Jaffa Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I thought FIFA doesn't want leagues expanding past 20.I would guess though that it would only be an issue if there was a single top division that swelled over that size - if the MLS were to continue its east/west split with both Conferences numbering 12 or 13 clubs, then potentially you'd have a regular season schedule of 34 or 37 matches per team (home/away with your own Conference, one match with each team from the other). That's fewer than the Premier League, for example, and far fewer than the Football League clubs who each have 46 matches per season before cup/play-off commitments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Hmm. There's hope for my Cosmos yet! The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still MIGHTY Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 If MLS (and hell, the NASL) keep expanding, how close are we to ever actually implementing a relegation/promotion system in North American soccer?Or will FIFA never actually give enough of a damn and let MLS continue on as it is? | ANA | LAA | LAR | LAL | ASU | CSULB | USMNT | USWNT | LAFC | OCSC | MAN UTD | Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I'd love to see it, but wonder if it wouldn't cause trouble with all those SSS deals. Columbus and Salt Lake didn't shell out $$$ to buy a home for a second-division club. The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyk33 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Hmm. There's hope for my Cosmos yet!If NY ever got 3 teams to represent them in the MLS soccer fans in every other part of North America would hate us. On the subject of expansion there is something that has always puzzled me about it. Why aren't the San Antonio Scorpions mentioned in expansion talks much? They have the highest attendance in the NASL by far and no one talks about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Island_Style Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 When it come to MLS, FIFA reminds me of the UN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxxtrot44 Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Hmm. There's hope for my Cosmos yet!If NY ever got 3 teams to represent them in the MLS soccer fans in every other part of North America would hate us.On the subject of expansion there is something that has always puzzled me about it. Why aren't the San Antonio Scorpions mentioned in expansion talks much? They have the highest attendance in the NASL by far and no one talks about them.They were mentioned twice in that Sports Illustrated article. I would wager the league downplays San Antonio since its proximity to Houston eats up its media market. I HATE THIS TIMELINE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian in Boston Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 In August of 2006, a "rule" limiting domestic leagues to 18 teams was passed by the FIFA Congress in a 194-to-5 vote. That said, nothing has ever come of said "rule". Top-flight professional soccer leagues in Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Italy, and Spain all play host to 20-team competitions. Second-tier pro leagues in these and several other countries also flout the rule, with membership reaching 22 or 24 teams.While capping the number of teams in domestic competition to 16 or 18 teams has long been a goal of FIFA president Sepp Blatter, his efforts to enforce said limits have been toothless. Blatter's limits were meant to insure that a domestic league playing a double round-robin schedule would have member teams playing no more than 30 or 34 regular-season matches. His goal was to limit domestic fixture congestion that negatively impacted FIFA competitions. While the heads of national associations and leagues - as well as individual club officials - in the aforementioned countries are also in favor of limiting fixture congestion, they've proven themselves unwilling to cede control of the size of their domestic competitions over to Blatter. That's particularly true if the heads of said associations, leagues, and clubs feel that ceding said control would negatively impact their ability to generate revenue.Should Major League Soccer - or, for that matter, any other professional domestic soccer competition worldwide - wish to expand well beyond the nominal 18-team limit, it would simply have to split into conferences and contest a schedule that was not double round-robin in format in order to limit fixture congestion. A 32-team MLS could be split into a pair of 16-team conferences based upon geography, with teams in each conference playing each other twice and half of the teams from the opposite conference once each. That would result in a 38-game schedule... equal in number to the current Premier League calendar.Bottom line? When it comes to determining the size of their league, Major League Soccer officials and owners will determine what is best for the circuit business-wise, just as their brethren in Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Italy, and Spain have... regardless of what Sepp Blatter and his FIFA cronies have to say about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian in Boston Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 If MLS (and hell, the NASL) keep expanding, how close are we to ever actually implementing a relegation/promotion system in North American soccer?I don't think I'll see it in my lifetime... and I'm in my 40s. As Gothamite mentions, the majority of Major League Soccer investor/operators are both familiar and comfortable with the traditional North American pro sports structure. As such, they haven't invested vast sums of money in their U.S. and/or Canadian pro soccer holdings in order to see their franchises relegated to a lower level of competition that may or may not draw the attention of fans, broadcast partners, and/or corporate sponsors necessary to generate a return on their investments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothamite Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 Hmm. There's hope for my Cosmos yet!If NY ever got 3 teams to represent them in the MLS soccer fans in every other part of North America would hate us. Well of course you would be the one to throw cold water on the idea. Doesn't seem to bother hockey fans. And the best thing MLS ever did was say "screw a Bettman-style national footprint, we're going to put our teams where the fanbases are." Clusters of teams are a feature, not a bug. The Green Bay Packers Uniform Database! Now in a handy blog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyk33 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Hmm. There's hope for my Cosmos yet!If NY ever got 3 teams to represent them in the MLS soccer fans in every other part of North America would hate us.Well of course you would be the one to throw cold water on the idea. Doesn't seem to bother hockey fans. And the best thing MLS ever did was say "screw a Bettman-style national footprint, we're going to put our teams where the fanbases are." Clusters of teams are a feature, not a bug.That is a good point that you bring up with the three NHL teams and it would be fun to see a Red Bulls - NYCFC - Cosmos rivalry play out but I am pretty sure fans in Orlando, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Detroit, North Carolina, & other markets that have shown potential for being fertile soil for a soccer team wouldn't exactly appreciate it. Until then we can always hope for an Open Cup match ups between the Cosmos & its MLS counterparts. I just hope that whatever MLS team plays them will actually play with full strength unlike what I tend to usually notice from MLS teams in the tournament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashcarson15 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Hmm. There's hope for my Cosmos yet!If NY ever got 3 teams to represent them in the MLS soccer fans in every other part of North America would hate us.Well of course you would be the one to throw cold water on the idea. Doesn't seem to bother hockey fans. And the best thing MLS ever did was say "screw a Bettman-style national footprint, we're going to put our teams where the fanbases are." Clusters of teams are a feature, not a bug.That is a good point that you bring up with the three NHL teams and it would be fun to see a Red Bulls - NYCFC - Cosmos rivalry play out but I am pretty sure fans in Orlando, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Detroit, North Carolina, & other markets that have shown potential for being fertile soil for a soccer team wouldn't exactly appreciate it.Until then we can always hope for an Open Cup match ups between the Cosmos & its MLS counterparts. I just hope that whatever MLS team plays them will actually play with full strength unlike what I tend to usually notice from MLS teams in the tournament.Oklahoma City and Detroit haven't shown, well, really anything yet.../The Open Cup would do well to organize into regional "pods" for the first few rounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxxtrot44 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Better tune into RSL v. SKC for the sleeve-mismatchingest game of the season. I HATE THIS TIMELINE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyk33 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Hmm. There's hope for my Cosmos yet!If NY ever got 3 teams to represent them in the MLS soccer fans in every other part of North America would hate us.Well of course you would be the one to throw cold water on the idea. Doesn't seem to bother hockey fans. And the best thing MLS ever did was say "screw a Bettman-style national footprint, we're going to put our teams where the fanbases are." Clusters of teams are a feature, not a bug.That is a good point that you bring up with the three NHL teams and it would be fun to see a Red Bulls - NYCFC - Cosmos rivalry play out but I am pretty sure fans in Orlando, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Detroit, North Carolina, & other markets that have shown potential for being fertile soil for a soccer team wouldn't exactly appreciate it.Until then we can always hope for an Open Cup match ups between the Cosmos & its MLS counterparts. I just hope that whatever MLS team plays them will actually play with full strength unlike what I tend to usually notice from MLS teams in the tournament.Oklahoma City and Detroit haven't shown, well, really anything yet.../The Open Cup would do well to organize into regional "pods" for the first few rounds.Oklahoma City is going to be an NASL team soon so I have seen some chatter of them being an MLS team while Detroit City Supporters have drawn a great amount of attention to the team despite Detroit City being a 4th tier club in the USSF pyramid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 In August of 2006, a "rule" limiting domestic leagues to 18 teams was passed by the FIFA Congress in a 194-to-5 vote. That said, nothing has ever come of said "rule". Top-flight professional soccer leagues in Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Italy, and Spain all play host to 20-team competitions. Second-tier pro leagues in these and several other countries also flout the rule, with membership reaching 22 or 24 teams.flout the ruleAnd if second-tier leagues can have 24 teams, then MLS, as a fifth-tier league, can have like 30. ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashcarson15 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Hmm. There's hope for my Cosmos yet!If NY ever got 3 teams to represent them in the MLS soccer fans in every other part of North America would hate us.Well of course you would be the one to throw cold water on the idea. Doesn't seem to bother hockey fans. And the best thing MLS ever did was say "screw a Bettman-style national footprint, we're going to put our teams where the fanbases are." Clusters of teams are a feature, not a bug.That is a good point that you bring up with the three NHL teams and it would be fun to see a Red Bulls - NYCFC - Cosmos rivalry play out but I am pretty sure fans in Orlando, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Detroit, North Carolina, & other markets that have shown potential for being fertile soil for a soccer team wouldn't exactly appreciate it.Until then we can always hope for an Open Cup match ups between the Cosmos & its MLS counterparts. I just hope that whatever MLS team plays them will actually play with full strength unlike what I tend to usually notice from MLS teams in the tournament.Oklahoma City and Detroit haven't shown, well, really anything yet.../The Open Cup would do well to organize into regional "pods" for the first few rounds.Oklahoma City is going to be an NASL team soon so I have seen some chatter of them being an MLS team while Detroit City Supporters have drawn a great amount of attention to the team despite Detroit City being a 4th tier club in the USSF pyramid.Well we at least think they're going to have an NASL team. Or maybe a USL team. Who the hell knows (or did that get sorted out over the last couple of days?)./The point is moreso that until a fanbase shows that they'll fill a stadium for a couple of years running, it's a little irresponsible to talk about them having "proven" themselves worthy of being an MLS market. I mean, if we're going to talk about OKC and Detroit having "proven" themselves for MLS, I'd damn well make the argument that Indy has too. Which, well, isn't the case. At all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 How much of Oklahoma City proving itself for MLS had to do with the wearing of scarves? I've never thought of OKC as a big scarf town. ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kramerica Industries Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Well, if the Thunder playoff games are any indication, OKC fans have no problem going along with gimmicks, such as the all-blue, all-white, and alternating blue/white sections, none of which ever make any damned sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 If Orlando gets a team they should sing "You'll Never Walk Alone" trololololol ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4_tattoos Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/mayor-gray-dc-united-reach-tentative-deal-on-soccer-stadium-for-buzzard-point/2013/07/24/b3c6594e-f315-11e2-ae43-b31dc363c3bf_story.html For anybody that's interested Hotter Than July > Thriller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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