hard to followup such an educated post ..., but i'll try
MLS can't compare with total NHL attendance, mostly due to # of games played (NHL with about 3x the games). MLS has cheaper tickets, so gameday revenue is far off.
The best comparison is probably franchise value. 3 MLS teams were sold in the last couple years, none with their own stadiums yet. DC sold for $33 million recently. New York Red Bulls (former Metrostars is northern New Jersey) sold for $25 million in a comlicated deal that involved Red Bull buying into half the stadium costs ($45 million) and pledging $25 million for naming rights for the stadium now under construction. Kansas City sold for something above $15 million (the price Toronto paid for their new expansion team opening this year). A couple years ago 2 teams entered for a reported $10 million. In MLS teams share losses, so right now it's assumed there will be a few more years of large losses to share (probably decreasing yearly and will be much reduced once the Red Bull stadium opens).
So MLS teams are a good ways off from NHL franchises. MLS went from 3 main operators of teams a few years ago to 10 for the 13 teams this season. Many own both MLS and NHL (Kings, Avalanche, Maple Leafs, Blues).
Top teams in Europe sell for up to a billion dollars, so MLS is a good ways off.
Then 72nd ranking is total BS. MLS doesn't get meaningful games against European and South American teams. MLS has extreme parity. Most leagues are 2-3 teams top-heavy making comparison difficult. MLS is improving and gaining respect worldwide. It's not yet close to rivaling top leagues.
Outside of 5 or so players, the rest of MLS players make less than your average to minimum NHL player.
TV ratings are pretty low for both leagues from what I can tell. Neither is part of the mainstream sports discussion anymore (i.e. national tv discussion), both have some decent local coverage, MLS in about half its markets.
MLS is making a good impression in new markets - Salt Lake, Houston, Toronto. MLS has burned bridges with soccer fans in established markets outside of DC, LA, and maybe Chicago. MLS does ok in Dallas and Columbus (the latter faltering some with a bad run). MLS has done little advertising lately in Denver, Kansas City, New England and New York (NJ). Your low-profile average starters in MLS today are in a different league than those 10 years ago. The younger players coming up are showing noticeably better skill. MLS didn't work initially and new model towards profitability of building stadiums is slowly working. Not that the profits are expected to be much for a while.
MLS has Hispanic fans (those from "soccer" countries) as a crucial part of the fanbase. MLS hasn't convinced the bulk of that demo, who still follow foreign leagues.
Bottom line is that NHL/MLS is a difficult comparison. I think MLS is narrowing the gap, but the gap remains quite large and will remain large as long as the NHL remains stable. Your average person on the street can probably name roughly the same # of MLS and NHL players - next to none. MLS may close the gap in non-gameday revenue over time, but the NHL will probably have 2-3x the # of games with 2x the ticket costs for some time. MLS relies on concerts, etc to make the stadiums profitable.
