Solutions to a Soccer Problem in North America

The beginning of Autumn marks the end of another year in the top three divisions of soccer in North America and ushers in the playoffs. But instead of being the best time of year, the postseason is more of a meandering epilogue to a novel that has an unsure grasp of an underdeveloped regular season.

Fall is also a reminder of soccer's place in the pecking order of domestic sports because it tries to be other sports. It's a fundamental issue of league competition. In particular - meaningful games.

How to fix that right now without blowing it up? I'll get to the long answer here in a minute, but the short answer is to create a competition that involves the top three levels of pro soccer immediately and without impacting investments or league rules. The idea also lays the foundation for linking the pyramid down the road (sooner, rather than later).

It's simple and builds upon events already happening. Take the top teams from each division (MLS, NASL and USL) and have them fight it out in a tournament. Not only will this expand upon the growing interest in the US Open Cup, but it will also help grow the sport across the country.

The great thing about this is that there are a number of ways to do it:

3. Hold it in January and February (warm cities)  

Among the many positives of having a huge, rich country is the varying climates. Preseason Cup tournaments are getting pretty big in recent years and outside of getting teams ready for the season they grow interest in the sport. I saw first hand how Orlando's Disney Cup helped grow interest in the sport in the city before they jumped to MLS. 

2. Hold it after the season ends

All three divisions of pro soccer in North America end in Autumn. Hold this competition in place of the current league playoffs. It would still include your best teams and would draw loads of interest from each league. I'd venture to say that USL and NASL interest would skyrocket in the first year. MLS would benefit because most of the teams their franchises would be playing would be in non-MLS cities. Everybody wins here. 

1. Spread it out over season   

Have it set up similarly to how Champions League is currently done. Qualification happens the previous season and games are played out over the course of the season. Each league could breathe a little and extend seasons without playoffs. It works even if they still want them because there isn't a whole lot going on for most teams during the year in MLS anyway. With rosters still at 28, you've also got reserve teams and affiliations of which to draw, not to mention academy sides. Playing the competition out over the season is my favorite because it gives fans something interesting to watch. It adds sweetener to the season, so to speak.

How many teams, single elimination, home and away legs, and so on. Lots of options. After messing around with things, I found that dropping teams into groups is the most exciting for me. It's also flexible in terms of holding it over a short time period in one city or having it play out over many months.

Here's what it would look like if you six from MLS and USL and 4 from the NASL based on current standings, separated by region.

Group	League	Region	Team	League Rank
A - EAST	USL	EAST	Rochester Rhinos	1
A - EAST	MLS	EAST	New York Red Bulls	1
A - EAST	NASL	EAST	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	2
A - EAST	USL	EAST	Charleston Battery	3

Group	League	Region	Team	League Rank
B - EAST	NASL	EAST	New York Cosmos	1
B - EAST	USL	EAST	Louisville City FC	2
B - EAST	MLS	EAST	D.C. United	2
B - EAST	MLS	EAST	Columbus Crew	3

Group	League	Region	Team	League Rank
A - WEST	USL	WEST	Orange County Blues	1
A - WEST	MLS	WEST	FC Dallas	1
A - WEST	NASL	WEST	Minnesota United	2
A - WEST	USL	WEST	Colorado Springs Switchbacks	3

Group	League	Region	Team	League Rank
B - WEST	NASL	WEST	Ottawa Fury	1
B - WEST	USL	WEST	Oklahoma City Energy	2
B - WEST	MLS	WEST	LA Galaxy	2
B - WEST	MLS	WEST	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	3

If you held this over the course of a season you could really let it breathe. Home / Away and take winners from each group into a playoff (along with awarding CONCACAF Champions League qualification in there).

A short and intense option would be great fun as well. End of season would be a blast. Each team playing the other once  - 3 games in 8 days, for example (Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday) and then take the group winners into a playoff.

For me, this competition would do wonders for the overall sport in the US in both interest and dollars. It would also separate it from the rest of the sports market in the US in a cool and creative way that soccer fans and casual fans alike would understand. New cities, small teams, increased intensity around matches. It all works for me.

PROMOTION AND RELEGATION CHALLENGE

A question of how to link the soccer pyramid in the United States has been bouncing around in my head for years. The answer I come to is usually the implementation of promotion and relegation across all levels starting at the bottom (leagues like the USASA, USL-PDL, NPSL and even college) and working your way up the divisions (regionally set up).

It would take a good bit of time to get it organized and stable, which would be good because it would allow new investors in MLS, USL and NASL time to make back their money - we are talking 5-10 years (this is 'Merica, we can do it it five). Those not making it back in that time frame, probably won't ever do so.

Many challenges await a US Soccer Federation that tries to better organize the pyramid. Topping the list is Major League Soccer's stance on promotion and relegation. They do not want it under any circumstances. Beyond that, the hurdle is the fact that each league is its own entity with their own set of revenue sharing, distribution and league entry qualifications.

Best way to think of it is that there are really only three fully pro clubs in North America... MLS FC, NASL SC and USL City (or what have you). Looking at it that way opens doors to solutions that might be able to solve a number of competition problems in the US.

MEANINGLESS REGULAR SEASON, POPULAR PLAYOFF?

Regular Season as a long qualification for playoffs is shared among the other two pro soccer divisions in the US as well. Details might be different but the competition winner across MLS, NASL and USL is the playoff winner.

The reasoning behind holding a playoff to determine a champion centers around other US sports, who all have some sort of playoffs. If you are reading this, then you likely are familiar with how each league works and you also likely know that the playoffs (even in college you have "March Madness" type tournaments to determine winners) draw increased interest from the country over their regular seasons.

Generally, it works like this...

1. Final (Super Bowl, Final, World Series)
2. Playoffs
3. Regular Season
4. Preseason

For MLS it works differently. No need for a list because there are so many different things going on during a soccer calendar year that the rhythm can't be compared to other domestic sports. And that's a good thing! It's why people enjoy the sport.

MLS treats it like a disease, however. Something they need to remedy.

They WANT the order listed one to four above instead of embracing the uniqueness of the sport. With summer friendlies, international friendlies and qualification, summer tournaments, the US Open Cup and more. It's great! yet MLS can't get it straight and want to shoehorn a wonky MLS team only playoff on during mostly bad weather and a time of year where their target audience is tuning out - and, again, it's comprised of teams that have already faced each other two OR three times. It is redundant.

For MLS, playoffs across the country generally see decreased interest by any metric (attendance, TV, social media activation, etc). In the past, you could point to the MLS Cup final as an event where more people tuned in but even there, interest spikes only slightly over a hyped up regular season game on ESPN or Fox Sports.

Playoffs were born out of challenges with geography when travel was more difficult. Teams, to this day, still play regionally most of the time to help negate cost and keep the interest of team performing badly - in that it's easier to swallow being only few spots out of 1st place in a division vs. being 15th (or whatever) out of 30 teams. Intellectually, this reasoning seems silly but there isn't a whole of critical thinking going on these days (why - a topic for another day).

All that leads to why we still see up to six divisions in a league. Things may be changing however, NBA and MLB have recently talked about whittling it down to just 2 conferences. Whether or not that happens is still to be determined but, it does feel as if it will happen sooner rather than later.

Heck, the NBA is already talking about having a cup competition.

GOTTA LINK IT

The United States Soccer federation has to figure out a meaningful way to get the pyramid working together. Not having it linked together alienates 99% of the people that participate in the most played sport in the United States. It's the people's game. It reaches all levels of society and should not be locked up by a handful of investors.

No single system is perfect, but I believe that doing everything you can in order to get each team talking is critically important for this country. Even small steps are important.

Having an inclusionary tournament builds on what the US Open Cup does so wonderfully. It will increase interest in the sport as well as investment, which, in turn, increases revenue that can be put back into the game.

Fury, Heinemann Among NASL Leaders

Ottawa Fury FC are unbeaten this Fall NASL season. With an astonishing 19 points from 7 games (2.71 PPG!), they also top the the combined table for the year. The team to beat.

One of the players leading the way for them is a familiar face to Helltown in Tom Heinemann. After working through some injuries the last year he has helped take Ottawa to their remarkable record this Fall with 4 goals and 2 assists in 819 minutes.

Top 15 NASL Goal + Assist p90 leaders with at least 450 minutes (5 games) played.

G+Ap90 : Name - Club
1.37 : Pedro Ferreira Mendes - ATL
1.35 : Tomi Ameobi - FCE
1.00 : Lance Laing - FCE
0.93 : Jaime Chávez - ATL
0.92 : Omar Cummings - SAS
0.92 : Christian Ramirez - MNU
0.92 : Nacho Novo - CAR
0.86 : Maicon Santos - TBR
0.73 : Georgi Hristov - TBR
0.66 : Tom Heinemann - OTT
0.63 : Tiyi Shipalane - CAR
0.60 : Kalif Alhassan - MNU
0.58 : Billy Forbes - SAS
0.57 : Leonardo Fernandes - NYC
0.55 : Alhassane Keita - JAX

Still a bit to go in the Fall Season for the NASL but that list provides the league leaders as things stand. Over the years I've noted that any player jumping up over 0.60 goals + assists is ready for the next level. We'll see if these guys can keep it going the remainder of the year.

Heinemann is one we'll keep an eye on here. His story so far is a good one and wherever he goes he seems to bring a infectious amount of positivity, excitement and winning. Not surprising to me that he's on the best NASL club right now.

Heinemann was great fun to follow here in Columbus. Not sure where this site would be without him or Eddie Gaven back in 2011.

Ottawa is one of the most exciting teams in North America right now. You can find their matches on ESPN3 / Watch ESPN.

LIVE! US Open Cup, 2nd Rd

[UPDATE]: I was messing around with a few tools and things last night related to live updates and such for the US Open Cup. The 2nd round wrapped up last night and we saw five teams from 21 games upset teams at least one tier higher (USL) on the "US soccer pyramid" (that's in heavy quotes). NASL join next week in the 3rd round. I'm hoping to have something neat up here, live updates and comments and such, before we get to the MLS round on June 16-17.

Here are a couple games I tracked last night that I'll leave up (you can watch the replays). The Pittsburgh v West VA game is great for a couple reasons. One: I believe this is the first time a team from WVA has participated and, Two: The stadium in Pittsburgh is awesome. It will only get more awesome when some more professional TV crews start covering the games there.

Riverhounds won the match 3-0. If you want the goals they are in the 9th (Vincent), 10th (Moloto) and 87th (Kerr) minutes.

Pittsburgh Riverhounds vs. West Virginia Chaos


...another game to watch is the Wilmington v Chattanooga 1-1 tie. It went to penalties. The camera angles in this one resembled the Batman TV show in the 60s but you get use to it. I think this is a good representation of the good quality that can be found outside of MLS. I really, really wish these games would be played on grass more. Anyhow, Chattanooga (NPSL) won and moves on to play the Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL) next week in Chattanooga.

Wilmington Hammerheads v Chattanooga FC


I think this is the greatest tournament running in the US right now. You've got teams from everywhere. Grass fields, turf fields, full sided fields indoors, amateurs, pros, 200 fans to 30,000 fans a game and everything in between. It's great!

Bring the Sting

More ---> Sting Trust

Don Garber's Mythical Super City

"I've tried to be very clear, in the indirect communications I've had with a number of principles, that in my view there's not going to be public support for subsidizing a new stadium," Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton.

The Principles in Governor Dayton's conflict averse quote are Commissioner Don Garber of Major League Soccer and former UnitedHealth CEO Bill McGuire and the New Stadium is the one Garber is requiring McGuire to build before Minnesota's soccer team can join the league.

We've seen this sort of thing from MLS before in Miami with David Beckham's group trying to buy into MLS. For whatever economic reason there are some cities MLS wants to have a stadium in before they enter and others that do not require one. You could call it a double standard were it not for a couple other teams - that either have a stadium or great support - that make it a triple, or even quadruple, standard.

When you sit down and list out a simple set of requirements that Don Garber and team have mentioned over the years it makes a little more sense as to what qualifies as a potential MLS city (post twenty). Here's the breakdown:

1. Television market. If you are near the top of the list, you are in.
New York - Yes! you're in! Don't need anything else.
Los Angeles - Yes! you're in!
Atlanta - Yes! + A NFL owner?! you're in!
Miami - No, or at best border line.
Minnesota - No, sorry.
San Antonio - Nope.
Sacramento - Nah.

2. Investment Fee. Probably should be number one right? No. Well, personally don't think so. If there was no investment (i.e. Franchise Fee) out there for places like LA and Atlanta then MLS would have flipped the bill for the team. In fact, there isn't much concrete evidence out that that even says the group in LA and Atlanta even paid much of one (if at all outside operating fee year to year). 

3. Place to play. Top market cities don't need a stadium. If you are not in a top 5 like market, you need your own place. The only city of the four that above that meet this criteria is San Antonio but they don't have the next item. 

4. History that shows some rooted soccer support. This is where Miami and Minnesota jump back in and Sacramento and San Antonio drop back out. 

5. Pre-existing team (USL, NASL). Finally, the last one that should be the first. A stable team with a front office.

Running down this it sort of plays out like: If "1" then you are in. If not "1" then you need the other four items. For Miami, it basically just has number 2, which is likely why it's dropped out of the picture. Sacramento checks off the pre-existing team, strong support boxes but they have no stadium (or much of a plan for one) nor do they have the TV market. It's also not known if they have the financial investment MLS requires.

Now we are down to the next two. One of them appears broken and the other is just down right disgusting. Let's start with the broken one first.

SAN ANTONIO, NOT MYTHICAL OR SUPER

This past week the Sports Business Journal reported that Gordon Hartman has brought in Citigroup to help sell his NASL San Antonio team. MLS has been meeting with Hartman over the past 12-18 months discussing a future in the league. The news of a sale tells me that either Hartman's group is not in or that Hartman thinks he can't make much in MLS and wants to cash out and move on.

What's curious about this is that San Antonio meets the all important stadium requirement along with the pre-existing team item but the sale makes it appear that it is short on all others.

Hartman says that Citigroup has already collected the first round of bids for the team, which includes Toyota Field and the adjacent 75-acre soccer complex. In the SBJ report, Hartman said that most of the proceeds from the sale will go to a special needs charity Hartman built.

NICE AND NORMAL MINNESOTA, NOT SUPER

Minnesota is almost there. In fact, it's closest to the Mythical Super City that Don Garber wants. It has they investment fee (likely) and strong support with an existing team but is missing the all important Stadium since they aren't a gigantic TV market.

A vote on the still not proposed stadium in Minneapolis comes up this July. Outside of any proposal the (or any) stadium doesn't have the support of Governor Mark Dayton. Dayton is a powerful fella, but he's not the only person in power to think this way. House Speaker Kurt Daudt, Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk and Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges have also spoken against the prospect of a subsidy for the stadium.

"It's great you're coming. It's great you're trying to bring this franchise and excitement and opportunity to Minnesota," Dayton said. "But this time you're going to have to go it alone."

That body blow of a quote is likely why the buzz around this latest expansion announcement is already largely forgotten. It's a body blow that Don Garber was willing to take though, and herein lurks the disgusting part of all this. Even if if Minnesota fails on the stadium in the coming years, Garber and MLS got a few words in the press and on social media and all it cost them was a couple plane tickets and a short speech.

A few weeks ago AEG, one of the original MLS investment groups, announced that their downtown $30 million a year Farmers Insurance naming rights Los Angeles stadium proposal was... dead. There were a lot of powerful people involved with this. From Tim Leiweke to former Farmers CEO Bob Woudstra. Reports say that between parties and the actual designing of the proposed stadium, AEG dropped $50 million. Fifty!

The failure of the project no doubt lead to some corporate reshuffling (among them the departure of Leiweke and Farmers' CMO Kevin Kelso) and you might think that a dead proposal means failure, but alas, you are wrong. A place called Front Row Analytics attached a value of $6 million in total exposure for Farmers Insurance through the whole failed deal.

What the executive team at MLS have done is basically a stripped down version of what AEG and Farmers did. Let's call it a 'minor league' version. Garber and team skipped the expensive stadium renderings, research on where to put it and proposals on the impact to the city and citizens and jumped right to the "exposure" benefits and still had the gall to tell McGuire and team that there is no MLS without a stadium.

To me, that's disgusting.

THE MYTHICAL SUPER CITY

I think the thought is that MLS can bring (drag) cities along by generating some interest with a peppering of press conferences and releases but there is no city in North America that seems to be able to check off all the boxes for MLS.

The check boxes exist only because of the way MLS is approaching how to build a professional soccer league.It's a tough row to hoe these days. Political leaders and civilians are on to the scam that is most new stadium proposals.

Governor Dayton described citizens in Minneapolis as having as "stadium fatigue." I think that could be said for just about everywhere in the US right now. This approach to growing pro sport's leagues is dying, if not dead already (college facilities, another discussion). Leaders in the industry will be those that think creatively, differently and aren't afraid or too egotistical to look abroad existing solutions to age old problems.

The Sport Doesn't Need MLS

20,231 fans sold-out Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California last night to watch a non-soccer specific stadium, non-major broadcast, non-international friendly, non-designated player, non-salary cap, non-coin flip to determine a player's future team, non-commissioner shouting at the USMNT coach, non-fining coaches and investors for speaking truth, non-labor union, non-allocation money spending, non-colluding, non-franchise fee paying, non-Adidas wearing...

...non-MLS game last night. And it was glorious.
------------------------------

NASL's NY Cosmos traveled out to play USL's Sacramento Republic FC for a preseason match last night and ended up beating them 1-3. There was no stream of the game (for whatever reason), nor was it on television.

This morning I woke up thinking that there is something wonderful about this game. Something special. I don't think it's the start of a movement or anything but it is certainly a sign. What I keep coming back to is that the United States does not need Major League Soccer to survive. The sport existed in this country for nearly 100 years before this latest league and I'm sure it will exist another hundred in whatever form going forward.

Maybe it's the combination of a snowy Columbus morn and my coffee kicking in to that is making this beautiful dance in my head over this match last night  - but - what we had was a NY Cosmos team that is rooted pre-MLS superstardom  vs. facing off against a sort of postmodern-non-MLS team in Sacramento Republic FC.

Nothing is up over at MLS headquarters about the game yet but when it is I'm sure we will get a story that reminds us of Sacramento's ties to MLS, which they no doubt have in their affiliation with San Jose along with the club's aspiration to be a top level team. Ultimately it might say "this is the growth that MLS has brought to the game in the US." Not going to find me arguing that but what I will point out is MLS was helped by the 94 world cup and the old NASL while the old NASL was helped by the International Soccer League and the ASL and on and on.

Because the United States does not have a truly independent governing body and a linked pyramid we get this ever evolving landscape of pro leagues that ebbs and flows on the whims of pop-culture. What hasn't wavered, however, is the popularity of the sport of soccer in this country.

It's always been popular. From immigrants setting up leagues at the turn of the last century to the game spreading to major cities in the midwest (like Detroit and Cleveland) during the automobile manufacturing boom post WWII - to the a super nova that was the NASL to the youth soccer explosion that followed in the suburbs all up and down the east coast at first but moving out to the suburbs of the midwest - to where it is now (which is basically California and hopefully moving out of the suburbs).

The sport needs a fresh change in the US and last night shows us that we have something magnificent happening right now. Something that doesn't need franchise fees or soccer specific stadiums or allocation money or research teams recommending the best TV markets that determine the next "division 1" team. The sport doesn't need that. Has never needed that.

We have dozens of "Sacramento's" in the US. Columbus would be a "Sacramento" if it were started today and not back in 1995 at the dawn of MLS. I look at 12 yr old Carolina Challenge Cup of which the Charleston Battery hosted this year with NY City FC and Orlando and see that area, relatively untouched by MLS until last year, showing that they could be a Sacramento - specifically because it doesn't have the baggage that MLS carries.

There's a global party happening where everyone is welcome and you only need to ask to take part. Last night saw a two clubs and their fans spend a few hours dancing the night away with the world.

Today MLS "fans" wake up to "division 1" pro soccer news of labor negotiations and the threat of a delayed season start over player freedom while arguments on social media rage over whatever the latest fine to be handed out is.

I wonder what the players, owners, investors and fans at that Cosmos / Republic match last night think of all that mess. I doubt they are thinking hardly anything about it today. My hope is that they think nothing of it in the future.

Promotion/Relegation Debate is Worth Another Post

A good exchange of comments and ideas with Beau Dure after my last post, The Psychology Buried Within the Promotion/Relegation Debate, has inspired me to attempt to outline a plan for Promotion and Relegation in the United States.

I will make an effort to keep this post short and simple, and more importantly, take into account the biggest concern from Major League Soccer's owner/operator's perspective (this is the concern to which almost all arguments against pro/rel boil down. All other concerns simply address the different, and clearly debatable, ways in which a thriving pro/rel system can be structured):

*Protecting the investment the current MLS owner's have put into their league*

If you are a soccer fan in the United States, and you want to see promotion/relegation instituted from top to bottom of our professional leagues, you cannot ignore the owner's concern about their investment. If you do ignore this fact, you immediately give up any semblance of legitimacy when making the case FOR pro/rel.

Also, and this is slightly more of an opinion on my part, but certainly follows logically from the above concern, if the current and future owners of Major League Soccer continue to be the sole arbiters in the decision to choose or reject pro/rel, they will assuredly reject promotion and relegation. Furthermore, it is my opinion that, as the number of teams in MLS increases and the TV, advertising, merchandising and sponsorship dollars grow, there is a decreasing chance of Major League Soccer ever taking part in a system of promotion and relegation.

To bring this point home: Suppose twenty years from now the 35th and 36th teams have been added to Major League Soccer, clearly not out of the question in the fastest growing soccer country in the world. Suppose that television rights sell for 1 billion dollars a year, again, not out of the question. Suppose soccer has, in popularity, surpassed all other sports except football, could happen, might take a little longer.

Why, with all that money and power, would the owner/operators suddenly choose to implement promotion/relegation? Heck, a handful of the teams in the league will have just been accepted. They will have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in their bid to gain acceptance. Given these future facts, the idea that promotion and relegation would even be considered by a league's owners is fantasy, at best.

Keeping the above in mind, what is the most palatable way for Major League Soccer's owners to jump on board the Pro/Rel train?

The most straight forward idea is for MLS owner's, in conjunction with the USSF and leagues such as the USL and the NASL, to come up with a set number of teams for a top division in North America's promotion and relegation system. My feeling is that number is between 35-40 (these are the kind of things which should be debated). This number is high, higher than most soccer geeks discuss, because the United States and Canada are so large geographically, diverse in their populations and there are so many densely populated urban areas throughout.

Once that number is determined, Major League Soccer can go about its business, while slowly and judiciously moving away from single entity as a stand alone league. At the same time, a governing body, which includes players, owners, referees and even fans can be developed to oversee the entire multitiered, promotion and relegation, professional soccer arm of North American Soccer.

In order to move up through the ranks clubs will have to win on the field and meet requirements like minimum stadium seating, owner cash net-worth, etc. at each new level. On top of those requirements, any team winning their way to the top tier must pay a significant one time fee, much like the fee paid currently by teams joining MLS. This fee would go to the new governing body.

As an example of some of the above requirements: For division 3 status a team must have an owner worth a minimum of 100 million dollars, cash, not leveraged assets. A division 3 team would have minimum stadium requirement of 8,000 seats. For division 2 status a team must have an owner worth a minimum of 250 million dollars, cash. A division 2 team would have a minimum stadium requirement of 12,000 seats. For division 1 status a team must have an owner worth a minimum of 500 million dollars, cash. A division 1 team would have a minimum stadium requirement of 18,000 seats.

Suppose that in two years, 2017, there are 22-24 teams in MLS and the two or three lower divisions have been organized with Promotion and Relegation in place. For as many years as it takes to fill out the top tier, teams will only move up from division 2 to division 1. Until the top division reaches it goal of, say 36 teams, no teams move down from 1 to 2. Movement up and down between the lower divisions will commence immediately, as long as teams meet the minimum requirements for moving up within those lower divisions.

Beginning pro/rel in this way guarantees the existing clubs stay in the first division for the foreseeable future. Beginning pro/rel in this way guarantees that only teams which meet minimum requirements can earn their way into the top tier. There could conceivably be many years that the top two or three teams in the second division don't meet minimum off-field requirements and therefore are not allowed promotion. Of course, once the top tier fills-out, years from now, relegation will begin from 1 to 2, more than likely slowly at first due to the minimum off-field requirements being an issue.

For soccer fans who are fans of promotion and relegation, discussing the above minimum requirements, number of teams in each division, and fee to be paid once earning promotion to the first division are the types of things that should be discussed. And all of us must acknowledge and factor into any discussion about Promotion and Relegation the money, time and sacrifice made by the current owners of MLS.

Finally, a major advantage of starting promotion and relegation in North America in this way is its gradual nature. Clubs, cities and fans will have time to grow with the new, and unique to North American sports, structure.

Successful US Open Cup 3rd Round for NASL, Crew to Face Indy Eleven

The third round of the 2014 US Open Cup belonged to the NASL as their entrants won 6 of 8 and out scored opponents 22-11. Head on over to theCup.us for a full summary of round three as well as results (bracket can be found HERE.)

One of the biggest wins of the round was NASL's Indy Eleven trouncing USL Pro's Dayton Dutch Lions 5-2 with a hat trick from recent Montreal Impact loanee Blake Smith. Wasn't all Smith however, as players like 19 year old Ben Spencer, Mike Ambersley and Dylan Mares placed shot after shot on (a often stranded, but very good) Brad Stuver.

With the win Indy Eleven advance to the 4th round (where US based MLS teams enter) and travel east to Ohio to take on the Columbus Crew up in Akron, Ohio at FirstEnergy Stadium–Cub Cadet Field on June 17th.

Indy looked more impressive verses a team the Columbus Crew just faced a week earlier in a friendly. Should be a really exciting match.

Below is the Indy Eleven vs Dayton Dutch Lion match in it's entirety.

Goal Scoring:
26' Smith - Indy
30' Smith - Indy
43' Ambersley - Indy
46' Mares - Indy
66' Schoenfeld (penalty) - Dayton
76' Walker - Dayton
88' Smith - Indy

Opening Day Near: Indy Eleven Preseason Results, Roster, Notes

Indy Eleven kick off their inaugural season next Saturday, April 12 against the Carolina Railhawks. Which is soon! So, here's a quick update on how there preseason matches have gone as well as some notes about the roster.

PRESEASON MATCHES

Indy was able to schedule a lot of MLS teams in their first year and (being their first year) it didn't go all that hot. Over the course of seven preseason matches Indy only won one and tied one. The one win was against Tourbeau Soccer Academy (high school) and the draw was against the University of Louisville.

All five losses came against MLS sides Vancouver (3-2), Sporting KC (twice 3-1 and 4-2), Portland (1-0) and the Chicago Fire (3-1). What that works out to be is 14 GA, 6 GF, -8 GD with zero points earned and three of the six goals coming from Pedro Mendes (all in all, Pedro had 5 of the 10 preseason goals).

Preseason results can be misleading and since I have seen almost nothing of the play it's hard to talk to style. What I do know is that it was ambitious of Indy to take on this many MLS teams without a fully formed roster. The first few games were filled with unnamed trialists and a small roster. It's part of being a new team, of course, but doesn't make winning games during the regular season any easier. Especially early.

PROJECTED ROSTER

While the team is still working on coming together one thing Indy has going for it is a talented and really interesting roster.

Goalkeepers:
Kristian Nicht (veteran German player)
---
Jon Dawson
Nathan Sprenkel

Defenders:
Chris Estridge (Indiana boy, former 2012 MLS draft pick)
Jaime Frias* (on trial, Guadalajara / Chivas)
Erick Norales (former Honduran International)
Kyle Hyland (2013 Crew draft pick)
---
Baba Omosegbon
Andrew Stone
Chris Wey

Midfielders:
Brad Ring (former San Jose standout)
Corby Moore (FC Southampton U21, keep eye on this one)
Pedro Mendes (one of Wynalda's Cal FC guys, Silverbacks)
Kléberson (former Brazilian International)
Walter Ramírez (former San Antonio Scorpion)
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Mike Ambersley
Don Smart

Forwards
Ben Spencer (U18 US International, on loan from Molde)
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Mike Ambersley (has been everywhere, American soccer hero)

Adding Indy Eleven to Crew, Dayton Coverage

Expect more Indy Eleven coverage along with the Columbus Crew and Dayton Dutch Lions this year on Helltown.

MLS is has really gotten tangled in their own web of rules, regulations and restrictions. Commissioner Don Garber recently went as far as to state on national television that they (MLS) are making it up as they go. This was infuriating and completely unacceptable to any fan that was there with the league when it took shape back in the mid-nineties and bought in to the spunky, can-do league hellbent on soccer survival in the US.

I'll keep pondering, analyzing and picking apart the Crew but Indy will be getting some coverage in this space. Not only because they are a pro team in my local region but because I like what the NASL is doing.

I watched a number of NASL games last year (Railhawks still my first love) and the level of play is very good, the fans are passionate and they are a breath of fresh air to these increasingly clogged MLS lungs.

The league also trusts ownership and spend wisely and does not put a cap on wages.

INDY ELEVEN

Ersal Ozdemir CEO of the Keystone Construction Company is putting this thing together. The official announcement came last April and the team starts play this year in NASL play.

There is a lot to get excited about with this team. They've got a ownership group that is well rooted in the state if Indiana (their logo reflects this) and an experienced team of people running operations.

Indy is thinking big having already taken deposits on 7000+ season tickets (putting them at Columbus Crew levels), so they have some right to shoot for the moon. Hopefully without massive taxpayer help, however.

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Indy Eleven is still working on a roster but they do have a good group signed up right now. One of which includes former Crew draft pick and Cleveland, Ohio native Kyle Hyland.

PLAYER (NOTE)
Kristian Nicht (Bundesliga, USL Pro)
Nathan Sprenkel
Kyle Hyland (Columbus Crew)
Erick Norales (Los Catrachos)
Baba Omosegbon
Chris Wey
Walter Ramírez (San Antonio Scorpions)
Brad Ring (San Jose Earthquakes)
Mike Ambersley (all over, USL, NASL, MLS)
Pedro Ferreira-Mendes (on notorious Cal FC team)
Don Smart

Things are moving fast before the club's first opener on April 12th.

Which reminds me... even though Indy has a small budget, they will be competing for players 20-30 on the MLS rosters in the region. Namely the Chicago Fire and the Columbus Crew.

With Dayton affiliating with the Crew this should get real interesting, real fast. Stay tuned.

MORE ON NASL

For an excellent primer on the league head on over HERE. Dcn. Joseph Suaiden just wrote an excellent two part piece on the NASL and where it is within the landscape of US Soccer.

What's the Root? And, Why is It Snowing In Here?

What? Huh? No way? That can’t be true, can it?

The deluge of news coming out of Major League Soccer in regards to TV deals...($70 million a year/8 years for just the English language rights!!), player signings galore (Bradley, Defoe, Gilberto (and that’s just Toronto FC!), Brazilian Samuel to the L.A.Galaxy, Gaston Fernandez to Portland Timbers), possible player signings (Xavi, Drogba), and new teams/stadiums (NYCFC, Orlando, DC United...well, maybe there, but we certainly hope so even though the rats living in RFK stadium will have to make new friends), possible new teams/stadiums (Miami, Atlanta, Minnesota) ...It’s...all...simply...too...frigging...much...to...process.

But, what the hell, let’s take a stab at what it might mean.

Clearly, it signifies that Major League Soccer has more cash at its disposal; or, at the very least, the lever pullers know the magic television and sponsorship money faucet is about to be cranked wide open.

Most indubitably (Love that word) it screams “I’m a Major League Soccer owner, and I’m-a-gonna show you my thingy!” at least in regard to some of our beloved league’s big boys.

Underneath, though, where is all this craziness getting its sustenance? What’s comprises the nourishing root structure?

Maybe, just maybe, it implies that our fearless leaders couldn’t stand the pressure of having to step carefully through the dung-filled field that is the American Professional Sport’s Landscape. Maybe keeping their ego’s in check for most of eighteen years has driven them to the brink of their usual CEO/Psychopath selves. In other words, as I worried in my previous post, maybe they’re drawing sustenance from their own deep roots. This is a credible theory, especially given the success their patience and diligence has awarded them.

But owners acting like owners, finally, seems only to be a symptom of something more meaningful.

So, what is the essential element piercing, supporting and extending its stringy molecules throughout Major League Soccer and the beautiful game in these United States of America? What element has suddenly turned Major League Soccer and its owners into a bunch of horny frat boys, pockets stuffed with dollar bills, at Boom Boom’s Big Boomers Strip Club?

How about you, me and millions of other American and Canadian fans watching games, surfing random soccer blogs (instead of the usual, Blonde’s In Bob’s Bedroom, pron sites), buying our teams’ scarves and jerseys, and debating the merits of whether the United States will beat Germany this summer (I personally think we will lose that game, but will already have beaten Ghana and Portugal)?

It’s us. It really is us, all of us. We are the essential element.

In my previous post I hinted at the possible gaping ditches in that dung-filled sports landscape. These ditches and piles of steaming excrement are not going away anytime soon; because, those ditches and piles are often self-made.

Even if the boy’s club that is the SUM of MLS owners does everything right, they are going to step directly into a few of those stinky landmines. One or two teams will relocate over the next five or ten years, almost without a doubt. One team may even just fold-up shop; although, I doubt that will happen.

It’s amazing to watch what’s going on right now in our sport. For those of us who have followed along from the time of the NASL, it’s like looking at one of those old-fashioned paperweights, you shake it and little flecks of snow fill a winter wonderland. You want it to go on forever, but you know you have to keep shaking it occasionally. 

Hopefully Major League Soccer keeps picking up that bastard, and hopefully they shake themselves vigorously on a regular basis. If they don't or they can't, maybe, just maybe we will be able to do it for them.

On Mega-Corporations, Hedge Funds, Risk Management, and Faith in Major League Soccer

By: Vidda "JibJab" Grubin

If you have failed to recover sufficiently from your New Year’s celebration and the blue-ball shattering cold of early this week, you may not have heard, Michael Bradley of U.S. men’s national team fame has decided to return to Major League Soccer. Bradley will be playing for Toronto F.C. Your opinion of Bradley’s move undoubtedly falls somewhere at or between “OMFG! Awesome!” and “What a dumb-ass move, we just lost the World Cup.”

While both of the above opinions are equally extreme and speak to your need to get off the internets and find a significant other, I have no intention of addressing Mr. Bradley’s wanderings from that particular perspective. Rather, I would like you to give me a few moments of your precious soccer-blog reading time as I neatly couch this most recent Major League Soccer signing in terms of our league’s past, present and future.

First off, I have a great deal of faith in Major League Soccer and the people in charge.

Beginning in 1993 in Lamar Hunt’s cheap whiskey smelling, smoke filled, subterranean lair, where a handful of really rich guys played Texas Holdem to see who would own the rights to the Los Angeles franchise, through the lean years of the late 90’s and early 2000’s, the cabal known as Huntgarbschutz has navigated the peaks and valleys with amazing dexterity and forethought.

Many new owners, teams, stadiums and players later, Major League Soccer is truly poised to join the big boys of American professional sports. And yet, the Michael Bradley signing has tapped into a deep, long forgotten well of pessimism inside my head. (Ahh, you instinctually clever individuals are saying “Pessimism is never far from the surface with this one.” And you would be correct, but that is of no matter presently)

To get to the seething river of pessimism let’s establish a baseline. Your mileage may vary. 

1. What constitutes the solid base of MLS? A number of factors, obviously, but let’s find two. A) The well managed fiscal structure of the league and B) The growing physical presence, i.e. soccer specific stadiums.

2. What springs from 1? A) Consistency, which allows the league to acquire/develop better players, sponsors, tv contracts and B) Permanence, which gives team supporters/fans a warm feeling in their soccer loving souls.

Now that we have established what the significant foundational factors are for MLS (I realize there’s more to it. Do you want this column to be twenty pages long?), why the pessimism?

Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Jermain Defoe and other similar signings in the future are so out-of-whack with the general structure of the league that it’s hard not to be a bit worried. Consider a quote from a Wall Street Journal article from September 24, 2010.

“David Beckham and Landon Donovan of the Galaxy and Rafael Marquez, Juan Pablo Angel and the injured Thierry Henry of the Red Bulls make a combined $21.7 million in guaranteed compensation from their clubs. This represents about 30% of the entire league payroll of $71.3 million, according to MLS Players Union figures.”

The above quote throws cold water on my seething pessimism and lends it credence. Most of those signings went well for Major League Soccer. The Beckham cult of personality paid for itself, but only a few players in the world can have the same effect. Michael Bradley and Jermain Defoe do not fit into the Beckham category, and therein lies the rub.

The incredible difference between the haves and the have nots, can’t be good for the long term viability of the league, right? I don’t think so, but that doesn’t make it so, unless I can convince you. The MLS players who produce at the same level as the Bradley’s and Beckham’s surely aren’t too happy when they see the fifty-fold discrepancy in pay. And when taken in context of what is possibly the most player-driven-team-oriented-sport on the planet, the feelings of inequality seem inevitable and counterproductive.

Certainly a handful of Major League Soccer players moping like five-year-olds who lost video game privileges because they don’t make the dollars they think they should isn’t going to fly the league into a tailspin; but, what about peering at the issue from an owner’s point of view. Again some background.

The North American Soccer League (NASL) of the 70’s and early 80’s, the one which attracted players like Cruyff, Pele, and Best is the cautionary tale which has kept the current owners of Major League Soccer from reaching too far, too fast...so far.

Why did the NASL fail?

Most importantly they didn’t take care of the base, that part I mentioned, you know, the fiscal and the physical. Yet, even without having built from the ground up, they might have survived if not for the hubris of the league’s owners. There were no curbs in place to keep the egos which accompany those who so often succeed in the realm of big business and finance from veering off the proper path.

Those owners drove their own league into the ground because they couldn’t control themselves. I have an inkling that you and I are seeing what just might be the beginnings of the same problem for MLS. Like the NASL owners of thirty years ago the Major League Soccer owners of today are fudging their own risk averse rules and starting to throw money around like its so much toilet paper.

Do you think the NASL owners personally went broke, and thus the league went away? Maybe one or two did, but what really happened was a bunch of rich guys got tired of losing money, and so, they stopped; because, that’s what rich guys do. If enough of the billionaires running MLS lose money long enough, they will get bored; they will find other outlets for their egos. (Pro Tiddlywinks League?)

In short, I hope my faith in the Garbers, Precourts, Leiwekes and Hunts of the world is justifiably placed. I hope they have hedged their big money moves, i.e. Michael Bradley, with more foundation building. You know, downtown soccer specific stadiums in places like Orlando, Miami, Minnesota, Atlanta, Boston, Columbus (please, Mr. Precourt, Brewery district is my fave), big money long term broadcast and sponsorship deals, and a significant increase of the salary cap/minimum salary (Say to a cool $5/6 mill/$75 thou) so that the overall quality of the league leaps forward.

If the only thing happening is individual owners spending their own money for a few big name players, that’s not good. That’s really not good. Solely trusting the vanity and perception of the human individual has always, always, led to disaster. There must be balance, and when I say balance, I’m talking balanced books and balanced perspective...Because  

Nothing ruins the beautiful game in the long run like a handful of prima-donnas (owners and players both) trying to convince knowledgeable fans that the game is about personalities and strutting egos. It’s not. It never has been. It never will be.