I’ll be in New York in a couple of weeks, to do some research and take a break from Chicago. If I decide to tune into a Red Bulls game on television while I’m there, it looks like I’ll be participating in a phenomenally rare pursuit: according to the New York Times,

This season, the team is averaging a meager 1,031 households on MSG and FSNY, which is still 40 percent higher than last year’s 736.

Does anyone know the ratings from Metrostars days?  Or from other MLS cities?  Those pitifully low numbers take a while to sink in.  The Yankees could probably get ten times that if they televised batting practice.

What a holy mess the Red Bulls franchise in, if that’s the audience they’re attracting in what is not an insignificant media market, and one that seemingly has some interest in soccer. After all, it will be interesting to see whether the ratings improve  after 67,000 saw one hell of a game when the Beckham-circus rolled into the Big Apple (or rather New Jersey) last week.