it's not a bad thing. Just dont interrupt the start of the league and then assume fans are stupid that they will suddenly make us care because ccl spots are up for grabs. I want my league to start already this should be a preseason tournament, make your money and call it a day.
Columbus-Miami can take place in the MLS playoffs, no? Or *gasp* the USOC? Leagues Cup is the fast food of sports. It might be enjoyable on some level but it’s evident there isn’t sufficient substance to it (i.e. sporting integrity). A tournament that dictates host/travel conditions that are dependant on league membership is a circus by definition. Nothing wrong with a “World Cup style” cash grab per se, but it shouldn’t be linked to the confederation’s premier club competition. And certainly not with as many as three spots. That is my personal irritation.
@DGreat why would the spending be so huge? It’d be less for the Joe Publics of the world; they’d fly just once for the group stage. And I strongly suspect they’d be making more money than they do now in the CCL. I get it; my suggestion isn’t at all like Yurp. But instead of comparing it to Yurp, just think of it on its own terms. Or better yet, make the comparison to college basketball. The group stage is like the rivalry week end of season games + the conference tournaments. Do that the first two weeks of, say April. Then play out the 64 team tournament from mid May through the first week of June. I’d watch the shit out of that, compared to me not bothering with CCL until the semifinals.
How dare you want your league to restart. How dare you want your team to return to its home city. Outrageous! I’m sure all MLS fans would be perfectly fine with their season getting interrupted after four games and their teams disappearing to another country for a month. Be a team player @DGreat
Another important item, these games are not televised in Mexico. From my knowledge no TV network picked up the rights for leagues cup so people would need to buy the MLS pass. I can't find much data on in but I'd question viewership outside of the US. I personally have not signed up for an MLS pass, I don't watch that league and the tournament won't change it for me. I know the amount of free games were limited this year on appletv so I was able to catch a few at the beginning.
Thank you for clearing that up. Believe it or not, I am plenty aware of the “cash grabbing” in professional sports. But there are red lines that cannot be crossed if we want to keep calling it a sport. What those are is a bit more personal. I’ve got mine but even you have yours. We are arguing about the space in between.
Are we going to hear whinning and crying about Leagues Cup for 3 more years? Liga MX owners agreed to this. It's their project too. No one forced them to accept playing in US and if they want to they can easily just request games to be played in Mexico. Rules are not set in stone. As we saw from last year to this, rules can change.
Yep. It’s not the fault of MLS fans that foreign clubs are desperate to chase money here. I’ll keep on watching the soccer and laugh off the moral admonishments and obsessive negativity.
You do know that pretty much all fans hate their team's owner and their league's commissioner, right? Just because their management agreed to this doesn't mean the fans will like it. Perhaps it even means the opposite.
They'll make another tournament after a few years once this one ends or just renew the contract for this one. People are mainly upset and can't cope because Liga MX is not dominating a tournament many of us thought was going to be a walk in the park for them no matter where it was played.
And I think both leagues are probably upset by just how little interest people are showing in Mexican teams playing competitive matches in the US. Shocked indeed that the entire local Mexican- American population isn't turning out because some random Liga MX team is playing nearby. MLS - misjudging "Hispanics" since 1996.
This tournament exists for the same reason Superliga existed. MLS and Liga MX owners know the money and the interest in international play in this region is almost solely in the Liga MX/MLS matchups. When CONCACAF starts drifting away from prioritizing those matchups in CCL play Liga MX and MLS come up with a new competition between them to get those matchups back on the table. I don't think either league has any real interest in playing Cosa Rican or Honduran teams but they do it as part of CCL/C because that's how it works.
Yeah, if Club America wins the title some people will take a break from complaining about the structure of the tournament and will enjoy using the result against MLS.
Are the supporter groups still boycotting Leagues Cup in the name of the Open Cup? Last night was very entertaining… hopefully these teams carry this momentum back into league play.. If the rest of the MX teams get eliminated (MLS took that all-star beating to heart) it will just mean the MX teams and their fans will be extra nettled for the CCL.. the indios will be extra focused on showing the world that MX is still better in a “balanced/fair” setting.. thus even more entertainment.. win-win
Doubt it. It's clear as day that teams and players don't put their best foot forward for this tournament. Fans know the level of player of their team but seeing them play at minimal effort doesn't make me want to go watch my team. Sure some may take it as an excuse others will understand when the level of play is displayed during the CCL. I think the best thing for Concacaf is that LigaMX is not completely running away with the tournament and MLS is competing well. The last 4 of the last 5 editions having MLS vs LigaMX helps garner interest.
Only if players are taking everything as seriously as you think they are. Perhaps MLS players no longer care at all about the ASG. Perhaps Liga MX players no longer care if their league is better than MLS or not.
In the CCL MLS teams do well in their home legs as well. It's just that the Liga MX teams are super dominant in Mexico.
Not all of them ever did. There was no evidence last night that Toluca was doing anything other than going all out on the field. They were steam-rolling the Rapids for most of the match, they just couldn't put the ball in the net.
Wait....all this time I thought fans were boycotting USOC since 1996 and that's why it had awful attendance, interest and viewership numbers. You saying USOC was never in boycott mode? When you say "garner interest" it's interest for whom? For Liga MX and MLS fans CCC could be interesting but for the rest of CONCACAF not so much. As Nico Lamant says of Leagues Cup that if Liga MX doesn't win Mexican fans will lose interest quick, so doesn't that apply to the rest of CONCACAF when it comes to CCC? As much as people think CCC is a "fair" tournament the rest of CONCACAF is at a great financial disadvantage when compared to Liga MX and MLS. CONCACAF is only 2 Leagues with one of those 2 winning every year. Wonder what interest the rest of CONCACAF has on a tournament they know they can't win. And it's not like CONCACAF can do anything about it. Financially those leagues just can't compete.
People are upset? What? This is a ridiculous tournament being played in the middle of the regular season. It’s not being upset…folks are simply pointing out the obvious.