Fixing the failing franchises. Stop expanding while ignoring the cellar dwellers. After all, in a single entity, parity driven league you're only a strong as your weakest links. And all the attention on NY while not solving NE, Chi, Chivas, Colo, Columbus, Tor, DCU I'm not sure helps the league as a whole. NY2 can be a huge positive, but the negativity in a number of markets can be negative overall. MLS won't be nearly what it can be until a number of the markets already in the league are fixed. Expanding simply ignores that.
instead of Rebranding or Relocating or whatever, the option should just be "Fixing" Chivas USA..... be it rebrand, new ownership, relocate, new stadium, whatever... it is the leagues weakest link and it needs to be fixed one way or anther.
NE doesnt care about a stadium, Columbus has one. The league can deal with 20 priorities, kill Chivas is a big priority, salary is one, DC stadium, development of talent and keeping it, TV deal, more merchandizing.....
TV contract, because I doubt NBCSN is going to renew once that deal is over. We MUST get more viewership and bigger deals, its top priority.
Why? Their ratings in pretty much in line with where they were at this point last year. Also, this: http://www.businessinsider.com/espn-nightmare-scenario-2013-5
They are up renegotiation for 2015 and beyond. Current contracts expire after 2014 (thus the NYCFC start date). They will try to use this new team as leverage since they can't use their current ratings.
Chivas USA should relocate to Orlando right now! Orlando City SC has higher attendances than MLS side Chivas USA, they deserve it and Florida deserves it. Florida is by far the most populated state without a MLS team. Orlando City already has attendances above 10,000 and they might get an average attendance around 30,000 at the Citrus Bowl. They can built a soccer stadium later, like New York City FC (Yankee Stadium).
Now that NYCFC is happening the league definitely needs to prioritize their next moves. First up needs to be securing a new lucrative TV contract. That has to be top priority as the end of the current contract is looming. The monies derived from TV can further the league agenda on other priorities. Shoring up the weaker links must be next. Whether that means getting DCU and NER favorable stadium situations, preferably their own SSS, or rebranding/relocating Chivas does not matter. These issues should be considered as priorty #2a and #2b, as they are of equal importance. As a poster said upthread, MLS is only as strong as their weakest link. Priority #3 is investing even more into youth/player development. Better academy programs and a revised, more comprehensive reserve league are a must. Ideally, I'd like to see more concrete affiliations with USL, where clubs become more of a minor league affiliate such as is done in baseball, with each team supporting their own USL or NASL team. Priority #4 would then take care of itself in elevating the level of play. Lastly, Priority #5 must be expanding MLS's footprint. While 20 teams is an ideal size for European leagues and also for scheduling purposes, it is really too small a number for a bi-national league. There are a few regions that are not adequately covered by MLS. A team or teams in the southeast is a must. It does not matter where, but the league needs to look at adding at least two teams from Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, and/or Richmond. They also need to expand in the midwest. Ultimately, 32 is too big, but either 24 or 28 as the goal would work quite well.
Priority #1 - New Lucrative Media Rights deals (TV, Internet, Mobile). Nothing else matters right now, as this will help drive the League for years to come. Priority #2 - Player and Youth Development. This has already been started, but it needs to be ramped up. The USL partnership needs to be deepened, with MLS Clubs either running their own USL Clubs (or sudo reserve teams) or having stronger ties with an existing USL Affiliate Club. Would also love to see Residency Academies start to take shape. Priority #2A - Continue and strengthen the initiatives started this season to get better officials in USSF and the CSA. Priority #3 - Get the Chivas Situation cleaned up. Find a new local owner who will re-brand the Club, move them into their own SSS in another part of the greater LA Area and just plain right this sinking ship. Priority #4 - Shore up the middling teams. Help get DCU's Stadium situation taken care of. They desperately need a new home, the original league standard bearer deserves so much better then the crumbling relic that is RFK. Continue helping the Hunt's shore up and grow The Crew and FC Dallas. Convince the Krafts to get the Revs into their own SSS. Put pressure on Keystone Sports to bring in another investor who will be willing to spend some money on the Union. Priority #5 - Determine what will eventually be the ideal number of teams for MLS, and then systematically start to fill in the gaps. Miami or OCSC? What about Atlanta, Charlotte, Phoenix, Minneapolis, San Antonio? Maybe another Canadian team? I'm not an expert, but Charlotte, Atlanta, & Minneapolis make the most sense from a business standpoint. All 3 cities have big corporations based in them (potential corporate sponsors). Minneapolis and Atlanta are known Internationally as well. Miami makes a lot of sense because it's viewed as a destination place, and stars want to go there. Orlando has the fans, and a strong owner and looks to potentially be a good addition. They could be a Portland like success, or fall into the doldrums like The Crew and The Revs. Not sure of the ambitions of San Antonio's Owner, but they could make a great addition to the league. As far as Canada, maybe Calgary, to give Vancouver a Canadian Rival. Possibly Ottawa?
I'm going to disagree on this part. Although it'd be great for the league to milk their next contract for all that it's worth, I believe it's much more important for them to pick the right partner moving forward. Just as we saw with the move from FSC to NBCS, it may be wiser to take less money up front if the network partner has a genuine interest in promoting the league and making it a showpiece. ESPN can offer the best ratings, NBCS (so far) has offered the best promotion and a darkhorse such as BeIN could potentially offer the most cash. The league would be smart to weigh the relative advantages of each offer.
Caring about existing teams would help. So new stadiums for DC United, New England and Columbus........ and move Chivas to Orlando.
Lol! (Cough cough.) Seriously, I would hope those situations would be a priority - but I'm not sure they are (nor are they that easy to solve).
Vancouver doesn't need a 'Canadian' rival, it already has Seattle and Portland, both are which are far closer to it than Calgary. You've seen all the Canadian markets that MLS is going to have.
This business of assigning rivals is a bit ridiculous anyways. I find the rivalries that have developed organically over time much more interesting (Galaxy v Earthquakes, RedBull v DC Untied, etc.).