Scotty just posted it on the USA N&A. http://www.espnfc.us/mexican-liga-m...layer-limit-on-foreigners-naturalized-players This will have the opposite effect that the poobahs there anticipate. The total number of imports will go up while the South Americans will be replaced by North Americans and Africans. They'll have to change it back again soon.
Why not? There are a lot of African and North American players who are perfectly capable of fitting into the $200K-$700K range that the Mexican clubs can afford. The South Americans have been brought in precisely because they could be naturalized and thus rendered as "local" after a settling-in period. The new deal eliminates that entirely and opens the league up to everyone. The North Americans have an additional commercial benefit too. A lot more viewers will tune into those Univision/Unimas matches if they have a couple of Yanks on the field. Better yet, a couple of yanks on each squad. MLS honchos must love that development. PS. In the past, African players like Biyik and Kalusha had done very well there.
Liga MX hasn't really spent on non-dual national Americans though. Pretty sure just about every last yank playing there holds Mexican citizenship. Would be interesting if they start going after non-Mexicans. I know there was interest in Larin last year but he seems set on Europe at some point.
I think it's interesting that a player like Isaac Brizuela will be foriegn player despite playing for the Mexico nation team.
Players born outside of Mexico registered in Liga MX by age 19 will count as domestic players. "Players with dual Mexican-American nationality will be considered as one of the eight [Mexican] players if when they first register with the FMF [Mexican federation] they haven't reached 19 years," read the statement. http://www.espnfc.us/mexican-liga-m...layer-limit-on-foreigners-naturalized-players But, yes, there will be players eligible to represent Mexico under FIFA rules who are considered foreigners in Liga MX.
damarcus beasley intersting timing of this announcement combined with rumors of a joint mexico-us world cup bid....maybe behind the scenes both leagues are planning to become more symbiotic? or maybe this was part of the negotiations for a joint bid? just random speculations.
My random speculation thinks that it has more to do with the fear of foreign players (which is common globally) and, in the case of the US-Mexicans, FIFA anti-18 prohibition. Under the new rules, the US-Mex kids have that one year window to become fully "Mexican".
It's interesting to note that the primary Mexican U20 GK, Jesse Gonzalez, will have to be considered a foreign player.
True but he represents a different route, long Euro career at higher levels then went to Liga MX near the end. Liga MX hasn't yet started buying non-dual nationals out of MLS.
Back, back, back, back (this is a very poor Chris Berman imitation) in the mid-90's, before MLS opened its doors, several US players went down there - Dom Kinnear, Cle Kooiman, Marcelo Balboa, Eric Wynalda, Mike Sorber, Tab Ramos (and probably a few names I forget).
I have a general question that I see as related .... does LigaMX have TV contracts outside of North America? How does that affect the way they sign foreign players?
My friend explained it more as away to compete with the South American leagues. Like for Libadores and shid. Less boundaries for what their teams can look like.
Not American. Liga MX regularly signs South Americans. I think my general point is quite clear, would be interesting to see MLS' response if Liga MX starts offering better money to guys like a Nagbe(500K), Lletget(115K), Trapp(150K), or some of the better young prospects, American or not like Fagundez(165), Larin(177K) or Manneh(157K) or Castillo(170K). Point being, outside Nagbe all those guys are on salaries which are embarrassingly low and that happens because MLS has no competition across our landscape. Now they suddenly do with a league which can offer decent money if they so decide. I generally doubt players would want to go play and live in Mexico but if you triple their salary...
http://www.espnfc.com/team/mexico/2...us-dual-nationals-limited-by-new-liga-mx-rule A bit more on how the Mexican-Americans are dealing with the new rule. "I don't see it as a benefit to anybody," said former U.S. international Herculez Gomez, who had a successful career in Mexico as a dual national registered with the league as a Mexican. "It really is a strange thing to see. You are going to see players that were highly coveted not be there, like Omar Gonzalez, who was a great find for Pachuca. If this would've happened a year ago [the deal] wouldn't have happened." "It's kind of weird that I've been here in Mexico for all these years and all of the sudden I'm a foreigner," added Garza. Garza notes that other Mexican-Americans in Tijuana -- Paul Arriola, Alejandro Guido, John Requejo and Amando Moreno -- will be included as Mexicans despite not all having Mexico-born parents due to the fact that they registered with the FMF before they were 19. Edgar Castillo, Joe Corona, Jose Torres and Ventura Alvarado will all be in the same position. Garza was hopeful that a "grandfather provision" -- in which an old rule takes precedent while the new one applies to all future cases -- would be implemented by Liga MX. "I think it will discourage dual nationals to come south to play because now it's basically like going anywhere in the world to compete for a foreign spot on a team," Queretaro's Bornstein said to ESPN FC. "When I came to Mexico it was because I had dual citizenship and could play here as a Mexican. Now, if I were to have the same opportunity six years ago with these new rules in effect, I may have considered other options, like Europe or South America." "One hundred percent no," said Gomez, when asked if he would have come down to Puebla had the current rule been in place. "Who knows what would've become of my life? I was blessed that in my five, six years in Mexico it went extremely well for me, I made incredible memories. I was fortunate enough to change my life."
The international man of nonsense. As with most rule changes, there will be winners and there will be losers. Just because Herc kicked the ball in anger south of the border doesn't make him an expert on the market as a whole. The USMNT ratings in Copa America have been huge. A lot of the US based fans basically tune MLS out but do follow a prominent US international if his matches were easily available.
The thing is, to those types of viewers any US international loses "prominent" status if he plays in Mexico. England, Spain, Germany? Sure. Anything else? Meh. The size of the bloc of US viewers who will tune into matches specifically to see certain American players is much closer to @Jazzy Altidore's estimate.