Improving MLS

[monster]

Indulge me in this aside from the World Cup.

Let's say you go to a bar to watch a World Cup match and see Don Garber sitting there with an empty seat next to him. You sit down beside him, but before you can say a word, he asks you what you would do to get the attention of soccer fans in this country to help MLS turn into one of the top soccer leagues in the world and one of the top sports leagues in the U.S.

What do you say?

[odg78]

--I've got a bunch of ideas but no idea how I would pull them off.
--The Beckham exception. But I wouldn't try spending a ton of money on a current superstar for what will probably be only a temporary bump in interest at best. I think it would be better if we could spend that money on a couple of European players who are very good, but not at the star level. I think that would do more for the playing standard than going all out on big names.
--Some type of real academy system where you can get local kids on a path to playing with the 1st team but still allow them to maintain NCAA eligibility.
--Closer links (maybe even financial assistance) to the USL. I think a strong system of lesser leagues would do wonders for soccer in this country.
--Continue to raise the salary cap especially for the guys at the bottom and middle of the scale. Plus something akin to the Larry Bird rule, so teams can re-sign their stars without all of the salary cap voodoo they have to resort to now.
--Somehow making the CONCACAF club championship meaningful. Hopefully, this CONCACAF Champions League is heading in that direction.

[MasterShake29]

I've been thinking about this too interestingly enough.

1. "Hey, Don, remember that youth thing you've been talking about to let teams keep players they develop?" Start that now. Let the teams figure it out.

2. No more playing during international tournaments. If you have to start the season earlier, end later, can the All-Star Game, reduce the playoffs, or reduce the regular season, do it. How do you expect an Englishman or a Mexican (or any other nationality) to support the league when it does something the complete opposite that they're used to? The NHL does it, MLS can too.

3. In conjunction with #2 above, have SUM make sure that any game the U.S. national team plays is on TV in English. Yes, I'm looking at you Gold Cup.

4. Make the games more meaningful. I think a single table makes sense at 16/18 teams, but in the meantime cut the playoffs to 6 and change the first round to a single game. At least that way the seed you get matters much more and might actually be worth playing for.

I think that would be a good start.

[Soccerdude redded]

I would say bring back the shootout because a lot my none MLS soccer friends loved the SO very much. I know Eurosnobs are at the door.
No palyoffs makes the reg games more important.
Why your ears are so goofy?...

[JFPIV]

Do more in conjunction with the NCAA. Plan doubleheaders with an MLS game and a local collegiate game.

[bostonsoccermdl]

Make The Goals Bigger ;)

[ED Fajardo]

Tell the I/O's to start opening their wallets. That's the only way that the league will get better; and the only way that the casual sports fan will begin to take notice of MLS. let's say you've been to one MLS game and are thinking of going to some more, you then watch the World Cup and see the game played at it's best. What will you think of MLS after that? Answer: that MLS stands for Minor league Soccer. It's a shame, but that's what the casual fan will think. And will continue to think that way untill it sees that the soccer lords in this country get serious about improving the caliber of play. And I don't mean bringing over some 50-year-old from Englans, either..

[billf]

I think I would ask that he allow teams to develop talent and retain it if a player decides to turn pro instead of going to college. I think we still need to keep a system in the youth/academy environment that allows players to keep the college option open because more players will have that door open compared to MLS but allowing teams to sign its youth players will encourage them to develop their own players and I think that will be better for the game here long term.

I'd love to see a league that somehow avoided the extreme summer heat and extreme winter cold while conforming to the Fifa calendar but that seems a tough task right now.

[Tea Men Tom]

Make the regular season mean more.

Pursue the Beckham Exception

I would also continue to pursue partnerships with Euro Clubs with an eye towards getting some of their developmental players here during the season and sending more of our guys over there in the MLS 'off-season'

Also focus on bringing more CONCACAF players in (because if you watch the WC qualifiers, the names are becoming increasingly familar and a lot of these guys can play)

Get more Brazilians in the league -- they're exciting and affordable plus they might spur a little more creativity on the part of American players.

Try to speed the game up more -- which making the above changes might very well help accomplish.

[numerista]

Not sure I could really tell Garber anything, but if I got the chance to pick his brain ...

1. How is the league going to form the right hybrid between homegrown expertise and international expertise?

I think it's great that American coaches, refs, etc. have done a lot for themselves, in conjunction with foreigners who've worked their way up the ranks; however, with so much wisdom around the world, it's foolish go it alone. What can we import, and how should we do it?

2. What lessons have been learned about ethnic marketing, and how are they being applied?

This seems like a critical angle, not only for a short-term sponsorships but also in the long term. Down the road, the children of immigrants are potentially some of the league's biggest fans. In my first-hand experience, however, during the Quakes' time in San Jose this battle was being lost.

3. Over the next 15 years, where is world soccer headed, and how can MLS position itself to move towards the lead?

Over the previous 15 years, a couple of trends have been to emphasize fitness and to bring technology (e.g. video analysis) into match preparation. America can do these sort of things well, so can MLS benefit from that? Are there other emerging trends that it can pioneer?

[masoo]

Get rid of the single entity system. Let owners run their own teams, and let them spend as much money as they see fit. And pass a rule preventing anyone from owning more than one team.

All that after putting the Earthquakes back in San Jose, of course ...

[yikchi]

Single Table would be nice but at the very least I would like to see the number of playoff teams reduced to 4 or 6 (top 2 get bye) teams.

I just can't get into the regular season when you know 66% of the teams make the playoff.

[PhilipReed]

Full disclosure: I'm a former semi-hardcore MLS fan who just doesn't care that much about it any more.


--The Beckham exception. But I wouldn't try spending a ton of money on a current superstar for what will probably be only a temporary bump in interest at best. I think it would be better if we could spend that money on a couple of European players who are very good, but not at the star level. I think that would do more for the playing standard than going all out on big names.

My view on this may be counterintuitive, but IMO a league is much better off getting up-and-coming young players who will be stars than has-beens with name recognition. Just think if Tevez or Messi had played in MLS as a promising U-20. That would both do wonders for the actual level of play on the field and for interest in the league as people catch on.

Then MLS needs to devise a system that provides better incentive for clubs to develop talent and sell it. Maybe this has happened while I wasn't paying attention. What happens to the Beasley types who get sold overseas? Last I heard, MLS would just kinda pull an allocation out of thin air or something artificial, not real financial compensation.

Single entity is good for some things -- keeping one or two rich teams (*cough*Cosmos*cough*) from running the league out of business. But not when it comes to discovering young talent.

[PhilipReed]

Another quick, unfocused thought. At risk of stating the obvious, there's nothing inherent about "New England" or "New Jersey" that stirs my passion like international matches. When I follow teams with artificial names like "New England Patriots", it's only because my neighbors do too. Brainstorming here... .state-of-origin matches? Encourage teams to draft more local talent? What else would strengthen the bond between something arbitrary like "New England" and some entity I feel a connection to?
I've always thought MLS should go to great pains to play games in hinterland cities like Birmingham, Philadelphia, Saint Louis, Portland, or Las Vegas. This is less important as the league expands, but still important.
I agree with the paring down the playoffs. Just because established US pro leagues get people to pay money for meaningless games doesn't mean MLS can do it. Do ticket sales or ratings increase for the playoffs anyway?
Grass roots is always the key to building anything for the long-term.... keep evangelizing the youth teams. Fan clubs should try harder to bridge this gap by creating family friendly "youth brigades" where the kids can yell and sing, but not be around the beer and swearing. No reason why youth team === sit on one's hands. Anyone ever heard of kids who like to make noise? Get those youth teams singing and yelling! Do outreach to the parents/coaches so they don't think you're going to turn their young one into a hooligan. (Again, maybe this has improved since I stopped following MLS intently and I'm just not aware of it. But when I went to games it seemed that the supporters clubs always had contempt for the youth teams, rather than embracing it as an opportunity to convey their passion.)

[PhilipReed]

2. What lessons have been learned about ethnic marketing, and how are they being applied?


At risk of beating a dead horse.... How awesome would it be to have MLS teams in the Libertadores? I once scared off a Brasilian friend (flaminguista) by taking him to a Revolution - Palmeiras friendly, and he certainly wasn't fooled by the level of intensity. But what if our teams played real matches against South American clubs? What if MLS sides got good enough to beat Cerro Porteño or Junior Barranquilla (much less the occasional upset over Boca or SPFC)?

I've said way too much about CONMEBOL stuff on other threads so I'll leave it there.

[bigredfutbol]

Make sure that owners and investors are willing to give the fans latitude to continue developing a grass-roots, authentic fan culture. It worked for NASCAR.

[PhilipReed]

I'm sorry this thread has died down; I think it's a very productive one.

[NoFliesOnFrank]

4. Make the games more meaningful. I think a single table makes sense at 16/18 teams, but in the meantime cut the playoffs to 6 and change the first round to a single game. At least that way the seed you get matters much more and might actually be worth playing for.
I think that would be a good start.
Great point. I think this would ebe the best thing for mls. It would be so out of the ordinary for the us sports culture. A single table? None of our sports have had that since the late sixties. One of the reasons that soccer has developed into a strong niche sport in this country is that it is so out of the ordinary to our sporting culture, just on a game-to-game basis. The low scoring, the lack of commercial breaks, all the different terms, help sell the sport to that "niche" crowd. Than when you discover how they do things in europe, well I for one was enthralled. It's so different, so exciting. It makes MLS look like a giant borefest. It's bad hockey on grass. I think it would be smart for mls if they try to lengthen the differences. Why do you think that channels like FSC and Goltv have become so popular? From showing international games.

I would say bring back the shootout because a lot my none MLS soccer friends loved the SO very much. I know Eurosnobs are at the door.
No palyoffs makes the reg games more important.
Why your ears are so goofy?...


Rediculous! No one else plays like that. That's not how the sport works in a league setting. I worry when people make suggestions like that.