[1rudeboy]

It isn't the most prestigious sporting event in the world. 90+% of the world's largest economy is indifferent to it.

When all else fails, just make up a number.

[Dr. Sivana]

When all else fails, just make up a number.

Okay, here is a hard number:

The average World Cup Soccer matched aired on ABC in 2002 scored less than 1 million viewers. According to Reuters, this year the average is 2.6 million, representing a 65 percent increase from the previous tournament.
http://blogcritics.org/sports/article/unlike-the-scoring-world-cup-tv/

I was being generous in my estimate. An earlier poster admitted that soccer in the U.S. will not get the same size audience as NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL. NHL gets maybe 2% and the Stanley Cup has been recently relegated to tiny cable networks. If soccer in the U.S. cannot approach that, it remains a small niche. Why can't soccer fans be happy with the worldwide popularity. Its like Manga, wildly popular in Japan, with a handful of maniac fans in the U.S.