Cosmo Kid, what is the percentage of soccer fans in the U.S. that won't follow MLS because of it's format? Interested in ready a source for this. Thanks in advance.
I haven't seen much data on that question. what is the percentage of soccer fans in the U.S that wouldn't follow MLS if it had a single league table? all we know is that there is a large percentage of American soccer fans that don't watch MLS. Most people hypothesize that the largest sect of non-watchers is people who think MLS is still too Americanized. But its just common sense that less people are going to tune into a regular season when it doesn't have much significance other than deciding playoff seeding. A poll from 2008. Soccer fans in U.S watch EPL 98% watch MLS 36% http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/sounders/2008/12/10/interesting_poll_on_us_soccer.html That's a pretty big gap. The good news is that there is potential fan base there.
When you say "most", what percentage do you mean? Interested in a source for this. Thanks in advance. I suspect this study is flawed. If 98% of soccer fans in the US watch EPL, it would draw a larger audience than the Mexican league, but it does not. It's interesting to note that the Mexican regular season gets a good audience when it doesn't have much significance other than deciding playoff seeding.
How's this for not much significance? Or should we invite Jasonma to recall all those insignificant end-of-season showdowns between his team and RSL?
Interesting fact: that poll was carried out by Barclays...Barclays...where have I heard that before? Also, let's see why the EPL is so popular among [English-speaking] US soccer fans: Nothing about the league format, I see.
probably a selection bias in those results. It's hard to find any polling at all on this issue. You bring up the mexican league but the mexican audience isn't split between those who want a more "traditional" league with those who want a more "Mexicanized" one. That's not the case in the US where a large segment of soccer fans don't watch MLS. I would submit that there are more soccer fans in this country who don't support the league than there are of those who do. I support and watch the league but want changes. There are a lot of fans like me. I don't see whats so wrong with having the regular season as a separate competition from the MLS Cup. You would still need to qualify for the MLS Cup during the regular season. It's not even a drastic change since there is already the supporters shield. All you would have to do once the 20th team was added was go to one league table. Then you take the top 8 at the end of the season for the post-season tournament. I think this change would bring a lot of the fence sitters into the league. There are the hardcore mls-haters that will never become fans, but of the large segment of soccer fans in the country who are not yet open to MLS, this change will bring a lot of them in. But they won't be persuaded with the "it's my way or highway approach". That's the same thing the so called eurosnobs get accused of.
What's wrong about it is that it would kill interest in both the postseason and the season. The playoffs currently have meaning because they determine the league champion. Change it to just a separate cup competition and there's no reason for it to be any more popular than the US Open Cup. It kills interest in the season because most teams know within a couple months whether or not they have a chance at first place and those that don't (most of the teams) will have nothing to play for. Also, there's the matter of finding room in the calendar for 4 more games while still having the postseason tournament.
well i totally disagree. It would create interest in who wins the league. Right now the regular season is close to pointless. It's just like the NBA and NHL. If the regular season was a separate competition then you would see more teams giving it their all to try to win the league, not just coast in for a playoff spot. I guess we'll have to just agree to disagree on that. It's a matter of opinion.
Nobody coasts to a playoff spot. Have you actually watched MLS games? You want to see coasting, you'd get it when the 6th place team plays the 8th place team in August with nothing at stake because they're both 20+ points behind the leaders.
I too can't seem to find anything that states, with anything above personal suspicion, what you have claimed about soccer fandom in the U.S. The ESPN Luker poll suggests that there are about 33 million folks in this country who like soccer, 25 million of which like MLS. If true, this contradicts what you wrote above. However, the Climbing The Ladder blog has some numbers to back what you say. Of the 337 respondents in the '09 poll, 32% thought MLS too Americanized and 58% would prefer promotion/relegation if it was feasible (These sources can be found easily enough). The running assumption of most posters on this topic is that the BoGs don't make decisions based on unsubstantiated claims. Nor should the BS community be endlessly subjected to the same. I get that you would like to see changes in MLS. As I see it, you can either pony up some serious cash, or at the very least, prove what you claim. Or as others are wont to say, show your work. Otherwise, your just another stiff on a soapbox peddling for a revolution that no one cares about. Good day Sir.
I don't think any of the teams that made the playoffs this year were "coasting." All ten teams felt like they had something to play for in the final couple weeks of the season, even after a playoff berth was assured. You think a single table will give teams more incentive to try harder for first place. That may be true up until around mid-summer. At that point, every week that passes is another team virtually knocked out of realistic title contention. Now if you were a San Jose or Kansas City fan, the end of the season would've been very exciting and nerve-wracking. But for everyone else, it's meaningless. But wait! We have ANOTHER cup competition for you to play in! Just like the one you just played in over the summer, except this time no NASL or USL or amateur teams! And it's in the winter! Yes, a winter tournament that does NOT crown the league champion going up against the NFL in full playoff race mode and college bowl games will be a ratings goldmine for MLS!
Let's say they do that. They won't, but let's imagine anyway. Exactly what will prevent the overwhelming majority of teams from treating the regular season any different and maintaining that the goal of the regular season is to qualify for the playoffs? And will prevent the league from advertising the MLS Cup as being more important than the "championship?" And, most importantly, what will keep NBC from deciding between hyping the playoffs...excuse me, the Cup, just as much as the regular season or deciding to pay the league less since the playoffs don't matter? Actually what is more important are my last questions. If the MLS crowns a champion and a cup winner, what will stop people who want MLS to be the EPL...I mean follow the rules of the "World Game" from: Still being upset that the league even has a postseason competition and that anyone cares about it? Still complaining about the league not having superclubs, pro/rel, teams going bankrupt, and still having a draft and a salary cap? Still not caring about MLS because it is too American by virtue of being an American league and not the EL?
*sigh* What the f#$! does this even mean? You keep ignoring the question being asked of you to define "Americanization". Until you do that you're just trolling.
Not a single team coasts into the playoffs. This absurd assertion needs to die a swift and painful death. More and more I lose patience with those who keep saying that the problems with the league are playoffs and lack of rel/pro. This argument fails to take into account in any way, shape or form the history of soccer in this country (failed prior leagues and lack of any real quality lower divisional infrastructure), not to mention the attitudes of the billionaires that do fund the league. Getting rid of playoffs would be the death knell for the league, as any coverage mls gets now would completely evaporate as the networks would now completely ignore mls during the regular season. The regular season champion would get crowned during the regular season, and the entirety of the regular media would give a collective shrug. You want even less than coverage of mls? Then by all means, get rid of the playoffs!
First I'll note that the claim that top-of-the-table formats are found 'around the world' is absolutely false. (If we're going to be as pedantic as you're about to be in your next sentence.) The most popular league amongst Americans has an end-of-season playoff building up to a Final (one that Joe Corona and Edgar Castillo will be playing in). If we were running a Politico-style Fact Check on it, it would get either two or three Pinocchios. It's pretty clear the author of the claim hasn't attempted to research it. Yes, a 'subset' could mean 8 guys and their pets, and therefore the strict claim pretty much has to be true, you have to reading it either fairly pedantically or fairly obtusely to think that's all he's trying to say. The implication that he's trying to draw (which you get half-way to next) is much bigger than the narrow statement of fact you're boiling it down to, it's just that he doesn't have the intellectual courage to come spell it all out (and for good reason, since if it was spelled out in black and white, it would look ridiculous). He's obviously trying to imply something that you're saying (and also don't have evidence for)--and further he's implying, as are you, that these people would start watching MLS with moderate format changes, something that's even more speculative/dubious. Lastly, it implies that the number of people who would pick up the league for this reason is greater than the number that would drop it--and anyone who claims real knowledge of that is lying. Personally, I believe the term "eurosnob" more or less fits, because the author of the post has an attitude problem. I can't adjust it, but I can call it what it is.
2009 Indianapolis Colts. http://www.theonion.com/articles/colts-to-rest-starters-for-first-game-of-playoffs,7033/
Word. And this goes for playoff haters and lovers alike; there's always something to play for. These are professional players (many them with dreams of Europe) and managers we're talking about here. Very few players are going to take the field and say, "Well, we're already in the playoffs (or we can't win the league) so I'm just gonna take it easy today". Sure, clubs might decide to play anti-football away from home or late in the season, but nobody can afford to coast when professional reputations and paychecks are on the line.
Word. And this goes for playoff haters and lovers alike; there's always something to play for. These are professional players (many them with dreams of Europe) and managers we're talking about here. Very few players are going to take the field and say, "Well, we're already in the playoffs (or we can't win the league) so I'm just gonna take it easy today". Sure, clubs might decide to play anti-football away from home or late in the season, but nobody can afford to coast when professional reputations and paychecks are on the line.
how is this false? I would say that over 90%(maybe higher) of soccer leagues around the globe are single table/league champ. I didn't post the article. But i do agree with it. Been trying to get friends into MLS for years and the complaints i get are its too Americanized. I share these complaints but i still support my local club no matter if its a USL, NASL or MLS club. Just look at the TV ratings for EPL matches and for World Cup matches and then the TV ratings for MLS matches. There is a very large potential audience not tuning in to MLS. yes, the more MLS conforms to the rest of the world the more popular it will get. Of course it's all speculative. But we have some history to back it up. MLS has moved more towards the rest of the world getting rid of some of the Americanized rules of the past and it has gotten more popular. How much longer do you need before MLS starts to get American soccer fans to tune in? It's obvious the NBA/NHL format for soccer is only appealing to the hardcore MLS fan and not appealing to the vast soccer public. How many more years should we give you? The MLS playoffs have been getting horrible TV ratings. The MLS Cup final has the LA Galaxy in it, it's Beckham's last game and possibly Landon Donovan's too. If you can't get great TV ratings with all those story lines isn't it time to just admit that the Americanization of soccer has failed?
of course they do. Why does the intensity go up for playoff games in every sport? Answer: Because the regular season isn't as important. You see it in MLS, the NHL, the NBA etc. Any league where the regular season is all about playoff seeding has a less intense regular season.
Word. And this goes for playoff haters and lovers alike; there's always something to play for. These are professional players (many them with dreams of Europe) and managers we're talking about here. Very few players are going to take the field and say, "Well, we're already in the playoffs (or we can't win the league) so I'm just gonna take it easy today". Sure, clubs might decide to play anti-football away from home or late in the season, but nobody can afford to coast when professional reputations and paychecks are on the line.