Morgan Downing was prepared to be slammed. Managing a bar that caters to the soccer crowd can be a whirlwind during the World Cup and, for the most part, it has been.

The U.S. games meant gridlock at Molly Malone's on Baxter Avenue. Even after the Americans were eliminated, Germany's 1-0 victory over France Friday afternoon played to a packed house.

Yet the same pub BuzzFeed.com cited as Kentucky's go-to soccer bar was conspicuously quiet early Saturday afternoon, the customers barely outnumbering the 20 beer taps. Except for a reflexive cheer that arose from the back room when Argentina's Gonzalo Higuain scored against Belgium, the World Cup broadcast might as well have been wallpaper.

"I wasn't sure what to expect, but I wanted to have everything ready," Downing said. "I've been here as early as 6:30 (a.m.) when Liverpool plays at 7:30, and I've had to serve 50 people early in the mornings. It's not my favorite thing to do."

In evaluating Louisville's potential as a pro soccer market, it's instructive to look at it at different hours, under different sets of circumstances. While the English Premier League can move the needle here when much of the city is still asleep, World Cup fandom tends to fluctuate depending on who's playing. Though Argentina's Lionel Messi may be the world's finest player, — he is the first four-time winner of FIFA's Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball) — he didn't fill Molly Malone's Saturday nearly as well as the later Netherlands-Costa Rica match.

The Dutch fans descend on a place like a truckload of traffic cones — "A sea of orange," Downing called them — and their fluorescent fashions are often matched by glow-in-the-dark personalities. Chase Kostellic watched the Netherlands prevail on penalty kicks Saturday at Molly Malone's at a level of anxiety he described as follows: "On a scale of 1-10, I would say probably a 500."

"I almost couldn't watch," he said. "I watched our goalie and every time he made a save I lost sense of everything around me and went nuts."

Kostellic dressed for the occasion in an orange cowboy hat with a matching shirt and scarf. His brother, Chris, accompanied fiancée Cortney Stich in a similarly striking ensemble. If Louisville FC can attract such fun-seeking fans in significant numbers next spring, and cultivate a sense of cool at Louisville Slugger Field, the city's United Soccer League-Pro franchise has a chance to develop into something more than an inexpensive outing.

"We're very hopeful we can put Louisville in the discussion during the next few years when the MLS is looking at expansion," Louisville FC owner Wayne Estopinal said last week. "There's a lot of discussion right now that they'll go to 30 teams. We need to be in that discussion in the next couple of years."

From here, pro soccer seems to provide a shorter path to the big leagues for Louisville than does basketball. The barriers to entry are fewer, Major League Soccer's franchise fees and ticket prices are lower and the league's appetite for expansion is greater.

Nothing's happening today or tomorrow, and the obstacles to MLS status remain steep. Yet as long as state and local politicians are unwilling to apply pressure on the University of Louisville to make significant lease concessions at the KFC Yum! Center, the city's dogged NBA lobby might as well be barking at the moon.

The terms of the existing deal could change, of course, but probably not without some spirited arm-twisting from Frankfort. From here, it's hard to see that the NBA would have enough interest or wield enough influence to persuade a Kentucky governor to seek changes in a contract negotiated with the primary university in the state's largest city.

Louisville is unlikely to land an MLS franchise without a commitment for a new stadium, a hurdle that has so far stalled David Beckham's efforts to launch an expansion team in Miami, but Louisville FC could be an effective litmus test for local interest. Sacramento's support of its fledgling USL-Pro franchise has catapulted that city onto the MLS expansion short list. The Sacramento Republic FC has announced average crowds of 17,221, more than triple the total of any other team in the league.

Question: Does Louisville have enough soccer fans to crash the conversation?

Answer: "Absolutely, hands down," Chris Kostellic said. "You'd be surprised how many people are in the woodworks."

The MSL's current roster includes 19 teams, with expansion scheduled for New York and Orlando and serious discussions underway in Atlanta and Miami. MLS Commissioner Don Garber's stated aim is to reach 24 teams by 2020, but the league could easily go larger as it seeks to expand its footprint and enlarge its television rights fees. The league's recent purchase of the troubled Chivas USA team, which shares a stadium with the LA Galaxy, is a reminder that some of the league's existing teams might be mobile.

As the No. 49 Nielsen market, Louisville population could be a problem. In addition to Atlanta (the No. 9 Nielsen market) and Miami (No. 16), the MSL's short list includes four other cities with more size and major-league credentials than the 'Ville: Minneapolis (No. 15), Sacramento (No. 20), San Diego (No. 28) and San Antonio (No. 36).

Saturday's market research was decidedly superficial. It would indicate that the level of Louisville's soccer interest depends on what time you visit Molly Malone's.

Tim Sullivan can be reached at (502) 582-4650, by email at tsullivan@courier-journal.com, and on Twitter @TimSullivan714.