2019 Other Teams Thread

Gotta get SUM of that pie. Yum yum.

 

I really hope in the long run that this doesn't turn out to be a shell game. I will admit that I am influenced by having lived through the rise and fall of the NASL.

 

I suppose it depends on how the World Cup goes in 2026. I have to wonder how big of a hit SUM took when the USMNT crapped out in qualifying for 2018. Add in the fact that all these expansion teams are slicing the SUM pie finer and finer, and I have to wonder about that too.

I would say that it seems like the people investing in MLS teams these days seem to be better positioned than NASL owners of the 1970s and 1980s were, better able to absorb short term negative revenue with an eye toward long term growth.

 

IIRC, City paid $100 million for the whole thing in 2013. And Lindner paid $150 a couple years ago.

Now apparently $500 million is a base value. Makes Fratboi look like a genius, doesnt it?

All of this for an investment in a league which has never made money.

 

On the one hand, it looks like he's going to get a great return on his investment when he sells. On the other, it looks like he'll probably have to sell out sooner or later, because I don't imagine him having the means to run with the big dogs joining the league now, and I don't see investors who do have the means buying in to Austin and letting him continue to run the show.

 

But...but...what about his kids?? It's supposed to be their birthright...

 

Ask Esau...

 

2020 conferences are set.@NashvilleSC ➡️ WEST@InterMiamiCF ➡️ EAST

📝 https://t.co/hNs93vzXBw pic.twitter.com/qR3mnifrUK

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) December 2, 2019

Miami = East (duh); Nashville = West. Most likely to the East once Austin/St. Louis/Sacramento join. Unfortunately that means only one match vs Nashville in 2020. 50/50 shot it's in Nashville for a fun road trip.

EDIT: There's actually a chance we won't play Nashville at all. Season remains at 34 games meaning we play all east teams twice for 24 games leaving only 10 games left for the 13 west teams.

 

If we, Cincinnati, Atlanta, and maybe Chicago don't play Nashville (either home or away) that is a huge scheduling fail. Give them a game with every team within an 8-hour drive.

 

Atlanta is definitely playing them as that's the already announced opening game for both of them. I'm guessing we'll get a Miami-Nashville matchup as they are expansion buddies. We'll see how the rest of the schedule breaks down once it drops, around the first of the year.

If I were MLS, I'd agree with your take and maybe tip the scales to not have Nashville play Toronto, Montreal and New England maybe. It's not like it would be a massive unbalanced schedule, it's going to change once again next year.

 

So we're playing the seemingly better Miami team twice, and potentially the lesser Nashville team maybe 0 times? (Though obviously there are no guarantees about how good any given team will be when you play them. The Crew themselves were almost two separate teams this past season.)

Would now be a good time to say I hope LAFC is one of the 3 western teams we skip next year?

It'll be interesting to see if they try to keep that same format after adding Austin, St Louis, and Sacramento too. A 34-game schedule with two 15-team conferences would mean we only play 6 western teams per year, 3 home and 3 away. That means we'd have a road trip to St Louis only once every five years. Which is ridiculous. (Even more ridiculous if Chicago and St Louis play each other that infrequently.)

Therefore, bring back the Central Conference!

 

Of course, if we're talking about scheduling Austin....

 

Nashville is not west of Chicago.

 

It's not even west of East Chicago.

This kinda like how Westerville Central High School is located 2 miles due north (on the same road) of Westerville North High School.

 

They should bag the whole east-west thing anyway. Go with Rothenberg Conference and Hunt Conference.

But only because Blazer Conference would seem in bad taste.

Look at how well Leaders and Legends worked out for the B1G.

 

as a graduate of westerville south aka the correctly named one, i always laugh at that.

mls conference system is stupid. mls is stupid.

 

Once the league hits 32 or 36 teams (not a plan I agree with but you know they’re headed there), I would be completely fine with no inter-conference games until playoffs.

I’m prepared to be booed over this... .

 

I'm pretty sure USL Championship had 36 teams this year and the eastern teams never played the western teams until the final, if I remember correctly. As an Indy Eleven fan, I followed what happened elsewhere in the east, but had zero interest in the west. In my opinion, eliminating games between the conferences would lead to disinterest amongst too many fans; and I don't think MLS has enough casual fans to absorb that drop off.

 

Well, okay, but that would mean MLS blowing up its single entity structure, right? Plus, FIFA would have to grant approval. Scheduling would need to become aligned.

I mean, yeah, maybe someday, but it doesn't seem like it's in the remotely foreseeable future. Seems clear there will be continued attempts at creating non-league connections between the two leagues. But a super league? Maybe, but I doubt it.

 

I appreciate your point of view, especially considering I don’t have a USL team that I follow. That said...

I’m don’t think you can equate USL with MLS, considering the vast difference in media exposure, spending and TV contracts.

I question the existence of a mass number of “casual fans” in the way you are framing it. National TV numbers are garbage across the board. Generally, interest in the league is hyper local. You might lose a few folks because (insert past-his-prime European star here) is not coming into town, but for the teams that are successful in the stands and in the bank right now, it doesn’t seem to make a difference who the hell they are playing.

 

The sky is now officially falling.

 

It is what made the World Series fun back in the day.

 

I can't imagine FIFA would back this. There's been talk of a UEFA super league for over two decades that has never materialized.