I think if we averaged the DPs we have now we'd end up with something like 1.75M per DP on average. I think guys like Landin and deGuzman don't make that much maybe 1M and GBS went from under 1M to lower than that quickly so did Lopez. So an average of 2.5M is high, and also I don't think we are going to be brining in 20 guys. If there are 10-12 DPs in this league I would be shocked. But as far as revenue streams go, I think there are bigger pictures when you look at it for a business perspective. Some guys can help at the gate, but if the league itself needs to do better on TV if they are ever going to become a legit major league. Would 10 new stars help increase ESPN numbers and thus allow for leverage on the next deal? If so how much is that worth? How about value of the club. Going from valued at 35M to 40M is a nice jump and can pay for a big salary, could a big star help the value of the club, help get a stadium deal worked out, or maybe a shirt sponsor? There are lots of ways a star can make money, but things like TV viewers or club values won't be seen immediately on revenue sheets it certainly would be worth the investment.
Correcting the difference of $16 MILLION is nitpicking? Tell that to the owners of MLS. Beckham made LA worth $100 million. Merchandise sales increased 300% during his time in the league. Now, Beckham is the epitome of a DP in MLS, but Blanco helped out Chicago too. None of these guys are Beckham and a few of them could reach Blanco's level, but if you get 5-10 of them who can help the clubs simply make money, then that $34 million is made back. Of course, MLS teams will always say they're losing money, but that'd be a ton of revenue from attendance and merchandise. I believe Henry and Ronaldinho could make the league $20 million just between those 2.
Yes nitpicking when my point was irrelevant of any true #'s. Again. Whether it's 10 or 100 million it is extremely important to sign the right DP's and not waste millions of dollars to sign DPs that don't help the bottom line. I would much rather have the $5 million spent on youth development rather than given to C.Lopez, DeGuzman, Denilson, Palencia etc. I agree with you totally with Henry and Ronadinho but you fail to mention the other names in this thread that won't have any affect on the bottom line such as Pires, Nedved, Campbell, Heck GBS and Angel has had no appreciable affect on attendence nor ratings so are debateable DP picks.
Let the Owners spend their money on DPs and don't let count it on salary cap. Just make them pay luxory tax for each one.
I like the idea of bringing them in to watch the All Star game, but not playing in it. I say invite 25-30 potential DP's. Some out of contract this summer, some in the next few years. Fly them in, put them up in some nice digs, give them some club seats for the match, wine em, dine em, and hand them your business card on the way out. I do believe that a player would be more inclined to join MLS if they looked around and saw potential superstar teammates than they would be in a one on one sit down.
I think now that a team can bring in more "Homegrown" players mixed with the extra DPs will help youth development. This combination of rule tweaks allows more young talent to play with and against some top quality pros on a regular basis. At least here in Canada, this is what happened in the NASL days. Having our boys playing amongst the likes of Pele, Best, Cruyff etc. made our national team the strongest it has ever been.
I'm all for that, but the league is trying to give the teams plenty of incentives to sign higher profile players and some of them refuse to do so. I'm not saying MLS should tell teams who to sign, but meeting with potential DPs and introducing them to the teams makes the process as easy as possible even for the most frugal owners.
i think you are right. the summit isn't about MLS telling teams who to sign (tho, maybe as bad as some team's DP prospects are they should retain the right to tell them who NOT to sign ... uh, hey this guy is 37 so no way) but rather selling the whole league ... the MLS ... as a viable and attractive option to any and all possible DPs (all 3 types, the over 32 fading star crowd, the 28-32 good professional but not superstar group and hopefully the 18-22 up and coming SA/Af stars that aren't quite on the Euro radar already but want to transition to Europe thru MLS) thus increasing the pool of "possible" DPs so that each team has more options and can make better and more effective DP signings.
A good DP for the future? Adriano. Currently 28 years old and makes 2.8 million dollars US. Would be a good forward for MLS's style of play.
After Ricardinho, I think MLS front offices are looking to avoid DP head cases unless their very marketable name is Ronaldinho.
that would be a great signing and just the sort of 28-32 year old i was talking about. the problem is i think a host of mid table EPL clubs are wanting to sign him. but as we saw with the West Ham/Henry report ($100K a week) MLS could probably pay him about the same $5M per year. and from what i know from FM 2010 75K GBP/$100K is a pretty high salary even by EPL standards. so you never know. i would definitely love to see MLS get more of those 28-30 year old players that is bench player at a top 50 euro club or starter/star at a non top 50 euro club.
Besides Ronaldinho I think a good DP would be Nery Castillo. He would draw alot of fans and right now he needs the playing time.
Well, we learned yesterday that Del Piero and Trezuget just aren't good enough to be DP's. Connor Chinn, however is.
Yesterday? Yes. The ball that he put on Dane Richards foot to set up the JPA goal was class reminding me of the lob from Ramos to Stewart against Colombia in 94.
Well owners are allowed to pay transfer fees and it doesn't go against the cap. He hasn't played for a club team in over a year so his salary shouldn't be too high.
Two new free agents from English football that could be good DP signings: Guille Franco and Martin Petrov.
Ballack after this injury is a prime DP candidate for the league. I hope they don't screw the pooch like they did with Shevchenko, Appiah, Ronaldo, and Vieira. SOMEBODY GET RONALDINHO AND BALLACK!
Ballack apparently being chased by his former boss and Arab teams with war chests of gold. Hopefully Sugar Daddy Red Bull gets on the phone to Ballack's agent.