"Beckham is said to be researching Miami, Orlando, San Antonio and a few other cities." Zero attribution on that, I notice. The soccer press repeats a lot of stuff they hear (or don't, as the case may be).
Some local press on this (not much though): http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Hartman-content-to-stay-put-for-now-4569271.php
And from the SA business journal: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/blog/2013/05/is-soccer-star-beckham-considering-sa.html The sports guy for the bus journal has been pretty positive for a MLS move as has mike Taylor of ticket 760.
This is how things become fact: someone writes something with no attribution, someone else uses that as the basis for a story because stories need to be written to fill space and attract page views, and then someone else will write that there are "multiple reports" that the original, non-attributed report is gospel.
Beckham considering SA may have no basis in truth but if gets people here talking and wanting MLS then I'm all for it.
My question say he brings a team to Miami, and they already have announced the second NY team. Do they bring on a third team?
FIFA Guidelines: 20 teams per division. How far the Don is willing to deviate is how far he's willing to stretch league credibility in the eyes of global soccer. A thought.
1. Link to Bolded part 2. Spain D2 has 22 teams; England D2 has 24 teams. How long are Spain and England willing to stretch their leagues credibility in the eyes of global soccer? A thought
Guys, it's obvious these are going to pan out as directed PR moves. NY? Central Florida? Miami? San Antonio? Seriously, I am surprised they haven't announced an exploratory committee for the new "Carolina Street Eagles expansion franchise" (or "CAR1").
True. http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/...ns-Extend-Beyond-Fifas-20-Team-Guideline.aspx Two more thoughts. 1. MLS is a league for two nations and not just one. 2. Spain has a 20 team league in a nation of about 47 million. MLS represents an area with a population of about 348 million.
Again why do people (not you Mutiny, talking about the article) keep repeating this shit. The guideline is 18 teams and that was never made official as someone else already described on this or a different thread. 4 Top Division Leagues already "violate" the 18 team FIFA "guideline" EPL, LA Liga and Serie A and Brazil Serie A (4 that I know of) and a bunch of Division 2 leagues also "violate" that FIFA "guideline" Liga Adelante and Championship even have over 20 teams (24 and 22). Reagarding your #2 China has a population of 1.3 Billion and they only have 16 (or maybe 18) teams in their top division, not that that matters for what MLS wants to do, even if it was just the USA, I still think they would be looking at 28-32 teams, that is just how we do.
The second of which has a tenth of the population of the first. And which has already brought forth the only three metro areas of any real significance that you would care to have in MLS. How many NFL teams are there in Spain again? How many MLB, NBA and NHL teams are there in Spain, again? And as has been just pointed out, how many teams does China (and India, for that matter) have? How much more popular and meaningful, in orders of magnitude, is league soccer as a spectator sport in Spain than it is in the US? 10x? 8x? 20x? There aren't 30 markets now being served by high-level teams that are capitalized and run well. There aren't likely to be 30. 24? I could see that. I believe there are viable markets and potential owners out there, and San Antonio and Orlando may very well be in that group. But the hallway has narrowed. And it is no longer a Come As You Are party.
I believe the guideline was only to apply to top-flight leagues, as their clubs are (usually) the only ones who participate in continental competitions that add many games to their annual totals. And that was the genesis of the recommendation. You'd have to check, but I would guess a top EPL club will play more actual matches in a calendar year than a Championship club, despite the latter club having eight more league fixtures. I think they would.
Um, I'm not entirely sure we disagree. I was just responding to this idea that MLS will be in big big trouble with big bad FIFA if they go over 20 teams. This idea frequently pops up around here, as you know. As Garber and others mention in the piece I posted, the FIFA guidelines on 20 teams is based more on conern about the number of league games players are asked to play, rather than the number of teams in the league. Now, if you are saying that it may not be wise for MLS to become a 30 to 32 team league. I agree. Soccer is not popular enough in US and Canada to support that many teams now or in the foreseeable future. However, I am quite confident that in the next five to ten years MLS will have more than 20 teams (I'm also quite sure they will not expand to 30 teams in that period of time).
Again is not 20 teams it is 18 teams and it is not a real guideline, it is more of an idea (wishfull thinking by FIFA).
Not Necessarily as the Championship Level clubs also participate in the FA and League Cups (same as the EPL clubs), and then you add in the additional promotion playoff matches, and if they are (un)lucky to make the Europe League there are morte matches there, and in many cases qualifying rounds. Some teams start in late June/July with Europa League Qualifying matches. It's probably not common but some lower division clubs teams do play more matches then the top flight clubs do.
(That's why I said you'd have to check. ) Lower-level clubs probably don't go quite as far in the various cups as the upper-level clubs do, though, do they? It's a lot of games, either way. Meanwhile, MLS clubs are CBA-limited to the number of competitive matches they can play in a calendar year. Or they were, under the old CBA. I've never seen the new CBA, despite it having been in place for a couple of years now.
How can the CBA with MLS limit the number of competitive matches played outside of MLS' league schedule? i.e. CCL, USOC, International Club Friendlies, Postseason Tours, etc.
They don't. They're limited to games more or less under MLS control. Sorry to give the impression otherwise. This was the actual language in the old CBA: Section 17.3 Number of Games: From the beginning of the MLS regular season through December 31, each Team may not play more than forty-eight (48) exhibition (not including scrimmage games for which tickets are not sold), regular season and playoff games, and MLS will not schedule players for four (4) games in any seven-day period unless such schedule is reasonably unavoidable. No MLS Team (not including Reserve Teams) may play a game within thirty-six (36) hours after the end of a prior game unless such schedule is reasonably unavoidable, in which case no Player shall play in both such games. Games for which tickets are sold where players have the opportunity (through guaranteed payments or performance bonuses) to earn at least $500, and U.S Open Cup games and other compulsory tournaments (e.g., any CONCACAF championships) shall not count toward the 48-game limit. For avoidance of doubt, National Team duty (including the senior and youth national teams or Olympic teams of any nation) shall not count toward the 48-game limit. Notwithstanding Section 17.2 above, during the off-season (i.e., the time between a Team’s elimination from MLS competition or victory in the MLS Cup, and the Pre-Season Training Camp Start Date), Players may be required to play in matches or to participate in training as long as such matches and training do not violate the vacation and time-off provisions of Article 13 herein, or the provisions of this Article 17. An MLS team could certainly play up 10-12 more Open Cup, CCL, Canadian Championship or World Club Cup matches. I do not know if, say, the Galaxy's participation in the International Money Grab Cup counts (it's not compulsory, and I don't know if the players have the opportunity to win something for it) or not. And, again, I haven't seen the new CBA, so whether the limit is still 48 or not, I couldn't tell you.
Just as an example, in 2011 the Galaxy played 34 MLS matches 4 MLS playoff matches 6 CONCACAF Champions League matches 2 US Open Cup matches 6 International Exhibitions (one before the season, three after) 52 matches, not all of which counted against the 48 (only 38 should have, maybe some or all of the internationals, depending on any prize money involved).
Well the Galaxy and Possibly the Dynamo played more then or close to 48 matches this past season. And the year Prior RSL I believe played more then 48 matches with their run to the CCL final.