The Cosmos would be best off signing 11 players who make $500k per year rather than bringing in guys who make $5M and don't move the attendance needle anyway IMO. Ayoze, Roversio, Cellerino type guys in greater depth.
Totally agree with that assessment. Its just a lot of good NASL players are already signed by now and one wonders if they're hoping to bring in a few more loan players then normal after having success with Leo Fernandes .
I think the 11 good players idea is fine but you can't sell it and gain the same publicity like having a Raul does. Like it not the Cosmos are going to struggle for attendance at Hofstra and revenues are limited until a new stadium is built. the 11 good players might make for abetter team but after winning the shield and the championship how does that translate with the gate/revenues that improves upon last year? Keeping the team in the news [and losing money] preparing for the future is all we have. Having a star to market gathers attention for team and academy; a necessary evil.
Not really. They almost sold out the first game then after that they had between 3-5k the rest of the season. Raul's signing seemed to help with the overseas fanbase more then it did with the domestic one.
I think there is a balance between the two and both are important, but in my opinion winning is more important than star power. Just look at Chelsea. 30 stars, none shining very brightly.
Whatever benefit Raul may have added was offset by the crappy game dates available at Hofstra. We were only up 2%. The stadium is the key issue for the Cosmos.
I agree, for Cosmos and the other teams in the league too; the infrastructure of a stadium [dates, revenue] and a training center is paramount for long term success.
And the gulf between summer amateur leagues and professional leagues is unbelievably large. I think a lot of posters aroun here are completely ignorant of the differences between the two. It's why I keep telling people that there is no "Division 4" in the United States. The PDL and NPSL are not teams of professional soccer players. And the mechanics of promoting a team from being an on the margins short season landing zone for college players during the summer to being a long season league with the payroll explosion of a professional team, not to mention likely issues of facilities and lack of staff, staff, sponsorships, and fan bases boggles the mind. But, hey, when you're (and I'm not speaking to you, per se) like to cuddle up with your pro/rel security blanket, actual real world issues don't really matter.
Cosmos B annihilating the competition in NPSL demonstrated that well enough. Cosmos B would not have been a good NASL team. Having pro/rel between NASL and NPSL would require at least one middle tier division created in between them where the stronger NPSL operations like Detroit City and Chattanooga FC can incubate. That probably needs to be at least east / west split to lower travel costs, if not divided into four regions. It's a ways away from reality. But it would be something to work towards to give NASL a different value proposition to offer soccer fans - a global league structure vs MLS's US league structure.
Have you also noticed that a lot of them focus on the 'pro' part in their posts, and ignore the 'rel'? Some also use improper written English like "It's a ways away", and suggest that some lower level teams should "incubate" .
Yeah, I've always noticed that when people talk about the virtues of Pro/Rel they seem to exclusively talk about PRO, as opposed to REL. It's absolutely outstanding when your little team from West Bumble F***, MT gets promoted. But what happens when your multi-million dollar, middle-tier team that the owners have used their life saving to bring you get relegated, and now they can't afford to field the team anymore?
The virtue of relegation is that it makes the bottom of the table competitive until the end of the season. Whereas in U.S. sports leagues you have teams tanking intentionally to get a more desirable draft pick, with relegation there are consequences to finishing at the bottom. Some of the best final week drama can come with teams are fighting to stay out of the drop zone. Parachute payments etc can make their fall to the second tier recoverable. A false problem that was thrown out in the recent BlazerCon article was "can you imagine if X superstar's team got relegated and he had to play in the second tier???!!!" The answer to that is simple, you sell that superstar to the highest bidder if they don't want to play in the second tier, and you use those funds to retool for promotion. Certainly promotion is the sexier side of pro/rel but relegation has its merits as well, including dropping clubs that can't keep up competitively from the top division and thus making the division stronger by replacing them with stronger clubs.
I've never really gotten excited about watching two shitty teams play so they can stay in the league one more season and be shitty again. One benefit of the US way is that it allows teams to rebuild the right way after they end up with a crap team. Instead of having to make short-term decisions just to stay alive, you can develop and execute a multi-year plan to rebuild your organization into a more sustainable competitor. Pro/rel is stupid and does not belong in US Soccer. Can we please put this to bed and stop de-railing threads like this!
Sounds like MLS is the right league for you. If NASL wants to compete with MLS, they need to find people with different preferences than you and appeal to them.
No they do not. If they want to compete with MLS, they need to put out a better product and steal away the majority of MLS' supporters. Pro/rel will not get them anywhere with anyone, especially potential investors who the NASL desperately needs right now.
A direct attack on MLS's market position would be foolish, at least in the near term. Mimicking MLS's business strategy will keep NASL second rate, even if NASL primarily goes to markets MLS isn't in. They will always be a cheaper MLS if they do that. MLS is a lot more invested and further along in its approach, and will continue to invest in that approach, widening the gap. The class of investor NASL would need to close that gap would be difficult to attain on any consistent basis. NASL's way towards being an alternative D1 is to offer a true alternative style of competition. Pro/rel, only at the right time when the second tier of teams is ready for it, can be a major differentiator. Other differentiators include the present ones like no salary caps, no draft, no all-star games, spring/fall season, fewer teams in playoffs, etc. Those are nice but probably not enough to really compete with MLS in the long run. Something more dramatic is needed and pro/rel can be that thing. Maybe they'll come up with something else.
Cork City got relegated/reformed a few years ago and we were able to rebuild and we are now stronger than we were before, As a fan i liked the opportunity to travel to new away games and when the lower division has a more regional division it can make travel easier. I also followed AFC Wimbledon from the start and winning 78 consecutive games was nice. Carlisle united in the division 3/league 2 were fighting relegation for years and had some epic last day/min/goalkeeper scoring in the 93min to survive but eventually they got relegated. When they dropped to the non league, there crowds were one of the highest in the league and were able to rebuild and they got 2 consecutive promotions to gain a spot in league 1, one of their highest spots in decades and I don't think they could have done it without a rebuilding year in the non league. If a team get's relegated, they aren't good enough for the league, simple as. If Atlanta Silverback's and/Edmonton were relegated to the USL. They would have lower travel costs and if they were replaced by Rochester Rhino's, there would be a nice New York rivalry in the NASL and have a cross boarder rivalry with Ottawa Fury
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They probably wouldn't be considered until the league is past 30 teams and only one of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte are getting in, if either do. NASL shouldn't be too worried about this one, especially with San Diego picking up so much MLS steam that they could jump right behind Sacramento and San Antonio.
Thats a well thought out post,however all the things that COULD make NASL different are not being used or not used in a way that helps them. There is no "larger than MLS" pay roll out there (RSL and Columbus have higher payrolls than any NASL team), they don't nor will they any time soon have pro/rel, MLS is basically getting rid of the drafts (not that really means any as a real product differentor), season schedule is only a plus if it was followed (their season lasts the entire MLS season with a summer break, so its shorter) and I'm not sure why a 4 team playoff is better for a 12 team league.... I know its the offseason, but isnt there better news out there to discuss other than MLS comparisons? Lets not fall into the same rhetoric trap that the league seems to have fallen into.
Bingo. TBF....it looks like the league has started to move away from much of it. It's clear it doesn't matter to all but the most radical....and there are so few of them they are essentially meaningless. The air has run out of that PR balloon. Again, there is a huge difference between saying you want to find a nitche compared to competing with MLS in major markets. Go nuts if you want to try, but again, it is one hell of mountain to try and climb. I know there is a certain romantic notion to being the underdog, and fighting the perceived man....I say that because most who think they are fighting the man are just doing anothers man bidding without having the slightest clue they are...but pragmatism accomplishes so much more than dreaming. Hell, most dreamers almost always accomplish what they do because of pragmatic thinking!
To me, I think the NASL simply wants to become a division 1 league. I don't believe they need to compete in multiple MLS markets to do that, at least that is assuming the division 1 standards don't continue to rise.