Why shouldn't MLS teams just expand to 45-50ish? One reason why MLS is struggling to develop talent is because many young players aren't getting the playing time they need, but another problem is that there just aren't enough young players on each team. It's very difficult to tell which prospects will develop and which won't, so it's good to maximize your chances that some will develop by having a lot of them. If the extra players are all U-25 players making $33,750 per year (similar to how roster spots 25-30 are now), then the total cost of expanding the roster from 30 to 45 would only be around $500K per team per year. It seems like that would be a much smarter investment than spending 3 times that much money on Chris Boyd or 9 times that much on Rafael Marquez.
$500K is actually not a small number by MLS standards, especially when there's still teams in the red. Even the original clubs's that are maybe making some profit today, but are still trying to recoup the millions of dollars they lost over the years. Look at how fickle the owners were in barely raising the cap in the last CBA.
Easier said than done. Toronto tried to develop players and lost for years....where have their fans (and money) gone?
A lot of idiotic moves made by management. I personally think that they shouldn't have let go of Prekki. If you can't get enough playing time for a kid then loan him out. Don't just waive the player and lose all the money you've invested.
If it results in some descent players developing, then it would probably be cheaper than importing foreign players. Besides, the reserve team could also generate some revenue that would offset the cost. In a market like Portland where people actually watch reserve games, the tickets sold to attend the reserve team games would likely produce more revenue than the player's salaries would cost.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/soccer-insider/wp/2012/11/28/wednesday-kickaround-3/ *The second-tier North American Soccer League hired a new commissioner: Bill Peterson, a former AEG executive and NFL Europe president. Sound familiar? MLS boss Don Garber‘s portfolio also includes the NFL’s overseas operation. Peterson and Garber have worked together, a relationship that perhaps will lead to a stronger bond between MLS and NASL in terms of loaning young players.
Too simplistic for me. Toronto blows not because they are beginning to develop the infrastructure to develop players. The have made numerous poor player personnel decisions over the years weakening a squad with virtually every decision. Yes starting a few HGs before they are ready is one reason but falls somewhere way down the list of those decisions.
If TFC had brought in a president like Payne 2-3 years ago and didn't go out and bring in Rud Gullit v. 2.0, they would likely be in a much different position today.
I wonder if we can read anything into this? Nike takes over sponsorship of soccer league it once owned
http://nasn.tv/2012/mls-working-with-usl-pro-on-reserve-league-integration/ Confused with the if there's already a local USL team, the MLS team would send just 5 players to that club. But if there is no local USL team, then the reserve team becomes fully integrated into the league. Although this is likely a bridge year and it may take another year or two before we see the full plan laid out.
LoveIt. Finally, the start of the pyramid. Recognizes the fact many good young players need games for a long season. Let's young players get more than 10 games, emphasizing proximity to the MLS team and allowing partnership, information, coaching, and players to flow up and down the ladder to team mothership and team fueling station, real teams, real fans, building local allegiances, helping in the regional marketing of MLS team brands, merchandise, team sponsorships. The branding for MLs clubs take more of a regional approach while allowing USl-Pro to still have a historical brand and team for those who have funded and stuck through some rough times. Now I want to see how the match up franchisees to MLS teams and how that gets run. Devils' in the details.
I wonder if this means Roster expansions, say to 35 players for those teams with out a USL team near by. BTW what MLS team has a USL team near by? Galaxy and Chivas are the only 2 I can think of (Maybe Philadelphia).
I was trying to do the matching thing up too. Orlando City 57 24 17 1 6 50 18 8 0 4 27 8 9 1 2 23 10-New Team 02. Rochester Rhinos 41 24 12 7 5 27 23 6 4 2 14 11 6 3 3 13 12-NE Revs Area DA team already affiliated with Revs. Theoretically 14 yr old could start w/Empire Revs DA-Rhinos USL-then NE Rev 03. Charleston Battery 38 24 12 10 2 36 26 6 4 2 19 11 6 6 0 17 15-? 04. Richmond Kickers 38 24 11 8 5 31 27 8 3 1 21 13 3 5 4 10 14-DC United 05. Wilmington Hammerheads 37 24 10 7 7 34 32 8 1 3 19 7 2 6 4 15 25-? 06. Harrisburg City Islanders 37 24 10 7 7 34 29 5 3 4 17 11 5 4 3 17 18-Union 07. Charlotte Eagles 36 24 11 10 3 34 26 6 5 1 17 13 5 5 2 17 13-? 08. Los Angeles Blues 30 24 9 12 3 26 29 4 6 2 10 16 5 6 1 16 13-LA Galaxy 09. Dayton Dutch Lions 22 24 4 10 10 20 29 4 3 5 18 13 0 7 5 2 16-Columbus or Chicago 10. Pittsburgh Riverhounds 17 24 4 15 5 20 39 3 6 3 14 21 1 9 2 6 18-Columbus 11. Antigua Barracuda FC
I guess depends on the definition of nearby, but Philly and Harrisburg Columbus has Dayton and Pittsburgh Phoenix joins this year and could make a partner with RSL since they have their Academy not far away. Toronto and Rochester Richmond and DC Sacramento joins USL in 2014 I think this will also mean we see a lot more interest from prospective owners/cities in USL since there will be more controlled costs on their end.
DC United- Richmond Columbus- Dayton Philadelphia- Harrisburg Toronto - Rochester San Jose - Sacramento LA/Chivas- Blues RSL- Phoenix
I beg all of you please do not partner Rochester with Toronto, for obvious reasons. To facilitate the pyramid structure we need to be partnered with Revs. Empire United affiliated with NE Revs becoming Empire Revolution. They cover Buffalo Rochester and Syracuse with a few players from outlying areas covering essentially all of Western and Central New York. Despite being about 2-3 hours further an important role of this announcement and the DA/USL alliance is to assist the American development structure, nothing is accomplished if a DA team is affiliated with Revs and the same geographic area USL team is associated with another team not in the US. To start this pyramid I can not express enough! that these alliances also need to be done with knowledge and understanding of allowing the DA team to also be associated to the local USL team and not another team. Eastern NY is close enough to drive to NE so all of upstate NY through NE should be geographically associated to New England to further help this structure and due to population NYC can keep local NYC metro through NJ. As I mentioned the devil's in the details and his detail is extremely important and shouldn't be done by a chimp with a finger and a map and more nuanced understanding of the ultimate goals and future evolution of this burgeoning pyramid ladder to help local players up through the ranks.
i mean it'll probably be up to rochester and whoever negotiates with them to be their affiliate. So let's hope it's new england that partners up with them
Would be nice to see NE affiliate with every club in the Northeast Division of the USSDA, similar to what Philly has done, but still have the MLS Revs playing in the DA. I envision a setup somewhat similar to Germany (sans pro/rel). MLS is Div. 1, NASL is Div. 2, then USLPro becomes similar to the Regionalliga.