To avoid a repeat of the overly empty stadium and less than passionate atmosphere we saw at MLS Cup Sunday night on ESPN.

Read the column here.

Note: I did not write the headline on the column; I would not use the adjective “troubled” to describe MLS.

Oh, and I forgot to mention in the column: let’s get rid of those two pointless geographic conferences that just make figuring out who is in the playoffs more difficult at a glance. When the league’s own website publishes special “playoff standings” for clarity, you know something is wrong.

Updated

Need further proof MLS has an issue with its structuring of MLS Cup (and the playoffs in general)?

Sunday’s MLS Cup was the lowest-rated – ever.

Meanwhile, “NBC scored (Sunday) with the most-watched November NFL prime-time game since 1996, City News Service observed:

“NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” game between (Michael) Vick’s Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants … averaged 23.2 million viewers to be the week’s most-watched program.”