The deeper thinking going around is the league understands that there will not be butts in seats until the Fall. We might be quicker up here actually.
I think you have to be fair towards ownership in a league that is primarily gate driven, in contrast to the NFL and NBA where they have huge television deals. We are seeing the same thing play out in the NHL where the owners wanted a significantly reduced regular season. I don't think any of us want to see teams folding or the league in financial difficulties. At the end of the day these teams are all businesses
Because I recognize the economics of the league. In terms of money, we're not much ahead of (and even possibly behind) the English Championship, and back in the summer there were some Championship clubs saying they could go out of business. The EPL and the Football League had to make a bailout package for them:
https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-...clubs-12150133
Who would bailout MLS? The gov't? Nope.
FWIW, back in the spring I was on the players' side when MLS tried to force even harsher pay reductions than what they eventually did, because they tried it at the last minute and it was a shitty thing to do without consultation.
But in this case, I think the numbers speak for themselves. We are literally talking about the survival of the league here. The players don't have much choice but to get on board, otherwise they're all going to be looking for new jobs by the end of the year.
That being said, anything MLS does on this front should be done in full consultation with the MLSPA. No secrecy, no grandstanding. Show them the numbers so they can see what the situation is, then come to the most equitable agreement.
Hate to break it to you but this league is in no way at risk.
It’s as simple as: if you have the cash as an owner would you stomach $25 million in losses to protect your asset of $250 million, which has even further potential to grow down the road? Of course you would, every day of the week.
If ownership doesn’t have the cash to float the teams, someone else would buy this league in three tenths of a second.
These cries of poverty should be ignored.
Last edited by ag futbol; 12-30-2020 at 08:33 AM.
If MLS has been losing money for 25 years, how come people, some of them fairly smart who would never buy something that isn't a good bet, keep buying teams?
These owners are not Div 2 suckers who just want to own a team.
I'm betting that MLS is losing money, but it's SUM that is giving dividends to the owners on its media dealings that more than make up for it.
That combined with huge tax write offs for team investments such as stadiums that rich owners can use to reduce their taxes from their other businesses. MLS isn't a charity, and they aren't just doing it for the love of the game or to build up the USMNT and the CMNT. Those may be factors for someone like Larry T. but the bottom line is the bottom line.
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto
Those are good points, and possibly true. But even when they were losing money in the past, they still had money coming in. Losing 1 billion in revenue might be just what they can handle, but losing more might be too much. They actually might not be able to pay the operational costs of the league.
Of course I don't know for sure, but it seems valid to me at face value. This is why I think the league and the PA need to sit down together over the books and have an honest and transparent discussion about the finances so the players know they're not being duped, and if the money situation is as dire as the league states, the players should understand that and get on board with protecting the league.
25,000 attendance times $40 average ticket price times 20 home matches is 20 million gross revenue plus concessions, at least another 10. That's ballpark gross stadium revenue that TFC has lost this year.
Oh they lost 1 billion they say? Time to open up expansion!
3 Spots for 333M will solve it.
For the gate driven teams, the revenue loss is the coming year with the total lack of renewals. There is no SSH revenue this year beyond the few new ones.
2021 thread here: http://forums.redpatchboys.ca/showth...er-discussion)
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto