Pro Soccer

[chonies]

Any MLS fans? Stop laughing, I mean it.

I've been a DC United fan for more than a decade, but I live at least 6 hours from an MLS team (Dallas) so I haven't really been following.

[Oxynia]

I haven't been able to get into any of the MLS action yet but if there's a team worth following, I'd love to know about it!

[hushhush]

Jul 12, 2010 13:47:05 GMT -4 chonies said:

Any MLS fans? Stop laughing, I mean it.

I've been a DC United fan for more than a decade, but I live at least 6 hours from an MLS team (Dallas) so I haven't really been following.

I'll be honest. I can barely watch MLS. If I had never seen anything else before it, I might be able to watch it, but unfortunately I had some English neighbors who introduced me to the European stuff first. Between the commentators and the poor quality of the play, I usually find myself either falling asleep or flipping back and forth between the match and something else after about 30 minutes.

I know this rumor has been around for ages, but it looks like Thierry Henry is finally coming to the NY Red Bulls. You have to admit that TPTB at MLS have great timing on these things. They brought in hyped-to-the-hilt Beckham when he was injured so he sat on the bench for most of the first season at Galaxy. Now they bring in Thierry Henry straight off of a fantastic World Cup for France! Oh, wait....

I have a lot of opinions about how to improve the MLS which I spout off to anyone who will listen

[chonies]

Heh, I got into it because I'd just come back from a study abroad where I got into Premier League watching. I know it's not the same but DC United had been pretty good at one point, and they were local, and...Oh, and European soccer is hard to find on my cable line up, but ESPN 2 often shows MLS games. And! The games were pretty cheap entertainment--tickets were $7-10, the stadium is right on the Metro, there was a nice, big bar-based fan base that was fun to participate in.

ETA: Opinions, yes? I am listening.

[hushhush]

ESPN & ESPN2 were showing EPL games in the mornings last season. They were showing one La Liga game per week, too.

chonies, have you been introduced to the wide world of Internet football viewing? I don't have cable at all right now because I'm trying to save $. I watch everything on the computer unless it's a big game.

[chonies]

Jul 12, 2010 15:02:15 GMT -4 hushhush said:

ESPN & ESPN2 were showing EPL games in the mornings last season. They were showing one La Liga game per week, too.

chonies, have you been introduced to the wide world of Internet football viewing? I don't have cable at all right now because I'm trying to save $. I watch everything on the computer unless it's a big game.

For realz? I guess I didn't realize. Thank you for stamping out my ignorance! I will have to investigate more.

I was aware that there is internet viewing, but I never seem to remember.

[hushhush]

For realz. In HD and the whole works! They didn't publicize it very well last season. Maybe they will this time around since they are coming off of a World Cup and want to keep the viewership.

The only drawback to the Internet viewing is that you can't really DVR it or record it very easily. You have to watch it when it's on.

I'd totally go to an MLS game in person. I think it's probably like baseball where it's better if you are actually there at the match with a beer and a bunch of other fans.

As to opinions, ahem, I think they need to take a long hard look at the Russian Premier League. The Russians also play on about the same schedule as MLS, but do a much better job of producing and retaining homegrown talent and of attracting impressive foreign talent to the league. Why? because they pay the players really well!!

MLS needs to ditch the salary cap. I work (er, worked? my employment is kinda up in the air right now due to budget cuts) in the public school system. Some of the squad players in MLS don't make much more than I do, and they are living in major cities. It's ridiculous. You can't attract up-and-coming talent and keep it when guys are making 30-50K a year in NYC. Any promising players are going to bolt the minute a European club gets interested (see Jozy Altidore. Jozy made more in a month playing at Hull City than he did in playing for a year at Red Bulls)

It's like a chicken and egg conundrum. The level of play isn't going to get better if you don't attract and keep dynamic, talented players, and you aren't going to attract and keep dynamic, talented players if you don't pay them competitively.

I also think U.S. men's soccer/football needs a Michael Jordan/Mia Hamm/Tiger Woods style superstar to appeal to the masses. NOT an imported one, a native one! Who plays here! In a viable league!

I could give a toss about golf, but I know who Tiger Woods is. His recent mis-steps not withstanding, the man has been rammed down my throat and hyped for years. He's won everything there is to win at international level. Ditto Mia Hamm -- telegenic, marketable, talented, and won everything out there.

I don't think Landon Donovan is that man. It needs to be someone more like Dempsey who has some broad appeal, especially to working class American men. (Where does Dempsey play? Fulham *sigh* which brings us right back to the MLS problems...)

It would mean that tickets to DC United would no longer be $7-10. I don't know about you, but I'd be willing to pay $30 if I got better football! A lot of the mid-table and Championship clubs in England charge mid-range prices for home tickets but still make a lot off of sponsorship, food, and fan concessions. MLS could do that too.

OK, I'll shut up now

[chonies]

Interesting ideas. I agree with a lot of them, especially about Landon Donovan. And obviously, without the salary caps it would be easier to find an American Soccer Hero.

DC United tix were $7-10 a decade ago, and now they are about $15-20. It's definitely like baseball, which I find largely unwatchable on tv, but way better in the stadiums. The fans were fun, and the low-budget aspect of was kind of hilarious.

[hushhush]

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that we need to pay the players as ridiculously as they do in Europe (or the NFL, NBA, or MLB!), but they should be making a reasonably comfortable living and paid well if they perform well. Too much of the $ is in the hands of the franchise owners and MLS brass right now.

[Oxynia]

I think it's a case of Catch 22, where the MLS couldn't pay higher wages without greater spectator demand for tickets, which won't come without more attention-grabbing players or a more lasting interest in the sport than what is typically generated by events like the WC.

I think part of the problem is the lack of a youth system for nurturing home-grown talent. Kids might play soccer at school or in pee-wee leagues but once they age out of that, their choices shift to baseball, football, basketball, etc. because that's where organized sports are centered. But there won't be a more systemized youth program without demand, which won't exist without bigger stars on the pitch for kids to aspire to emulating, and we're back to Catch 22.

I just talked in a big fat circle, didn't I??