New NASL Commish

I find those claims somewhat difficult to believe also. He wants to double ticket sales next year? Suuure, that's a realistic goal . Baby steps Bill. Sorry, but the man just doesn't impress me. For an article with "explains his blueprint for US football" in the title, I didn't read anything that was insightful or resembled a blueprint. He seems to have a firm grasp of the obvious, and that's about it.

 

Like I said he is a salesman trying to sell a product, he is not going to keep it real, he is going to overhype the league, that is part fo his job.

But yes the double ticket sales was funny.

 

Set a goal. When you don't reach that goal, pretend no one heard you, and just set another one.

Not sure why he even brought up aligning with the "world" calender. That is irrelevant for a small D2 league. Aligning with your D1 league calender is a little more important. If MLS does it, then you start talking.

But then Garber always says things that MLS never plans on doing.

 

Not that there's anything wrong with that (apologies to Larry David).

However, make many statements that are too generic, or claims too outrageous, and you start to lose credibility. When that happens, people stop taking you seriously. He makes Downs look downright rational by comparison.

Speaking of losing credibility; this one made me giggle a little too: “Even today you can walk around and if you ask somebody with no knowledge of soccer, ‘Have you heard of the NASL?’ and they’ll say, ‘Yes’.” Most rubes with no knowledge of Soccer probably haven't heard of MLS, much less the NASL. from 30 years ago.

Although, when the article writer talks about the league "Now entering their third year following rebirth" (just how many leagues were reincarnated anyway?), one can't take the whole thing too seriously, can one?

 

Well older people have heard of NASL, it is just that 90% of those people don't know there is a new league with the same name playing today.

 

I still prefer David Downs as the Commish but Peterson does have some good experience on his resume, time will tell if he is the right man to help D2 NASL grow and prosper. He's started out well, saying the right things mostly, although there's no way ticket sales will double this year but yeah, he's also a salesman.

At least NASL isn't stuck with the delusional Tim Holt like the D3 USL Pro reserve/development league.

 

Thanks for posting the interview. The more I hear some of Peterson's responses the less optimistic I feel about his ability to lead the NASL. When it comes to the split season & the Cosmos I don't like being told not to worry about it. The commissioner can have his opinion but I worry he's not listening to the fans. His bravado about the league is too much IMO and I'm starting to agree with those who think he needs a few lessons in public relations and speaking.

 

So if the USSF tomorrow pulled their D2 sanctioning, it wouldn't mean anything? Oh boy. I'd like to see the NASL and Peterson react to that. Yeah, I am starting to wonder about this guy. The more he talks, the worse it gets.

I had a totally different feel with Downs in his interviews. I felt he got it, knew what it took for a successful D2, and wanted a relationship MLS. And at least he wasn't afraid to say they are below MLS and the D2 league. He was actually proud of the role the NASL could play in U.S. soccer with D1, D2, D3, and D4. There is nothing to be ashamed about for being a minor league.

 

I think it means they'd accept any division designation so long as they have sanctioning to play. His point makes sense for a system where pro/rel is out of the question. You could remove the USSF division structure entirely and it would change little of how the three leagues operate.

 

I think he's saying the level designation "doesn't mean anything." Not a lack of ability to play and conduct business. If USSF said tomorrow, "You're a D3 league now in our eyes," I'm not 100% sure that would materially impact their ability to conduct business, play games and sell tickets, would it?

I mean, it seems pretty obvious that's what he's saying if you look at what he actually says about being placed somewhere on the pyramid. It's just a title.

And, in some respects, he's right - you don't get a bigger gift basket for being called Division II versus being called Division III. The vast majority of potential ticket-buyers aren't going to care (it seems like it might have made a difference in Rochester, but we have no way of knowing conclusively what's behind their drop in crowds).

If USSF actually pulled their D2 sanctioning altogether and that meant they couldn't play, yeah, that would be a problem. I'm not sure they need to be called one thing or the other, except as it pertains to puffing out their chests.

 

Exactly! Without pro/rel, the USSF is pretty much irrelevant went it comes to the US Soccer Pyramid.

 

So, if P-R gets implemented, the USSF is relevant in the club structure....how? I love this kind of logic: P-R is soooooooooo good, that if it is implemented, USSF can claim it as a major coup for the sport.

Call me the contrarian here, but give USSF credit for doing the grunt work (ran a one-year D-2 league, and created the D-2 requirements) to try to get D-2 on solid ground.

The D-2 requirements did accomplish one of its stated goals: to put some distinction between D-2 and D-3. Now NASL is real close on a few of the req's, but so close that the one-by-one-year waivers are somewhat acceptable. And of course, at least on paper, NASL is a higher class of league than USL-Pro. But there are still some rumblings that maybe the best thing is for USSF to pull the D-2 sanctioning, to really get NASL's attention to take these things seriously.

The second stated goal (to stop or slow down the indescriminate folding of teams) has been somewhat less successful.

 

Yes, but there's nothing to keep USL-Pro from trying to overtake NASL and become a "higher class" league in the future should they wish to try. The division requirements are baseline minimums and nothing more. There's nothing in the USSF structure to stand in the way of a league surpassing any other league in quality, earning power, you name it. With no mechanism for the elite teams of each lower league to step up it's just a question who's going to deploy more resources and get more fans. That's not to say it will really turn into that kind of horse race. There's just nothing in the federation structure to stop it from happening. It means the division designations amount to a starting point and not much more.

The pecking order of the leagues involved could be entirely different by mid-century for reasons having nothing to do with any federation actions. People around here scoff at the idea that MLS could be surpassed yet I think we can all agree that if D3 somehow surpassed D2 it wouldn't be the biggest shock ever. They aren't that different. In reality, this sort of jockeying can happen at any professional level on the pyramid. USSF would be largely a bystander unless they radically changed their policies.

 

Division level is irrelevant "in-market" when you don't have teams of different divisions in said market.

Last time I looked, there were 51 U.S. and 6 Canadian metro areas over 1 million in population.

It'll be a long time before we get back to 57 professional men's soccer clubs in the U.S. and Canada.

I think that's the main point. In the market - most NASL (and USL Pro) teams are the one and only team. If you want supporter culture, if you want game day experience that you can't get in front of the TV, they're you're team.

 

Well, except for Tampa bay. For some idiotic reason we have two pro teams.

I'm sure it'll be fine.

 

If their goal was to create distinction between D-2 and D-3, then they succeeded as poorly as possible while still being able to call it success.

There is a distinction between the two levels, but the burden is placed entirely on D-2 because D-3 clubs have next to no requirements. That means that D-3 teams will actually have more freedom over their money than D-2 teams.

Now in the long run I think big spending at the D-3 level (or even D-2, for that matter) is untenable. But USL seems content to let a number of their smaller clubs fail so long as they can quickly replace them to bolster the league's big money makers.

(Admittedly, NASL may well be in the very same boat in the next couple years.)

 

I read the grumblings on this board before I actually read the article, which in hindsight was a big mistake. "Out of touch?" Actually, I think Peterson shows a lot of savvy in realizing that fans won't care if your D2 or D3 so long as you make them feel like stakeholders in their local team and give them a great gameday experience. That's sort of the point, isn't it?

The commissioner enumerates a view for the league which would drastically realign the dominant marketing strategy of soccer in the US over the past 20 years (the build it and they will come model) and shift toward exactly what we've been asking for--focus on fans and community--and we call him "out of touch?"

Riiiiiiiight.

 

I'm going to stop you right there. It won't.

 

It'll happen in other towns. It's pretty easy to imagine NASL in Phoenix or Charlotte, USL in Atlanta or South Florida. Of course, that would all be stupid, but, like you, I'm sure it'll be fine.

 

It is not about D2 vs D3. Most fans don't care and probably see D2 and D3 as the same thing. Levels under MLS. Only the hardcores care about what division they play in.

 

South Florida now has Div 4 Miami United. They claim they are *Miami's* only team and that they will be in MLS in 3 years. Some people in Miami-Sade County buy into this. Many who want MLS here do too, since the Strikers refuse to reveal exactly what it is they want to do in the future other than grow the brand and become part of the community.

 

That is what they want to do, full stop. And it shouldn't be seen as cowardly or as withholding.
This is exactly what we should actually want and expect from our teams.

Jeez. Does nobody remember the 1990s or early 2000s? When soccer fans had laughable "team identities" dumped on them, as if they should give a damn?

What else would you want them to do? Spew a bunch of complete BS about jumping into MLS--like Miami United, VSI, Boston Victory, and countless other teams have done--without every having done a thing?

Talk is cheap. Play a game. Last a season. Turn a profit. Grow a fanbase.
Then you can start talking about MLS.

Or better yet, don't start talking about it. Once you produce something of worth, people will talk about it for you.

 

I'll continue right here: I wasn't specutlating on this directly. I was trying to point out the insane arguement that the Pro-Rel supporter was trying to foist onto us.