Good points, both of you...
A question: What's the relative popularity of soccer in Canada, where football, both CBL, and college is popular, and soccer, because of weather, has a somewhat limited season?
Good question. I think soccer in Canada is very similar to the U.S. in a lot of ways: popular among kids and pretty popular among young adults, but not nearly as much appeal as a professional sport. I think MLS has a couple of franchises in Canada, and the old North American Soccer League had a number of Canadian teams in major cities.
Believe it or not, there are actually far more Canadian kids playing soccer these days than ice hockey.