If you were a fan of the Red Sox or Cardinals -- two teams with huge and loyal followings that extend far into neighboring states -- you were probably glued to your television watching the World Series that ended Wednesday night.

The Seattle Sounders set an MLS attendance record for the fifth year in a row as they averaged 44,038 fans a game at CenturyLink Field. That's higher than any MLB team averaged in 2013 except the Los Angeles Dodgers, who averaged 46,216, and more than double the Seattle Mariners averaged.<

One's first thought upon reading the report that Lionel Messi became the first soccer player to rank in the top 10 in the ESPN Sports Poll of Americans' favorite athletes is, what took so long? It would have said something if, after all these years of blanket coverage of soccer on the major networks, a soccer player did not rank so high. And in Messi's case, he is an iconic soccer figure like Pele and Diego Maradona, ranking as the dominant soccer player of his time.

Telemundo's broadcast of Tuesday's Hexagonal finale between Costa Rica and Mexico that almost resulted in El Tri's elimination from the World Cup averaged 4.64 million total viewers and 2.81 million adults 18-49, outperforming Fox's entire primetime lineup, as well as ABC's programming from 9-11 p.m. ET among adults 18-49.

Fox, without a major European league since the loss of the EPL to NBC and Serie A and Ligue 1 to beIN Sport, has signed a deal with the Deutsche Fussball Liga (DFL) to carry the German Bundesliga, beginning with the 2015-16 season.

Mondelez International, the maker of such snacks and gums as Oreo, Ritz, Trident and Sour Patch Kids, is making a major consumer play with soccer through a series of wide-ranging deals with U.S. Soccer, Mexican club Chivas de Guadalajara and U.S. national team players.

According to figures released Tuesday, former England and Galaxy midfielder David Beckham banked enough compensation last year to pay for his discounted stake in an MLS team.

The Orlando group seeking an MLS expansion team cleared another hurdle when the Orlando board of commissioners voted unanimously Monday to approve the use of Tourist Development Tax funds for multiple venues, including a proposed downtown soccer stadium.

Major League Soccer has extended its relationship with Match Analysis to utilize its K2 Panoramic Video system, player tracking and tactical analysis tools to track and analyze the movement of all its players and officials in every match.

Just how important is the English Premier League to NBCSN? Since the launch of the EPL on Aug. 17, NBCSN has posted a 67 percent increase in average total day viewership -- more than double the increase of any other sports cable network over the same period.

Saturday's LA Galaxy-Seattle Sounders game averaged 247,000 viewers, making it the most-watched MLS game of the year on the network.

Manchester United reported record revenues of $552 million and record net profits of $222 million for the fiscal year ending last June, and the driving force behind the growth is its increased commercial revenue, up 29.7 percent in sponsorship, merchandising and product sales.

When MLS Commissioner Don Garber announced at the All-Star Game six weeks ago that the league's plan was to expand to 24 teams by 2020, the names of a dozen or so cities representing all parts of the country were immediately dropped as expansion candidates.

Tuesday's USA-Mexico match on UniMas averaged 4,132,000 viewers during the match broadcast.

The average U.S. household rating of 1.4 for Tuesday night's USA-Mexico match on ESPN  matched the previous record for a U.S. qualifier set when the USA played Mexico at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca on March 26, 2013.