LA Galaxy wearing yellow and blue

[Mingjai]

Now I could be wrong, but the one thing I always felt would help MLS early on is if they had exhibition games against real European teams.  New England Revolution vs. Inter Milan, Kansas City Wiz vs. Real Madrid, or Chicago Fire vs. Paris St. Germain.  Okay yeah, I know the MLS teams would get pounded 8-0 or something, but maybe it would bring fans?  There's got to be a way to get Americans into soccer.

How about Real Salt Lake vs. Real Madrid on Aug. 12 in Salt Lake City? Hopefully Real Madrid delivers on their promise to bring their big guns.

RSL welcome Real Madrid to Utah

[harperdc]

just slapping blue on their same yellow doesn't make an alternate. and, again, while I have no problem with team names and other borrowing of traditions, this is beyond my level of taste. it's just uncreative and demeaning to the Galaxy.

and I know I probably pay more attention to the MLS during the summer because there's NOTHING ELSE ON soccer wise. I can only stare at Soccernet's transfers for so long. If they switched it to start in November and end in May, I'd be caring more about how my Gunners were doing than any of the MLS info. Although it *would* be nice to get the league onto the 'regular' schedule....

it doesn't matter that football is only a couple days a week; you can't have the stance of trying to buy into the american audience and then set your league up for failure. People live, breathe and die football; I'm sure many people would rather see high school football than MLS just because it's a known quantity. Plus, you're fighting for weekends, and you also get into the case in those few remaining shared stadiums of the turf getting chewed up like none other by the football players.

[-kj]

...the MLS should just switch to a November to May schedule like the rest of the world...

Like Brazil. Or Australia. Or Norway. Or Sweden. Or....

It's not that I don't like the idea of MLS going with a winter schedule. It's just that I think attendance would plummet.

[zjac7]

This isn't such a big deal to me, it's not like MLS has "Hardwood Classics" or anything like that... As a one-off promotion, it's not the best, but it's not like MLS has this big tradition that can be demeaned. Maybe next time the Galaxy should wear their teal throwbacks

[Gothamite]

I disagree with you here and I'll tell you why. For about 7 years MLS tried to be America's version of soccer. And they found that no matter how you package soccer most americans will not pay attention to it, watch it on TV, or go to more than one game after their curiosity wore thin. Where the alienation of fans was happening was with their core market, the people who were already soccer fans. The people who were already soccer fans didn't like the new rules or the clock counting down or stopping when the ball went out of bounds. They didn't want to watch this brand of their game either. So in turn nobody was going to the games.

MLS then got smart. They put soccer specific stadiums in Columbus and Los Angeles near latin communities. They change the rules to something that soccer fans were more familiar with. Instead of trying to be soccer, they became futbol. I think LA turned a profit last year, attendance is way up. The MLS is becoming the ultimate niche sport, instead of trying to be the fifth major sport like they were ten years ago. I think what they are doing is brilliant and I agree that you don't need to change your colors to match some other foreign team or call yourself Real Salt Lake. I'm just saying that while they have lost alot of money in the past, they are losing less and less right now. Things aren't as bad in the MLS as they used to be they've gotten a lot better.

The problem is that they tried to "Americanize" soccer. The existing soccer fans resented dumbing down the game, and they couldn't attract enough new fans to make up for alienating the real base.

MLS is bush league. I'd love to see a real major-league soccer league in this country. We don't have one, no matter what the pretender likes to call itself.

[harperdc]

let me rephrase the thought I've had, since I've finally found the proper words:

do the Seattle Mariners change their home uniforms to have dark blue and red in their logo and wordmark for when they play the Yankees in Seattle? That's what the Galaxy have done: alter their colors to their opponent's biggest rival just to piss them off.

if you aren't offended at what the Galaxy did, but would be in the baseball analogy given....then I don't know what to say.

[Gothamite]

I don't think they're the same thing.

It's traditional in football to have kits in colors other than the primary team colors. Those are frequently worn for many reasons, including trying to gain a psychological manipulation over one's opponent.

Context is important.