Sports stats

MLS Major League Soccer

Notes from the MLS Cup

by Ed Kobak/Global Sports
November 23, 2009 - Major League Soccer (MLS)


From the outset of the 2009 season when MLS Commissioner Don Garber awarded the MLS Cup to the expansion Seattle Sounders FC and the city of Seattle prior to the start of the season, there was a sense in the MLS office that Seattle was going to explode onto the scene of pro soccer once again, as it had in the days the original Sounders who were a part of the now defunct NASL.

When the original Sounders joined the NASL, the city of Seattle embraced them with a seasonal average of 22,000 fans over a five year span from 1976 to 1980, with the city hosting the 1976 NASL championship game in the since-imploded Kingdome in from of 25,765 fans..

When the NASL ceased operations in 1984, the Sounders drew an average of 8,100 fans in its final season, then became part of various pro leagues such as the APSL, WSL & USL playing before sparse crowds until the rebirth of the Sounders FC, MLS style in 2009.

From the opening match, each game sold out and the Sounders lead the MLS with an average of 30,897 fans a contest. It was only fitting that the city of Seattle and its rabid & knowledgible fan base would host the MLS Cup and how right the MLS brass was as a vibrant 46,011 fans came to watch a great match between the two-time MLS Champion Los Angeles Galaxy, who climbed from worst to first in their division in 2009 and the three year old Real Salt Lake who entered the match with a losing record and the lowest seeded team.

There were many story lines for this championship match. One of the most talked about being the David Beckham Experiment as well as the heart & soul of the USA National Team, Landon Donovan, going for his fourth Cup win.

The fans were not disappointed, with all three goalies playing stellar games in the nets with starter Donovan Ricketts of the Galaxy playing exceptional up to the the moment he was taken out of the game due to a hand contusion from an earlier collision with a Real attacker. In comes Galaxy keeper replacement Josh Saunders making a name for himself with four great saves to keep the Galaxy in the game. On the other side of the pitch was Real keeper Nick Rimando, the game's eventual MVP, making great saves of his own, right through overtime and through the penalty kicks. Up to the end, many of us in the press box were calling either goalie the MVP.

For the fans, they saw a great match with both teams giving it their all before Real Salt Lake won on PK's, with the final score, 2-1.

For the MLS brass, the biggest story line in Seattle was the national & international exposure the MLS received from this match. The game was broadcast in 120 countries throughout the globe. More than that, this wasn't just a MLS Championship game, it was a week-long MLS Championship event in the city of Seattle.

From Wednesday's MLS Cup trophy arrival via ferry across the Puget Sound to the players taking part in the fish toss at historic Pike Place Market to the view of the Space Needle, Seattle's most recognized landmark, showing off the MLS Cup logo and the logos of both teams, to the boisterous throngs of Sounder and soccer fans in general spilling into the streets of historic Pioneer Square prior to the game and to the 46,011 that filed into Qwest Field for the match, it is a season of season's for the MLS and gives hopes and promise to a bright future in the years ahead.

During this off-season, the MLS can look back at the phenomenal success of the Sounders FC and can hope that next year's expansion Philadelphia Union and the 2011 expansion teams in Portland & Vancouver can live up to the successes of the Sounders.

The MLS has many areas of concern that it must address this off-season, one of the biggest being the decline in attendance in four of the top metro markets in the MLS, with the Galaxy, New England & New York Red Bulls off by 21% in attendance over 2008 and the DC United down nearly 19% and Chicago down 14% this year. Overall the league is down 2.9% over 2008. Without the Sounders, the MLS would be down 9% in attendance for 2009 from last year.

Another hot topic is the restrictive salary cap that has many of our top American stars plying their trade elsewhere around the globe, mainly Europe, with it's higher salaries. The MLS must find a way to keep our top stars home.

Then, there is the issue of the single-entity, owner/operator structure that the MLS has in place, unlike all other pro sports franchises that have individual ownership groups.

A final concern, at least among the fans, is the whopping number of tie games in 2009. In a Seattle Times Question and Answer session with the MLS Commissioner, soccer fans questioned the number of ties and a fix-all to this situation with commissioner Don Garber stating "I believe MLS needs to be an authentic soccer league playing by the rules established by FIFA. Ties are part of the game from the youth level through World Cup competition, So I don't see a change to our system".

Hopefully, Mr Garber and MLS takes a page from the NBA and plays a slightly different game then does the international leagues in FIBA, or takes a look into the NASL past who by many were considered a renegade league and by others a visionist league, who played into overtimes and if necessary penalty kicks to decide games.

The MLS has certainly come a long ways from its humble beginnings in 1996.

Final Notes:

My personal highlights:

*Watching David Beckham, even though a step slower, an icon in international football.

*Watching and listening to the boisterous crowd-this surely could have been a fitting championship match anywhere in the world.

*Sitting alongside and conversing with the crew of the Associated Press

*And finally, riding in the press elevator at games end alongside comedian and Sounders owner Drew Carey, congratulating him on the Sounders great season, Priceless...

Ed Kobak, a freelance writer and OSC contributor and sports book author & publisher, can be reached at ekobak@yahoo.com and www.sportsbooksempire.com.

Check out the Major League Soccer Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from November 23, 2009


The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central