United States, Canada, Mexico could form combined league after 2026 World Cup - Liga MX chief

pass

 

The US/Canada geographic area and population is already huge. I don't see how or why you add Mexico.

 

Really?

This is why!

 

I firmly doubt that this will happen, but if it does, I'm permanently out on American soccer.

 

Pass

But if you wanted pro/rel in the U.S. (I don't), this is how you get pro/rel in the U.S. You would finally have an argument that there are more top-level teams than there are spots, which is how pro/rel originally started.

 

I wonder if when he says "league or cup", he means "league" in the same way the CCL is a "league". A reboot of the SuperLiga, or something similar. That seems much more likely than actually combining MLS and Liga MX.

 

I'm thinking the most likely would be a combined playoff /championship.

 

More likely a subverting of the CCL. LigaMX and MLS execs see that there is an appetite for more MLS vs. LigaMX games. The CCL in its' current format is very abbreviated. An MLS-LigaMX SuperLiga held in the Summer-Fall months each year could be a potential cash cow for both leagues and federations.

 

It could work... but I'd rather them go all-in with full integration than a half measure like playoffs or cup game only... and I really don't want to see a manufactured tournament. (particularly one that only occurs on US soil)

 

The return of the SuperLiga!

 

I have a name for this new proposed North American league...North American Soccer League

 

I think the appetite for intra league games is way overstated. In Mexico it is probably non existant, in US it is overstated.

I can see why LMX owners would be interested, they have this huge diaspora here and no way to get them meaningful games to watch in person. Everybody's all friendlied out.

This would be a huge mistake for MLS. It doesnt need Mexico for growth. We already compete for the same imported players, so theres no avenue toward improving the level of play by this move. It does nothing to grow the interest of it's own franchises. Nobody in Mexico is going to take up supporting/following an MLS team. With separate leagues, there is at least a possibility the mexican diaspora living in US would entertain supporting a team in each league. With a unified league, you draw a line in the sand with that.

 

Interesting if true....

 

I am not sure this is true. Don't the US club vs Mexico club games do better on Spanish language TV? I would guess many of those watching are Mexican.

I am not saying I am in favor of this idea however.

 

Right. I see this completely as a SuperLiga reboot, or possibly a merger of Liguilla and the MLS Cup Playoffs.

MLS and LigaMX have been circling each other for nearly 20 years. The main problem is how to get something going that excludes the rest of CONCACAF - especially the CFU.

Tying it to the World Cup 2026 (and always mentioning Canada) is a shrewd move, possibly giving them the political cover needed to pull something off.

 

I don't see it as a unified league in as much as a way to give most clubs in both leagues regular international experience.

The more radical idea is to merge the league championships. Each domestic league would continue to have its own seasons and league winners, but the possibility of doing away with Liguilla and the MLS Cup playoffs and replacing it with a larger merged tournament, possibly even with a group stage, would potentially create a very valuable property indeed.

 

Why am I having Oliver Tse flashbacks?

 

In that case, if we wanted balanced numbers of teams in the Northern and Southern Conferences, we could send the Texas and California teams to play in the Southern Conference with Liga MX teams. There is historical precedent for California and Texas to be with Mexico after all.

 

I'm still waiting for Necaxa to moved to Los Angeles.

 

RSL as well...Utah was part of Mexico in 1847...

 

Better than what? LMX domestic games? I doubt it. Better than MLS domestic games on Univision? Not sure, possible maybe, but if so, not higher than regular LMX games. And to what extent is that viewership tuning in because of their fandom of the LMX club involved vs interest in intra league matches?

In either case, lets run this footballing rivalry into the ground by over saturating it with more matches...