The Guardian's MLS dedicated website

[Davenport]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/mar/12/mls-5-things-david-beckham-sebastian-velasquez

[Yohan]

wonder why the guardian is covering MLS pretty extensively.

good write up though

[Davenport]

Looks like they're going to cover it comprehensively all season.
Maybe to see the level of interest ?
Mr. Parker knows his stuff...and finally we we can read someone who really knows the game and not a chump who's reporting on a soft night for baseball or bowling.

[Canary10]

Probably so they can cover football in the summer (other than unfounded transfer rumours) to a readership that can't get enough of it.

It's quite good though. Like what they said about Canadian teams. It's very true.

[Greatest Ripoff]

posted in the comments section,

"The Guardian set up a new north American office at the end of last summer and I'm the sports blogs editor. MLS is an important part of our sports coverage and we started with the 2011 playoffs. This season there will be a 5 Things blog every Monday and a preview blog every Friday, plus live coverage of at least one game every weekend and reports from other games, plus occasional interviews and features."

[Yohan]

Probably so they can cover football in the summer (other than unfounded transfer rumours) to a readership that can't get enough of it.

It's quite good though. Like what they said about Canadian teams. It's very true.
not sure if they got a Brit covering MLS, but whoever they are, they know a lot about MLS. I think maybe couple of MLS bloggers from the States

[Yohan]

oh, and thank Beckham, Henry and Keane

[Canary10]

It's kind of sad we'll be getting better coverage from a UK paper than we do from a Canadian one (with all respect to Kurt Larson who does a great job).

[Roogsy]

The ironic thing is that the Sun is a sponsor of TFC are they not?

[Canary10]

^ I think the Star is supposed to be a sponsor. Even more ironic. The Sun at least has some TFC coverage.

[Canary10]

The writing quality of the Guardian is way better than what we get here, regardless of what paper it is.

[Island Man]

The writing quality of the Guardian is way better than what we get here, regardless of what paper it is.
The Guardian is the only decent newspaper in the UK tbh.

[Beach_Red]

oh, and thank Beckham, Henry and Keane


No, thank the increased fan base in North America - if it happened ten years ago or ten years from now it would be three different guys coming over for a paycheque.

[Yohan]

No, thank the increased fan base in North America - if it happened ten years ago or ten years from now it would be three different guys coming over for a paycheque.
I disagree.

MLS is a growing league, but the names Beckham, Henry and Keane still gets attention. Why else would a British newspaper cover MLS? (that is, if the Guardian's target audience is still mainly Britain)

[scut farkus]

^ I think the Star is supposed to be a sponsor. Even more ironic. The Sun at least has some TFC coverage.

Remember -- advertising is supposed to be separate from editorial...

[ArmenJBX]

I don't understand the Toronto Star, a major sponsor for TFC who doesn't even cover it. It's like ignoring a child, almost.

[TorontoGooner]

not sure if they got a Brit covering MLS, but whoever they are, they know a lot about MLS. I think maybe couple of MLS bloggers from the States

My assumption from the use of the word 'turnover' was that it was an American/Canadian. It's a great column.


The Guardian is the only decent newspaper in the UK tbh.

I'd disagree, but then that's a matter of opinion! It tends to be a liberal voters newspaper, and has a pretty large following.

[los sonadores]

I'd disagree, but then that's a matter of opinion! It tends to be a liberal voters newspaper, and has a pretty large following.

At times considered a left wing (but not very left) paper... but there isn't much of the left left in England it seems. Recently they had something like 6 million U.S. online readers and even tried a Guardian America website for a while.

[Davenport]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/mls

[TFC Cityboy]

the 5 Things we learned inweek 1 says good stuff about the Canuck content and rivalries

[Kaz]

The main Guardian writer seems to be Graham Parker


Graham Parker is a writer based in Brooklyn, New York. He is also a widely exhibited artist and author of the book Fair Use (notes from spam).
On Twitter he is @KidWeilBut these folks are also involved and a few reblogs in there too.


Joe Prince-Wright is a writer based in Brooklyn, New York. He was a college soccer player at the University of Pittsburgh, and now works as a freelance editor for MLSsoccer.com. He also contributes to Eurosport.co.uk, and is TalkSPORT radio's MLS correspondent. You can find him on Twitter on @JPW8 (https://twitter.com/#%21/JPW8)You also have

Steve Busfield is Sports Blogs Editor for the Guardian in New York. He has previously been Sports Blogs Editor of guardian.co.uk/sport, news editor of guardian.co.uk, night editor of the Guardian, editor of MediaGuardian.co.uk and a showbusiness reporter at the Daily Mail. He is a life member of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and author of The Wire Re-up (http://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9780852652213). On Twitter he is @Busfield (https://twitter.com/#%21/Busfield)

[UltraSuperMegaMo]

Good to see the league getting some increased exposure. I find myself more and more interested in the MLS – at first I only followed TFC and would never dream of watching a MLS game without them. Now I watch games all the time and have favourite non-TFC teams in both conferences.

[__wowza]

honestly, when i read the guardian i get a better idea of how the MLS is run than the MLS website itself. aside from it being called MLSsoccer (effectively labelling it major league soccer soccer.com, i know the name is taken, but try a bit harder) i see this shit:

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2012/03/14/mls-power-rankings-week-1

LA Galaxy, last week they were on top, this week.. theyre at 2? they tied a game everyone had them pegged as running rampant through, they lost to real salt lake and then they got scored on 3 times. yet kansas, colorado, vancouver, dallas, san jose, and houston are all behind them despite winning their games last weekend. kinda fuckin ridiculous when you think about it. oh, and us? we tied the mighty galaxy up to 13 from 14? GLEE!!

who do they bump down the table and replace in 2nd?
seattle, the team who won their CCL game!!

so again, tying a game you were slated to win + losing a match by giving up 3 consecutive goals > winning a champions league or league game.

[Dub Narcotic]

wonder why the guardian is covering MLS pretty extensively.

good write up though

They are making a North American sports portal. Covering MLS combines their strength in soccer coverage with a different angle from the major American sports sites like espn.com.

[Dub Narcotic]

I think the biggest need for MLS right now that would not cost much money is a weekly highlights recap a la the EPL one. All they have to do is get the NBC pbp guy to do a voiceover on the highlights they already show on the website and then give it for free to TSN, NBC Sports, etc...

[Whoop]

I'm pretty sure the Toronto Sun is the official newspaper of TFC not the Star.