The Battle Division II cont.. | The Boneyard

The Battle Division II cont..

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NASL is cornered again. Miami FC owner Ricardo Silva really exposed MLS this summer with his 4 Billion dollar proposal that called for Pro/Rel. I guess the USSF is just doing what it has been told to do.

As far as I can tell DII is meaningless beyond seeding in the arcane US Open Cup that most MLS teams see as a distraction.

NASL's future in balance entering last-gasp meeting

Meanwhile, the USL appears to be stable and growing, but another fracture is developing. Could we see a bunch of independent teams break away and form their own league. Does anyone else see the underlying stupidity and wastefulness that is the Pro soccer system in this country?

As USL league meetings begin, MLS2 clubs a hot-button issue
 
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The problem with Pro/Rel in the US is that we have no long established soccer culture that could sustain a relegated club.

QPR in England has been around for a long time, and can survive relegation. Not so much an American team.

If you want owners to invest in MLS and to build MLS stadiums, they'd be crazy to do it in a league where relegation is possible.

In England you see sketchy owners like the guy who just bought Nottingham trying to hit the Leicester lottery. It would wreak havoc here.
 
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The problem with Pro/Rel in the US is that we have no long established soccer culture that could sustain a relegated club.

QPR in England has been around for a long time, and can survive relegation. Not so much an American team.

If you want owners to invest in MLS and to build MLS stadiums, they'd be crazy to do it in a league where relegation is possible.

In England you see sketchy owners like the guy who just bought Nottingham trying to hit the Leicester lottery. It would wreak havoc here.

It's probably not sustainable, they don't even do it right in Mexico but if it were, it would make soccer stand out in the US.
 
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NASL hits U.S. Soccer with antitrust lawsuit after Division II status revoked

NASL taking the USSF to court. Alleges antitrust violations and collusion between the USSF and MLS.

Whatever you believe, it's irrefutable that the USSF is bending rules for the USL and not making the same accommodation for the NASL.

The NASL's complaint alleges that the USSF has violated federal antitrust laws through its anticompetitive "division" structure that splits men's professional soccer for U.S.-based leagues based on what the NASL describes as "arbitrary criteria that the USSF has manipulated to favor Major League Soccer (MLS), which is the commercial business partner of the USSF."

The release also said that the USSF's business arrangements "include multi-million dollar media and marketing contracts with Soccer United Marketing (SUM), MLS's marketing arm that also jointly sells and markets MLS rights combined with rights to U.S. national soccer teams operated by the USSF."
 
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Waquoit

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I think pro/reg is the only way US Major League soccer can grow in interest. I love soccer. I almost never watch MLS. I will watch a European game on delay before I watch an MLS game live. It's not just level of play, if so why is college sports so watched? Because fans have a rooting interest. I have no rooting interest in any team. But if Hartford had a next level team in a pro/reg situation I'd be a follower. And if Hartford was ever promoted, I'm a fan. And I'm sure the same thing would happen in all the other 2nd tier markets. They will never, ever be able to compete on talent. The money is just not there.
 

UCFBfan

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I didn't click on the articles you linked Zoo but I read an article about this that said Many USL teams were granted waivers previously and had to present plans to reach stadium size capacity and other benchmarks required to be D2 in USSF. What happened with that? Did those teams get exempted or did they all miraculously reach their targets? Just curious because in my opinion both MLS and USL are too large.

I do think that having pro/rel starting at the D2 level down would be a good starting point. So maybe they can't get into the MLS yet but being able to watch and cheer for a team like Hartford FC and see them go from the bottom ranks to the second highest tier makes their games that much more interesting. I'd like to think that it would increase interest in soccer at the lower levels and maybe open some eyes to the potential should they have it go all the way up to MLS.

I know it's a pipe dream but really don't see why you can have pro/real at the lower tiers
 

UCFBfan

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I think pro/reg is the only way US Major League soccer can grow in interest. I love soccer. I almost never watch MLS. I will watch a European game on delay before I watch an MLS game live. It's not just level of play, if so why is college sports so watched? Because fans have a rooting interest. I have no rooting interest in any team. But if Hartford had a next level team in a pro/reg situation I'd be a follower. And if Hartford was ever promoted, I'm a fan. And I'm sure the same thing would happen in all the other 2nd tier markets. They will never, ever be able to compete on talent. The money is just not there.
I agree with a lot of this, especially the end part about how promotion would definitely increase interest in lower tier soccer clubs.

However, I think MLS will always be boring and dull until they figure out how to be competitive in the world soccer market. The stupid salary cap crap that they have completely holds down the talent level and nobody cares about MLS because they don't know any players. Any player you do know is in the twilight of their career and not the play they were at their peak.

I really think that many fans show up to support MLS clubs because of the idea of the soccer fan culture. I bet a lot of them don't have a clue who any of the players on their teAms are. They just know that you're supposed to bang a drum, do a chant, and wear a scarf with your club's logo.

I think the fans wanna support the product but it is so horrible to watch. I tried watching a game the other night and I turned it off within 5 min.
 
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I agree with a lot of this, especially the end part about how promotion would definitely increase interest in lower tier soccer clubs.

However, I think MLS will always be boring and dull until they figure out how to be competitive in the world soccer market. The stupid salary cap crap that they have completely holds down the talent level and nobody cares about MLS because they don't know any players. Any player you do know is in the twilight of their career and not the play they were at their peak.

I really think that many fans show up to support MLS clubs because of the idea of the soccer fan culture. I bet a lot of them don't have a clue who any of the players on their teAms are. They just know that you're supposed to bang a drum, do a chant, and wear a scarf with your club's logo.

I think the fans wanna support the product but it is so horrible to watch. I tried watching a game the other night and I turned it off within 5 min.

MLS needs more teams like Atlanta United and less New Englands and Colorados. Atlanta in year one is pretty exciting, they bought young talent and Arthur Blank had spent a fortune on facilities and the Academy.

The sooner MLS flushes out the Krafts, Hunts and Kroenkes the better off they will be.
 
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It's the right move, but those 'founding fathers' ain't gon nowhea
 

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