Will the NASL Ever Compete head to head with MLS? I just came across this article, and some of the things they mention, makes me wonder. As a soccer/football fan I am pulling for top tier football to succeed in North America out side Mexico, and personally could care less if its USL, NASL, MLS, North American Association Football League(i made that one up) or other.
Re: Will the NASL Ever Compete head to head with MSL? No it won't and they shouldn't try. There is a place in the pyramid for NASL and if they do things right it will work out for them very well at D2. That being said, something they should do is convince the people involved with the NY Cosmos reboot to join up, even if it's just a stepping stone to MLS. NASL gets another US-based team, the biggest brand from the old NASL, and the Cosmos get to test the waters of adding another pro club to the NYC market without having to drop $50 million dollars or build a new MLS stadium.
Re: Will the NASL Ever Compete head to head with MSL? IDK ,it sounds reasonable that the NYC owners could possibly want to try it with the NASL, as mentioned in that article. Whatever happens Im pulling for Pro Soccer to succeed, I cant keep up with lower levels or semi pros..If I lived in a city or near one that had div2 then maybe I could.
Re: Will the NASL Ever Compete head to head with MSL? How about D-4? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_City_United How far from Madison-Huntville? There are a few in Georgia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Premier_Soccer_League#Southeast_Division Birmingham has over 1 million people (Metro) that could support a D-2 or D-3 team (if they could find an owner willing to "invest") Fayetteville, Mobile, Mongomery all show 350K+ people, that should be ok for another D-4 team.
NASL should at this point in time focus on establishing themselves as a D2 league, meeting the D2 requirements and establishing stable franchises. I strongly doubt anytime in the remotely near or distant future we will see MLS challenged by NASL/USL/etc. personally.
Re: Will the NASL Ever Compete head to head with MSL? The nearest to me is Montgomery 85 miles. I doubt very seriously they would ever get a club though, for various reasons. The only way I could actually support a club below MLS,for real would be if I were able to attend matches or watch them on TV. I cant get into supporting teams or leagues that I cant connect with visually.
The NASL is not going to become an entity that will compete with MLS. They have expressed no such desire, and actually have made no bones about the fact that they would love nothing more than solidify themselves as the D2 league in North America, and work out some sort of affiliation on some level with MLS in that role. IF the NASL can survive long term, it has got to build a stable core of franchises. I think they have a great start with Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, and Puerto Rico. I think Carolina can be too if the right ownership is able to be put in place there, one that is dedicated to the team and league long term. Minnesota, Edmonton, Atlanta, and San Antonio all have to be considered question marks at this point, each for their own various reasons. There are still plenty of markets out there capable of supporting D2 soccer franchises, the obvious question is the same as always - will anyone with the money and a plan for a stadium be willing to step up? If the NASL does get itself on some solid footing, will it entice any of the D3 teams to try and step up (or come back...again....)?
I hope not. They'll end up like the old IHL, which was trying to be the "poor man's NHL" before they went down in flames. I would, however, like to see a league that was kind of a D-1AA, which might be a level down from MLS, but have almost MLS money behind it (I know, it'll never happen). D-2 leagues in this country have always been a step or two up from a bus league, and they crash and burn when they try to get too big. I think we need at least two D-2 leagues, to keep travel costs from killing the teams.
Odds are slim to none. But since this is a hyptotetical question, A lot of things need to happen. 1) Overall, soccer must grow in the country, so there are more people interested in watching and playing soccer. Let those "2nd tier" markets get aspirations for soccer clubs. 2) Perhaps in 15-20 years, if the NASL still exists and has managed to build clubs in other cities MLS ignores (ie Detroit, Milwaukee, Memphis, Phoenix) the same amount of teams MLS has. This also assumes MLS doen't create 'MLS2' 3) MLS already cherry picked the Sounders, Timbers and Whitecaps. If established teams like the Puerto Rico Islanders or Tampa Bay had a chance to go to MLS. Would they jump ship? 4) In the same 15 - 20 year time period, NASL teams must consistently beat MLS sides deep into the US Open Cup and get to the CONCACAF Champions League. This could change perceptions of the NASL an alternative to MLS. 5) MLS must make some errors that will make NASL more appealing (ie work stoppage, Don Garber embezzles MLS money, Jack Warner new commisioner of MLS, etc). I don't see that happening.
If NASL teams start out doing MLS teams then it would mean MLS would have grow as a league Business Model wise. But NASL just has to remember it is D2 and that it doesn't want to repeat the same mistakes as USL.
Can't see it happening. Just as a hypothetical though, it'd be pretty interesting if the Cosmos decided against the rumored 100 million dollar expansion fee for MLS and opted to join Traffic and NASL instead. (It's obvious their goal is MLS and MLS only, so don't worry about me being delusional.) I could also see a NASL team located in a proper Boston location doing just as well as the Revs are doing now, to be honest. With solid markets up the East coast (Atlanta, Tampa, Miami, Carolina, New York, Boston), other markets like San Antonio, hopefully San Diego, and a few others and assuming NASL's continued progress as a league, it starts looking like a pretty nice alternative to ridiculous expansion fees. And you can't underestimate how much the Cosmos would give a league credibility in the eyes of investors and potential fans. These are all "major league" markets so I guess it could be viewed as "head-to-head" instead of just another minor league. Fun to think about but I'm 100% satisfied with continued growth in our existing teams and second division league.
Well after watching the Bolton- FCTB game it's not a stretch to say that MLS/NASL have the closest quality of play compared to other 1st/2nd division leagues around the world.
Indeed. As good as my Carolina RailHawks are, they'd get crushed at the MLS level. The gap between D1/D2 has never been larger in the MLS era than it is right now.
But Tampa Bay just beat Bolton, we all know that summer friendlies is the best way to judge a league strength
No, silly, that's the Open Cup. And obviously the Richmond Kickers have just proved that USL Pro is on par with MLS!
The second tier is home to the teams that MLS doesn’t want or hasn’t got to yet, and that will continue to be the case while the expansion doors are open. By closing the doors at a sensible level, MLS gives NASL breathing space and room to grow, allowing it to pick up quality markets instead of just hoovering them all up for itself. A strong second division, regardless of inter-division mobility, can only be good for football in America. http://www.thefootballramble.com/bl...d-the-great-major-league-soccer-balancing-act
That article does absolutely nothing to suggest that the NASL will compete with MLS or that the level of play in the NASL is anywhere near MLS.
Code: ========================================== Capped Total Team Players Team Caps ========================================== LA Galaxy 13 604 New York RB 14 552 Chivas USA 9 261 Seattle 13 236 Philadelphia 8 229 Real Salt Lake 8 219 Colorado 13 218 DC United 8 179 Sporting KC 9 170 Toronto FC 9 169 Houston 10 155 San Jose 9 130 Columbus 8 115 FC Dallas 10 112 Vancouver 10 105 New England 6 80 Chicago 5 55 Portland 10 54 ========================================== 172 3643 ========================================== League Avg. 9.6 202 ========================================== ... and ... Code: ================================================== Players w/ MLS Total Capped Total Team Exp MLS GP Players Team Caps ================================================== Tampa Bay 4 38 5 103 Puerto Rico 6 262 12 90 Montreal 7 128 6 83 Carolina 4 141 6 79 Edmonton 1 4 2 27 Ft Lauderdale 5 203 3 27 Atlanta 3 12 1 10 Minnesotta 4 87 0 0 ================================================== 34 875 35 419 ================================================== League Avg. 4.3 109.4 4.4 52.4 ================================================== ... which for the NASL is composed of .... Code: ====================================================================== Pct of National Team Caps Total ====================================================================== Trinidad & Tabago 74 18% Kerry Baptiste and Conrad Smith Puerto Rico 51 12% Lots of folks with a few caps Guyana 36 9% Gregory Richardson and J. P. Rodrigues Grenada 33 8% Kithson Bain Canada 31 7% Ali Gerba Malta 30 7% Etienne Barbara New Zealand 29 7% Jeremy Christie Cuba 24 6% Eduardo Sebrango Haiti 19 5% Jean-Phillipe Peguero ====================================================================== 327 78% So besides having the Puerto Rican national team competing in your league ... if you really want to make a go of it, your going to need better players. MUCH better players. And we all know what that means ... CREAM, get the money, dollar dollar bill y'all. And by the way ... Code: =========================== Win Pct in USOC since 1996 =========================== MLS vs Non-MLS 72% =========================== Non-MLS v. MLS 28% ===========================