If there was actually an organization that regulated world soccer, I'm sure they would prohibit the MLS interpretation of free transfer rules....
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130805/clint-dempsey-seattle-sounders-mls/ So he's not making $8 million, just a tad under $7 at And from the sounds of it, the league was heavily involved.
media update and a tone of content on Dempseys first days in seattle: http://assets.soundersfc.com/2013/dempsey/index.html is this a template of future sounders/mls team sites for next season? I hope so.
How Seattle's stunning Clint Dempsey deal got done SI.com Nice story and how the deal unfolds , read on..
Wow, Joe Roth comes off very very good in this article. No one ever talks about him as being proactive but he buying in so quickly is very important for the leagues future. Wonderful story. I know we will never get the full details but I would love to see if it was true if the league really did pick up the transfer fee or if it was a more complicated formula. At the very worst, this could increase the cash call by a little under 500k this year. I wonder if they have to get buyin in from every owner before the league makes a decision like that (if it even happened that way).
Dear Seattle , you're welcome, it made sense so we didn't put up a stink and offer more money, because we could have. Toronto.
I keep thinking it isn't a coincidence that the fee was agreed the day after the board of governors meeting at the all-star game.
Good point. Ives also just tweeted this as well Ives Galarcep (@SoccerByIves) 8/5/13, 2:13 PM MLS kicking in a fee isn't a new idea. League had long discussions in 2012 about funding a war chest to bring 4-5 top foreign stars to MLS
Not hallucinating. I had been reading from several people that they were going to do so, but it looks like they may actually keep him here (which would be huge). BTW, Keith Costigan reported this the other day and after the Dempsey signing (which he was the first to say Seattle was trying to sign him) I think I'll believe what he writes.
Grant Wahl @GrantWahl Don Garber on Dempsey deal: "This signing followed our rules to a T." Says league will make some internal rules more clear to everyone.
I just love the part of how they got demspey out of seatac with out any of seattle fans that were there waiting for him to notice him.
Speaking of Dos Santos, this quote from Roth might shed some light on that seemingly overambitious signing
fwiw Don, "everyone" is kinda stupid and slow, and making things "more clear" for everyone's benefit won't necessarily eliminate the whining and complaints. But do go on making your league as transparent as possible. All the best.
I would guess Garber sold the other owners of the value this would bring in national TV negotiations so they would get that back later in their share of revenues from the league.
Makes sense. League is in dire straits with TV ratings, and Javier Hernandez/Gio Dos Santos probably rank #2/#3 in the world of guys who could hypothetically move the meter (behind Messi).
the TV contract is up and they need to show big names on their rosters to fetch fat checks from next TV deal. ESPN, NBCSN, beINsport and Fox new dig all are vowing for MLS's rights.
fwiw, MLS's ratings are not "in dire straits" nor within "a state of extreme distress." The league's tv ratings could certainly be better, and they are working on the issues, but things are not so bad, relatively speaking within MLS's business plan and where the sport and SUM content is headed (wrt to the overall sports tv landscape). (MLS content has "great demo numbers.")
I'm glad that the league has cleared things up wrt to the Dempsey situation. I think that the only way that this could have been a big issue is if one or two really good players come into the league via allocation and Seattle is able to get another player. I'm not sure if that is realistic and I don't know what limitations Seattle has with their roster or salary cap so I think it is a non-issue. You know the league is growing up when the buzz hits the media about league rules. See NBA and NFL capologists and what not.