There are many things that need to be changed in MLS. Here's a couple of my ideas. First, there needs to be cash incentives for individual clubs for winning certain honors. For example, for winning the Lamar U.S. Open Cup, Chicago should recieve a certain cash prize for that individual club to spend on its players, staff, expenses, etc. This would give the players something to work for other than just for pride. They would directly be influencing their paychecks, something that they can't do now since no bonuses go to MLS Cup winners, etc. Also MLS needs to give more independence to individual teams so that they can operate more like an separate club like in Europe. These are just some of my ideas, what are yours?
We can't have monetary rewards without true individual teams. When we reach that point of individuality, I will be all for monetary rewards.
Not a bad idea (though 50 posts might be more reasonable). Why not bring this up over in the Suggestions & Announcements forum? https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=5
The MLS needs to move the championship from sunday. Going up against NFL is rediculous when trying to create an audience. Most bars in america probably wont even show it let alone on a small tv in the bar. The MLS really needs to consider moving this to either saturday even though there is college games or friday where there is no real competition. Only the nba ,eventually hockey and one or two college games would be on. If they could get a national broadcast on abc on a friday i would believe they would get higher ratings than they would on sunday against the nfl.
I think moving the championship game to a date or day that there is no other sports game is fine but if you really think about it do you really thing those out of shape bush voting redneck bible lovers that watch the college grid iron games really care about OUR FOOTBALL??? or those hard core fat NFL fans care about MLS?? I think giving the teams more freedom and more independence will come some day when the league is on solid ground with each team with its own stadium..then MLS can become free in every sence..but for now the league is run the way it is run inorder to to really give it a future MLS has 3 stadiums now.. and they are heading in the right direction...you guys and gals may not like the single entity now but the league does this in hope that they will be celebrating 100 years of MLS way down the road when all of us will be in the after life...
Only change should be stopping (or forcing) road teams to wear all white. White shirts, ok, but not all-white.
This post is just the type of arrogance that turns off many readers of these forums. The number of posts that someone makes does not make the smarter or better informed. For instance, an idiot who poast 5,000 times on BS is still an idiot. Unfortunately, he is an idiot who has subjected others to his opinions 5,000 times. The original point of this thread was that the poster wishes there were financial incentives for team accomplishments in MLS. He is right. The league wold be better with such incentives. Is it realistic at this point with SSS and a slowly expanding revenue base. Probably not, although its time will come somewhere sown the road, and porbably within the next 5-8 years.
It doesn't seem to turn off enough of them. . Totally true. However, said idiot usually quits making the mistake that he or she has new ideas that no one has ever heard before, and may even have developed a track record of listening to converstations and debates before starting threads on them. It would be nice if the original poster had a sufficient grasp of reality to realize, like you do, that these changes aren't occuring just yet not because MLS is in the hands of people stupider than he is, but because the money isn't available at this point. Oh, I think his post would've had a bit more of a chance of being taken seriously if 1) Chicago actually won the US Open Cup this year or 2) he'd said "KC Wizards" instead of Chicago. Welcome to bigsoccer, tsink.
I wish the European leagues would fix their problems first. Anyone see the "highlights" of the Istres-Nice game last week? Nice is mid-table. Istres dead last. I was amazed to see: 1) stadium only 1/4 filled if that 2) no sense of urgency from either team. Doesn't relegation danger provide that urgency? That's what I always read here! 3) no true highlights. Even with a 2-minute clip, there was nothing to show and the commentators were commenting on how dreadful it was. After Europe fixes its problems, then we turn to MLS.
Uhm. Teams do get bonuses. The Wizard players split $100k and the Fire players split $50k for winning/making the USOC final.
Yeah, but comments like that about people who voted for Bush are pretty much the norm over in Politics.
The Open Cup is US Soccer and there is already a $100K prize for the winner and $50K for the runner-up. What I've long advocated (as if my opinion rings down the ancient halls of US soccer) is getting a corporate sponsor for the Open Cup, lets say ($1M) gets them signage, and their name on the Cup. $1M would allow the prize money to triple, help offset some of the travel costs and bring some much needed marketing money to the tourney. More pressing issues (that are not currently addressed): MLS realignment - too soon for single table, need 17 teams at least. Move KC to the East. Break for international dates - this should be the number one issue Bribe ESPN for highlight time. Let's face it, they need to start showing MLS highlights on a regular basis if MLS is to work into the mind of Joe American.
I've come to think this is a red herring. MLS is almost 10 years old, people should know it exists by now. They may not be very aware of it but they should know it exists. The selling of MLS and soccer in America has to be done on a brick by brick retail level w/o hoping for BooYaah Sportscenter to put us over the top. My point is that the WNBA gets plenty of hype from Sportscenter, so do other sports I don't give a crap about, namely golf and racing. Doesn't make me want to watch any of them.
Maxim, there's no such a thing as bad publicity and/or exposure. Take the TV networks from WNBA and it'd have no more than a few dozen ladies with mullets and flannel shirts attending its games. Retail selling has to be done in addition to the establishing the brand and the name recognition. It has to be an offensive on all fronts.
I'm not sure if you're very informed about European soccer in general, but the French league is by and large regarded as 2nd tier -- along the lines of the Dutch league. So when two teams play each other, there isn't really a great interest (with the exceptions of PSG, Marseille, Monaco and Lyon), and even less so when one of the teams is in last place. The fact that these are two teams obviously playing poorly (as their standings indicate) in a lower league COULD POSSIBLY explain why you felt there was a lack of highlights/fans/etc. By using such a poor example, you do your argument a great disservice. I agree Europe has problems, but the European experience should be viewed as a model of what to do and not to do for the MLS, not ignored outright. Maxim-1: I've lived in San Diego and LA for the 10 years the MLS has been around, and marketing is relatively non-existant. The only source of advertising for the MLS or the LA Galaxy I have encountered in that time, is the Home Depo Center's marquee on the 405. If the MLS wants to expand, they have to tap more effectively into the television sports market, and to do that they must go through ESPN. College males (my demographic) watch an ungodly amount of ESPN, and if that market can be tapped, then the MLS will be doing nicely. NASCAR is one of the fastest growing sports in the US, and it's not hindered in any respect by showing their product on Sportscenter. Sportscenter may show a single soccer clip in their Top 10 (which is saddly the only segment in which soccer is covered) once every six months or so. If the MLS is to expand it's market share, it must constantly be available to the consumer. MLS coverage needs to be expansive in an effort to reach as many potential customers as possible. Television is key to this. And since ESPN is the major sports network, the MLS must increase it's visability on this channel.
The Perfect Changes Single table top 8 go on to play offs (seeing How MLS would never reduce it In a perfect world the top 4 would go) each team plays each other twice Home and Away.. When the first half of the season ends your All star game vs National teams or Famous Club Sides Since there would be only home and away league games this frees up many dates to promote AHEAD OF TIME US Open Cup Games and Friendly games vs some of the best world teams (to compete with Champions world and with SUM a div of MLS i'm sure they could bring over some good sides) And if MLS wants to have a freak side show to fill up dates and "extend" the season they could Revive the Trans Atlantic Cup and have MLS Cup Winner and Runner up play 2 top club sides 1 from europe and 1 from the americas every year... Club teams with the atlantic cups and brimstone cups can make those cups also like the Transatlantic Cup for some friendly games with some thing extra to win...
i think you missed a bit of maxim's sarcasm. western european soccer leagues are without doubt the best in the world. mls cant just copy them and be popular, americans arent europeans. mls does have someting no euro leagues have parity, which at time is a positive and a negative. how would suggest MLS more effective taps into the television market? they have to pay mls to be on espn right now. i think mls has to be popular before it gets airtime, not get airtime to get popular. i believe mls has made qutie a few errors, but is stable and expanding. we are getting SSS all over the place and with those clubs become profitable and can present a more attractive product.
I think perhaps what the league must do is to become profitable, or at least start in the direction. (we are doing this with the SSS, I am sure the galaxy are in the black again this year) This will attract more sponsorship, and this will attract more exposure. More exposure, means more viewers, and that will mean ESPN will pay the league to put MLS on tv because they wont be throwing money or air time down the drain. btw, how long does the contract between MLS and espn last? After that is gone I am sure that NBC could use some different sports coverage. I mean there has sure been a lot of ice skating and bowling.