http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/19/sports/soccer/19sportsbrief.ready.html After a very successful 1st year in attendance, '04 was a major disappointment so this isn't too surprising.
I have a vision of Don Garber doing something relating to CW's grave. It might be tapdancing, or it might be something more biological.
"You see people, the Eurosnobs were right - if you put high quality soccer out there, the masses will come watch it. Course, you will go broke doing it but that's besides the point." Funny stuff. That flame which burns brightest, burns briefest.
That's the gamble. Is there a market? How much of it is just a curiosity factor? I guess we found out.
You guys are too much. I'm always interested in seeing real teams live. Teams which sign their own players, develop their players, have some kind of history, don't have salary caps, and are actually real teams. Sorry MLS, the reserves from any of the ChampionsWorld teams would have crushed any MLS "team". It would be awful if they didn't have games next summer, the 40-60k that attended would have nowhere else to go, except to join 250-person MLS crowds and watch our brand of WWF inspired "soccer".
Here's somebody who obviously didn't attend manU-Bayern last summer. I didn't get my money back but this'll do.
I did see that on TV, that was pretty bad. Especially since I saw a great Man United team live against Juve the year before. Do you guys just not want European teams to come here? Or do you think ChampionsWorld was charging too much and stifling competition from other groups?
I saw that one on TV and it was awful, but I attended the Celtic-Roma game in Toronto. It played to a packed Skydome, and the atmosphere couldn't have been better. Most of the major stars played, and Totti was simply masterful. My feeling is that there's a market out there for ChampionsWorld or a similar program. They just have to figure out what it is and where it is. You know a game between Chivas and Barcelona in Dallas would sell out.
If MLS teams were smart, they'd schedule a one-off exhibition game, think D.C. United vs. Chelsea, or MetroStars vs. Barcelona.
Don't get me wrong. I'm just bitter. Plain and simple. They ripped off everybody who attended that game. I love that European Teams come over here. Hopefully someone smarter will fill the void. But I'm an MLS fan so if they don't come I still have plenty to keep me busy.
Just check www.bugmenot.com Charlie just bit off way more than he could chew, which for Metro fans is not even close to a surprise. If he sticks to 2 or 3 games in the biggest North American markets with the 3-4 biggest teams, specializing the games to fit the local foreigner populations, he'd make a modest profit each year. But Charlie has never been about being modest.
Right, but for most of us, there's no MLS team in our towns and no team with a chance for promotion, since that doesn't exist in the MLS. I'd personally find it crazy if someone in a non-MLS city spent time watching that league, with so many better leagues available on TV. I'm actually very American, but MLS hasn't bothered to try to reach me, so I really just want to see European teams live.
I don't remember any promises other than to see the teams play. Even during the Euorpean season, there are many games that are just boring. But many fans loved the chance to see these guys in person, and thats what you got. Even though the game wasnt great, I enjoyed seeing 2 incredible clubs that I may never see again.
Well, MLS has tried to reach fans in more markets, but without investors, it's not going to happen. I, too, chuckled at this news. The CW tours were gimmicks. Yeah, there's a market for gimmicks, but it's evidently not as big as Stillitano and that idiot Georgio Chinaglia thought it was. Frankly, the reason why so many of us hate(ed) CW is because they cut out MLS. If Bayern Munich, etc came here and played a few matches against MLS competition. I think our attitudes would be different. But that's not what happened. Finally, when you say that these clubs' reserve sides would crush an MLS "team" you're familiar, right, with MLS' record against visiting European sides? It's not too shabby. Sure, they were "meaningless exhibitions" but, then again, so were the CW matches. Which was part of the problem, if you ask me.
I'm not sure they "cut out" MLS. I'm not sure all MLS teams wanted to play international friendlies during their season. The lack of depth is a huge concern and then there is the Franchino-Leonard rules to be condsidered. Maybe in a couple of years when we have a much deeper rosters we can see MLS v Euro stars games, but probably not for a couple of years. I can only imagine Barcelona v Revolution..."Franchino goes for a tackle, and Ronaldinho's legs are broken...oh my, the horror. The blood, the money"
I used to get angry at comments like this. Now I just realize that people are missing out. People that enjoy soccer, that love to watch good games and that wish they could see "good" soccer live, who have no concept of the fact that they can go to an MLS game and see quality soccer. I have several friends from Europe: Bulgarian, English, French, and Spanish, and they often poo-pooed going to MLS games. Over time, though, as I convinced them to go to a game here or there, they've come to enjoy it. And all of them, while still agreeing that European soccer is better (which it is at the highest level), prefer to go to a game, see it live and learn about players that they see, meet, and talk to and teams they have a physical connection to. You can either choose to live your soccer life dreaming of the past or that future expensive trip to Wembley, rooting for a national team that you have no cultural connection to, wishing you could go to the Nou Camp, San Siro or Stamford Bridge every Saturday, and following religiously on a TV and the Internet. Or you can take advantage of seeing the game live, investing your life in the community in which you live, and the culture which you take part in. Anyone who chooses the first path is sorely missing out, no matter the perceived difference in talent between here and there.