It's always good to see soccer getting a little spotlight here in the US. Today the MLS all star game is being broadcast live on ABC, which is a good sign that network television is at least interested in the possibility of making soccer a primetime sport.

Up 'til now one of the biggest reasons network stations have steered away from soccer, aside from its limited popularity, is the fact that soccer is a continuous game which does not provide stop time for commercials. ABC has actually done a pretty good job of solving this problem with what they are calling "side by side". Basically, every once in a while they will split the screen and show a single commercial while still showing a small screen with the game on it. Seems pretty reasonable to me.

We still have a ways to go to get the quality of the games/league up with the rest of the world, but I think we're well on our way.