State of American Soccer

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State of American Soccer

Post by Pounder » Thu Feb 19, 2015 9:32 pm

This has actually boiled over a bit from the Indoor Soccer board, from a group lamenting something probably long gone (though http://nisasoccer.com/ is threatening to be a thing).

MLS: so we have a CBA negotiation, a mediator already appointed, and we're two weeks from first kick. Pretty much the norm for negotiations. Players want free agency (which is pretty much the standard worldwide these days... and to some degree true among MLS teams when it comes to designated players) and a chunk of the new increased TV money. MLS has pretty much said no change, and the mediator will probably choose from the TV money before he starts rewriting the LLC regarding free agency. This SHOULD be a watershed moment in the history of the league. Owners really should pay more. Sometimes the $35K per year guys do travel (and in USL this year, many will). However, players aren't exactly in the best position to handle a strike.

NASL: They get sympathy from the "I want my team independent" crowd. They have good showing in Indianapolis, Minnesota (strong candidate for MLS), and San Antonio. The rest, really, meh... meaning the league is propped up by the hype of New York Cosmos, Indianapolis talking stadium that looks MLS but may not join (methinks Peter Wilt was blacklisted a bit), and possessed of plenty of potential, with many markets looking that direction. So they sit there and wonder why USL is applying for second division status. (Eh, they probably don't wonder, they probably know.)

USL: You ready? USL is applying for second division status because the Cosmos signed Raul, there's an obvious MLS-USL partnership (witness 8 new MLS 2nd teams this year, an even 24 in the circuit overall this year, and plans to go to 40 teams), so MLS wants to minimize competition and kill NASL. There are elements of the NASL with which USSF has always been at war. Of course, USSF could have really placed NASL in disfavor in 2010, when they had more reasons to be at war, so ????

Pro/Rel? Not happening in what's left of my lifetime.

What DOES take shape? What do you think?
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Post by preeths » Thu Feb 19, 2015 10:03 pm

Also see pro/rel as a dead issue. Is MLS going to charge a group millions of dollars for a franchise and then see them demoted? How is that going to go down with the ownership group? Why not buy a second or third division club on the relative cheap and head up to MLS through on-field performance?

I don't know, is the handwriting already on the wall? MLS has thrown its weight behind USL. Is that all it will take?

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Post by preeths » Thu Feb 19, 2015 10:04 pm

For those of us unfamiliar with it, what known about the NISA?

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Post by Pounder » Thu Feb 19, 2015 11:47 pm

[quote=""preeths""]For those of us unfamiliar with it, what known about the NISA?[/quote]

...and I really should take this back to the indoor forums, but I heard this here...

http://www.kenn.com/the_blog/?p=6919
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Post by Sam Hill » Fri Feb 20, 2015 4:11 pm

[quote=""Pounder""]
USL: You ready? USL is applying for second division status because the Cosmos signed Raul,[/quote]

There's a bit of a cause-and-effect stretch if I ever saw one.
there's an obvious MLS-USL partnership
So obvious it was actually signed and announced two years ago.
so MLS wants to minimize competition and kill NASL.
That's funny.

The NASL cannot compete with MLS. To expend energy trying to "kill" them is a ridiculous conspiracy theory.
There are elements of the NASL with which USSF has always been at war.
Namely?
Of course, USSF could have really placed NASL in disfavor in 2010, when they had more reasons to be at war, so ????
So maybe you're wrong?

USSF could have denied NASL D2 sanctioning and killed it in the crib to protect MLS when it had the chance. They didn't. What changed? Raul? Nonsense. Raul is 37 years old and will be playing (some games) on Coney Island. Puh-leez.
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Post by Pounder » Mon Feb 23, 2015 7:02 pm

The way I put that... it's a stretch. I'll grant that.

The point isn't that the Cosmos seek a competitive advantage signing Raul, the point is that MLS has this damn quirky and somewhat idiotic tinge to it about anyone ON THESE SHORES that tries to jack up salary costs. Never mind that free agency around the world naturally does this anyway... which is why I used the word "idiotic" WRT MLS. Taking the hard line on free agency in the current contract negotiations fools nobody on these shores, certainly not the core fans to which they've become attached.

They make it awfully easy to believe that they act like the NFL when dealing with internal competition.

Now... look at the Indianapolis stadium proposal. Consider the possibility, for a moment anyway (because not enough markets will do the same) that NASL COULD compete with MLS. The truth is that, while MLS probably has a considerable amount of USSF protection, if there's a dozen billionaires that think they can suddenly outspend MLS, the USSF actually won't (theoretically, they can't) stop that league from forming. USSF collects fees from them all the same. MLS-to-American Soccer is not the same relationship as NFL-to-anyone or NBA-to-all the lesser leagues and the like. Of course, if that were to happen, that's probably when MLS would dissolve the single entity structure to attempt to absorb such a consortium, which might cause a small-market bloodbath... and that COULD happen rather late in my lifetime. Not in the next 10 years. But the base of support for the sport HAS been growing here. Keep an eye out.

Not that any part of the last paragraph is really the point. The point is, for now, to lay waste to any forces that would push up salaries for rank-and-file players... no matter how idiotic the concept remains.
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Post by nksports » Thu Feb 26, 2015 2:59 am

Ran across this on Yahoo! today. It is a bit of a puff piece, but it had some good points:
http://www.sounderatheart.com/2015/2/25 ... e-stadiums

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Post by SignGuyDino » Sun Mar 01, 2015 6:41 pm

I REFUSE to support any "McSoccer" team. Although I respect Cosmos to a point they are marketing with Euro-has-beens now, too.

I support Xolos of Tijuana, a team that shows what a team can do when they really do grassroots marketing.

So supporting a Mexican team makes me a "Eurosnob" according to MLS-bots. Perfect. You must not dare challenge "The MLS."

That sums up the state of American soccer: Denial.
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Post by SignGuyDino » Sun Mar 01, 2015 6:43 pm

[quote=""nksports""]Ran across this on Yahoo! today. It is a bit of a puff piece, but it had some good points:
http://www.sounderatheart.com/2015/2/25 ... e-stadiums[/quote]

Follow the feed @EmptySeatsPics and you'll see "The MLS" attendance figures are totally fraudulent.
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Post by Pounder » Mon Mar 02, 2015 8:06 am

[quote=""SignGuyDino""]Follow the feed @EmptySeatsPics and you'll see "The MLS" attendance figures are totally fraudulent.[/quote]

I'm in no mood to defend MLS at this point...

...but half of every league's numbers are fraudulent. And it doesn't matter, because television sees sports as the only guaranteed male audience anymore. I'm questioning the business and I'm running into a lot of fans who are, shall we say, freaking fed up with the business. That won't hurt anyone getting a nice TV paycheck, but nearly any league you try to start now is pretty much doomed to fail. Never mind minor pro football.
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