My vision for MLS would make it more of a free market system and take it away from it socialist roots. This plan would develop over 15-20 years. 1. Purchase the USL and create a three divison MLS structure with promotion and relegation and a single table. A premier Divison with 18 teams, a first divison with 18 teams, and a second divison with 24 teams in two conferences broken down east and west. All expansion starts the bottom. Plus it would help create a more exciting regular season. 2. Scrap single entity. Why? Because this is America baby and their ain't no free rides. Clubs that don't have a proven business model will fail. The ones that do will succeed. Teams must be allowed to establish their own identity and business relationships not the league, who may or may not understand a teams particular business enviroment. Shirt sponsership, jersey makers, shoe sponsers and any other business decisions are left to the respective clubs. 3. Scrap the draft. Again any organzation should be able to sign whoever they see fit. Teams should be rewarded for their hard work, scouting, and organization. The last place team should not be rewarded for failure, again this America. A cap shall remain on foreign players. 4. Split season to miss the heat of summer. Mar-June and Sept-Dec. Also observe the FIFA calender. 5. Scrap the playoffs. Its a stupid set up and it needs to go. The overall points winner will be the champion. The MLS cup will be the points winners of the first half of the season vs. the second half. 6. Stop trying to make MLS the nfl, nba, nhl, or mlb. It's not. Let's play the world and beat them at their own game. Remember if you hate my plan you hate America
Re: A new vision(old) for MLS I am sorry. But. There is nothing socialist about the MLS business model. Heck. If you are playing loose with the definition of "socialism" then McDonald's and all the franchises in America are socialist. They ain't. It's a simple legal capitalist monopoly that's no different from old Ma Bell. When the MLS owners start setting up accords with MLS Players' Union and MLS Franchises reg. sharing profits, equalization of salaries, community residents having a vote in BoD elections, etc.....then....maaaayyyyybeeee we can talk about MLS being a socialist entity. If you want something that is close to as "socialist"-like, then maybe try Cruz Azul which is actually owned by a cement worker's co-operative.
Wonderful. I share your vision. As the Two-Faced Mayor once said in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, "I fully endorse it, let's try it at once!"
What socialist roots? The players' union? MLS has no roots. It's a top down corporate model with executives who have little or no soccer savvy or experience. Some are apparently from the NFL, which could explain why MLS appears to actually be subverting the growth of soccer as a potentially major spectator sport in this country. Perhaps MLS is a trojan horse. The workers (employees and players) have minimal say, and are exploited. The players had to form a union to save themselves from starvation. Soccer fans also have no say (lame ass polls, to fool its followers into thinking their ideas count, do not wash) other than vote with their feet, which most of them in this country have. Hence even the supposedly shiny new stadiums exhibit more tumbleweeds blowing across their deserted expanses than people. Your league model is not bad, though. Certainly an improvement on the current mindnumbingly dull structure. It's a shame, because soccer has such great potential in this country. Right now, we're just fuelling shirt sales of Eureopean leagues, which have many of the structural features you purport to champion. Here I am, signed, Seal'd, delivered, I'm your fan!
Just thinking about expansion... how would you allocate this? With your model, there would be 84 teams in the League - which is 51 more than currently exist in the MLS and both USLs combined. Would you offer places to top PDL teams like Des Moines or Orange County, or would you work in terms of trying to capture population centers which don't currently have any representation at any level, like Philadelphia or Detroit? Of would you simply open it up to all, and the first 51 successful business models got the places, irrespective of their commercial potential and possible fan-base? What if Anchorage, or Honolulu got an outstanding package together? They would be in MLS2 West, and could theoretically be playing against a team from San Diego or Albuquerque - that'd be one hell of a road trip! Lots to think about...
I wish I could fly... no mechanical aids & non drug induced! The only good part of these suggestions that I think may make some sense is to require teams to start out in USL-1, get a 18,000+ spectator stadium deal, meet the money & attendance requirements. Then after at least 1 year pay the expansion fee. Promotion without the regulation might work rather than promotion/regulation which will never fly Maybe the Rhochester Rhinos will be the first to take this route to MLS.
I agree with the 'one table deal', I love the idea of relegation and promotion, I don't think we should emulate baseball, american football, ect. that would be stupid, those games don't match up. We need better coverage from the "media", the unbiased media, (PAUSE--waiting for american football commercial to end-------OK) We need to fill the stadiums, and become more visible. Also, due to the fact that kids count as people, there are more people playing soccer in America than any other sport, the times they are a-changing. A new year is on the way and I believe we're gonna see a dramatic rise in the game. 2006, sukit! oh, and Go Fire!
What the hell's a Eurosnob? Isn't this the way the league works in Brazil, Argentina, Japan, South Africa, Egypt, Chile, Peru, Mexico, China, Malaysia... 99% of the football-playing world?
I think what he was suggesting is that NFL is sabotaging MLS by sending ex-NFL executives to run the league into the ground. Which, of course, is ludicrous.
And after we accomplish all that, lets ********ing bask in the wonder that is world peace, both of which aren't going to happen.
Whenever I read yet another thread like this one, I wonder if the person writing is joking, because there is no way in hell any strategy like this would ever work. Hell, those strategies don't really work in Euro leagues either. It's always a race between -- at most -- three teams for the title every year. MLS is doing the right thing to introduce a non-mainstream sport to the US. They are making sound business decisions and any move away from single-entity at this time would spell disaster. I mean, jeez. Take some business or accounting classes. What you are proposing is suicide for MLS.
Pssst....I also think the NFL has been trying to sabotage MLS by having some of its owners infiltrate our ownership ranks (Hunt, Kraft)
I want MLS to succeed very much but the current business model puts out a sub-standard product on the pitch (games don't mean anything because of all inclusive playoff structure and lack of relegation threat) and a fundamental lack of incentive to build and develop quality local organizations (scouting, B2B connections, youth development) because of single entity. (see San Jose, Kansas City, Tampa, and Miami.)Why should AEG try and make San Jose work if they can move to Houston. Ask me about this next year when KC moves to Cleveland. Just because McDonald's works as a business model should our soccer leagues be set up the same way? Forget the business model what about the game? Is watching Col vs. Dallas in 100 degree heat any fun. How about during the world cup? Why does most of the league make the playoffs?
Your missing the point. I like the NFL and I love the Washington Redskins but they're two different sports with two different business and organizational models. Soccer is not the NFL players can be developed at a much younger age.(hockey anyone) Scrap the draft and let the clubs have territorial rights to the colleges and let the non collegiate players sign to the club of their choice.(works for the NCAA) Also NFL will always be able to milk the cash cow called the tv timeout. MLS doesn't have that luxery. So lets say the San Jose quakes want to increase revenue as a team? Why not a shirt sponser if the clubs owners see fit? Why should that be dictated by the all the owners. If DC United wants only the club crest on their shirt so be it. The incentive that drives the rest of business in America is missing from MLS. Thats the incentive to make it big to be the next Microsoft or Dell. MLS aspires to be average an honestly they miss that target often. Look outside of your box.