World Soccer XXVII: The REAL Football

[Jimjamesak]

Re: World Soccer XXVII: The REAL Football

Clickbait headline: MLS rejected $4 billion media rights deal that hinged on promotion and relegation.

Actual reporting:

The proposed deal would have run for 10 years starting in 2023, after the current deal with ESPN, Fox, and Univision expires.

Those broadcasters have "exclusive negotiating windows and renewal rights," MLS said in a statement on Monday, and thus the league would be unable to consider Silva's offer, no matter the terms.

"As was stated to [MP & Silva Group's founding partner Riccardo] Silva both in person and in a subsequent letter, Major League Soccer is prohibited contractually from engaging in discussions about our media rights with other distributors," said Dan Courtemanche, MLS executive vice president of communications.

"We are not in a position, nor are we interested, in engaging with Mr. Silva on his proposal."

Silva, as the co-owner of Miami FC of the second-tier NASL, has a vested interest in seeing promotion and relegation added to the United States, since MLS is taking steps toward officially awarding a new team in Miami to a group led by David Beckham.

Without promotion and relegation, Silva's Miami FC has no route to join MLS in the top flight. An attempt to reach Silva through Miami FC was unsuccessful.

And yet the internet is back to the pro/rel circle jerk.

 

[JF_Gophers]

Re: World Soccer XXVII: The REAL Football

Regular season champions and pro/rel is a better system than playoffs for soccer.

Season long achievement > lucky playoff run

Plus it incentivizes teams to try to compete instead of being happy to finish last and collect league revenue.

 

[Jimjamesak]

Regular season champions and pro/rel is a better system than playoffs for soccer.

Season long achievement > lucky playoff run

Plus it incentivizes teams to try to compete instead of being happy to finish last and collect league revenue.

And it also bankrupts teams that fall victim to injuries, call ups, and fixture congestion. When you only look at the positives it sure looks great, when you look at it in reality it's questionable.

 

[JF_Gophers]

And it also bankrupts teams that fall victim to injuries, call ups, and fixture congestion. When you only look at the positives it sure looks great, when you look at it in reality it's questionable.

I don't really have a problem if those are the only negatives. If you are financially unstable and irresponsible, so that relegation kills off your team... You probably shouldn't have a team to start with.

 

[Jimjamesak]

I don't really have a problem if those are the only negatives. If you are financially unstable and irresponsible, so that relegation kills off your team... You probably shouldn't have a team to start with.

Except if that is true then you end up with system like most of Europe where the same maybe 4 teams (at best) are the only ones with a realistic shot.

 

[JF_Gophers]

Except if that is true then you end up with system like most of Europe where the same maybe 4 teams (at best) are the only ones with a realistic shot.

except MLS prevents that by limiting spending and player allocation. So it's nearly an even field.

 

[Jimjamesak]

except MLS prevents that by limiting spending and player allocation. So it's nearly an even field.

But they can't maintain that system if they go to pro/rel format. I mean, imagine if a team has their 3 DPs injured plus 3 more players injured and another 3 lost to international call ups while only having 16 players to play 3 games in 10 days and one of those games is a coast to coast road game. Yeah let's relegate that team! You can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

[unofan]

Re: World Soccer XXVII: The REAL Football

But they can't maintain that system if they go to pro/rel format. I mean, imagine if a team has their 3 DPs injured plus 3 more players injured and another 3 lost to international call ups while only having 16 players to play 3 games in 10 days and one of those games is a coast to coast road game. Yeah let's relegate that team! You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Bad luck is a part of every sport. I don't see that type of scenario as a reason to avoid a pro/rel format.

 

[Kepler]

Re: World Soccer XXVII: The REAL Football

RS title and relegation don't have to be a package. Why not have no post-season and no relegation? Or single team pro/rel to reward only the lower league's RS champion?

It would mean going against the US tradition of a playoff, but that really only exists for $$.

 

[JF_Gophers]

Re: World Soccer XXVII: The REAL Football

I think his concern is that Seattle will get relegated in this fictional situation.

 

[Jimjamesak]

Bad luck is a part of every sport. I don't see that type of scenario as a reason to avoid a pro/rel format.

There's a difference between "bad luck made my team finish 18th" versus "bad luck caused my asset to lose $100 million plus in value." That's the problem, all you are thinking in purely sports terms. The reality is this whole thing is a business that revolves around money, and soccer isn't a very stable industry as is, why introduce more instability?

 

[Jimjamesak]

I think his concern is that Seattle will get relegated in this fictional situation.

In the reality? Not likely. Seattle leads the league in revenue, with maybe Atlanta being very close, and profit.

I actually hate the idea of teams with actual history in this country like D.C. United being sent to the dustbin in favor of some eurosnob pipe dream.

 

[Kepler]

Re: World Soccer XXVII: The REAL Football

why introduce more instability?

The why comes down to US association football will remain be a joke globally until they adopt the pro/rel model. That's the theory -- I'm not saying it's true.

 

[unofan]

There's a difference between "bad luck made my team finish 18th" versus "bad luck caused my asset to lose $100 million plus in value." That's the problem, all you are thinking in purely sports terms. The reality is this whole thing is a business that revolves around money, and soccer isn't a very stable industry as is, why introduce more instability?

I don't care about the ownership's profits. I'm simply saying a historic run of bad luck is not a reason not to instigate pro/rel.

 

[Jimjamesak]

I don't care about the ownership's profits. I'm simply saying a historic run of bad luck is not a reason not to instigate pro/rel.

And I'm saying it's not historic run of bad luck because similar circumstances occurred just this weekend to multiple MLS teams.

And if you want soccer in this country to succeed you'd better have at least a passive interest in ownership profits.

 

[Jimjamesak]

The why comes down to US association football will remain be a joke globally until they adopt the pro/rel model. That's the theory -- I'm not saying it's true.

The problem is the zealots can't even remotely prove it's true.

Pro/Rel talk always boils down to "it's what they do in Europe!" and never any actual reason why it'll really work.

 

[Kepler]

Re: World Soccer XXVII: The REAL Football

The problem is the zealots can't even remotely prove it's true.

Pro/Rel talk always boils down to "it's what they do in Europe!" and never any actual reason why it'll really work.

There are zealots on both sides. And it isn't just Europe, right? It's everywhere but here?

 

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

There are zealots on both sides. And it isn't just Europe, right? It's everywhere but here?

To be fair, that still doesn't exactly answer the question as to if/why/how it would improve American soccer. For that matter, it does nothing to clarify the hyperbolic nonsense that MLS is a "joke" for not having it.

Anyone who sees the rejected TV offer as anything more than a way for Miami's ownership to skirt franchise fees is fooling themselves.

 

[mookie1995]

Re: World Soccer XXVII: The REAL Football

Hearing UAE and KSA are ending the scrambling of bein sports (out of Qatar) due to that channel holding premiership broadcast rights across the ME and the 2 countries not wanting a revolt on their hands

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: World Soccer XXVII: The REAL Football

I have never understood our obsession with pro/rep. It's kinda cool but it's never been a part of American sports and that's ok with me. To be a successful league, MLS doesn't have to operate like the rest of the world, not to mention having pro/rep with the financial restraints the league currently has would just be crazy and to open up the budgets could mean the demise of MLS.