Five Reasons to Watch MLS

PCB - I'm suprised someone so interested in developing youth soccer in this country is so against the improvement & development of a professional league here...

Like most, I agree MLS is coming along - slower than we'd like, but improving nonetheless.
Taking FIFA breaks needs to happen pronto, whether we play summer or winter.

Bill - thanks for the numbers. Logic & data are much more convincing than arguments like - "it's rubbish and should be abolished..."

 

FFC24, I wasn't alluding to the MLS as a superpower league, it is just a good analogy at this point in its development. I also didn't consider the inception of a winter break, that idea has merit. As for the fan support, it averages quite well despite seeing a lot of empty seats (this saddens me a great deal). Part of the problem is that some teams are playing in huge NFL stadiums and aren't able to fill all the seats but still average somewhere between 10,000 to 15 or 18,000 a game.

 

The MLS will have 16 teams for the 2010 season and I suspect they'll go to the single table then, if not 2009 when they have an awkward 15 teams. They've had to have the East/West thing because they didn't have enough teams to fill up the season with just home and away fixtures, resulting in teams playing "local" teams more often. At the latest, with 16 teams, they can play a "standard" 30 game season and won't have to worry about trying to balance the natural bias of playing extra league games against regional opponents.

Biggest challenge with a fall-spring schedule: College Football. Do you really think ESPN is going to give up an NCAAF game for an MLS soccer game? The MLS needs Saturday TV coverage on a major network; that means playing when ESPN is willing to show the games.

 

I think Chivas USA plays a nicer game than most teams in the league. They touch the ball well especially for an MLS team. They have shown significant improvement for a new team in the league.

 

Those are two separate discussions.

The development of youth in this country is a concern and interest of mine because 1) I want to see kids make the most of ther opportunities in soccer, whether going pro, helping them get into college, and developing a love of and passion for the game that carries over into following, playing, and enjoying the sport through out their lives; and 2) because I would like to see the USMNT develop into a much more worthy adversary to the other national teams on the world's stage.

MLS is a potential destination for kids who play soccer in this country, but by no means is it the penultimate, nor should it tout itself as such. The game has clubs and leagues in Europe that have achieved the highest level of play and following in the world, plus have over 100 years of history to go along with the clubs. The have now, and will continue to have in the forseeable future, the best system and product to offer. Nothing wrong with that, nor children in the U.S. going overe there to try to participate in the best the world has to offer. In fact, that should be every American soccer child's dream!

MLS, and perhaps more improtantly its fans, should accept its place as a bush, feeder league. There is a need for such systems. If they would focus more on their immediate community, developing talent to make the jump, and less on worrying about competing with the bigger leagues, I would argue the system and the product coming out of it would be better off. And interest would be higher.

 

Actually FFC24 there are two major sports going on in the winter, the NBA and the NHL...and don't say the NHL doesnt count because they play to 92% capacity and attract 22 million fans a year...faaaar more than the MLS.

You simply cannot play the season over the same time period that the EPL is played. In Chicago, especially this winter, it is regularly below freezing beginning in November and lasting through mid March...and I'm sure Toronto is the same and Columbus is not as bad but similar.

It's just not feasible to play in the winter months, and when would they play. College Football is on saturday, the NFL is on Sunday...just makes no sense for a league looking to increase its awareness.

Playing in the summer makes more sense because people can attend the games in nice weather and the only sport they are competing with is baseball. I'm a huge Cubs fan but I can't even watch EVERY game, so when the Fire play, I watch them first.

Also the pace and type of sport soccer is conflicts completely with baseball which is also perfect. Hockey and soccer are similar in numerous ways and with hockey on the rise it would be difficult seing a third sport, and now even arena football as a fourth sport, being played in the fall/winter/spring months as opposed to baseball occupied spring/summer/fall months.

 

Don - it's not about attending games, it's about watching them on TV and selling TV advertising. NCAAF gets REALLY good ratings, and therefore brings in good advertising revenue. EPSN is not going to give up an NCAAF game for an MLS game; at least not within the next 10 years.

There is also the impact on the lower leagues, most teams in which have to use stadiums which are "not currently in use." For them, playing in the Summer is the only way they can exist and it doesn't make a lot of sense of have the MLS and the lower leagues (USL, NASL, etc.) be on opposite schedules.

While I agree that the MLS should focus more on developing community ties and community talent, I strongly disagree on the "resign yourself to your fate" line of thinking. The USA is THE strongest sports market in the world - there is no reason that the MLS (or what it grows up to become) could not be one of the top five leagues in the world within the next 20 years. Besides, the reason given my most American soccer fans for not watching the MLS is quality - without enfusing quality into the league, they'll never grow.

 

As far as closer ties in the talent development aspect of things, they are working on developing community ties, here at Northern Illinois the Fire has a team that half of the NIU soccer team plays on in the summer. They have close ties to many different schools and programs in the area.

As far as closer ties in terms of marketing, the MLS has an entire staff dedicated to attracting and keeping hispanic fans. The MLS is an absolute model for new leagues and how they should operate. They will be a case study for business classes from now until the end of their existence.

 

College level isn't youth development.

The league isn't even making money yet, from what I understand. So it might be a little too early to be using it as a business model for anything.

 

NOT.......A..........CHANCE!

Enjoy European football for what it is, the best.

Enjoy the Middle School League, if you must, but get real. A big part of the problem with MSL is its "pie in the sky" fans. They cheapen nearly all things footy with these statements and attempted arguments.

 

FFC. Doubt if you want, but if someone had asked you 9 years ago if the runner up European and FIFA Player of the Year and Champions League winner would be playing in the MLS at age 32, would you have been any less skeptical than you are about where MLS might be in 20 years?

Soccer is a LOT bigger in this country than it was 20 years ago and it will be even bigger in 20 years when the even larger number of Americans who grew up with soccer grow up themselves.

 

Agreed Andy...

Professional soccer is getting big in the United States and look no further than the amount of international club competitions that MlS teams are being asked to participate in.

Now before you shit all over me I realize they are not the best club competitions but it is a start and the organizers of these competitions are realizing the value of American teams and the markets they bring.

It is hard to believe that so many on this thread almost seem to be upset that American soccer is growing in popularity, strenght, attraction, and quality. Nobody is arguing that they are a top five league or even top ten, well except me, I would argue MLS is a top ten league.

The only thing we are saying is that with the exponential growth experienced over the 12 year history of the league in terms of its fan base, profits, quality, and exposure it is not inconceivable that MLS will be a top five league within the next 20 years.

NOT NOW...but down the road, yes.

 

Top 10 Leagues in the World:

1) Premiership
2) La Liga
3) Serie A
4) Bundelsiga
5) Eredivisie
6) France
7) Portugal
8) SPL
9) Greece
10) Turkey
11) Russia
12) Brazil
13) Argentina

Actually, I named 13 leagues that are well ahead of and stronger than the Middle School League, and there could certainly be more to consider, as those are just the most obvious ones.

Listen, do I applaud your enthusiasm?
No, not really. It exudes a starry-eyed, child-like fantasy world. Dial it back, get real, and don't be THAT guy.

 

There is no convincing you. If I had to guess you'd rank the MLS behind the K-League and just ahead of the league that is represented in your avatar. So I give up.

And I wasn't basing the MLS being in the top ten on competitive quality alone...you must also consider attendance figures, finances, global appeal, marketability, etc. So dont be THAT guy, whatever THAT means.

"I don't know whether it's ignorance or snobbery or whether it's that the people saying these things have never played the game or watched it being played here, but the standard is nowhere near as low as people have been saying it is. For a start, you have to be incredibly fit and physically strong to play here: America's a country, after all, that produces some of the best athletes in the world."

– David Beckham, Los Angeles Galaxy

 

Pele and Beckenbauer played in the US when they were over-the-hill... so it isn't surprising at all that someone like David Beckham is in the MLS now. So the fact that there are some over-the-hill elite players in the MLS isn't something to point to as an example of success or something new... cause US Soccer has already been there and done that.

 

FFC. The SPL!? Outside of Celtic, Rangers, and possibly Hearts, the SPL is poor, very very poor. Same goes for Greece, Turkey, and Russia - outside of the top 3-4 teams, the quality is just not there.

I would place the Brazilian and Argentinian leagues above those four, and probably above Portugal.

 

Quoting Beckham. That is rich.

You are soooo right. Never played the game, never knew people who have, never watched, in fact, what the hell is this website about again?

Wow, and I used to think you actually put at least some thought into your posts.