I'll get us started today with just one article, the Kansas City Star interviewing Commissioner Garber during a tour of Pinnacle, Sporting KC and US Soccer's new training facility: MLS boss Don Garber on promotion/relegation, sports betting, a winter schedule, SKC: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mls/sporting-kc/article211217139.html
Stejskal: MLS clubs competing head-to-head for academy talent far from home https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018...s-competing-head-head-academy-talent-far-home Spanish prosecutors request 4-year prison term for Toronto FC midfielder Ager Aketxe https://www.prosoccerusa.com/mls/toronto-fc-ager-aketxe-assault/ WATCH: Taylor Twellman rips FC Dallas for selling LA Galaxy jerseys https://www.bigdsoccer.com/2018/5/1...lman-rips-fc-dallas-selling-la-galaxy-jerseys Stu Cowan: Money can't buy wins for Impact and new coach Rémi Garde http://montrealgazette.com/sports/s...-buy-wins-for-impact-and-new-coach-remi-garde Report: NYCFC’s Vieira put off by Arsenal conversation https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2018/05/15/report-nycfcs-vieira-put-off-by-arsenal-conversation/ How Home Depot's Billionaire Co-Founder Used This 1 Secret to Launch a Different Kind of Startup https://www.inc.com/cameron-albert-deitch/how-atlanta-united-fc-was-built-like-a-startup.html McKalla Place MLS site plan: 3 access points, canopy, walking trail https://www.statesman.com/sports/so...-canopy-walking-trail/Ju9kps9pHCRwAifTDHUdzI/ Republic FC Founder Warren Smith Steps Down As President http://www.capradio.org/articles/20...founder-warren-smith-steps-down-as-president/ Despite snub, Phoenix Rising confident of future with Major League Soccer https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2018...confident-of-future-with-major-league-soccer/
"There’s no economic rationality to promotion/relegation whatsoever in the era that we’re in today." Or ever will be. This is the #1 key point that the pro/rel zealots always fail to recognize. The only part of the equation they ever focus on is PROMOTION and how cool it is. They completely ignore the realities of RELEGATION and what it would mean financially. In essence, many relegated clubs would likely go under and possibly cease to exist. The things I hate about the pro/rel zealots is they probably would say that's just fine, it's that club's just rewards for a job poorly done. Darwinian consequences, fan bases (and the subsequent broader effect on soccer in the U.S.) be damned.
https://mlsmultiplex.com/2018/05/15/colorado-rapids-anthony-hudson-reaching-breaking-point/ With Hudson now commenting on the Sunderland job, this is a bad look.
I didn't listen to his rant; sometimes, I just can't bear Twellman and his forced outrage. But this seems much ado about not much. It wasn't the LA Gals jerseys; it was Zlatan's. It's a business.
Also seems to me that I could buy some gear for the opposing team at MLB, NFL, and NBA venues over many years. And US Soccer games for that matter.
There is a fantastic article (which I can not seem to find) on the Swiss Ramble blog about what happens to a teams finances if they are relegated to a lower league. He tracks several teams over a few years, and the outcome is pretty horrific in most cases. Unless you are one of the 4 ish teams that yo-yo back and forth it is not something you want to have happen.
I threw it in because it was on ESPN originally (also not too many articles this morning). I like Twellman but agree that his outrage is often forced.
Post Cereals Kicks-Off Major League Soccer Support (Limited edition MLS cereal boxes featuring Topps card cut-outs). I wonder what players are selected.
I agree at times he goes a little too far to the Alexi Lalas side of things. He's come a long way since his start in the business in 2011 with Philly. He was really good then too, and really connected with fans with his honest takes on the Union and the game. His new show MLS Rewind is growing too. The second episode was better than the first. He's paid to have an opinion, and he also brings a passion for MLS that too often is missing in the broadcasts in this country (both local and national). Also as a side note: He's genuinely a good guy. He always made time for fans before and after home broadcasts at the stadium.
Nice little puff piece on local television this morning. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=980794848760638
I didn't listen to his rant, and I'd probably agree with what he's saying, largely because I was familiar with this a few days ago, but at this point, anyone who's a fan of this team should expect this. HSG gonna HSG.
Condensed your post. Anyway, selling Galaxy kits as fuel for the homecoming bonfire sounds like a great idea.
Even going back 50 years ago it was standard practice for baseball teams to sell caps of the visiting team, plus whatever other teams were coming in on that homestand. This was at a time when sports team gear was nowhere near as easy to come by as it is now. Move along, nothing to see here...
A related part that the Pro-Rel folks keep forgetting is the TV market in the US and how it is very different than in European countries. The US has basically 5 large markets (NY, LA, Chi, Phi, Dal/FW, and DC). Any risk that a team may not be located in those markets will cause the TV revenue to shrink.
Yep. And there are other reforms which are both more important and more realistic: 1) fixing the season, 2) somehow fixing college soccer and it’s interplay with pro ranks. 3) upgrading academies so theyare universally more productive, 4) eliminating the salary cap.
Don, reiterates what he has always stood for. And it makes sense and buttresses the nonsense of the Pro-Rel, International calendar people.
I hope some day we move away from treating the Pro/Rel tinfoil hat wearers like anything more than the total morons and imbeciles that they are. It's like having a "debate" on climate change between a PhD scientist who has been studying the complexities of this issue for years, and some moron who couldn't hack the 8th grade, but he's sure he knows better than some pointy-headed intellectual, cause he read it on the internet!
"Are you kidding me!?" Taylor is second only to bLabLas in transparently trying to manufacture something to talk about.
He makes an assumption that is not accurate. There is no reason that revenue cannot be shared across divisions. You could even have interdivisional play. Start with a smaller 2nd division, made up of 1) expansion cities; 2) dropped MLS teams; 3) the best USL candidates. Then, you've added several soccer markets, with the intent to get to like 40 or so, with a full second division. Share the revenue across the divisions, and have some interdivisional matches to reduce travel. If, say Sacramento is second division, there is no reason not to have the West Coast teams schedule them. If Cincinatti is second division, there is no reason not to have the teams near the play them. In any rational sport, with the demand for teams and the astronomical franchise fees that are not being charged, a viable new league would have popped up, like yesterday. An AFL/ABA (I think even the NHL absorbed teams from a rogue league) would have popped up. But, soccer has this weird thing where a federation has to sanction a league, and MLS and the Federation have the same (cough cough conflict of interest) decision makers. Is the Fed going to do anything that takes money out of Garber's pocket? Oh.Hell.No. Garber *is* the Fed. So, lacking a non-corrupt system, the best way to expand the game in the U.S. is for MLS to see the wisdom of being able to access 40 or more markets, rather than limiting it's self to being a one division league. It's very do-able.
So that you can expand the market. Seems obvious. If you share the revenue, you could add, eventually, Miami Sacramento San Diego Las Vegas Phoenix Tampa Detroit Miami Cleveland St. Louis North Carolina Indianapolis Nashville Milwaukee Cincinatti New Orleans San Antonio That's 17 new markets, the smallest being New Orleans. That gets you to 40 teams, 2 divisions of 20. Garber talks about "we need to add fans." How do you add fans? Give them a team to root for. You don't think there are more hockey fans in Las Vegas than there were last year? You don't think there ware more hockey fans in OC than before the Ducks arrived? And, to clarify, when I say inter-divisional play, I mean that each team will have a few matches each season against teams in the other division. The vast majority of the games would be intra-division. But, they would have a few that are inter. That would 1) create interest for the 2nd division team; 2) reduce travel; 3) preserve rivalries. It's still all MLS. Still single entity. Still shared revenue. It's so obvious, it will happen eventually.