Now this will be another great road trip, amazing BBQ in a city with a rich footy history.
http://www.ksdk.com/sports/soccer/ml...ouis/353574938
Now this will be another great road trip, amazing BBQ in a city with a rich footy history.
http://www.ksdk.com/sports/soccer/ml...ouis/353574938
Just stayed over this summer. The loop is a great place to get some good eats. The Arch is pretty impressive close up as well. It should have all its reconditioning done by 2018.
St Louis should have had a team 20 years ago. There is a great documentary out there about St Louis soccer, they have had more local soccer there for longer than almost anywhere else in the US.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Time_for_Champions
Does this mean Preki is back in MLS?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/...in-wilderness/
https://league-mp7static.mlsdigital..../Preki_620.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by ensco
MLS 28 will include..
24. Miami
25. St. Louis
26. Sacramento
27. Cincinnati
28. Vegas/San Antonio/Detriot
Surprised to see STL is 21st in top 100 US media markets. Thought it was much lower.
STL at one time was a considered a top metro area, not so much in the last 50 years.
When will the MLS stop expanding? If they plan on going to 30 or 32 teams, they should definitely consider implementing two tiers with relegation and promotion back and forth.
We know its going to 28. We don't know if/where it will stop.Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt.Cro
That just seems excessive to me...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt.Cro
Will have to raise the cap....At 32 the league will be watered down...raising the cap will attracked more tallent.
But would love a two tier MLS.....brings excitment from top to bottom of the leagues!!
Cant see it happening though
Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt.Cro
At a 100mill a pop...its never enough..lol
Imagine 10 years ago it was 10million..lol
And David Beckham the genious he is locked in at that rate when he signed his contract....knowing one day he would have a team.... Genious!
I fear getting too big too fast. Mind you the MLS has been around for 20 years but that's from not being too ambitious in the beginning. You're absolutely right about watering down talent though with so many expansion drafts... Cap raise would be great but it may also hinder the smaller market teams which would then again cause a regression. I imagine them (hopefully) stretching to 28 over at least the next 10 years though.
Yes and no on the talent issue. Soccer is an international game, there is a ton of talent out there. They would just have to make the domestic quota a little lower.Quote:
Originally Posted by RPB_RED_NATION_RPB
Garber came from the NFL so I'm sure that 32 teams for him is the Holy Grail. It would allow for 2 conferences of 4 divisions each and a 34-game schedule playing intra-division home-and-away series and alternating 1 game home then away every other team in the league.
And there is no way they have two levels of play because that runs the risk of having New York and LA teams at different levels, which would make the TV networks balk.
And yes, the product might be a little watered down at first, but imagine that 20 years after the 32 teams is reached, the US will be a powerhouse with each MLS academy producing 1 world-class player every 10 years - that would be 32 world-class players constantly coming down the pipeline and regenerating their base in every generation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JARDvdrAxkQuote:
Originally Posted by Detroit_TFC
I don't expect there ever will be promotion/relegation. If not, I rather they go into a two league system where you only play within your conference. Maybe the occasional cross conference games similar to MLB's interleague play. Make it two single tables, with the champion of each playing in a two legged MLS Cup final. Ah who am I kidding? We all know it's going to be the NFL...32 teams, 8 divisions.Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt.Cro
The funny thing is, promotion and relegation can actually work if you know how to sell it properly. Look at the NBA or NHL. How often does a team go from bottom 5 to a playoff spot within a year? The Leafs with all their talent probably won't even make the playoffs and everyone is ok with that. In other words, it's a year where they'd be hoping to be "promoted" into the top half of the league. They're a perfect example of a team trying to make that next step, and promotion to top flight would be a great measuring stick. For a team that is relegated, all it means is that they have at least a year of rebuilding. I know North Americans love the idea of an open top flight league, but let's be serious. The NBA is has two super teams, maybe 4 good teams, a handful of mediocre teams, and a bunch of really bad teams. I don't think 76ers fans need to be told by a promotion/relegation system that they aren't good enough to challenge the top flight teams.
Just a thought.
Firstly, I generally agree. However, on the two tier NBA comment, maybe it wouldn’t be that poorly accepted by fans as you’d think. Would the 76ers fans want to see their team keep getting dismantled by the Warriors and Cavaliers of the league on a regular basis OR not face them at all for a season while they work their kinks out? If they played in a lower tier, they’d only face other teams that are also not doing so well or rebuilding, which would raise their likelihood of getting a win and thus keeping fans happier. The reasonable fan would have to acknowledge that their team isn’t going to win any championships with any top caliber players but playing in a lower tear will help them get some more wins for their fans to enjoy and gives them something to chase throughout the season in being able to play with the big boys the following season, or at least play against everyone for the first half of the season, and break into two tiers for the rest of the season for the sake of competitiveness. This is how the national league in Belgium and I think also in Poland work (for soccer) and it seems to be working well for them.Quote:
Originally Posted by PAOK17
Not having consequences to poor performance is a very North American thing to do. Also why we give our kids participation medals.
Back to the main subject of this thread however, saw a great quote by our friend Kurt Larson in a Toronto Sun article from the weekend on the St. Louis subject:
” And you get an expansion team! And you get an expansion team! And you get an expansion team!
Major League Soccer is handing out expansion franchises faster than one of Oprah’s trademark holiday giveaways.”
How True of a statement that is.
This is what I would like to see too. Would also make the MLS Cup more interesting, as the World Series is.Quote:
Originally Posted by PAOK17
MLB has 30 teams. Two conferences that really for the most part, run separate from each other.
Wonder if this is the route MLS takes - cuts travel costs not having to fly across the country for games against teams you have no real rivalry against.
Yeah I mean I think it's an easier sell if they swallow up a bunch of NASL USL teams and get to 60. 20/20/20 - That way it isn't good and bad, but rather different levels to suit different needs. You could argue that's a net positive for all.
It would allow the top tier to attack lots of talent from around the world becoming arguably a top 5 league in the world (Bun, Prem, Liga, Serie) and have the second tier bring up academy players. I also firmly believe there are some cities who wouldn't want to compete in the top tier and, realistically, financially couldn't.
Always struck me as hilarious that north american sports hate promotion relegation which is inherently capitalist. Of course America is corporatist and protectionist more than it is capitalist anyway. Certainly the league is.
Honestly. This is probably the best approach. 15 teams in your conference means 28 games home/away in conference leaving 6 matches for interconference play. I could see some smaller teams being upset about losing out on Galaxy matches but NYCFC kind of balances that out.Quote:
Originally Posted by jabbronies
Two leagues that stay within is nice. Less travel makes it easier for road trips and generating history between sides.
Though would be strange to go long stretches without playing Vancouver? KC has some history on the eastern side too. I guess we'd all get over it eventually.
So much for a verbal agreement to bring an MLS team to St. Louis.
http://www.espnfc.com/major-league-s...um-in-st-louis
As the saying goes, don't count your chickens before they're hatched.
how do you play in vegas from june to sept?Quote:
Originally Posted by kodiakTFC
san antonio is a pizza oven aswell in the summer
they just will... just like how they will play in Orlando, Dallas and Houston during the summerQuote:
Originally Posted by C.Ronaldo
To be fair I never said I wanted these places. Just seems where we're headed. Houston is hotter than hell too. They play a lot of games at night and lot of games earlier in the season before it gets too hot.Quote:
Originally Posted by C.Ronaldo
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yohan
i understand, but right now they try to work around it with other regions. But when have 8-10 of the teams in unbearable conditions, your options become limited
Vegas is not like the others in july/aug. its just not possible. Its so dry you will you dehydrate within the first half
I was just in Vegas over the summer and the heat really wasn't too bad after the sun went down. It was 40C in the day but it didn't feel that hot because it was so dry. FIFA allows a water break for each half, so I'm sure Qatar games would be the model that MLS would follow in Vegas and Phoenix. I foresee future schedules with home games early and late in the season skewed towards the southern cities and July-August home games would be skewed towards the northern MLS cities.
St.Louis is a rather small city that has been hurting for some years. 1950 population use to be around 800k-900k and rather denesely built, probably more like older Toronto neighbourhoods you see. Today only around 300k people live in St.Louis, huge decrease in population has left many poor neighbourhoods without some basic necessities, many schools abandoned. Much of the population has fled to the suburban sprawls (suburb sprawls after the 50s really hurt some American Cities, left the cities with no one to move into the city to replace those that left, job losses in the industrial work force was an even bigger effect tho). Much similar to that of cities like Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Baltimore. They also recently lost there NFL team.
Hope a new MLS team can help in whatever way it can. City needs more then a sports team to turn it around, but might help some corner of the city.