The fact that fucking Bradley Wright Phillips can go to the MLS and be a star says it all about the current state.
Also the MLS will never be the biggest football league in the world because of the Champions League, its that simple. Also salary.
Prestige is a big thing for top footballers and there's nothing prestigious about winning the MLS.
However this being America, MLS WILL be a major league eventually.
MLS will probably be the dominant sport in the states in a few decades. The NFL is not long for this world.
Cant wait for such a beautiful sport to spread its bullshit to another continent.
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Never. People love the NFL too much.
Plus, don't see how MLS can pass the NBA, NHL and baseball.
Nhl? Haha
Nba will also get passed.
Its pretty big in urban areas. The thing that really needs to happen is for it to break into the heartland. Places like NYC, Miami, DC, LA etc are already pretty soccer crazy.
CTE and concussions will eventually bankrupt the NFL in due course.
Say what? NHL..growing? I understand it's a very regional sport but I'm amazed to hear it is growing by any metric. It feels like a shadow of itself from the 90s. MLS already averages greater attendance figures than NHL and that number is continuing to improve especially with Chivas gone. MLS TV ratings are still not particularly great, but will improve over time especially as European soccer regularly draws better ratings than the NHL despite the unfortunate start times comparatively speaking.The MLS is decades away from overtaking a growing NHL.
For starters the FIFA is called FIFA, not FISA. It's just a gesture, but it shows how little US people care about a sport when they call it whatever the hell they want and in contradiction with the rest of the world.
Until they can pay their players like nba or mlb players, soccer will always trail behind.
The MLS will remain a retirement league for top European talent. I do see it becoming the top league in North America though. As for the future of the sport in the US, due to the influence of the other big sports in the US, I think Americans will always favour athleticism over technical ability. Because of this the US will never become a top team in soccer. Guys like Messi would never be noticed there.
I don't think people realize how deeply football in the USA has become embedded in communities across the USA. Go to any town in the USA on Friday Night or Saturday afternoon in the fall and just watch. Football isn't boxing.
Prestige is a big thing for top footballers and there's nothing prestigious about winning the MLS.
The term Soccer comes from England. Back then soccer and football were used interchangeably there.
Another point to remember is that soccer isn't just Europes game, something this board likes to forget.
There are huge leagues in South America and Mexico that the MLS is competing with. Kaka was talking about how two of the biggest teams in Brazil played and they only had 16,000 or something and his first game here had 63,000. With the MLS usually averaging in the high teens low 20,000s were out preforming soccer crazed countries like Brazil in attendance.
Say what? NHL..growing? I understand it's a very regional sport but I'm amazed to hear it is growing by any metric. It feels like a shadow of itself from the 90s. MLS already averages greater attendance figures than NHL and that number is continuing to improve especially with Chivas gone. MLS TV ratings are still not particularly great, but will improve over time especially as European soccer regularly draws better ratings than the NHL despite the unfortunate start times comparatively speaking.
People stay away from games in Brazil due to poverty (not being able to afford a ticket) and big hooligan problems there.
Big attendance figures like Kaka's MLS debut in the US seem to be driven by cheap tickets and concerted advertising campaigns, it's still a million miles away from Arsenal filling the Emirates every week.
If the league continues to do well, I can see them following MLB's current situation - strong local ratings in terms of TV and attendance which offsets more lackluster national TV ratings. People always point at poor ratings of MLB national broadcasts or playoff games, but teams are generally doing well in their own markets. Some of those TV contracts in recent years are pretty ridiculous.
I don't understand this.
The MLS/USA soccer is building and modeling academies like European clubs where younger kids get picked out and start training early so Messi's will be noticed. That's gonna take time but its going to enable us to have homegrown talent. And with the growing MLS they won't all jump ship to europe. There will be a superstar born and bread in america in the next 10 or so years.
I love how we're so bad yet a lot of our players come from teams that did pretty darn well at the world cup
For starters the FIFA is called FIFA, not FISA. It's just a gesture, but it shows how little US people care about a sport when they call it whatever the hell they want and in contradiction with the rest of the world.
What's wrong with New York City FC again?lets list them all, the guilty ones that is:
Real Salt Lake.
Toronto FC
FC Dallas
New York City FC
Orlando City SC
D.C. United
Sporting Kansas City
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it's not only the name, it's even the fuckin shields
even when the US did away with the British and their monarchy, they still find away to slip a Crown in their crest
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What's wrong with New York City FC again?
Americans are okay with 2 teams winning it when it comes to the NBA so why wouldn't they be okay with it happening in the MLS? In any case, I doubt that would happen so severely in the MLS anyway - Toronto FC has the highest salary in the league yet they're pretty damn terrible. Money isn't a guarantee of success in American sports - at least not as much as it is in Europe. Baseball has no salary cap yet they have more varied winners than the NBA and NFL. Here is the 2014 salary figures: http://www.stathunting.com/2014/04/11/mls-salaries-visualized/Yeah man, I would love for the league to go bankrupt as well and have the same 2 teams win every single year! Hell, let's hope add promotion and relegation while they're at it. Excitement!
You sure about that?
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=589488
Haha yeah I know, I'm very curious to see why he has a problem with it.Manchester City owns them, so they have the same colors. Not really sure why it's wrong.
Say what? NHL..growing? I understand it's a very regional sport but I'm amazed to hear it is growing by any metric. It feels like a shadow of itself from the 90s. MLS already averages greater attendance figures than NHL and that number is continuing to improve especially with Chivas gone. MLS TV ratings are still not particularly great, but will improve over time especially as European soccer regularly draws better ratings than the NHL despite the unfortunate start times comparatively speaking.
Say what? NHL..growing? I understand it's a very regional sport but I'm amazed to hear it is growing by any metric. It feels like a shadow of itself from the 90s. MLS already averages greater attendance figures than NHL and that number is continuing to improve especially with Chivas gone. MLS TV ratings are still not particularly great, but will improve over time especially as European soccer regularly draws better ratings than the NHL despite the unfortunate start times comparatively speaking.
"Well no, but we do have a group of guys who regularly lose to soccer teams."
sorry
If the league continues to do well, I can see them following MLB's current situation - strong local ratings in terms of TV and attendance which offsets more lackluster national TV ratings. People always point at poor ratings of MLB national broadcasts or playoff games, but teams are generally doing well in their own markets. Some of those TV contracts in recent years are pretty ridiculous.
lets list them all, the guilty ones that is:
Real Salt Lake.
Toronto FC
FC Dallas
New York City FC
Orlando City SC
D.C. United
Sporting Kansas City
![]()
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it's not only the name, it's even the fuckin shields
even when the US did away with the British and their monarchy, they still find away to slip a Crown in their crest
![]()
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Soccer was also a term coined in England
And the fact that you use the fact that we call it soccer (when talking about the MLS on top of it) as some major deal that shows off how rude and stupid Americans are is more indicative of
Man, really? I thought Toronto FC is generally a terrible team like all the other teams owned by MLSE.
lol no. A salary capped team will never be as competitive payment wise as a non capped league. The thing about salary caps is that they are always decided by the owners, and the owners will never put it high enough to stave off European owners. Shit just look at MLB player salries compared to NFL player salaries. MLB pays much better despite bringing in less revenue than NFL.People must forget that MLS is very young. The salary cap will never go away, which is a good thing, but it will rise plenty enough in due time to make the league more and more competitive.
Player salaries are very low right now, but those players still have the option of playing in other leagues to be paid more at the moment. If they were good enough to make big money playing in Europe, they would be in Europe. That will eventually happen, but by the time the US academies catch up, the league might be in a place that keeps them domestic. Much like players, academy workers are going to feel the same tug to come to the US. When those established scouts and trainers come over or US based ones become much more experienced, then MLS will become something scary.
It might not be so crazy to see MLS grow to the point where Financial Fair-Play evolves to compete with a salary capped league. Having parity is something that is taken for granted a lot in US sports, and helps immensely with fan growth.
We're starting to see glimmers of where the league ends up. Just don't expect it in 10 years.
What's wrong with Ireland?