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Health & Fitness

Major League Soccer and the Main Line

A wildly exciting discussion of the demographics of Major League Soccer, with a focus on the Main Line. Don't care? Don't blame you, but read anyway.

We on the Main Line represent the demographics which keep Major League Soccer alive. Why, you ask with an eagerness verging on desperation?  Well, I'll explain.

When Major League Soccer began in 1993, people were  hopeful that we'd finally have a professional soccer league which would stick around for a long time. Previous leagues had folded quickly. People thought, well, with the growing Latino population in the U.S., it'll work for sure. And it has worked, but for different reasons.

Hispanic Americans don't watch MLS at the rate which MLS had hoped they would. If they're Mexican-American, they tend to watch Mexican soccer. If they're Guatemalan-American, they watch Guatemalan soccer. Or, they watch the superior game in Europe (like Saturday's exciting UEFA Champsions' League final). Hispanic Americans watch MLS at a greater rate than any other demographic, but not at the level MLS had anticipated. This has led the league to push for the signing of more Latino players (a la Rafa Marquez), in hopes of drawing in more Latino fans.

Find out what's happening in Narberth-Bala Cynwydwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We on the Main Line support MLS. MLS fans are, for the most part, middle to upper-middle class, white  suburbanites. And this is also the largest demographic on the Main Line. Our mothers shlep us around to soccer games every weekend, with LMSC (Lower Merion Soccer Club) stickers on the backs of the minivan. We eat oranges at half time. It's part of our suburban childhood. And when we grow up, we support American soccer. PPL Park in Chester, the home of the Philadelphia Union, is sold out for just about every game. It is packed with suburbanites like us, and the parking lots are full of minivans with LMSC stickers.

Incidentally, the Union crushed Toronto FC 6-2 Saturday in America's Hat (Canada). Philly has an up-and-coming young team, and they're worth watching, in person at PPL Park, and on TV on 6ABC or Comcast Sportsnet.

Find out what's happening in Narberth-Bala Cynwydwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Thanks for reading. Coming up next: What's the deal with the piles of rocks? I'll talk about this as soon as I've had the chance to photograph one such pile.

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