Re: World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!
A couple of things after talking about the MLS after the World Cup with a couple of friends who are lot more soccer savvy than myself.
The MLS schedule is good because:
-The off season allows some of the better players to travel to more prestigious leagues ala Landon to showcase their talents.
-Having a summer schedule permits foreign teams from coming over and playing exhibitions. Displaying teams, stadiums, fans, etc of the MLS could undoubtedly lead to players looking more favorably at playing in America.
-Unlike European teams, the MLS would have to compete with the NFL, NBA, NCAA and NHL for fans if there were a more typical football schedule.
Yes, playing in the summer is the right time to do it in the US.
The more interesting part of the conversation to me was does the North American soccer system need to be more centralized? As in do developmental leagues have the resources available to allow for a promotion/demotion system similar to the EPL?
When the MLS grows enough could perhaps the top-2 in the USL be promoted and the bottom-2 in the MLS be demoted? Or is the commitment by cities and teams to build soccer-specific stadiums too integral on top division play to allow for demotion?
Or could it be seen as an incentive for smaller market teams to invest more into the teams knowing that with good play they are able to reach the MLS?
With the US being practically the only nation that calls footballl soccer, does the league need to be rebranded? Major League Soccer definitely takes off of American sports model of naming, but to market the league better internationally would a top league named something like American Football Association? Or rather does actual football or the lack of international interest make this difficult?
Promotion and Relegation will never happen anytime in the foreseable future.
And the name 'Major League Soccer' isn't great, but the problem with it isn't the term for the sport. We call it soccer here, that's just the way it is. Calling it football would only confuse people more and sure wouldn't bring too many new fans.
My biggest complaint is with the way people use MLS as an acronym - particularly when they say/write "The MLS." Think about it.
MLS is in a catch-22 that has no short or medium term solution.
They will never get more attention nationally or internationally without getting considerably higher quality players and they won't be able to get higher quality players without getting considerably more attention [i.e. money] nationally and internationally.
In the meantime, it is what it is and will likely stay that way for awhile unless they continue expanding at an unsustainable rate and go bankrupt in the next ten years with 32 franchises. [sound familiar?]
There's nothing unsustainable about MLS expansion - the league has costs controlled and is extremely stable. Combine that with their partnership with the USSF through SUM, and they've got a great foothold into all levels of soccer here in the US.
If anything, expansion makes for stronger teams. You never get a second chance to make a first impression - the success of Seattle, Toronto, and now Philadelphia in filling stadiums shows that the league has learned a great many lessons.
I don't know if promotion/relegation will ever happen in the US, it's just something that doesn't happen here. I know, I know, ignorant Americans who can't change, but it just seems so ingrained in the US that there's the big boy league, and all the smaller league teams are affiliated with teams in that league.
It's not the culture that's the problem - promotion and relegation (in the truest sense) requires a completely different financial structure for the league. MLS (and all of the other US/Canadian leagues) is not set up for it.
More over, it's a solution looking for a problem. Pro/rel solves the issue of too many teams trying to sort themselves into leagues and levels of play. USL is falling apart at the seams. This is not a problem American soccer has to deal with.
MLS's franchise and single entity structure ensures the league as a whole is stronger than any one team. That enabled the league to survive the 2001 recession where it lost 2 teams. The structure isn't changing anytime soon.
