Now that the mls is starting to grow, i believe the mls should start putting more pressure on its owners to improve,not only the product on the field, but in other areas. grass fields,sss, players salary, stadium atmosphere, player and team publicity. When i look at teams like NE rev and DC united, who are still playing in huge non sss stadiums and are some of the best teams in the league it makes me sad. NE rev and nyrb played on a freaking football field in an important game, i mean come on mls. When is the mls going to start putting some pressure on these owners to start spending some money on there product.im sure there are other areas where owners are lacking as well.
DC is trying to spend money, but the District of Columbia isn't letting them. many owners are JUST starting to turn a profit (some are not)... we aren't in a position where we can demand they spend more money just yet be patient, it will all come eventually.
You seem to be somewhat uninformed as to how far the league has come since '96. If you think the presentation is bad this year, I sure as hell hope you weren't around circa '97 - '99. The truth is you do have a point though. I would like for MLS to take more initiative in pushing clubs to adopt a more serious and grown up marketing strategy. I'd also like more pressure directed at ESPN for them to show the league some more respect. Not necessarily more airtime, just more respect in the few times that we already are on the air. But really how much pressure can you put on the people that are signing the $30 mill expansion checkes, the $5mill DP salary checks and the $20mill TV contract checks? AEG, Hunt and the rest still have more political clout than Garber IMO. If anything, they have more influence over Garber than Garber does on them.
Its funny, since the "Owners" are actually investor/operators of their own individual teams but they are really the Owners of MLS. So essentially, your asking them to pressure on themselves. I am sure RSL could do something like that. Not.
As the old saying goes Rome wasn't built in a day. You can't do everything at once. You got to set goals like say getting all the teams to have their own soccer specific stadium. Once that happens then you can worry about stadium atmosphere and whether or not they play on grass. In the East... 3 out of the 7 teams have a SSS. Red Bulls played on a football field for a important game but because it was a football stadium they were able to seat 60k for it. Red Bull Park is currently under construction though due to delays and etc it might not open until 2009. DC United has a plan for a stadium (Poplar Point Stadium) but the talks with the local government have been stalled over financial arrangements. Kansas City Wizards - On July 27 (2007), the Kansas City Star has reported that Lane4 Property Group, a developer hired by the Wizards, is moving closer to making plans final for a massive redevelopment of now-vacant Bannister Mall that will probably include a new 20,000- to 22,000 seat stadium for the Wizards, 12 to 18 tournament soccer fields and much more. Under Lane4’s plan, the Bannister Mall and Benjamin Plaza shopping centers and the adjoining Benjamin Ranch property would be demolished and replaced with a mixed-use project with retail, office and residential components in addition to a possible Wizards stadium. Wizards president Robb Heineman acknowledged that plans for the Wizards to play in a new stadium in 2009 may not occur after all for reason that MLS stadiums have taken at least 18 months to be built. Nevertheless, the whole issue will take center stage September 12, when a public hearing is scheduled before the Tax Increment Financing Commission. Unless the date is moved back, Lane4 Property Group plans to present its proposals of the new Wizards stadium at that meeting. New England Rev - On August 2, 2007 the Boston Herald published an article stating that the City of Somerville and Revolution officials have held "preliminary discussions" about building a 20,000 to 25,000 seat stadium on a 100 acre site off of Innerbelt Road near Interstate 93, and could cost anywhere between $50 and $200 million based on other similar Soccer Specific Stadiums built by Major League Soccer teams. Only two teams in the West don't have a SSS. It looks like now Real Salt Lake after 2 years finally will get a $110 SSS in Sandy, Utah. AEG is trying to finalize a deal to get the Houston Dynamo a SSS. Also it's hard to improve the product on the field when your constantly expanding. Expanding one would argue dilutes the talent that you have.
MLS HAS come a long way, and hopefully within the next five years ALL teams will have their own stadiums. I know myself I sometimes wish I could tell these guys how to run their business better, but it aint easy. We need more people like Kevin Payne and Peter Wilt invloved with this league, guys who understand the culture as well as the business side of it. A dude like Billy Beane in San Jose who has had success in baseball AND has a love for soccer would make this league better too. It takes time. Most of the real owners come from a generation that never liked or saw soccer. I bet Mr. Kraft in NE fits in that mold. It will take his son to spearhead the stadium project as the Revs become "his" team. Good luck to all of them!
Hoopfan, I think you touched on some great points. I also think it's important to realize that, in the East, as opposed to most areas in the West, prime real estate (especially an area large enough for a stadium) is at a premium. It's pretty difficult to just drive around town and say "Yeah, lets buy that lot and build our stadium there" in New York, DC, or Boston. It's one thing to want to spend $200 million on a stadium, but another to have to spend $40 to $100 million just on the land alone. At the same time, not many of these cities want to see the franchises moved out to the suburbs either. Now, I'm not going to say I'm all that familiar with Salt Lake City, but I know there are quite a few options in Kansas City and Houston, if the prices are right (and being the way the real estate market is right now, you'd think some developer would jump at the chance to get a huge plot off their hands and collect a nice, fat check at the same time).
What I want to know is why the league doesn't require real grass fields on all new construction. The fact that TFC have a brand-spankin-new SSS with turf is a travesty.
Seriously, let it go about the turf! (Not just you personally.) Yes, BMO Field has turf. We all know that it was required because the city, not the team, owns the stadium and the city wants a bubble in the winter for community use. Even if it didn't, though, the MLS season runs from the beginning of April to the end of October. Later when TFC improves to the point that they start making the playoffs. Have you seen a grass field in Toronto in April or November? Do you seriously think having players slop around on something resembling the venue for a mud-wrestling tournament is better than turf because it's "real grass"?
Norway and Sweden have grass fields. And it's not really about turf in general, it's that this specific turf field has injured over half of TFC's roster, and opposing coaches won't play their star veterans on it for more than a half. There's turf fields, and then there's the broken glass and rusty nails carpet of BmO.
While I generally agree with point the original poster makes, its also equally true that things have gotten a LOT better. Who can forget Chicago and Dallas playing at hideous high school football stadiums - on fake turf garishly painted with the HS team's name in the stadium, and the permanent football lines. So make the criticism, but acknowlegdge how far MLS has gone.
I have to admit that I started to sour on the U-20 tourney as every freaking match was on the fake turf. But broken glass and rusty carpet nails? There are zamboni-like machines used to clean to field turf.
How very true. People also forget the inital missteps MLS took with trying to Americanize the game with rules different from the world including no ties, shootouts and clocks counting down. Garber has steadily moved to internationalize the game in MLS and at the same time follow a strategic business plan that moves all MLS teams into medium sized SSS. I have attended numerous Q&A sessions with the MLS braintrust that they continue to hold at All Star and MLS Cup events. Its evident that MLS does listen to its fans and has over the years developed a very effective business plan.
ty for those of you that responded respectfully. I understand where mls was and where it is now, but i think that mls should change their priorities a little. Yeah, all the new teams require sss and such, but look at the historical mls teams that are still playing in football stadiums and on football fields. If you look at every major sport, how they are percieved by there fans is one of the biggest factors in their decisions. How Americans and the world percieve MLS, will be a deciding factor if we become an exciting league or not. And the mls is hot now, so why would we wait to make our fields better,build a sss,or bring in better players(which a lot of teams are doing now). Dont bs me and say they dont have the money, cause they do. They just dont want to spend it. They are thinking about expanding to another dp slot, and we are playing on football fields? give me a break.
Look dude, they are spending money on the league. They're spending more money than they're making, so give them some credit. Without their commitment, even if it's a half ass commitment like in New England, we would be on this site whining why America doesn't have a soccer league. It's easy to tell someone else how to risk his money, but they're the ones that live with the consequences of losing that money ... not you. And face it, MLS is an unproven investment ... maybe until just in recent months as DP mania has lifted the league's appeal. That's why we're seeing new investors lining up trying to buy franchise rights and build stadiums. MLS has not plateaued. There will be more SSS built, there's a couple being built as we speak. Just chill out and wait and enjoy the progression.
i think averaging 15k plus fans a game is a proven investment, not to mention the attention the league has been getting. Im chill, im not freaking out im just expressing my views on the mls. i respect your views,but please people stop being negative towards other peoples views.
Lew Wolff, the owner of the San Jose Earthquakes put it best recently : "The downside is safe and the upside is unknown" regarding MLS So yes some American rich people are looking to invest. But it's hard for us to sit here and say how much they should invest when it's not our money and the potential return is still mostly speculation. Some owners like AEG and Red Bull seem to want to invest more freely and aggressively. Some others like Kraft and Checketts may be a little more guarded. The fact is they are learning on the job, because most of these people have no experience running a football league or a football club. But one thing I'm sure they can all agree on is that they want this thing to grow and succeed ... These types of things don't get developped overnight. The uber rich MLS owners probably think in spans of decades when they invest their millions. Most MLS owners have been on the job for a few years ... some cases months. Their projects are still in early stages.