this is looking years into the future, but would US soccer benefit by having MLS and also a bunch of state/regional leagues? Soccer would have to be much more popular in the country, but it would promote more local rivalries and state leagues are feasible due to the size of the US. personally i think this would be a good idea in many years if soccer does become big. sorry since this isnt exactly fit for this forum.
Would MLS teams also compete in the regional leagues, as in Brazil? AFAIK, only Brazil and India use that setup, but in India the Calcutta state league is the only one that is even remotely competitive.
Which is the top league in Brasil -- Carioca or Paulista? Is it true every year they have to assemble a group of teams for a championship? Their big teams stand out, but the organization of leagues baffles me.
I'd actually like to see MLS replicate the J-League format where they play 2 stages (I think you play each team once in each stage so MLS would need more teams first) and the winners of both stages play eachother in the final, it is simple and competitive.
i would say yes MLS teams would compete in the regional/state leagues. eg: the galaxy, quakes, and chivas would always compete against eachother whether in state leagues or MLS. thanks for the info, i had no idea that india used it or that those were the only 2 nations to use it. i wonder how russia works, as they are also a very large country. i believe the gaucho, carioca, and paulista leagues are the biggest. the national league is like that of most nations; multiple divisions and the winner is selected by points (just stopped using playoffs recently). the state leagues i believe are more like a cup as they have groups i believe. the point of all of this is that i believe having a more localized competition COULD add a different, nice touch to the game. MLS would still most likely be the top competition, but imo it could be very nice in places such as NY/CA to have the major MLS teams, plus lower teams. it really is great to be able to travel to every game without too much hassle (sp?), at least i think so.
Regional, yes, and I agree with your general thinking, but not down to the state level, at least at the MLS level. I could easily see (some years down the road) MLS with two regions (East/West) of around 16 teams each, with the teams only playing within their region during the regular season, then having crossover playoffs (1st in East vs. 8th in West, etc.) at the end. I'm not sure the top level would ever get to many more teams than this, but I do see that such a regional structure would make a lot more sense for the U.S. than bumping half the teams down to a 2nd division (which I doubt the cities, fans, and owners involved would tolerate). So in this regard it would, like Brazil, go against the typical single table, and against FIFA's attempt to limit league size (which I think is mainly concerned with how many matches teams play during the season, a problem a regional structure could take care of). Of course, at lower (minor league/semi-pro/amateur) levels, soccer is already more regional in the U.S. The Premier Development League (the highest amateur level), for instance, has 53 teams in 8 regions, and the higher leagues (USL D1 and D2, formerly A Leage and Pro Soccer League) would too, if they had enough teams. With more teams, even the PDL could be divided into even more, smaller regions. And while MLS teams already play some friendlies against nearby teams from lower divisions, I doubt there'd be that much interest in having any kind of regular local league involving teams from such different levels. Maybe, but it's just not something I see happening in a U.S. sport.
how is that relevent in anyway to the discussion? i didnt say follow the league as a whole, just a certain aspect of it.
I LIKE this idea! It's similar to my local high school basketball league. I dislike the playoffs but I do like a championshp match.
I think we should replicate ideas from Italy, England, Germany and maybe Spain. Possibly we can even look to other European countries. We should complete rehaul MLS to be like those leagues, and not consider anything else.