Ok, as usual, I'm talking out of my ass. So don't read any "insder" knowledge into this post. Hell, don't read any knowledge into this post. Some of these I hope come true, some I hope don't and others are just there for humor. 1. MLS will have 16 teams and play a 30 game, home and home schedule. There still will be conferences, and 8 teams will make the playoffs. 2. St. Phil still will control 5 teams, and Uncle Lamar will control 2. The other nine will have individual investors. 3. The salary cap will have doubled and rosters will have expanded to 20 + 5 "developmental" players, but as a consequence, there still are no reserve sides. Teams are limited to three SIs apiece, but most teams only have two. 4. The League will average 25K attendance per match in 2009, bouyed by World Cup Qualifers played in sold-out NFL-sized stadia. No team will average fewer than 14K per match. For the first time ever, every WCQ crowd is at least 50-50, with most being substantually pro-American. 5. MLS and the MFL are recoginized as true co-equals, with the two leagues trading the CONCACAF Champions Cup back and forth through a still existing home and home knockout format. 6. National TV becomes "revenue neutral". It's not a time buy, but ESPN keeps all the ad revenue. In 2010, the USA Network will show a "Game of the Week" on Wednesday night. BigSoccer crashes as a result of the "debate". Every team has a local television package showing all matches not on ESPN or USA. 7. MLS continues to add sponsors, but only 12 out of the 16 teams have shirt sponsors. MLS merchandising still sucks. 8. All 16 MLS cities have decent press coverage, but the league still struggles for credibility on a national level. People still note that neither SportsCenter nor SI give much credibility to soccer. But there are fewer and fewer bashers out there. 9. The level of play on the field has continued to improve, especially as players from the first few years of MLS take over the coaching reins. Most new players either go pro out of high school or come back after failed European tryouts. College soccer is clearly on the wane. An interesting side-effect of the improvement in MLS is an improvement in the MFL as the Mexicans have continued to invest in their teams. Coupled with a continued decline in Brasil (where teams draw lots every weekend to determine who plays where) and Argentina, the two North American leagues are regarded as the best leagues outside Europe. 10. Ten of the 16 MLS teams play in soccer specific stadia. Six play in NFL stadia, including DC United, stuck at FedEx Field after efforts to build the Expos a baseball stadium in Virginia ground to halt. 11. The WUSA ended up merging with MLS. Nine of the 10 WUSA teams play in the MLS soccer stadia, with the Freedom playing at FedEx field. 12. DC United is back in decline, after another "mini-dynasty" in the middle of the decade. Once again, they are banking their hopes on a fast-talking British coach -- David Beckaham. 13. The Metrostars are the only original MLS team never to win a single trophy. It's now jokingly referred to as "The Curse of Gilmar." 14. Jim Curtin still has bad hair, but Etch shaved the mullet after a conversion to Buddhism. Sachin
Whew, I'm glad that fast talking coach isn't David Beckham but David Beckaham. This Beckaham fellow sounds familiar...is he coaching in the EPL right now? And yes, he is a very fast English speaker, Beckham on the other hand has been hit in the head too many times and doesn't speak fast anymore.
shouldn't somebody jump in here calling you an idiot and detailing en masse how your plan just won't work? anybody? bueller?
I hope you are right Sachin! I disagree about the decline of college soccer though. While the best teenagers are going to MLS or the A-League there is still going to be more and more talent entering college. Especially with no reserves teams still around. Many kids aren't a star at 17 but develop into a youth international by 20.
If MLS doesn't have reserve teams by then, it will probably be in trouble. But if it has 9 new investors and 10 SSS, it may not be bad trouble. 25,000 a game? Criminy!
Ringo, relax dude. Sachin is part misty-eyed, part light-hearted. Ease up a bit and you'll see the real hopes from the bs. Sachin: Will Roy Lassiter still be on the DC United players welfare program? Maybe not 25k, but the league will definitely be over 20k, and having soccer specific stadiums would be really nice.
Ringo was joking as well.... I get his sense of humor As for Lassiter, no, he will be out of the league, but DC United General Manager Jaime Moreno will bring back Raul Diaz Arce and cut him right before he sets the all-time MLS scoring record. I truly think 25K is achieveable in 2009, mostly because of massive World Cup Qualifer doubleheaders.
Also when you figure that the U.s. will be hosting the world cup in 2010 that's gotta be nothing but positive for us! Defender: Sachin was right in his last post.