It's good the academy kids are getting some work vs their peers from another MLS team. Would also be nice if the team made something of this.
Game moved to tomorrow morning. Both teams will be the majority of the Crew/Fire u19’s as well as some of the college players they are evaluating. Chicago will also be playing their homegrowns
Is this the temporary bridge "league" that Bez mentioned some MLS teams may use this year while MLS get the new development league off the ground next season?
Yes, doing exhibition games now but there will be a formal announcement of the league at some point. A lot of the current u19 academy players not committed to major D1 programs will go directly into the u23 team. I imagine that the 05’s and younger who as an age group haven’t started their college search will all likely go from academy to Crew 2 to hopefully Crew homegrown The current team is mostly the u19’s with a couple college kids formerly in the academy who are home for the summer. Quite a few of these kids will also likely be practicing with the first team this summer as well
https://www.espn.com/soccer/major-l...e-soccer-to-launch-development-league-in-2022 They sure do talk about bringing teams to other communities yada yada. Will be interesting if any MLS teams spread their wings, or if it will just be these “independent” teams that increase the footprint.
Or, indeed, if any independent clubs join. To do so, they may need to buy into the business model/roster rules MLS will eventually release. The three pre-existing "lower division clubs" that MLS references in the article are three of the seven USL Championship clubs owed and operated by MLS clubs (KC, Seattle and RSL), so that seems to mean that USL-C will lose those clubs next season, and they'll shift from being D-2 level pro teams to D-3 with totally different rosters. Anyway, 20 MLS teams is enough for the league to function even if no other non-MLS groups take part.
Assuming the games aren't closed door, I'll probably make a trip or two per season to see Crew 2. Does this make me crazy?
With any luck, many games will be the day after the senior sides play. So Saturday night at the new stadium to watch the MLS teams, and Sunday at HCS to watch the youngsters. Sounds like an efficient use of your time, to me.
Assuming they're in the afternoon, this would work. Church wouldn't even be an issue as I have a "home away from home" congregation I attend when in C-Bus.
Since The Crew will now be a major investment to watch in person, I’d like to see Crew 2 become an affordable option for people just wanting to sample professional soccer. $5 to $10 a seat and cheap concessions. The goal is to develop better players. Why not develop more Crew fans while you are at it?
For me, I think it would be cool if they had Crew 2 occasionally play earlier on a Saturday, then have a fan shuttle/party trolley run people from Upper.com Stadium to Lower.com Field for the evening match. I could come for a whole day of soccer.
In the previous rendition of the reserve league, the reserve team would always play second. Presumably, this was so that "bubble" guys who were sparingly used during the full team match could be used more heavily during the reserve match. Of course, most were on Sunday mornings, but a few were on Saturday late afternoons.
I figured that. Just thought an occasional "day of Crew soccer" deal might be cool. But then I still hold out hope of the Crew planting an affiliate in NEO, even though it clearly makes economic and developmental sense to have any reserve or lower division team playing out of HCS and the OHPC, irrational as it is.
Many (most?) MLS clubs that currently own and operate USL teams allow their MLS season ticket holders to attend those lower division matches for free. I could certainly live with that.
General admission, free to season ticket holders and $5 for the public would be a great way to get people in the gates to spend $10-$20 on concessions. I do think a double header at the new place a couple times a year would be a good way to get 5000 people to spend 5 hours in the new stadium (also spending more money on concessions). Development of our young players is the primary directive. Growing the brand secondary. Making money (or not losing as much) is tertiary at best.
I was really hoping that the Crew would be getting a USL team as well, because those games would be streamed on ESPN+. If MLS is moving away from that trend (and I don't know that they are), t's too bad. At present the two leagues seem to co-exist effectively.
I think MLS 2 teams are all leaving USL or at least most of them, to join this MLS 2 league. The streaming may be something that gets sorted out in the new TV deal. I think MLS 2 teams were hurting USL as they were the lowest in attendance and didn't necessarily care about winning.