France National Team and Tigres striker Andre-Pierre Gignac said recently Liga MX is better than MLS. As for quality, we're not totally sure that's accurate (it's certainly close), but Liga MX is certainly outpacing the MLS, and every other soccer league for that matter, in TV viewership in the USA.
From the Los Angeles Times:
Mexico's Liga MX is averaging more than 1.1 million viewers on the Univision-owned UniMas Spanish-language network, an audience 19% larger than NBC averages for its weekly EPL telecasts. And that's a success built largely on time and loyalty, two advantages Univision's Mexican soccer coverage has over NBC and the EPL.
This will come as a surprise to some Premier League-oriented circles of soccer fans, but it makes sense if you think about it. Liga MX fans have by and large been socer fans for longer than American EPL fans. The fan culture in regards to Liga MX more closely mirrors that of the EPL, in which team loyalties are passed down through families. The EPL simply hasn't been popular long enough for this to have happened.
And the MLS hasn't even existed long enough for this to have happened. More people care about Chivas vs. Club America than care about the California Clasico, or whatever.
Given the TV numbers, it's weird that Liga MX doesn't get more publicity/coverage in mainstream American culture. But maybe that's the point.
(H/T Los Angeles Times)
Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus
