The fundamental problem is that it costs teams to play in the CCC and Open Cup. Until that is resolved owners are going to be half-hearted. Compare that to cup competitions in Europe where teams make an absolute fortune. Notts County got paid $21,000 for their embarrassing first round KO by non-League Brackley, plus a further $65,000 because the game was broadcast on Sky, and a share of the ticket revenue. That's more than enough to cover the 160 mile round trip. Vancouver might have to fly to the jungles of freaking Suriname for which they'll get zilch.
We shouldn't even be in the game of comparing ourselves to UEFA - not the same galaxy. A more accurate comparison would be CAF and yet...group stage, club participation, better results than CONCACAF in the last Club World Cup Yet, here we are making excuses to keep status quo and more rationalizing
So Concacaf should only have 16 teams qualify for the CCC? Have you actually looked at how the CAF schedules their CL??? Do African Leagues play split seasons? That's a big concern in Concacaf. In the past teams would have one set of players play in the Group Stages. Their season would end, they would lose players and then have to play the KO phase with a completely different team than the one that made it through the group stage. How does this help the integrity of the competition? The expansion of the UEFA CL that added the group phase wasn't about growing the game, it was about making more money for the big clubs. Also it was about ensuring that the competition would have the GIANTS of Europe involved every season (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Milan, Juve, etc.). And just so we're clear, MLS and LigaMX have too many teams qualified for the CCC. So does the CPL. Central America doesn't have enough representation either. LigaMX and MLS drive the money train in Concacaf though, so here we are.
Nice deflection......... How successful was Concacaf League for Concacaf?? IOW, did it make the confederation money, and more importantly did it cover its' costs? If the answer is no, I'm not sure, there's the reason why it's no longer a thing.
All I'm seeing is excuses after excuses on why we can't do better than Africa for our regional competition just so we don't inconvenience MLS, a league aspiring to be a top 10 no less. Whatever, have it your way. We'll be back here finding excuses or patting each other's back about our confederation being better than OFC in the next Club World Cup.
It's true that we're not in the same galaxy as UEFA, so why do we need a continental cup? CONCACAF needs sponsors and a TV deal. It needs to name the continental cup worthwhile financially. If Leagues Cup can bring in a dozen major sponsors in a couple of years, why can't CONCACAF? At the moment teams are playing for charity, the charity being CONCACAF and Montiagliani's $multi-million salary.
Your OP made ZERO mention of the CAF Confederations Cup...... you made no mention of "being better than CAF." I'm not making excuses. I'm giving real world reasons for things being the way that they currently are. Real world factors are often in conflict with idealists and romantics. I'm not arguing that Concacaf League or a Concacaf Confederations Cup would be beneficial for the region and it's clubs. How would you fit a Group stage into CCC along with Canadian Championship, US Open Cup, CPL , Liga MX and MLS Cup Playoffs, and FIFA Windows? Where's the demand for all of these competitions? Do the broadcast partners want it, are they even interested in it? Do the majority of fans want these competitions? Do the leagues and clubs/teams want it?
Interesting as CONCACAF winner prize money is higher than CAF playing less games... yet, better performance in the last CWC...
Yet CCL did exist before with all the constraints you listed. With the schedule switch for MLS, should be easier than before - so why not support it? I don't agree that the League Cup clogging the schedule should be Concacaf's problem
It's not easier now; MLS is reducing the number of weeks available to fit in everything. Giving up about 1.5 months June-July, adding maybe two weeks in February.
He's an idea. Let Garber run the Champions Cup. You'll see a sea change in revenue and media interest.
Does the League Cup not award a place in Concacaf's competition? If so, then it is a concern for Concacaf. How does MLS' schedule change make it easier than before? Have I ever said that I don't support it? Me supporting or not supporting a group stage for CCC has ZERO baring over whether Concacaf's member leagues support it or not.
Might as well rename concacaf the USSF while you're at it. Garber wouldn't care about anything outside who's playing in the League Cup We'd still be trash on pitch congratulating ourselves that we can dispatch OFC clubs but at least executives would make more money. This right there shows how far we are from having a true football culture. It's all been economic with virtually no one caring that we can't outcompete some African or Asian club we've never heard off despite how much money we're clumsily throwing at this sport.
Perhaps Garber should tone it down with MLS being a top 10 league then. Last time I've checked, clubs in those leagues play all those cup competitions simultaneously without the complaining or excusing.
They European clubs don't complain or excuse because THEY MAKE $£€MILLIONS. And when they don't think they're getting enough they threaten to break away.
How do you develop a football culture then? In order to bring in better players, you have to have money to pay them. In order to have better environments to develop better players.... you need to bring in money. Unfortunately in today's world, better coaches, more soccer programs, youth outreach, school programs, etc all cost money. That money has to come from some place. making excuses about lack of football culture doesn't solve the fundamental issues. Take the CPL and it's growth. In order for the CPL to get where you want it to be it's going to take money in addition to grassroots efforts. Denying this fundamental fact and caling it an excuse doesn't make it go away. Last time I checked MLS teams have only participated in TWO CWC's. Al Ahly and Esperance have been regular participants. They're bigger and more prestigious clubs than what is currently in MLS. Garber is the commissioner of MLS, he's the public spokesperson for his bosses, the owners. They are aspiring to be a top 10 league. There's no harm in having aspirations and goals. MLS isn't there yet. The quality of play on the field needs to continue to improve. The current schedule puts the league's teams at a disadvantage when it comes to bringing in better players. Now we can debate about this level of this disadvantage, however, it is there.
You're making my point and MLS HAS money or all these posts about being "too rich" to catch up or being a top 10 is inevitable Europeans fight to protect money and competitiveness. In CONCACAF, clubs without clout get neither and it’s all about MLS economic interest over even sport integrity, that's the difference Result? Still mediocre (Concacaf) on a global stage.
Ummmm.... not sure Juve, Milan, Inter, PSG, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, etc are fighting for competitiveness. At least not in their domestic Leagues. If the big EPL clubs were all about competitiveness, they'd allow a greater percentage of their media money to flow down the pyramid..... When it comes to the domestic cups, those large clubs aren't fielding their A Teams until the late rounds either. Fans tend to romanticize and idealize sports competitions. The reality is that the Professional Clubs only care about themselves.
What you say makes a lot of sense and more should share your more realistic view on this. I don't disagree with most of what you said but I'll add that yes money is necessary but there's a fine line in making more to develop the sport and making more out of greed with tunnel vision. I think there's a little bit of both right now but I'd love to see a unified vision that can do both - make more money and wanting to contribute to grow the sport.
Those clubs are absolutely greedy but as we've seen with the Super League drama, they can reverse gear when the fans disagree with their decisions. Got to love seeing it, we don't have this here, not yet. As for the media money, at least some of it is being passed down. I'm out of the loop on this one, does MLS still refuse to pay solidarity payments to non-mls youth clubs? You'll agree that there's level to this. They have the depth to do it and those clubs have to raise their game to force them too so that's fair. In theses parts, the Canadian MLS clubs have learned how dangerous it was to not put their A team against Forge or Cavalry, that's part of the game. And fans who can remind them that without them, they aren't much - Super League.
It also helped that UEFA revamped the Champions League, and also increased the share of prize money going to the clubs..... Which was a big part of why a Super League was being discussed in the first place.
Where do you all get the idea that MLS (and its mastermind Don Garber) control CONCACAF and tell them how to run the Confederation? If MLS were truly running CONCACAF they would probably just cancel CCC altogether and not even bother with it.
The only ones throwing money at this sport is Liga MX and MLS because they can. The rest of the region can't. CPL will be up there too as they start getting better sponsorship/TV deals. Those African clubs you speak of are the richest clubs in Africa. They have their best domestic talent usually play for them because they can afford them. Asia, or better yet the Saudi League, is throwing lots of money into their clubs and that's why they can beat elite Euro clubs. It's all about the money. Money buys you the good players. In CONCACAF it doesn't matter if we make 3 or 4 Continental tournaments we aren't going to be better and compete against Europe unless there is a big boost in money to Central America and the Caribbean and they start buying better foreigners that raises the over all quality of.the area.