MLS/NASL partnership could do.

Discussion in 'NASL' started by eclipse02, Jan 19, 2011.

  1. TerminusFooty

    TerminusFooty Member+

    Feb 4, 2012
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Just thinking about once NYCFC drops, and ya still got the Cosmos going, it starts to get crowded. Admit Metro is in NJ and then it's kind of like NHL set up: Islanders, Rangers, Devils.
     
  2. athletics68

    athletics68 Member+

    Dec 12, 2006
    San Diego & San Jose
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well except for the fact that for now it's more like Yankees, Mets, Brooklyn Cyclones. The Cosmos are not a D1 team on the same level as RBNY or NYCFC.
     
  3. TerminusFooty

    TerminusFooty Member+

    Feb 4, 2012
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Somewhere in between. They got a higher profile in soccer than the Cyclones do in baseball.
     
  4. athletics68

    athletics68 Member+

    Dec 12, 2006
    San Diego & San Jose
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    True, I just used the Cyclones as a ready example. I don't actually know of any higher level minor league teams that have survived long term in the NYC area. Only low level ones like the Cyclones or Staten Is. Yankees or ones further out in Southern Conn. Which actually plays into a long term concern I have for the Cosmos, particularly if Belmont is denied (which seems possible given the Belmont stadium has now been in limbo for 6 months when it was sold to the public as a slam dunk).
     
  5. TerminusFooty

    TerminusFooty Member+

    Feb 4, 2012
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Okay, IF the Cosmos and NYCFC survive and thrive, RedBull would be wise to admit Metro is in NJ.
     
  6. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Why? If NY label doesn't cost them NJ fans and allows them to leech NY fans, no reason to change.
     
  7. TerminusFooty

    TerminusFooty Member+

    Feb 4, 2012
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's your speculation. My speculation is that it does (that plus the energy drink moniker). Anyways that's my opinion. Movin' on...
     
  8. athletics68

    athletics68 Member+

    Dec 12, 2006
    San Diego & San Jose
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Exactly. I mean they're only 5 miles from the Meadowlands where 2 other teams have the New York moniker despite not playing in New York. Hell they're billing the Super Bowl this year as a "New York" Superbowl.
     
  9. cflsteve

    cflsteve Member

    Jul 21, 2013
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    you may be right since the new ownership in Rdebull snd addinf NY to their rebrand instead of metro stars. So they may not need to make that rebrand again but it is a thoughts
     
  10. zensum

    zensum Member+

    Jan 22, 2008
    The Bronx, NYC
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Wow…

    Love hearing out-of-towners discuss the city….

    And that includes those "leeching" moderators…

    Carry on indeed...
     
    penske repped this.
  11. cflsteve

    cflsteve Member

    Jul 21, 2013
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    What is going on in soccer in the US is looking very similar to what was going on in MLB which started in the early 1900's when the Word series began until the 1920's when the Anerican league had really found itself to the public as equal to the older National league.
    There were several other pro leagues going on throughout the country but were considered minor league teams.

    Major league teams did not have or were just beginning to affiliate with minor league teams in the Carolinas and teexas.

    out on the West coast there was the Pacific coast league. It was not a major league as high as the American and National league. But was of much better play of the other minor league teams. A lot of Younger players went there to become pro baseball players at almost the highest level but not quite. While other major league players who may have lost there starting jobs would go there to continue there careers.
    This is similar to what the NASL is in soccer. Back then being on the West coast and the furthest MLB team was in the Mid west seperated the MLB and the Pacific coast league.

    The pacific coast league eventually became part of a large MLB minor league system but for a long while they were between the other minor leagues and MLB.

    Hense we have the minor league system affiliates we see in pro sports in the US.

    There is not promotion and relegation of teams which the culture became in Europe but instead the teams stayed in the same level of play and there is promotion and relegation of of players.

    I am sure there are thise here that will call me nuts. And no I am not a soccer expert. I am however a sports fan in the US in which I do know alot about. Including the history of pro sports as they evolved in the US.
    And Although soccer system in other countries are much different with the pro rel system this is the US. If you have not figured it out we do things whether good or bad our way
    The MLS will have a ong way to go to be the best league in the world but having three levels of pro soccer in which players move up and down and not teams is how this is going to go
     
  12. Onionsack

    Onionsack BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Jul 21, 2003
    New York City
    Club:
    FC Girondins de Bordeaux
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You are right. To an extent. Many many of their fans would embrace a New Jersey name, and to be fair it is probably most fitting considering the team has never once played professional soccer in the State of New York, or had training facilities or a front office located in New York.

    It wasn't until Red Bull came that the dissociated themselves with NJ. In the early years it was the NY/NJ Metrostars...then just Metrostars. Red Bull came and decided that they wanted to be linked to the world's largest media market and claimed to be New York. Recently they even put out wall art that gives the coordinates to RBA but tries to place it in New York and calls New York their "home" state.

    There are quite a few fans out there that take that as a slight. Just as Manchester City USA is a lame brand extension seeking to capitalize on the NYC...Red Bull does the same with New York. The rubes in the crowd wont care one bit, but it is beyond disingenuous for Red Bull to claim to be NY while ignoring the fact they are a NJ club.

    As the Cosmos fanbase grows and Man City USA comes into the mix...the exodus of the potential fan market from New York towards RB in NJ will be pretty stark. Those already pot committed probably wont be too affected though.
     
  13. athletics68

    athletics68 Member+

    Dec 12, 2006
    San Diego & San Jose
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Comparing the old PCL to NASL currently isn't a stretch actually. Both had or have aspirations to be bigger than they are. With USL now partnering with MLS it has left NASL somewhat out of the system, not unlike how the PCL was with many of its players in the golden era of the early 50's. But do you see the NASL falling to the same fate in the end as the PCL? Ie, they get absorbed into the system in the end?
     
  14. ceezmad

    ceezmad Member+

    Mar 4, 2010
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    They probably learned it from the Jets and Giants.
     
  15. Onionsack

    Onionsack BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Jul 21, 2003
    New York City
    Club:
    FC Girondins de Bordeaux
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You mean the teams that played in Yankee Stadium for decades and Shea Stadium until the mid 80's? Yeah, those teams had like nothing to do with New York at all. They both moved to Meadowlands so they could play in a football stadium instead of a baseball stadium...i wish people would stop using this as an example since its completely not the fuking same.
     
  16. ceezmad

    ceezmad Member+

    Mar 4, 2010
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So I guess the Dodgers and Giants are still New York Baseball teams, well they would be if they wanted to.
     
  17. Onionsack

    Onionsack BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Jul 21, 2003
    New York City
    Club:
    FC Girondins de Bordeaux
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Have you ever heard of the word Analogy? Please look it up if you haven't because its painfully clear you should.


    The lengths some people will go to try and defend Red Bull's decision to name themselves New York despite any connection at all is mind blowing. You brought up the Jets and Giants, like a lot of people, because they play in NJ at the Meadowlands but call themselves New York as some definitive PROOF that playing in NJ has precedent for teams being called New York.

    What you all fail to point out is that those teams did not originate in New Jersey or have any ties to New Jersey until moving from the NYC to the Meadowlands in 76 and 84(?) respectively. They were both long time New York football teams and played in NY since formation. They have a connection with New York and the Meadowlands is close enough to the city where they didn't have to change their name. As opposed to LA and SF....the Dodgers and Gianst have NY connections but it would be beyond stupid to call themselves NY when they play games in other cities over 2500 miles away..not sure they would have gotten a lot of fan or political support for that move.

    The New York Red Bulls are not now, or ever been, based in New York, played games in New York, trained in New York or had offices in New York. Their connection to New York is purely superficial and based on wanting to connect their brand to the worlds biggest media market. They are really a NJ team and most of their fans would agree with that sentiment, many embrace it and wish they would call themselves NJ.

    See the difference yet?
     
  18. ceezmad

    ceezmad Member+

    Mar 4, 2010
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  19. AndyMead

    AndyMead Homo Sapien

    Nov 2, 1999
    Seat 12A
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    So... all the teams in New York City are called "New York" because of the state and not the city?

    East Rutherford and Harrison are both part of the New York City metro area. Anyone that wants to overly parse that needs to grow up.
     
    blacksun and athletics68 repped this.
  20. cflsteve

    cflsteve Member

    Jul 21, 2013
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    That may be a possiblity but for now NASL being independent could thrive by signing a lot of Young players that MLS sides may not have room for and also a place for some older players to continue their Careers in Soccer.

    If they are absorbed into a first rate minor league system it will be like the other US sports with levels of Minor leagues.
    Instead of team pro/rel it will be the players who get promted or relegated like the rest of the top pro sports teams in the US

    Thats just how I see the NASL and for now it can really work pretty good with the right cities and we are seeing that with a new team like Indy and what the synergy model could do for Ottawa
     
  21. blacksun

    blacksun Member+

    Mar 30, 2006
    Seoul, Korea
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Of course they are, haven't you ever heard of the New York Bills?
     
  22. athletics68

    athletics68 Member+

    Dec 12, 2006
    San Diego & San Jose
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Aren't they in the Extreme Curling League?
     
  23. waltlantz

    waltlantz Member

    Jul 6, 2010
    You're not nuts, you're probably closer to a logical outcome than many think.

    This is an interesting comparison, it also makes me recall the relationship between the NHL-AHL-ECHL. NHL-AHL are formally linked through affiliation, NHL and ECHL are informally linked (no hard and fast ties, despite player movement).

    It is FAR too early to call the fate of NASL or it's relationship with MLS.

    Naturally many people recall the fates of old basketball, baseball and hockey leagues where the stronger league absorbs the weaker one. That's happened on a small team by team basis with ORL, MTL, SEA and POR.

    It's the wild wild west out there in US Soccer, but seeing so many clubs up and coming is reassuring. The only question is do they have legs and how far can they go. With such a high proliferation of teams, some naturally would call for pro/rel in the future, but TV contracts, crowded sports marketplace and financial risks preclude that.

    I think that if all three leagues grow to a certain health level, (to the extent that they can all have their own academies and work with youth leagues), it can only be good for the growth of the sport.

    The key is if either a symbiotic relationship will occur or a cannibalistic one. I hope for some sort of formal relationship between the three levels. Immediately what springs to mind is the A-AA-AAA system of baseball. What's more than likely going to occur is some multi headed system that resembles hockey. AHL and ECHL formally and then junior ice hockey along with colleges.

    However, a key thing to remember is this. These days it's all about television, with out MAJOR TV revenues you are doomed to obscurity. If the NASL tries to make a play for a media rights deal, THEN things could get interesting very quickly.

    I think the only realistic thing happening is MLS continuing to rise in the ranks and then somehow through themselves or the federation, create semi formal to formal relationships with NASL and USL Pro teams based on regions.

    Reason being that, with such a wide net of professional teams and development opportunities, you have a better chance of developing the over all talent pool long term IMHO. Not to mention garner improved interest for national MLS squads whom feature players from your own regional team. (Sounds like poison to some, but barring SERIOUS investments in Div II and III to equal MLS, I don't know how else you spread the game AND improve media coverage).

    Also, considering that there is limited space in media circles for coverage of EVERY SPORT, only the largest leagues will earn time and potentially profits through media deals. MLS as it stands now is the only league capable of doing so. IF NASL manages to rival it, we could be in for some real heady times. That won't happen for a WHILE if ever though.
     

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