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    #31
    Promotion and relegation! That way the fans will care about the team's record, because it matters! And weak teams can't hide.

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      #32
      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      Promotion and relegation! That way the fans will care about the team's record, because it matters! And weak teams can't hide.
      The only way I could ever see this happening in the US would be if 1) MLS essentially had enough teams to make 2-3 divisions of 20 teams each that would be willing to support their teams at a beyond minor league level even if they were in MLS 2 or MLS 3. So you'd need a solid 60 markets to be able to support "top flight" soccer. 2) The top level of the league became akin to one of the best European leagues in the world, attracting top global talent in their prime and supported by a solid network of homegrown American/North American professionals that were as solid as the average foreign professional from strong soccer countries.

      So it isn't happening any time soon.

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        #33
        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
        The only way I could ever see this happening in the US would be if 1) MLS essentially had enough teams to make 2-3 divisions of 20 teams each that would be willing to support their teams at a beyond minor league level even if they were in MLS 2 or MLS 3. So you'd need a solid 60 markets to be able to support "top flight" soccer. 2) The top level of the league became akin to one of the best European leagues in the world, attracting top global talent in their prime and supported by a solid network of homegrown American/North American professionals that were as solid as the average foreign professional from strong soccer countries.

        So it isn't happening any time soon.
        Agreed that’s not happening. MLS teams are franchises so the owners have a huge say. It’s unlikely a new franchise owner who paid 10x what the founding franchise owners paid 20 years ago to launch a team would want their young team subject to relegation.

        It is totally unrealistic to expect MLS to mimic or rival European leagues in the foreseeable future. Unlike MLS, a lot of the clubs in Europe are still membership clubs overseen by their own leagues and FIFA. It took 50-100 years to develop those leagues and along the way many teams went bankrupt, merged, etc. While soccer is very popular in Europe, it really only became a real money-maker in the 1980’s with more television rights for the teams similar to NESN for Red Sox baseball. Step outside those top leagues like EPL, Bundesliga, etc. and many smaller leagues/teams are struggling financially in Europe and don’t have nearly the level of talent as the top leagues. It’s not all rainbows and sunshine on the other side of the pond.

        The one thing I think MLS should change is it’s season so it’s not competing with NFL, MLB, or European leagues head-on for prime time TV viewership. I think it should be Feb-May spring league.

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          #34
          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
          Agreed that’s not happening. MLS teams are franchises so the owners have a huge say. It’s unlikely a new franchise owner who paid 10x what the founding franchise owners paid 20 years ago to launch a team would want their young team subject to relegation.
          Just to be clear, MLS teams aren't franchises in the traditional sports sense. MLS "investors" are all owners of MLS Inc. -- so think about MLS like a VC company with a series of financing rounds. Recent "owners" are paying a higher valuation to buy into the MLS company. All owners share in the profits of MLS Inc., i.e. the league as a whole, including the MLS share of Soccer United Marketing (SUM). Yes, the "owners" are also "operators" of a local team, and benefit from the revenue stream that generates, but the reason pro/rel doesn't work isn't for the reasons you explain, but rather because the promoted teams wouldn't be owners of MLS like the relegated teams.

          It's a totally f-ed up structure and the opaqueness, self-dealing, and intertwined interests are the reasons for holding the growth of soccer in the US.

          FWIW, this is a good explanation of the MLS corporate structure:
          https://medium.com/@isaac_krasny/unp...l-827f4b784bcd

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            #35
            Providence Equity is no longer involved in SUM

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