Read this article today over lunch. From that article, these stood out. The Campeones Cup between the champions of both leagues, in theory, would subsequently grow in importance as the rivalries develop between the teams and leagues, becoming a World Series of sorts for North American soccer. The TV audience for the most recent edition between Atlanta United and Club America reached 1.5 million -- three times bigger than the recent "El Trafico" between LAFC and LA Galaxy. But while the idea of combined league play and even a united league is still a ways away, the focus right now is on developing, expanding and improving Leagues Cup to "test the waters," according to one source close to the negotiations. Next year, eight teams from each league will qualify for the competition and there is a belief that MLS clubs will, given time to prepare and knowing about the tournament before the preseason, be more willing to field their first XIs. and this The North American market is complicated by the "big four" sports leagues in the United States: NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL. But changing demographics and habits in the United States see soccer as tied for the second-most popular sport to watch for 18-to-34-year-olds, according to a 2018 Gallup poll. "As MLS is growing to 30 clubs and Liga MX is still the most-watched league in the United States, there's a lot of potential there for a massive audience in 5-10 years' time if [Liga MX and MLS] can capitalize on the momentum of the 2026 World Cup," said Scott Minto, director of the Sports MBA program at San Diego State University. For MLS owners, the fact that Liga MX has the highest TV ratings in the United States is of huge appeal. A total of 4.8 million in the United States watched the Liga MX 2018 Clausura final between America and Cruz Azul. More people in the United States tune in to watch Liga MX each weekend than the Premier League, and while MLS has made gains, it's yet to meaningfully close the gap on either of the aforementioned leagues.
What makes me always come back to the goofy merger in my head is this: how can they grow the TV audience without a gimmick or a black swan event, and how can they have a growth strategy without TV?
2019 Leagues Cup Home team first. Times are ET. Final Wednesday, September 18 Cruz Azul 2-1 Tigres UANL @ Las Vegas, NV Cruz Azul wins the inaugural Leagues Cup. The 2020 tournament will reportedly have a total of 16 teams; 8 Liga MX and 8 MLS.
Will the plan to schedule around this convince MLS to try? If not, will it be 8 Mexican teams in the quarterfinals?
IMO this tournament is DOA. I found it funny the commentators last night were talking about MLS teams fielding their B teams???? Try C or D teams, especially LAG.
They have said its coming back. Doesn't mean it will. Most leagues and tournaments plan ahead and plan to do it again the next year. NASL was planning another season too But yes I think they will at least do it again next year. My comment was a bit misleading. I don't think this tournament will last long term. Not sure I have an exact number of years I predict it will last. I would say somewhere around 5 years maybe.
Based on how not seriously MLS teams took it. We'll see if that changes next year. I also think it is a bit early to be calling it a hit financially. Do you know how much advertising was sold, how much ESPN paid, how much tickets were? This just a reboot of superliga and we see where that went. I think history will repeat itself. I have been wrong many times. So I'm could definitely be wrong, but calling this a hit is extremely premature. There is way more to a successful tournament than getting an average of 17k a game for 7 games.
Hey that would make it more successful than the Original Superliga, and the Pacific championship (I kind of wish we still had that tournament).
If they schedule around it (which will be easier to do as participants will be known well in advance) I’ll watch it. I think it will make a compelling competition.
"barely 20 years old" because all other attempts at national football leagues failed. You're not gonna get sympathy for that. It's no one else's fault but their own. It's like if a student wanted slack because he's only been in school a few days because he overslept all other days. It's his own fault he's behind. Mexico also has many pastimes and distractions that reduce football's popularity. So what. Do you want us to feel sorry for you guys. I don't think you'll get that, even from your own fans and players. It is a fair point. The u.s. has a huge resource and population advantage. To call comparisons between both leagues "unfair", is disingenuous. That probably won't happen. LMX has a stable, far reaching footprint and unwavering support. LMX will probably always be better than your league. Congrats to the Cementers on winning this friendly tourney. Hopefully discussion on this never devolves again, with same unproven points being brought up again as they have been in this forum for years now.
What's your point? That Liga MX is better than MLS? It is. Does that boost your ego or does it make you feel more manly because you follow Liga MX? I just don't get the point every single time of guys coming over to MLS forum just watching over to make sure no one says anything bad about their league because it is like an offense to them. Even mods from here also contribute to help "visitors". Just wondering but does anyone from here go over to the MX forums and do the same? Here let me help you......MLS SUCKS all hail the great gloriosa Liga MX. MLS is no good they should just shut it down and stick to football or basketball or whatever else, everyone should just follow Liga MX because it is so much better....... does it feel better now?
I don't know if you're on here thinking you're defending MLS or something, but you're definitely making us look worse so ah... please stop.
Er, right. But what relevance is that to the discussion? Every nation has alternative pastimes, but beyond the US/Canada I don't think any other nation has four sports that traditionally dominate the sporting landscape and that also act as a magnet to the best players in the world in those sports. You are the one on here crowing that LMX is better than MLS, all I've done is give you the very good reasons for that. Go and behave like this on a Brazilian football site and see how far you get. Let's face it, that is a far better barometer of LMX success - similar populations and two football loving nations. But of course Brazilian football is actually GOOD, whereas Mexican football is a laughing stock outside North America. This is conjecture and is based on absolutely nothing. Given the notable difference in wealth and populations of the two countries, there is no reason why MLS shouldn't carve out it's place in the sporting landscape. It is all about turning LMX/EPL viewers into MLS viewers. At that point, it's a major sporting player and that day could well be not far away. Oh and just so that you know, "my league" is not MLS. I follow this site and have done for 2 decades because I find the development of MLS quite interesting from afar. I'm English, my leagues are the English Premier League and the English Football League - both the EPL and Championship absolutely crap all over the LMX (a league that doesn't produce or pay world class players or win anything of note) using every conceivable measure, but you won't find me trolling Mexican football sites to remind you of this glaring fact.
If you are asking if there are MLS posters that also contribute to BSMX discussions, then yes. Except that this thread is to discuss the annual tournament formed by these two leagues, with a long-term merger in mind. How they compare with each other is pretty germane to the conversation, whereas English leagues are not.