Re: Pro/Rel would NEVER work in the US There already is this kind of punishment. That's why the Revolution weren't in this years USOC.
why not just create a bunhc of new 'mls' teams. big markets, small markets, even medium marktets. make it so there are 16 mls teams at a time, and 8 or 10 mls2(or whatever) teams. for expansion fee's, charge more for the remaining 6 real mls spots, and less for the others. give the teams all a year to get settled and play. then the next year begin using the pro/rel mls system. try having a playoff maybe between the mls1 and mls2 teams (home and home for 16v1 and 15v2?) or just a guarenteed promotion for 1, 2 and a playoff for 3 against the mls team that placed 14th? im not saying this is what definately should happen, im just trying to throw a new idea out. please discuss this...
mls1 and 2 teams.... revs metros dc columbus chicago kc la san jose dallas colorado philly/trenton/pittsburgh nc triad area florida team atlanta detroit oklahoma city houston seattle portland louisville st louis nyteam2/rochester or both phoenix that obviously isnt 26, so throw soem mroe ideas in and take some out. maybe its hometown bias, but id like to see another boston team, not a new england team. my feeling is that boston could support 2 baseball teams, so why not an mls team in boston and another in foxboro? the revs could maybe become ri and connecticuts team and the new team the citys, but who knows im most likely wrong. im just rambling on so i will let others discuss this.
A pie-in-the-sky idea: MLS1: 16 teams, single table, 30-game schedule. Top 8 make playoffs. MLS2: 10-12 teams, regional divisions, unbalanced 28-game schedule. 4 teams make playoffs - playoffs include 3rd place game or series. Pro-rel: MLS2 champion promoted, MLA1 16th-place team relegated. MLS2 runner-up plays home-and-away against MLS1 15th place, MLS2 third place plays home-and-away against MLS1 14th place. Current MLS teams: New England Revolution Metrostars DC United Columbus Crew Chicago Fire Kansas City Wizards Dallas Burn Colorado Rapids San Jose Earthquakes Los Angeles Galaxy Definite expansion possibilities: New York Rochester Philadelphia Milwaukee North Carolina (Raleigh/Durham or Charlotte) Miami (Fusion made no effort to market itself, one can do better) St. Louis Houston Oklahoma City Seattle Portland San Diego Other (speculative) expansion candidates: Detroit (needs stadium - Silverdome not feasible for full season) Atlanta (Bobby Dodds Stadium isn't good for soccer) Phoenix (needs stadium) Tampa (needs better stadium deal) Birmingham (strong support for USMNT, why not MLS?) Tennessee (Nashville or Memphis) Sacramento (indoor team used to draw nearly 8000) Minneapolis/St. Paul (expand National Sports Center seating capacity)
Yeah, A-League is a real wasteland. MLS is soooo much better. MLS would never contract or fold any of its precious teams. Thanks for reminding me why I hate LA, wanker.
Sod off with your A-League club. I was referring to the fact that the US is not ready to support clubs that get completely sent down to the A-League. MLS1 and MLS2 could work, however.
welll 16 teams is very good even for a huge country like USA... but what the heck.. we won't get so many teams until.. well at least in 10 or 15 years...
All that smog must be killing your brain cells. The only difference between MLS/A-League and MLS1/MLS2, as far as fans go, is that jonny-come-latelies like yourself cream your pants whenever you see the initials "MLS". (BTW, do you spend much time on real estate websites?) A team sent down from MLS1 to MLS2 would still be just as much relegated as a team sent from MLS to the A-League would be. And don't give me any of that "Well, they'd still be MLS" crap either...fans of MLS1 teams would still mock fans of a team dropped to MLS2 and laugh at them if they tried the "We're still MLS" excuse. Polish it all you want, wrap it up in pretty packaging, but a turd is a turd. Now if you want to argue it from a strictly business-of-operations standpoint, then you might have something, given the differences in business models between the A-League and MLS makes promotion/relegation between the leagues impractical and practically impossible. On the other hand, MLS2 would be under the SEM umbrella of MLS. But we weren't talking about it from a business-of-opreations standpoint, so congratulations, you're still a ***************ing wanker.
The A-League is the Div II league in the United States, one level below MLS (a Div. I league). There's also the D3 Pro League (Div. III, if the name hadn't already given that away) and the Premier Development League or PDL (Div. IV). The A-League, D3 Pro League, and the PDL are all part of the United Soccer Leagues or USL, the umbrella orginization that also overseas the W-League (Div. II women's league, one step below WUSA) and the Super Y-League (youth teams, many associated with A-League, D3 or PDL teams).
USL has a contract with Fox Sports World, and FSW shows a A-League game of the week on Fridays. (This is the first year of the contract.) Remember, though, that the A-League is to MLS what AAA minor-league baseball is to MLB. You don't see minor league baseball on TV very often, if at all, and baseball is more popular in this country than soccer, as far as professional sports goes. (Although when the baseball players strike that might change a bit...)
at this very moment (9.41pm, edt) FSW has A-League on: Milwaukee Rampage @ Minnesota Thunder, and Thunder just scored in the 69th minute to go ahead 1-0. I don't think we need to exactly replicate the european leagues, but a single table arrangement would be a good thing with the league champion being crowned by having the best record by season's end. Maybe there's no playoffs, too, despite how much that goes against the American sports landscape. Relegation should also be considered, and not only for soccer. Baseball should think about it, too.
Re: Re: Pro/Rel would NEVER work in the US The American League isn't superior, the Yankees are superior. There are three leagues in MLB--the NL, the AL, and the Yankees. Unfortunately for the rest of the AL, the Yankees play their games against the AL. The NL and AL are roughly significant, with a slight NL historic advantage coming from dominance during the sixties and early / mid-seventies.
Why not have two, single-table leagues, with one in the East and one in the West? Or if that chaps your butt, East and West conferences, each single table, with limited interleague/conference play? As for Atlanta, forget Bobby Dodd. After the so-called "debacle" with the Beat ("them girl kickball players done tore up our grass!" (and I'm a Tech fan, even)), I doubt pro soccer will return there. They'd need their own stadium, which seems about as likely as Atlanta ever having a Republican mayor in this millemium. Don't forget about Charlotte, but I wonder if B'ham would be big enough to support MLS in the long run. Atlanta fans would be so chapped about being left out, they'd never go, and would continue to take it out on their A-League team, which isn't really all that bad. They just charge too much and play on the wrong side of town for most of the fans.