North American Pro Soccer 2018

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Sigi Schmid quit the Galaxy job today.

 

I love the guy for his work with the Sounders, but he better stay far away from that USMNT job.

[jmoe12]

31 minutes ago, DG_Now said:

Sigi Schmid quit the Galaxy job today.

 

I love the guy for his work with the Sounders, but he better stay far away from that USMNT job.

That was my first thought upon hearing the news. That night in Trinidad may just become the new norm if this is the hire they decide to make

[DG_ThenNowForever]

9 minutes ago, jmoe12 said:

That was my first thought upon hearing the news. That night in Trinidad may just become the new norm if this is the hire they decide to make

 

It's also possible Zlatan didn't want to play for Sigi anymore.

[jmoe12]

21 minutes ago, DG_Now said:

 

It's also possible Zlatan didn't want to play for Sigi anymore.

Let's hope that's the case.

 

Honestly, I'm not really thrilled with any of the MLS coaches as national team candidates, but I'd put my money on either Vermes or Berhalter to get the job.

[GDAWG]

5 hours ago, Gothamite said:

 

Thirty-three this year.  With another seven coming in next year, and two more in 2021.

 

Most(?) of the 2 teams seem to be dropping down to USL D3 next year, though, which will lower that number slightly.  

 

33 is a lot, but a USL D3 does help matters.  The USL doesn't need to over-expand, so USL D3 helps.

 

They have as many teams as LA FC has investors. 

[Gothamite]

16 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

33 is a lot, but a USL D3 does help matters.  The USL doesn't need to over-expand, so USL D3 helps.

 

What do you consider “over-expanding?”  I don’t think they’re there. 50 seems reasonable, if they’re splitting into regional divisions.  I also think MLS will get to 40 teams at least. 

[AnPheitseog]

echoing what @Gothamite said.

 

It's like minor league baseball in a way. The way the USL operates, it is two seperate leagues. One with 17, one with 16 that only meet for the championship. Building a central division only would help that, so that 50+ teams in a 16 17 17 split isnt bad at all.

[GDAWG]

4 hours ago, Gothamite said:

 

What do you consider “over-expanding?”  I don’t think they’re there. 50 seems reasonable, if they’re splitting into regional divisions.  I also think MLS will get to 40 teams at least. 

 

I consider over-expansion as over 32 teams. 

[Gothamite]

50 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

I consider over-expansion as over 32 teams. 

 

Then get ready for both the first and second division to way over-expand.   

 

Twenty years from now, I’m pretty confident that MLS and USL will each be closer to 40 than 32.  And I personally don’t see why they shouldn’t be.  Soccer is a great fit for second-tier cities, in a way that baseball and football just aren't.

[GDAWG]

I would not be surprised to see MLS have 40 teams, but the Big 4 should cap it at 32. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Could a 40-team MLS embrace pro/rel? At that point it would kind of make sense.

[Viper]

25 minutes ago, DG_Now said:

Could a 40-team MLS embrace pro/rel? At that point it would kind of make sense.

 

I have a sneaking suspicion that this is exactly what MLS has in mind within a decade or so - a two- or even three-tier self-contained pro/rel structure. It would be the best of both worlds as far as they're concerned - it's another part of the European model to emulate, but without having to involve any pesky non-MLS leagues.

[Viper]

On 8/26/2018 at 10:53 PM, Red Wolf said:

It makes me jealous that Kansas City is in such a no man's land for geographic rivalries. Chicago used to be the team that we were supposed to hate, but it never rang true. Though the urinal pads that said Wiz on the Fire at the stadium were fun. Colorado doesn't really meet rivalry standards for SKC the same way it does for Chiefs vs. Broncos.

 

In fact, the teams that SKC fans hate the most would be Houston and RSL, who both of whom have closer geographic rivals for Rivalry Week (this time with rivalries!). So we just get stuck with... Minnesota? I mean, we won, but it's not a rivalry or anything. Kind of like how Vancouver and San Jose got shoved together this week.

 

Of course, nothing beats the phoniness of the Brimstone Cup from the days of Chicago Fire vs. Dallas Burn. MLS has come so far from those days.

 

One overlooked aspect of the Columbus/Austin mess is that if the move does go through, in all likelihood MNUFC* would be shifted to the East (along with FC Cincinnati) in order to rebalance the conferences at 12 teams apiece, so SKC wouldn't even have the Loons as a regional rival anymore.

 

* Currently the only Western Conference team based east of the Mississippi; that won't change when they move into Allianz Field, so if MLS needs to make room for Austin in the West, Minnesota would be the most logical choice to switch conferences. Also, Chicago makes more sense for the Loons as a regional rival; it's closer than KC, and most of Minnesota's other pro teams have Chicago teams as division rivals. Even expansion-mates Atlanta seem to make a more interesting rival for Minnesota than SKC, and they're already in the East.

[Wings]

44 minutes ago, Viper said:

 

I have a sneaking suspicion that this is exactly what MLS has in mind within a decade or so - a two- or even three-tier self-contained pro/rel structure. It would be the best of both worlds as far as they're concerned - it's another part of the European model to emulate, but without having to involve any pesky non-MLS leagues.

 

 

-40 teams 

-Two 20 team tiers

-No more conferences or divisions

 

Tier 1

-Top 16 teams make MLS Cup Playoffs

-4 non playoff teams are relegated to Tier 2

 

Tier 2

-Top 16 teams make MLS Trophy Playoffs

-4 playoff semifinalists promoted to Tier 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gothamite]

Maybe. Would be a little like the old “First Division/Second Division” in baseball, only with actual consequences.

 

I tend to doubt it, though - you don’t want to make your best rivalries dependent upon the finishing position of the previous year.  LAFC needs to play the Galaxy.  NYCFC and Red Bulls have to meet every year.  The Cascadia games are a focus of three clubs’ seasons and can’t be sacrificed.

 

I don’t see what MLS would get out of its two-tier setup that’s worth giving up its rivalry games. 

[Brian in Boston]

3 hours ago, Gothamite said:

Maybe. Would be a little like the old “First Division/Second Division” in baseball, only with actual consequences.

 

I tend to doubt it, though - you don’t want to make your best rivalries dependent upon the finishing position of the previous year.  LAFC needs to play the Galaxy.  NYCFC and Red Bulls have to meet every year.  The Cascadia games are a focus of three clubs’ seasons and can’t be sacrificed.

 

I don’t see what MLS would get out of its two-tier setup that’s worth giving up its rivalry games. 

Frankly, I'd be shocked to see Major League Soccer embrace a promotion-relegation system, even within a closed/self-contained structure. At least in my lifetime. And there is a far more pragmatic reason than preserving rivalries. Namely, that the minute Major League Soccer instituted such a system, they'd be saying goodbye to the likelihood that state and/or municipal governments would be quite so willing to invest public dollars - at least major league amounts of such dollars - into the construction of soccer-specific stadia to benefit privately-held MLS franchises.

Political officials - to say nothing of their constituents - are already growing leery of the public subsidization of sports facility construction. The minute Major League Soccer investor/operators can't guarantee that their clubs will be competing in a "First Division" competition year in and year out is the minute that politicians start anteing up less and less dough towards stadium construction projects. MLS owners will stress all they like that the second tier of MLS is still part of Major League Soccer, but the vast majority of the American sports marketplace - including public officials - won't see it that way. "Second Tier" MLS will be seen as Minor League Soccer... and will garner fewer public dollars towards stadium construction as a result. 

Personally, I won't mind the owners of privately-held professional sports franchises being forced to pay for the construction of their own facilities. That's how it should be. That said, without significant public subsidy of soccer-specific stadium construction projects, the rush of potential investor/operators to get in on the soccer craze is likely to slow.

[JackieMoon]

I don't think it would stay afloat if there were two tiers. The US and Europe are two different things. The US is spread out a lot further. Like the guy said above, goodbye to municipalites doing any funding. Look at how much money Carl Linder III just spent to get FC Cincinnati in the MLS. If they were to get relegated in a year or so, goodbye FC Cincinnati. What the MLS has now is not broken. All else fails cap the league at 32 with 16 and 16, and top 8 making playoffs. Keep it as an East West Final.

[crashcarson15]

I think it's significantly more likely that the top European leagues will get rid of promotion/relegation down the road than it ever coming to MLS.

[Kaz]

6 hours ago, Gothamite said:

Maybe. Would be a little like the old “First Division/Second Division” in baseball, only with actual consequences.

 

I tend to doubt it, though - you don’t want to make your best rivalries dependent upon the finishing position of the previous year.  LAFC needs to play the Galaxy.  NYCFC and Red Bulls have to meet every year.  The Cascadia games are a focus of three clubs’ seasons and can’t be sacrificed.

 

I don’t see what MLS would get out of its two-tier setup that’s worth giving up its rivalry games. 

They would likely in this case overhaul the ownership structure and/or salary cap so that teams in LA, NY, Cascadia etc. can buy relevancy like in other soccer leagues.  There's no way MLS would risk a major soccer market being relegated.

 

I don't see MLS going with a pro/rel model though

[TBGKon]

Richmond is headed to D3 in 2019...

 

https://www.soccerwire.com/notes/richmond-kickers-announced-as-usl-division-iii-founding-member/ 

 

I suspect a few more moves in the coming months.  If they're targeting D3 cities between 150k and 1mil in population, i could see teams like Penn FC, Rio Grande Valley, Colorado Springs, Charleston, and similar sized markets to shift.