FanNation - The Republic of Sport

"There are a lot of games in our league that I can't watch," he said. "The problem in our league isn't who is or isn't in the playoffs; it's that not enough people want to watch our league yet, and we have to convince them that our league is worth watching."

I cannot find fault with that sentiment in any way.

An MLS owner complaining about "negative football" in a league other than Serie A. God forbid any one plays some version of catenaccio but the Italians. *snark*

Put some skin in the game and acquire better offensive players.

sorry, MLS president ..

The casual fan's apathy towards the Beckham novelty didn't help either. That breakdown that was published last week was pretty bad for the league, despite the spin they put on it. Galaxy away attendance was way down pretty much everywhere except Toronto.

QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 10:05 AM ET  11.01 by The Special One

"There are a lot of games in our league that I can't watch," he said. "The problem in our league isn't who is or isn't in the playoffs; it's that not enough people want to watch our league yet, and we have to convince them that our league is worth watching."I cannot find fault with that sentiment in any way.

So true. Even so I still support the league because I want it to grow and improve. That is the beauty of MLS. It has a lot of growth potential and new demographics it can reach out to. The best scenario for this years play-offs would be LA Galaxy making it to the final and winning. Sorry, if you are not a LAG fan! But I believe it is almost a necessary evil (depending on who you support!) for this to happen. It would be great publicity for the league.

Any thoughts?

QUOTE(#5):

Originally posted 10:49 AM ET  11.01 by SoccerUnderground

So true. Even so I still support the league because I want it to grow and improve. That is the beauty of MLS. It has a lot of growth potential and new demographics it can reach out to. The best scenario for this years play-offs would be LA Galaxy making it to the final and winning. Sorry, if you are not a LAG fan! But I believe it is almost a necessary evil (depending on who you support!) for this to happen. It would be great publicity for the league. Any thoughts?

Unfortunately, you're right. It's the only hope in heII they have of getting any time on sportscenter or other sports news outlets this time of year is if Beckham is lifting a trophy. What's interesting, though, is if they do navigate the first round of the playoffs he'll miss the England friendly which he's desperate to play in so he can break the English cap record next summer at the world cup.

QUOTE(#5):

Originally posted 10:49 AM ET  11.01 by SoccerUnderground

So true. Even so I still support the league because I want it to grow and improve. That is the beauty of MLS. It has a lot of growth potential and new demographics it can reach out to. The best scenario for this years play-offs would be LA Galaxy making it to the final and winning. Sorry, if you are not a LAG fan! But I believe it is almost a necessary evil (depending on who you support!) for this to happen. It would be great publicity for the league. Any thoughts?

Like I said: put some skin in the game and buy better offensive players. Beckham is the most recognizable, of course, but Donovan is easily the best offensive player in the league. The DC United of three years ago had a prime time Emilio, Moreno and Fred feeding them the ball - now they are in some kind of transition to younger players. Gallardo was a failed experiment here, so I would tell the ownership group to go buy themselves some skill. Bring Freddy Adu back. There are numbers of players who fail overseas, come back to their native countries to get themselves back in order and try it again. Donovan is only one such example.

QUOTE(#6):

Originally posted 10:52 AM ET  11.01 by Red Devils99

Unfortunately, you're right. It's the only hope in heII they have of getting any time on sportscenter or other sports news outlets this time of year is if Beckham is lifting a trophy. What's interesting, though, is if they do navigate the first round of the playoffs he'll miss the England friendly which he's desperate to play in so he can break the English cap record next summer at the world cup.

I think LAG or the Sounders getting to the finals infront of a totally full Qwest field are how soccer makes it to the top stories on Sportscenter. Well the sport is going through a painful evolutionary stage here in the US, I think not looking at it in the full context of what's going on in the world would be unfair.

As the credit crisis that started the current world wide recession plays out it is worth noting that it is affecting attendance across all sports even the hallowed NFL is seeing some of it's markets hit hard in the attendance category. At this point we are probably in the 6th or 7th inning of this crisis. I would expect to see some old pillar type franchises in Euroupe buckle under the weight of their debt assuming this mess drags out for another year or twoo before credit markets are fully functioning normally again. There are wispers of the NFL's Jaguars moving to LA. This recession has proven that even sports isn't fully isloated from economic realities.

To look at drouping attendance in some markets and blame it on the product is a little short sighted. While it may not be where readers of this blog would like, soccer's profile is continuing to grow in the USA. While development of the league has not been perfect it has conitued to grow and the level of play has been raised. Recent tours by big name Euro clubs have proven there is a market for top flight soccer in the US.

It's like NYT writer William C Rhoden said "Progress is like the game itself: built on endurance and subtleties." Please stay the course and continue to build in a responsible way.

QUOTE(#5):

Originally posted 10:49 AM ET  11.01 by SoccerUnderground

Any thoughts?

Better Managers/Coaches needed. Lots of talent, lack of tactics.

QUOTE(#7):

Originally posted 11:56 AM ET  11.01 by dynamo

Like I said: put some skin in the game and buy better offensive players. Beckham is the most recognizable, of course, but Donovan is easily the best offensive player in the league. The DC United of three years ago had a prime time Emilio, Moreno and Fred feeding them the ball - now they are in some kind of transition to younger players. Gallardo was a failed experiment here, so I would tell the ownership group to go buy themselves some skill. Bring Freddy Adu back. There are numbers of players who fail overseas, come back to their native countries to get themselves back in order and try it again. Donovan is only one such example.

I've been saying this for 2 years. Bring Adu back to D.C. United. He needs to play if he ever hopes of representing the USMNT. He's so young and has plenty of time to make it back to Europe.

i think combinations of those things and americans aiming a little lower when heading overseas. the rumors have vanished from a few months back of donovan to PSG, but I would say somewhere like that or lille is about right for him. i think it is now or never for him to finally establish himself across the pond.

p.s. or newly promoted livorno in italy was floated sometime back as well. going for a trial.loan with becks to the rossineri though, forget it, he's not good enough.

QUOTE(#8):

Originally posted 12:10 PM ET  11.01 by CarolinaAzzurri

To look at drouping attendance in some markets and blame it on the product is a little short sighted. While it may not be where readers of this blog would like, soccer's profile is continuing to grow in the USA. While development of the league has not been perfect it has conitued to grow and the level of play has been raised. Recent tours by big name Euro clubs have proven there is a market for top flight soccer in the US. It's like NYT writer William C Rhoden said "Progress is like the game itself: built on endurance and subtleties." Please stay the course and continue to build in a responsible way.

The big Euro clubs coming over have always drawn huge crowds, that's a different appeal all together. People will travel to see Chelsea, AC, Inter, etc... they won't travel to see MLS (for the most part). The biggest problem of trying to grow the league in the US is the sheer size of the land. If you live in Phoenix, Atlanta, Miami, you don't have a local team. You don't have a team that'll be covered in the local newspaper or on the 11pm news. I've read people on here say to that argument that they can get direct kicks or watch on the internet, which is true, but, for the casual peson they're not going to go out of their way for it, plus those cities have nfl and mlb teams. It's not the league's fault, though, you don't want too much saturization and go to 30 teams. But its a niche league that will attract a specific following. The Beckham experiment hasn't provided as many new fans (compare the attendance of this season v. 2006) as the league would like so they need to be careful about importing big name talent on the downside of their careers. But all of that aside, they are far more relevant today than a few years ago, I don't think the product on the field has caused people to stay away as much as other factors.

Some of this also has to do with the type of coaches we got here in MLS. Also, not to be overlooked is the fact that in this country we put more value on young players who are fast and dynamic, rather that good football players.

Negative play is everywhere in soccer, so this isn't a "MLS sucks" problem. Attendance will go up and down, especially down in current times. The league just needs to continue its gradual growth and play will improve and games more enjoyable to watch, but teams such as NE (if they have Nicol as coach) and others will continue to play not to lose.

QUOTE(#15):

Originally posted 01:47 PM ET  11.01 by crosscountrycpjon

Negative play is everywhere in soccer, so this isn't a "MLS sucks" problem. Attendance will go up and down, especially down in current times. The league just needs to continue its gradual growth and play will improve and games more enjoyable to watch, but teams such as NE (if they have Nicol as coach) and others will continue to play not to lose.

Don't know how much MLS you watch - or or how many Rev games you've watched, in general - but there is no team that has a better collection of pure athletes like New England has. The way I look at them is that they've struggled because they had no Twellman all year, so you find a way to win a game, no matter what. Look what happened already in the Chicago game: The Fire puts them under the gun, let's them off the hook, and you wonder why Steve Nicol uses the formula he does - dumb coaches in MLS keep handing him the keys to the game. If Chicago leaves with anything but a win today, they are done on the return leg.

I don't think MLS has changed in playing style so I can't link a style change to attendance.

That being said, you'd like to see some teams break from the pack, throw caution to the wind, and emphasize offense. Like Columbus in the 90s. Though I think more offense wouldn't sell that many more tickets -- winning is probably more important -- I'm surprised that controlled, hustling soccer is SO widespread. If a team like Houston is willing to overemphasize defense, you'd expect someone to risk being the fastbreak side. But MLS is in fact stylistically conservative, as Payne suggests.

My guess for the non-Seattle dip is diminishing Beckham returns-- a lot of teams had added a LA sellout to their season totals and average, but people won't do that every visit every year, especially as he badmouths the league -- plus the state of the economy when tickets are NBA-equivalent in price.

Off-topic, but hysterical: Wanna know how far up their own arse English footie fans are? Here's a rough paraphrase from something called in during 606 and the host does nothing but side with the English referee, which is even more myopic. "[sic] Ok, there's this Italian bloke - number 10 on West Ham - who was a disgraceful diver like he'd been hacked down with a machete and after he gets the foul he gets up like he's shot outta a cannon."

Problem with that? Number 10 on West Ham is Guille Franco, a Mexican.

Wow, Galaxy gave up such an early goal! Maicon Santos. Who is this guy!?

QUOTE(#19):

Originally posted 05:32 PM ET  11.01 by SoccerUnderground

Wow, Galaxy gave up such an early goal! Maicon Santos. Who is this guy!?

Brazilian kid, brought in on loan in August.