(FORTUNE Magazine) – Kids and Hispanics are serious soccer fans--boys and girls are playing it in schoolyards all over America, and it's a passion of operatic proportions with a lot of Spanish speakers. So what better way to score big with these growing markets than to team up with Major League Soccer, the new American professional league? After all, Hispanics and kids attended more MLS games this past season than baseball, football, basketball, or hockey games.

In dollar terms, the Hispanic market is an especially enticing plum--Hispanics make up the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, with an estimated $228 billion in purchasing power. "American Honda first looked at MLS purely from a Hispanic approach," says senior manager Eric Conn. "We wanted to increase our awareness and image in this market, and we did." At AT&T, the Hispanic marketing group took on the MLS sponsorship after the sports marketing team turned it down. Pepsi-Cola will join the sponsor roster next season.

The youth market will amount to roughly $75 billion this year. Bandai America, known for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, will sell MLS action figures, key chains, and soccer balls next season. MasterCard International sponsored spring soccer camps and offered team credit cards for mom and dad. Kellogg has players on boxes of Raisin Bran and Frosted Flakes, and sees MLS as a way to reach the youth and Hispanic markets simultaneously.

So how did sponsors do? Jim Andrews, of IEG Sponsorship Report, which tracks corporate endorsements, says MLS did a good job of reaching its targeted audiences. Which is a respectable start, especially considering that the sport still isn't exactly the great American pastime.

--Lixandra Urresta