How Would you Run the MLS?

[Andris]

Any interest in the MLS Cup?
REAL vs. Galaxy.....
I mean Real SALT LAKE vs. Los Angeles Galaxy.....
The match will be in Seattle.
When? I'm not sure.... Saturday or Sunday.....

[Batu7]

Can anyone give me an update on Chicago Fire, especially Blanco?

[Andris]

I believe Blanco will play for a Mexican club team after the MLS season.
Real Salt Lake beat Blanco and the Chicago Fire with penalties in the MLS Cup semifinal.
I'm sure he'll be the member of the Mexican World Cup team in South Africa.

[Andris]

By the way the Galaxy is lucky to be in the Finals.
A Houston Dynamo goal was wiped out by the ref before overtime. No, it was not a hand ball....
It was in MLS' best interest to have Beckham and Donovan in the final match against REAL....
The game will be televised on ESPN around 5 PM Pacific time on Sunday, Nov. 22.

[Andris]

According to Yahoo Sports - believe it or not.. - the MLS Cup will be televised in 122 countries!
No wonder Beckham and the Galaxy had to be in it.....

[uweblab]

The long wait is over....
The World will be introduced to REAL FOOTBALL, Utah style....

[UGA Hayes]

Honestly I think MLS is doing a pretty good job with he model they have. I think the important thing for them is to take a long term view, and accept that it will take time to build up a reservoir of better players as well as deeper pockets. While an inferior league they are better talent-wise and finance wise than 5 years ago. Just avoid overexpansion, ride the increased interest due to the world cup as well as from immigrant s. MLS goal should be to be a legitimately enticing minor league to places like the Premier league.

If there is something they can do I think its a better job of marketing. Casual still really only know Landon Donovan. They need to be actively exposing up and coming guys like Jozy Altidore , Stuart Holden, and prior to his injuries Charlie Davies. I feel like when the Woman's world cup went down all those years ago, Nike or adidas or whoever it was did a brilliant job of advertising the team. I know they want to aviod setting up fo a letdown, but USA soccer needs to figure out a catchy way to advertise the team.

[VancityRaptors]

MLS is on the right track by putting a team in toronto and in vancouver in 1 more year it really helps soccer is canadas fasting growing sport and by profit you can tell vancouver and toronto are successes also expansion team in seattle is doing well big ups for the MLS

[edfmx86]

The MLS needs a couple of Mexican teams in it. i think that'll boost rating ratings too but im not sure if it's as easy as it sounds.

[GDS20]

The MLS needs a couple of Mexican teams in it. i think that'll boost rating ratings too but im not sure if it's as easy as it sounds.

Chivas USA??

[Foye]

The MLS needs to put in more effort recruiting boys for their sport.

I live in Germany and you can play soccer in every town. You've got a club in every tiny town and free places where you can play soccer, too.

Actually, we have the same problem with basketball that Americans have with soccer here. We can play soccer anywhere but it is really rare to find an outside court and an opportunity to play for a basketball team in your hometown in Germany.

Few opportunities to play = many potential talents do other sports.

[GDS20]

Gridiron is always going to be more popular than soccer in the U.S. and the MLS will always be a **** league for the retired

[Boognish]

Relegation, while a fantastic competitive fire, would kill a fledgling league. What if one of the league's main draws like Blanco or Becks+Donavon got relegated? Imagine Kobe on the D-fenders! I'd love for relegation to work it's way into American sports, but can't see around the league's need for it's marquee teams.

I'm only twenty, but can say I've seen noticeable improvement in the quality of MLS play over the years. American soccer simply needs more time. Competitive youth soccer has exploded (from what I've seen in Socal) and it's just a matter of time before these players mature. I believe that the American talent pool will grow exponentially in the coming years. Long term, I think that the US will be a genuine contender on the international scene (like within my lifetime); we're just getting into the sport. I often think of the MLS as comparable to the NBA in the 50s or the NFL in the 30s; they need time to mature. As American soccer improves, so will our domestic league.

Like people were saying earlier in the thread, it is important to tap into the Hispanic market. Chivas USA games have 10x the atmosphere of a Galaxy game (I'm not a huge fan of flares and those goddamn trumpet things, but butts in seats is always good). Picking up Blanco was a great move. I see Chicago Fire jerseys all the time because of him. Some in this thread suggested more games between the MLS and Mexican teams. I think that the MLS is involved in too many different fixtures; they lose significance. Perhaps have franchises in Mexico or some Hispanic brand teams (a la Chivas USA).

Once the league has grown, we can drop the stupid single ownership thing and individual owners can pump some cash into the game.

Coverage of the MLS is atrocious. I know that they are trying to lure in the non-soccer fan, but ESPN and FSN's soccer coverage is a slap in the face to even casual soccer fans. Tell Eric Wynalda to take a freakin hike. Get Alexi Lalas the hell outta there. No need for sensationalism or that fat Irish troll **** Tommy Smyth. That said, the quantity of soccer coverage is increasing, even if the quality is lacking.

That's all I can think of right now.

[and1GS]

I'm only twenty, but can say I've seen noticeable improvement in the quality of MLS play over the years. American soccer simply needs more time. Competitive youth soccer has exploded (from what I've seen in Socal) and it's just a matter of time before these players mature. I believe that the American talent pool will grow exponentially in the coming years. Long term, I think that the US will be a genuine contender on the international scene (like within my lifetime); we're just getting into the sport. I often think of the MLS as comparable to the NBA in the 50s or the NFL in the 30s; they need time to mature. As American soccer improves, so will our domestic league.

Yes. Back in the day you'd be laughed at if you played soccer, but now some of our best athletes are playing the sport. People don't realize that all of America's best physical talents are playing basketball, football, or even baseball (lol). Some of those talents have started transitioning to soccer (Young Jozy/Davies) and the team has gotten much better as a result.

I remember when i was 10 (21 now) there were about 2 leagues in my area in northern california. By the time I was 15 there were 3 levels in 4 different districts. We'd go to state cup and there were damn near 60 quality teams there.

Point is, it takes time. I think people are getting sick of baseball and all of football's stoppages so as the MLS product improves they'll keep getting more popularity.

[Geddy]

Cosmetically speaking I would get rid of the silly team names and just focus on the city names to represent the teams instead. At the moment the team names sound too much like a rec league, and I especially hate Real Salt Lake.

At the moment it is too hard to keep track of the schedule so they should just play all of their games on certain days of the week, like have every team play on Saturday.

[and1GS]

They should probably also have their season coincide with the euro seasons. That way the transfer windows line up.

[and1GS]

Step 1: Sign Thierry Henry to our biggest market.
Step 2:
Step 3: Profit.

[Dirty Water]

The MLS needs to put in more effort recruiting boys for their sport.

I live in Germany and you can play soccer in every town. You've got a club in every tiny town and free places where you can play soccer, too.

Actually, we have the same problem with basketball that Americans have with soccer here. We can play soccer anywhere but it is really rare to find an outside court and an opportunity to play for a basketball team in your hometown in Germany.

Few opportunities to play = many potential talents do other sports.

There are plenty of opportunities to play soccer in the United States. I've played here since I was 4. Soccer has long been a mainstream sport in the United States. It is the most popular recreational sport for both boys and girls and has been so for more than 30 years. The problem is this: American football is king. The NFL dominates the sports landscape in this country.

Baseball lost a lot of fans since the strike in '94 (granted, a lot are coming back and attendance has increased).

Basketball is being tuned out in most middle class American households due to the lockout in '99 as well as the bad image being portrayed like in the Brawl at the Palace of Auburn hills.

Hockey is far off in the distance and I think the most recent World Cup really challenged the sport for popularity in this country on into the future. The problem for soccer enlies here: Once these world class athletes get to high school, soccer is frowned upon as a wimpy low-impact sport and the best athletes jump ship to American football to gain social acceptance. Like someone else in the thread said, what the MLS needs is time. The league formed in '96 and has taken baby steps in the right direction.

[and1GS]

It's not that american football is king...it's really hard to get a soccer game together. No lit up fields and really no grass areas to play at. Only make shift areas like a baseball diamond's outfield exist as the actual soccer fields are few and far between and are usually occupied by club teams.

I'll say this much, if on any given night at 7pm I want to play basketball against above average competition I know of 5 different pick-up locations all with more than 2 courts. Conversely, I know of one soccer field where if a game is in progress...you're out of luck. Also the lights shut off by 10pm...bball you can play indoors in the US but soccer you really can't.

This is all without mentioning how easy it is to find a bball hoop to shoot on while it is damn near impossible to find a regulation soccer goal to shoot on.

People can become legit bball players just by playing pickup, but that can't really happen here with soccer due to a lack of playing opportunities. Leagues are only half the equation. That's not where all your development occurs.

[cgf]

It's not that american football is king...it's really hard to get a soccer game together. No lit up fields and really no grass areas to play at. Only make shift areas like a baseball diamond's outfield exist as the actual soccer fields are few and far between and are usually occupied by club teams.

I'll say this much, if on any given night at 7pm I want to play basketball against above average competition I know of 5 different pick-up locations all with more than 2 courts. Conversely, I know of one soccer field where if a game is in progress...you're out of luck. Also the lights shut off by 10pm...bball you can play indoors in the US but soccer you really can't.

This is all without mentioning how easy it is to find a bball hoop to shoot on while it is damn near impossible to find a regulation soccer goal to shoot on.

People can become legit bball players just by playing pickup, but that can't really happen here with soccer due to a lack of playing opportunities. Leagues are only half the equation. That's not where all your development occurs.

I'm gunna disagree with you here, you can find a field or vacant lot and if not you can play in alleys. I mean the kids in Brazil somehow manage to find a way to play in the Favelas, I've played in alleys before, I've played on deserted lots, I've played in parking lots. That's the beauty of soccer, all you need is a ball, 2 shirts to set up goal posts and one other person to start a game.