2019 CONCACAF League and 2020 Champions League

Was it any different when we had the group stage (more games)?

 

However I would say that back then, the tournament was very unbalanced and ensuring that Liga MX clubs and MLS didn't get seeded in the same group was ridiculous and a missed opportunity to grow interest through those rivalries.

The changes Montagliani is proposing now, being adding more Liga MX and MLS clubs would do a lot to grow the scope of the tournament.With the format I posted earlier you could get easily over a third of teams from North America, if not close to half.

Those group stage would be much more interesting to follow with Liga MX and MLS teams facing off more often. That's more revenue for CONCACAF, the clubs who would get more games with extra gate revenues and ultimately, grow the prize money since the TV rights would be worth more + Sponsors.

Again, I hear you, a club from Belize shouldn't make the CCL group stage. That won't sell, won't draw and it's a waste of everyone's time. Expanding the CONCACAF League is the right solution for the next tier of clubs.

Keep CCL elite with 1/3 from Central America (excluding Belize, you're looking at the top 2 per leagues), 1/3 + from North America, the balance would be the previous year CCL & CL winners, CFU champion and CCL qualifiers for which Liga MX and MLS mid table team could play for.

 

With all due respect to anyone who thinks CCL would be much more entertaining and make more money if they would just restructure so that only one team came out of the raggedyass Caribbean, you seem to have no concept of what the deal is.

There are 41 federation ountries in CONCACAF. 28 of them are members of the CFU and 3 more are sort of in the Caribbean and are in the CFU and I'm not going there or arguing about the non-IOC members who blah blah blah. We're talking the broad strokes here.

Like it or not, they are pretty much burned up over FIFA and the North and Central Americans holding a gun to their heads and handing CONCACAF over to the Union with the fewest votes ( ie North America, with 3). They go along because they get piles of free money, piles more in development projects and they get treated like grownup countries despite barely having national teams.

Thats the deal thats been struck and we have to live with it. Theyre not any happier than we are. But you go telling them that youre holding a big Confederation tournament and the CFU can have one token team out of 8 or 10 or 12 or whatever, they will lose it.

Tbink of it like afirmative action; the logic is the is the same; it doesnt matter if you qualify, but you get your share anyway.

If you dont like it, then the Caribbean will go back to electing the next Jack Warner or Jeff Webb. Your call.

 

I don't disagree with your analysis of the Caribbean area holding a lion share of the power in the region.

However, I think Montagliani did a good job with in assessing their needs (Sporting perspective only)

1. Those nations wanted to play more often --> Nation League
2. The clubs from those nations wanted to be included in Continental tournament --> CONCACAF League

I doubt that Caribbean clubs are dying to almost bankrupt themselves just to get destroyed in the US or Mexico. Granted they want their fair share of Continental competition, the C-League gives them just that and a good amount of berths as well.

Even if they get 1 or 2 CCL berth, that's fine. You do get those 1 or 2 very weak clubs making it to UEFA CL too, that's unavoidable. The goal is to limit how many of them get to CCL which is very doable but you got to give them C-League berths which no one would oppose

 

Isn't that how it goes now?
CFU Championship (4 teams)
Winner to CCL
Others to CL (different stages)

 

Yes, that's the setup that's been negotiated. What I'm talking about is any proposal that deviates from that

 

I'd be against proposals to increase the CFU berths to more than 1. 2 would suck but anything more that that would be bad for CCL.

Results speaks for themselves and the C-League is the right place for more CFU team. I doubt they like getting destroyed by Mexico at high travel costs anyways.

Do you feel that the top 2 of each Central American leagues excluding Belize belongs in CCL?

 

As Bill pointed out, it would be hard to convince CFU to agree to any expansion that did not involve them getting extra spots.

 

This should be interesting. Anyone think this is doable and/or agree with this?

“We would love to participate in the CCL. It’s an ambition of ours.”

USL President Jake Edwards and the case for potential @USLChampionship representation in the CONCACAF Champions League.https://t.co/AE7fpXDI4R

— Ryan Madden (@Ry_Madden) May 8, 2020

 

LOL

 

CONCACAF doesn't give spots to leagues, it gives them to federations. It's up to the USSF to allocate its slots. So I'm not sure why the USL would talk to CONCACAF.

As for the idea, I don't see a big upside from the US' perspective. And the USL already has access through the USOC.

 

I'd love to see the USL in the CONCACAF League. It could work. Works out fine for the CPL and their spot in that league.

 

Thats exactly the crap that NASL tried to pull withCCL. They petitioned CONCACAF for a spot, at the time for the benefit of the neoCosmos.

But as you rightly point out, and as was pointed out to them, CONCACAF gives those slots to USSF which, here's an amazing coincidence, is a co ariruentmember of CONCACAF.

USSF can award.them however they choose, but there is no chance on God's green Earth that anyone other than the fed will decide who gets them. Never, ever, happen.

 

Hard to believe that USSF would give berths to USL over more teams in MLS.

 

C'mon I want to see Real Monarchs play against Joe Public-

Wait a minute.

 

I'd love to hear the backlash on that from people that don't realize that this has happened before in Europe. Real Madrid Castilla played Real Madrid in 79/80 Copa del Rey final and lost. However, since Real Madrid won La Liga the B team got the berth to the Cup Winner's Cup where the played West Ham United. They beat them 3-1 in Madrid then lost 3-1 in London and ultimately lost 6-4 on aggregate after extra time. Hertha Berlin's amateur team almost got to the CWC in 93/94 as the made the German Cup final but lost 1-0 to Leverkusen. Though I guess the German Cup isn't the best example since First Vienna (a team currently in 4th division of Austria) won the 1943 German Cup, beating Luftwaffen-SV Hamburg.

 

First Vienna weren't a small club at the time. They qualified for the UEFA Cup as recently as 1988/89.

 

The USL's only legitimate way of expanded access to CCL would be through USOC. If USSF gets more spots, perhaps the two finalists get an entry. In that scenario, it's still long odds for a USL team to make the final, but more viable than winning. It wouldn't be too crazy to see a good USL team make a run every few years.

 

TFC would get way under $1.2 million from winning the CCL because I'm assuming those are for the clubs combined, not the winner. I can't imagine the UEFA Champions League winner getting 1.27 billion Euros, which is about 1.373 billion dollars, which is six times the New York Yankees payroll in 2019 that led MLB.

In terms of expansion, using UEFA's format with 32 clubs in the Group Stage and adding one game to make the final have two legs would be 110 games. The CCL currently has 30, the 8 groups of 3 format had 62, and the qualifying round and 4 groups of 4 format had 78. One possibility would be having knockout rounds before and after the Group Stage like CAF does. Have the Group Stage be 4 groups of 4 that advance 2 clubs each to the Quarterfinals instead of a knockout Round of 16, or have the Group Stage be 2 groups of 4 that advance 2 clubs each to the Semifinals instead of a knockout Quarterfinals. A Group Stage with 16 clubs would be 94 games, and a Group Stage with 8 clubs would be 78 games. Clubs couldn't not send their top players (and sometimes not send their manager) to away games in the Group Stage if it had 8 clubs. If a group had 2 from Liga MX, one from MLS, and one from MLS or Central America, the two from MLS or CA would have to finish ahead of a Liga MX club to advance, and the worse Liga MX club would need to finish above both others. Clubs who would have a hard time affording to play in a Group Stage with 3 away games would be unlikely to reach the Group Stage if it had 8 clubs, and less likely to reach the Group Stage if it had 16 clubs than if it had 32 clubs.

 

Nothing another lawsuit couldn't fix fill the bank account of some lawyers.

 

If they start giving CCL spots to USL might as well give direct CCL spots to Cuba, Jamaica, Curacao, Aruba and every single Caribbean League since they too have a tough road to CCL.

Everyone is a winner, no one will be called a loser.

 

Yes, and that was my point - for MLS teams, and most teams in most confederations, the money is in selling tickets to the games, not in the prize money. The prize money could be zero and it would still be financially useful for an MLS team that can sell tickets.

 

CCL back in December?
https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/10/16/concacaf-champions-league-resume-december-future-expansion