Televised soccer has had a rough go in the United States, a situation that must be rectified if the game is ever going to become mainstream. The unconverted and soccer-haters will often point to the TV ratings as proof positive that the sport simply does not appeal to Americans.

While I've given most of my attention to ESPN's efforts (or lack thereof) to distribute soccer to the masses, there are certainly other outlets available to MLS.

I was flipping around the channels the other day, frustrated by the amount of college basketball (I guess it is the only thing going on), when a thought struck me: Why is there no soccer on the Versus Network?

While Versus is mostly known for being the television purgatory that the NHL currently inhabits, they also broadcast several "niche" sports. Outdoor sports, MMA, bull riding, and the Tour de France all air on the network. While I'm sure they all have their own dedicated viewers, it's unlikely that the available audience for any of those sports (save MMA, maybe) can match up to that of soccer. Despite the struggles of MLS to break through with both non-soccer fans and soccer fans that reject MLS, it would seem worth it for Versus to show a little soccer. MLS and Versus seem like a perfect match; one is a second-tier sports league struggling to increase their profile, and the other is a second tier sports network, working towards respectability with a wide range of programming.

For the sake of comparison a few fact about both FSC (the current secondary broadcaster of MLS) and Versus:

REACH:
FSC 32 million homes (source)
Versus 74 million homes (source)

That's a pretty significant advantage for Versus.

Maybe there's something I'm missing, and Versus isn't a network that would work well with soccer or MLS. It's possible that MLS has already approached the network, and the folks at Comcast (owners of Versus) turned down the deal. Or maybe it happened the other way around, and Versus didn't offer enough to MLS to make it worth it for the league. How MLS games can show up on HDNet, a network with a relatively small market penetration, and not be available on Versus is beyond me.

Thoughts? Anyone with insight as to why two parties seemingly made for each other haven't hooked up yet?

*EDITED TO ADD*
Just wanted to be clear here that I'm suggesting that Versus could be an additional outlet for MLS, not an alternative to ESPN. MLS must be on ESPN to have any chance of breaking through. I hope the ratings improve this year.