I'll tell anyone who will listen that I think Major League Soccer's longstanding indifference to the general sports fan is wrongheaded. There seems to be a conflation of "general sports fan" with "soccer hater," and while one may be a subset of the other, they're not the same thing.
Some people just like sports. Soccer is a a sport. Therefore, some of these people are going to like soccer, which is why doing stupid shit like calling a soccer team in Texas "FC Dallas" when football in Texas is more closely associated with the American version than maybe anywhere else in the country is counterproductive, because it's not going to make a lick of sense to the casual sports fan who doesn't implicitly hate the sport. It becomes a barrier to entry.
Anyway, here's Drew Carey explaining exactly how that progression from sports fan to soccer fan works to David Letterman:
The Shape of Things To Come, 2013 Edition
posted to
February 11, 2013
Firing Away: Chicago Fire at DC United
posted to
August 22, 2012
A Few Thoughts On The Home Opener
posted to
March 26, 2012
Firing Away: Chicago Fire at Montreal Impact
posted to
March 17, 2012