I just saw this on the MLS site. He's speaking right now. He's talking about Columbus Crew and about their need to get more season tickets. http://www.thecrew.com/news/2012/02...converstation-mls-commissioner-don-garber-6pm
He's talking about expansion now. And how he thinks Montreal is going well. He thinks they'll get 58k for their opening game and 10-12-13 thousand season tickets.
He wants MLS to be mentioned any time someone talks about the best leagues in the world. And there are 4 key things that need to happen for that to occur. 1. Quality of Play improve. 2. Passion of the fans. 3. Relevance of the clubs within their markets. People talking about the league, knowing when games are, water cooler talk. 4. Value of our enterprise. We don't want a Man U or Chelsea. Do not want a top heavy league. Want an enterprise that can be valuable for all.
Rep from Columbus talking about how they're excited about Barbasol sponsorship. And they're desire for profitability. They've already surpassed last year's season ticket sales totals. Feels good about his team but have a lot of work to do (duh).
Why has expansion been so successful? DG: Open market helps. 30 thousand registered players to pick from so teams can fill up with quality players quickly. Overall league quality has not been as negatively impacted as could have been. What will be the impact of the new TV contract? DG: Somebody new in producing soccer coverage on TV is a positive thing. Fox has been doing a great job lately. He cited the games on the regular FOX network.
Malfunction. The thing is, Channel 1 of MLSsoccer Live is covering the Desert Diamond Cup at 8 and is covering the SOL right now. Someone probably crossed the streams and f'd everything up.
Sounds more like a better chance than Cosmos NYC. This issue has been texted to one of my Facebook connects who is in that room. We shall see.
True, but some balance is necessary. You need storylines, and "top heavy" clubs provide that in spades. In much the same way that other pro sports have, you need dynasties.
I think the Don means we want dynasties or great clubs due to smart scouting, developing players in academies, spending wisely within the cap, finding the right DP's etc (a la the NFL or NHL) and not because one team is able to spend 10 times more than everyone else on players (ie. EPL, La Liga, Serie A, SPL and to some extent MLB).
Compare the number of champions MLB has had compared to the NFL in recent years. Maybe what MLS really wants to emulate in the NFL is the uncritical press coverage? I don't think any US league comes close to those Euro soccer leagues.
You've mixed your message up too much. I'm not sure whether your final statement is a reference to either of the two points you make in the opening paragraph or an earlier discussion point in the thread.