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The Athletic reports USL may move MLS reserve teams to League One starting in 2021. I think that's a good idea though a bit harsh on the Red Bulls.
I think that's a good idea though a bit harsh on the Red Bulls.[/QUOTE] It sounds like a good plan. I think though it would be better if the MLS 2 squads were playing in different areas or venues away from the parent club. Maybe not too far but say, 30, 50 or even 100 miles away from where the home club plays. I just don't think there are enough fans to support a B team in the same MLS town. Just my opinion....
I don't like the idea at all. MLS II teams are there to force kids to play at a higher level. FCD is showing that a good academy team can dominate USL League One at this point. Seattle, Philly, NY, Portland, etc would rather test their kids at a better level than that in order to make them more MLS ready. This isn't Europe where there is likely a fairly local team a division or two below that has a fully set-up training system. You move the II teams down to D3 and where do the better academy kids play? You send a 16 or 17 year old several hundred miles away to a team that doesn't have a dedicated practice facility? Now could you do something like limit the number of slots in each conference in the Championship available to MLS II sides? Sure. Say there are only 4 available per conference and the bottom II team goes down to D3 and the top II team from D3 moves up. But moving everyone down to where it is basically going to be a II team dominated league (results wise) with a couple other teams? No thanks.
Ibrahimovic had an incredible game last night. I must say when I heard him put down the league this week saying he was the Ferrari among a bunch of Fiats, I didn’t (and still don’t to a point) really appreciate his comments. I thought he reinforced my continuing belief that signing these overhyped, overpriced superstars in MLS is such a waste. Coming from a european perspective , I can understand his views on the salary caps and the lack of pro/rel. Either way, regardless of his age or what he think about the league , he is still in my opinion among the best forwards in the world. It’s too bad he didn’t come 5-10 years ago.
Part of the problem of moving MLS2 team's so far away is the academy is usually connected to the team and having players travel so far on game day isn't cost effective. Also some teams upgraded stadiums to meet requirements for D2. Next year though, USL Championship is negotiating their first CBA with a newly formed players union. How do they justify players from the academy not making union wages?
Yeah but if that is only obstacle, they can still train at the parent facility and play games at a different venue. I don't see how driving 30-100 miles away on game days should be that big of a deal for players. The college teams do it all the time by bus charter on the weekends. If they can do it, I'm sure professional clubs can as well.
RB have just opened a stadium in Montclair (12 miles) and Seattle 2 are now Tacoma (33 miles). Union play in Bethlehem (76 miles). Average attendances are 736, 2,202 and 539 respectively. Draw what conclusions you will.
Depending on the venue and if they got the local soccer community involved or marketed the team correctly, they could still potentially draw a lot more fans than 777 that go to LA Galaxy II games or 736 going to see the New York Red Bulls II. I don't see how either number is good or a positive for the club or the league. If anything, they are probably losing more money by fielding a team an MLS 2 team. New York Red Bulls II won a championship in 2016 and I don't think many people cared or even noticed.
Interesting. If you get the attendance-to-miles ratio of each team and multiply that by its reciprocal, you'll get an answer of 1... in all three cases! Coincidence?!?
RB2 are no doubt costing money on a match to match basis but they've produced players like Matt Miazga, Tyler Adams and Aaron Long.
Does the visitor get a portion of the gate at USL-C matches or a guarnteed minimum? If so, then the independent teams trying to draw 10K for their home matches have a complaint when an MLS team's reserve side only draws 1K. But if the home team keeps the whole gate, then isn't it a matter of the MLS team's willingness to absorb losses? Crew don't have a USL affiliate this year. The obvious place to put one would be Cleveland but someone unconnected to Haslam owns the USL rights there. The current thinking is the USL team would train during the week in Columbus then bus to Cleveland for the home matches (and probably other times too for marketing purposes). But that's probably 2 years away.
I get you, it´s ideal the way it is for MLS teams, but it is clearly not optimal for USL itself having Lousville playing at a full 11k SSS one week and playing in front of 20 people in Tacoma the week after.
USL is the reason why several teams invested in more robust stadium design and building than they otherwise need, because the league requires it to play in the Championship division. I hope they're ready to compensate teams if they bounce them down. (I know they aren't.)
The MLS II teams are some of the best funded teams in USL. As for attendance, who cares? Jong Ajax played in front of 695 people last year. Would people want a player playing for them or SC Telstar's 2116? No, they know that Ajax trains players better. People lost their mind when Keaton Parks was playing in front of 600 people in the second division in Portugal. Hell, many first divisions in Europe have teams that play in front of crowds less than what MLS II teams draw (go look at Bulgaria, you'll be surprised how poor they draw). People need to stop thinking that England/Germany = Europe (though go look at what German II teams draw and you'll see that MLS II teams are fairly ok).
I don't think this is going to happen without the agreement of the MLS teams. I suppose they could move to the hybrid model like San Jose/Reno and Houston/RGV.
The Union do not play in Bethlehem as the stadium they were using didn't have lights and USLC forced them to move. This year they are playing at Chester searching for a venue in the Leigh Valley area but with no success so far. Can't imagine them returning of they are pushed down a level.
Thing is, all the teams that have dropped to League One are playing at the same level they were 3 years ago.
This approach would make more sense to me. With an independent business side of any particular franchise, you still have the opportunity (in theory) to do the things that make the league look good, such as investing in a quality stadium, solid marketing to boost attendance, sponsorships, etc. However, if some MLS-2 teams can compete at the D2 level on the field, they should be allowed to do so. Unfortunately Reno and RGV seem to be on a downward trend but could still be sustainable. Tacoma is hard to predict until they get their own stadium. (I also seem to recall reading somewhere that Tacoma's ownership wants to remain at D2.) Additionally, one has to consider regional gaps for both leagues. Tacoma and T2 in particular have nothing to gain with moving down to D3, unless and until a couple of independent D3 teams pop up in the Northwest, if then.
Yeah but I’m sure if they were good enough, those guys could have been groomed or discovered playing 50 or 100 miles away as well. I doubt they became good just because they are playing on the RB home grounds.
I suggested this a long time ago (that all MLS reserve teams be 3rd division) and got a lot of heat on BS. I think if they are purely an MLS II team they should be in D3. If they are an affiliate team, I think them being in D2 is fine.
I can't judge because I have never really seen either league since they have split up but I'm assuming in the US/Canadian based leagues , especially without promotion or relegation, I don't think there is too much difference in quality between D2 or D3. The players may be a little younger in D3 but the level can't be that much different, could it?
The only actual evidence in the U.S. we have is from this year's U.S. Open Cup. The USL-1 (3rd division) teams went 3-1 against the amateur division teams and then 1-4 against USL-C (2nd division) teams over two rounds. No USL-1 teams advanced far enough to face a MLS opponent. USL-C teams went 4-12 against MLS teams for the tournament. However, all but one of the USL-1 teams that were eligible to enter the U.S. Open Cup were all first year teams. We'll see next year. AND none of the MLS-2 teams in either league were allowed to enter so we are not getting a complete sample. Canada is tricky. Technically the new CPL teams are first division in Canada while Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver are playing in the U.S. second and first divisions. We'll see this week how things go with the 2nd legs of current series being played but so far CPL teams have two draws and a loss against teams in those foreign divisions.