go to regular season Blackhawks game, and $25 to go to Chicago Fire (including a free booze bus to the stadium and back). In LA, the Kings are about $80-$100 a ticket and LAFC is $30. LAFC just won the whole thing and you wouldn’t have known the game was on walking around LA the week prior.
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What now?
Where is this magical place?
Chicago. The booze is byo but the bus is free!
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I knew it was too good to be true 
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Yeah but 25 bucks USD is like 300 Aud or some like that. If my maths is correct
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How about Dollarydoos?
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I prefer to use Chazwazzers.
Not something we’d be familiar with here!
Gareth Bale has retired from all football at age 33.
Plenty more time for golf, I guess?
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Great career. Won the champions league five times (the most of any British player. Captained Wales to the World Cup.
And didn’t really give a fuck
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Can’t forget the MLS cup!
33 is a bit on the younger side these days for retiring. Particularly given he’s still fit and just played in a World Cup.
The guys made millions, enough for him, his wife and children to retire comfortably on.
He might have lost the drive to keep playing as well.
Clearly his crowning achievement given he did nothing in Kiev 2018. 
I’d have been far less surprised if he pulled the pin in 12 months time, figured he’d give LAFC at least one full season. 
Not that he’d be short of cash but he’d be one of the top earners in the MLS too.
Or maybe he achieved all he wanted in half a season so there was no need for any other seasons…
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