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I don’t think it would be hard to eclipse hockey. I think dodge ball could do that.

As far as basketball? I don’t think I’d like to see that happen. At least with basketball the total number of thugs is pretty much limited to those on the court. In soccer you could have 25 or 30 thousand of them in the stands.

The only sport more boring than basketball is soccer. Fatal injuries in soccer can be caused by a feather dropping on someones head from a pigeon.

I am convinced that most goals scored are pure luck.

I don’t think it would be hard to eclipse hockey. I think dodge ball could do that.

Not a chance. Hockey is still really a regional sport, but the NYC area easily supports three franchises with healthy attendance, Boston, Detroit, Philly, Chicago, Buffalo are all thriving hockey cities. And of course, since basketball has Vancouver and baseball has Toronto, once we throw the big city Canadian hockey teams in, it isn't even close.

Unfortunately, the NHL is REALLY, REALLY bad at marketing hockey in the U.S. But hockey on its worst day with the most inept management will still appeal to more Americans than soccer times 4.

Basketball appeals to a specific demographic for its core audience. There happen to be plenty of people in that demographic.

This is the third wave of "soccer is going to finally take its rightful place in U.S. sports" eras I have lived through. It will remain a niche sport for little kids, Latinos and euro-weenies.

I may be wrong about this, but I seem to remember reading somewhere in the last few years that the Stanley Cup playoffs can generate larger TV audiences than the NBA playoffs when you include both Canada and the U.S. in the comparison.

Hockey may never be popular as a "mainstream" sport, but that's fine. It's a "cult" sport that happens to be the best sport out there!