Anti-Beckham rule?

Please explain how Youri Djorkaeff pre-World Cup wasn't a benefit for the Red Bulls. Zidane is 34. Jaime Moreno and Christian Gomez are 32. Take a look at D.C.'s record and tell me how washed up they are. I could also add that Ante Rasov is 32 as well but that would just be...oh poo, I did it anyway!

 

I don't think the Beckam Rule will do much to advance the league at this point.

Make the league interesting first, then buy these stars to get people turn up to see how exciting it is. The league IS NOT a great watch at this point. A few stars isn't going to drastically change that, is it?

Watching all these doited players playing matches that mean nothing isn't a recipe for success from where I am sitting. I'd save my money, but if these guys want to drop tons of coin on Ronaldo, Zidane or whomever, I'll enjoy it bigtime.

I have a feeling it will turn into an expensive lesson though..

 

I don't think the "Beckham Rule" will help nor hurt MLS.

Basically the quality of players and on field product is....uhm...how to put this nicely....NOT THAT GOOD. MLS stinks in all fairness when compared to other professional leagues. Will an older European superstar improve the quality of the league and on field product? Of course it would. Would this in turn increase league revenue? Of course not. So it is a double edged sword. THe problem that I see is this........MLS and soccer for youth in the US is TOO EXPENSIVE! For the quality of product we are getting it is not worth the $45 ticket price + $15 parking to see the Chicago Fire. I think that there is a huge price discrepancy and MLS is not offering a value for the fans.

However -- Zidane and Ronaldo and Beckham, etc. COULD improve that value.

Pele was 36 (methinks) when he joined the Cosmos!

 

2 reasons this is a great rule:

1. How else would i going to get a chance to see these great players play if they didn't come to the US? If they are good enough to play in the WC then they should be fit enough for MLS. I will pay to see them play and take my kids!

2. Hopefully they will teach and preach improved quality of play, look at the impact of Valderamma and Peter Nowak. Class older players who improved their teams level of play by directing the attack through them.

 

Its a good rule for many reasons.


No one is saying this rule is the save all of MLS, its not. But it brings a bit of life into the league if they owners choose to use it. And thats what it comes down to, it gives owners who want to roll the dice an opportunity to do so.

It doesnt surprise me this thread was started by a Kansas City fan. Not so much because its Kansas City but because you have Hunt as your owner. He is very conservitive and probably wouldnt use it to sign a great player, i wonder if he would use it at all.


But i wish i had a dollar for every soccer fan that said they would go to more games if MLS had better players.

You have to start somewhere with this rule, at first it will probably be players near the end of their careers. There is no club in the world that would feel embarased in signing Ronaldo or Zidane or Beckham...why should you as a fan feel that way. Those type of players raise the visability of the league, there are hundreds of clubs in the world that would love to sign those guys.

 

Here's the question that obviously has to follow that....

Will they keep going to matches to see this star?

MANY people have sampled MLS and decided they don't like it. The experience isn't good enough. Most people agree that adding 1 big time player to a club wouldn't change the product overall all that drastically. It will help ofcourse, but it isn't going to be like night and day.

After these guys come out and see Ronaldo once or twice, will they tire of the experience and stop coming? Hasn't MLS tried this with some Mexcian guy a few years back? Afterall, the product wouldn't be ALL that much different than it is now.

Can we learn anything from Champions World here? When these big teams first came over, there was a huge buzz. The second year there was less buzz. And these were clubs with a ton of huge names, not just one per team.

Youri is kinda like one of these guys isn't he and less that 6,000 a match turn out to see Red Bull.

Just some good questions for us to think about before supporting the spending of millions to attract big names.

And just for the record, I am not TOTALLY anti the idea, but I am very skeptical as to its effects on the league.

 

It all depends on how wisely each team spends its extra money. If they spend it on a guy just looking for a paycheck who doesn't have much left then no it won't help. If the team finds a good player who is willing to work, it will.If he is exciting,someone people will marvel at his skill then the people will come back to see him.
If the team's record does not improve,like the red bulls, then it still won't work,even with a good player.

 

Well its not my money.

But lets remember its not the league that will be paying these guys under the proposed rule. Its the owners themselves. If an owner feels he can land a player and pay him X dollars, and they feel his return on that investment will be worth it to the clubs bottom line, then they are using their business judgment to make that call.

Its not like the rest of MLS will have to pick up the tab, its the owner himself only.


As for your question, sure thats a possibility, but as a fan i would rather see them try it to see how it really works then to speculate that it wont and never try.

Like i said signing the name isnt the solution, but its part of the solution. MLS has to break down old paradims.

 

Youri and Gomez didn't cost several million dollars.

 

No they didn't, but these guys were diamonds in the rough. Nowak also didn't cost that much either.

I say, if you can answer the next three questions as "yes", then pay money to get them:

1. Are they relatively well-known players that people know and will want to see based on name and reputation alone?

2. Will they treat the league seriously, and not some highly-paid vacation?

3. Will they teach the young'ns skills and professionalism?

 

Yeah, It's not my money and I wouldn't mind watching these guys play, so in that regard, I would like to see this happen too.

I would just hate to see big crowds come out to see these guys, then just fade away into the wood work for the same reasons people don't get hooked on MLS now.

It's a win win for me personally though. I am not complaining, just wondering..

Spend RB spend... Hopefully soon so we can make run at the Cup

 

I can't see the Beckham rule working. If a good value comes along, that's one thing, but making a habit of paying millions to stars on the downside of their careers will be risky.

If one of these players comes to MLS and gives the curious what they want to see - domination - people will say that MLS is a poor level. If they are just another player, people will say that they are over the hill, and that MLS is a retirement league like the ones in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Then you have the players that mail it in or get injured, which are just a waste of money.

I say we focus on building a connection with the communities. I mean a connection between the local team and the people of the community. It's not about selling the sport of soccer, it's about making people care about their teams.

People aren't diehard crazy fans of their college basketball teams because they are the top level of players in the world. Nor are they crazy because they simply love the sport and the college team is the closest one to see live. People love their college teams because they have an emotional connection with something that they feel a part of. That is the kind of thing that MLS needs to foster.

 

I feel the same, but why cant we strive for both? I think the negatives of such a rule is overstated. A little star power in the league has to outweigh your concerns i think.

Still i would rather see them give it a go and see what they can make of it then to sit on their hands and not.

 

God, I wish more fans and MLS itself would finally get this.

 

The thing is, you have to strive for both. Independently they will most likely not work.

People will most likely come out to see Ronaldo a couple times then fade away. This is what happens where this is no connection to the club.

Remember your thread/post about the Latino community and building bonds with these demographics? The same thing applies here.

You can't have a energyless league where the games don't matter, add a few stars and all of a sudden people will be hooked.

You can't have a energy filled league where the games matter, with all low level talent or any star power either.

Both is the key. Having one aspect without the other will yield minimal results. Bring both to the table then you might see the popularity of MLS rise. JUST bring big names and it's more of the side show mentality.

You are right, let's try it and prove it out. Ya know though, this sounds like the same kinda of things I heard from the people that used to think SSS's would be the recipe for a strong fan base.

People will come to check it out, then they will stop coming.

 

I do not want old washed up stars in MLS. That being said, I think this Cup showed that guys like Zindane & Beckham still have it and do not fall into the old and washed up category.

Are you telling me you wouldn't jump at the chance of having the Golden Ball winner join your team? I'd bring Zidane to the Rapids in a heart beat, headbutt and all.

 

Well my formula has always been building the brand in the community, implementing a solid youth acadamy, etc. Thats just common sense brand building.

But i also think in addition to that teams need a icon. A face to the brand itself. NY hasnt had that since Donadoni. Mathis was big here but not on a global level.

There are so many factors that need to be done to build an ideal situation. I think this is just one of those factors.

#1 to me has always been aggressive brand marketing and community intergration. MLS has done well to penetrate the youth soccer market, but they need to apply similar efforts into the other demo's.

#2 to me is suppling a electric game atmosphere. If people have fun coming to games then they will most likely return and/or tell others about the fun they had. SSS are the vehicle to this, but i have said 1000 times that this isnt the field of dreams. If you build it you just cant assume they will come, you have to make them want to come for the club not the stadium.

#3 to me is laying the foundation for the future. Raising the quality floor in MLS is vital to overall quality. Your only as good as your worst player on the pitch. Having a pipeline to youth players raised in a professional environment by the clubs (youth acadamy) it key to growing passion and quality from within.

#4 to me is increased visability. i think when the sports mad media treats you like a minor league then thats how the public will view you as well. Being part of the mainstream IMo would sure help people start to think that MLS is worth their time, and its ok and even cool to admit to liking it.

#5 to me is raising the profile of the league through aquiring players that transend the game. Players that are reknown and provide that IT factor. Icons that people can identify with. Every time TV adverts a game its never Team X v. Team Z. Its come see Labron and the Cavs take on Kobe and the Lakers. Having a icon figure on your team makes the game eaiser to sell.


There are others but MLS should be striving to implement all these factors in order to build a viable and sucsessfull major soccer league in this counry. Unfortunatly it takes time.

 

I meant it more in the slang vernacular...

Doited = top notch

 

During WC off seasons, you can say MLS is fun to watch, but during the WC, MLS isn't fun to watch. Maybe it's the crappy camera angles MLS likes to use, but the flow of play is soo slow. No one makes runs. Stuff like that. If you add these WC vets, the play will improve. Youri is clearly the best player on the Red Bulls. It's fun to watch him play. I'd rather have Luis Figo running my right flank then someone who is only playing in MLS because that particular team hasn't been able to find a decent replacement (Chris Henderson, for the Red Bulls is an example).

 

I agree with many of these points, disagree wioth a few of them though.

Electric atmosphere isn't NEVER going to come from games that don't mean anything. What are people supposed to get charged up about? Usually, it is the winning and losing of the club they follow that elicits excitent. When winning matters so little, as it does in MLS, people will not develop a passion for it, as we see now. The players also won't demonstrate the passion we see in other leagues, as we see now.

And also the "it takes time" thing is starting to ring a little hollow to me. OFCOURSE some things take time. But let's start seeing some progress towards some of the goals. In many aspects of MLS we see no progress at all. Growing the fan base is one of these areas. And we are actually going backwards here.

For a good experience that people will gravitate to you need to have a decent quality soccer, a good atmosphere and meaningful games that feed the previous two. Look around the World, these are the 3 basic elements of a good soccer experience. Without a strong foundation, these bells and whisles are just that, a little side show.

 

One thing MLS badly lacks is personalities. It is very bland. Is there a player in the entire league where people say to themselves "player X is coming to town this month I'm circling that date on the calender" Maybe Adu or Donovan? I think rather then the Beckham rule the league would be better off making another Cosmos. Put 4 or 5 name players on one team and make them like a traveling circus. Whenever they come to town every team would get huge crowds. It would help MLS name recognition internationally as well as TV ratings.

 

Blong said it all. Better than it has been said before.

Morrissey, usually there is some connection. Living nearby, or even in the same state- especially since big colleges often are state institutions- is enough, and the connections are quite strong, a bit moreso than in pro sports.