On the Final Four of MLS Cup 2019 Link: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019...-final-4-says-about-present-and-future-league Notice: Talent wins. And investing in talent is what defines MLS 3.0. Talent on the field (DPs, TAM, domestic signings, standalone USL teams, robust academies). Talent on the technical side (head coach, GM/sporting director, scouting, sports science, medical). Talent in the front office to bring it all together (literally everyone, owner to intern).
Annual Forbes article on franchise values. Interesting http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2019/11/04/major-league-soccers-most-valuable-teams-2019-atlanta-stays-on-top-as-expansion-fees-sale-prices-surge/#1e781b8b51b5
Interesting stats: This is why making investments to your MLS club over running it like a day to day corner store is a big capital investment in the long run, if and when a current owner wants to sell to a new owner. And those deals have transpired alongside the rocketing expansion fees being asked from—and readily paid by—prospective new owners. League investors in Cincinnati and Nashville agreed to pay $150 million to join up while planned teams in St. Louis and Sacramento will come on at an expansion fee of $200 million. The next round, for MLS team No. 30, is expected to sell for more than $300 million. That’s triple what NYCFC and Orlando paid less than five years ago, and it’s a staggering 650% increase over the $40 million that the Montreal Impact’s owners paid to join the league in 2012.
It’s kind of like when all the sudden when everybody was getting into Emu ranching - prices to get in sky rocketed because of demand to get in the business and then it collapsed when the demand from prospective ranchers dried up. Meanwhile demand for emu leather and meat stayed the same and prices plummeted creating a double whammy for those late to get in the game. There will be some contraction as the newer owners lose money in this game...
was watching the western Red River last night. unstated was the reason for cattle drives is if everyone has cows in texas then they aren't worth that much here. expansion has gotten silly and there will be some mistakes eg Miami. the history of NASL was that as they got greedy for fees they got less picky on sites. surprised that a league as focused on roster parity and capping salaries as it is***, takes these risks on expansion. i think there will be some incentive to move failing teams around rather than contract. i would think the ever rising expansion fees are propping the price up because while you can value an existing team at approximately an expansion fee, as an alternative to same (plus cash flow/stadium equity), that model only holds if expansion continues. if expansion ends then i think there is a slight premium for the absence of expansion (your only route in is to buy), but beneath that more of a fundamental value. ***i should say that MLS is like a pendulum and right now we're swinging back over to free market and risk. DPs, many international slots. less concern with the "health" of US soccer players, or whether teams are in fact equal. tiering.
Top players at their respective positions: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019/11/13/warshaw-top-5-mls-positional-rankings-2019 None of our guys shown.
No surprise. We have a couple of pretty good players, but wouldn't put them ahead of anybody on this list.
IMO we have a ton of players around "average," as good as the next team's hustle guys, the difference is the elite player that would make this list. how many and how good. to be fair, we had a couple well above average forwards, manotas and elis. but this quality core is smaller than the playoff teams, and coincides with positions where other teams spend massive sums to get even better players. so even when we have a 20 goal guy he's not top 5 at his position. and we may be selling one or both. at which point, 2016. keeper was subpar, not just not top 5. defense looks horrific for next season. keeper will be salvaged in the next 2 windows with a #1 signing. defense will be more complicated because that is trash and you basically need 4 new bodies to fix that, with all these others under contract.
https://www.intermiamicf.com/en/post/2019/12/02/inter-miami-cf-signs-defender-aj-delagarza Great guy by all accounts, but glad that we moved on.
Its funny..in the new FM Matt Jordan is now on the board so he can't be fired unlike in previous versions. Just a fun tangent to all this.
Look at what our man Beasley is now helping grow in our city! https://www.chron.com/sports/dynamo/article/Dynamo-s-co-owners-aim-to-make-soccer-more-14877329.php
Skills on display: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019...ery-best-skills-2019-mls-season?autoplay=true
NYCFC possible new stadium??? https://theoutfield.org/2019/12/20/a-first-look-at-nycfcs-bronx-stadium-plan/
Inter Miami to hire Diego Alonso as head coach, announcement expected Monday DECEMBER 28, 2019 12:26 AM https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/...gvlQEcwVcyhdzyMKGHbMfaa_1L_9xFLn5ncPZ9b4FUlp4
Our all Raven Black 3rd jersey made this list for All Decade Jerseys in MLS. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/01/05/my-top-11-best-mls-kits-past-decade-j-sam-jones
Please read: https://www.sportspromedia.com/news...lanta-united-arthur-blank-don-garber-finances “I think the league continues to attract a higher level of investor that is willing to invest not only more money, but bring their business expertise, their sense of marketing and management to the league and to their own clubs, which is really good. I couldn’t be more excited about the direction of the league.” MLS and US Soccer in global data tie-up with Stats Perform According to Forbes, revenues for MLS franchises are rising, but the business publication’s latest projections align better with MLS commissioner Don Garber’s statements over the past 12 months that most teams in the league are operating at a loss. “I need to convince our owners to make investments in the future of the league that will force them to operate at a loss. This is a labour of love,” Garber told the New York Times last year. “They are willing to run their businesses at a loss. But they are not philanthropists. They ultimately want to make a profit.” However, an indication of MLS franchise viability comes from the host of cities throwing their weight behind securing an expansion outfit. Most recently, Charlotte was confirmed as the 30th and potentially final MLS franchise, paying a record US$325 million to bring top-tier soccer to North Carolina. Previously, St Louis and Sacramento, which were awarded the 28th and 29th spots, are each paying an expansion fee of US$200 million. Furthermore, the average value of an MLS franchise has now climbed 30 per cent from US$240 million to US$313 million, according to Forbes.
Blank sold Almiron for $27m. When I saw that number was when I started thinking even trying "selling team" would be a losing tactic for us as long as the assets were bought on a beer budget. Buy high sell higher. Save a buck sell on for less. Moneyball works no better trying to be a selling team. You get $6m offers instead of $27m even if your guy has pretty good numbers. Still playing catch up. I am curious if some of the contradiction you think you hear is that the team doesn't sell enough tickets to cover the payroll but gets there on TV, sponsorships, etc. or maybe player sales. Player sales wouldn't be normal operating procedure but that one sale would cover 2 years of payroll-ish. It would feel strange to a NFL owner at first glance, but there is no place to sell their players on to. BTW as the team prepares and there is little news except a lousy uniform wasted on the model........remember that we had 2 players on the block so no news is arguably bad news. Euro window opened then closed. Russia opened a week or two ago and Manotas wasn't announced. Probably a few more weeks left on that window. Think people are sufficiently bummed their expected exit was either assumed or forgotten. Which, if you want a silver lining, means we currently have Ramirez Manotas Elis Quintero Memo and I'd be considering ways to get more than 3 on the field at a time.
The more I read about the new CBA, the more I think it aligns with what I like. - More free agency; - Greater parity through harder cap mechanisms (less DTAM, more GAM); - More money, especially the provision guaranteeing 25% of enhanced tv contract revenue above $100m more into salary budget (I’d like to see the salary budget established as a percentage of all league/team revenue — aligning ownership and player incentives with league success); and - process to grow into charter flights over-time. And all delivered without acromony and on-time. Big win for Garber, the fans, the players, the owners. It moves the league forward exactly how I would if the owners came to their senses and made me MLS Czar.
These guys are cute! https://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports...0200222-5vdy5kkdqba4rg2hwjbm2tuala-story.html
https://www.espn.com/soccer/major-l...-mlb-as-uss-no-3-sport-in-10-years-lafc-owner "I think we will be the league of choice. I think we're already a league of choice to a certain extent, whether we can be a top-five league or a top-three league will really come down at the end of the day to money, our ability to compete for players." MLS has increasingly attracted better players from South America. "I think the good news is players want to play here," he said. "We're the United States of America. "People want to live here. It's an incredible lifestyle. The infrastructure is fantastic." Mas co-owns the Miami team that launches this weekend, partnering with former England captain David Beckham. He talked about what MLS will look like for its 40th year in 2045. "I think MLS will be one of the top sports leagues in the United States," Mas said. "I think it will be on par or exceed the best leagues in the world, the Premier League or Serie A or La Liga worldwide.
A good read on what the NBA and MLS have in common, where they were in similar eras of their life. https://worldsoccertalk.com/2020/02/27/what-mls-can-learn-from-the-nba/
good for that next round of expansion fees... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ets-record-setting-700-million-plus-valuation
https://frntofficesport.com/mls-tv-media-deal/ MLS expansion will stop at 30 clubs, unless we can continue to squeeze out more expansion fees, Garber says.