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This is early copy put together from reports from LA from our MLSR Correspondent.
It appears that the biggest news out of this State of the League address is that Montreal's expansion bid may be the first casualty of the sliding economy. Within the last week Montreal's owner ship group let MLS know they would not be pursuing expansion this round. It should be noticed that Montreal's top backer, Joey Saputo at one point questioned the expansion fee being charged. It would appear that Montreal will sit this round of expansion out.
Other things out of LA shed a light on where MLS is going into '09.
The season will start on March 21, and as we hinted on our Twitter feed earlier in the day, Superliga has changed.
Superliga will be teams 5-8 on a single table while the CONCACAF Champions League will be
Based on that:
2009/10 Champions League would be New York, Columbus, Houston, D.C.
2009 SuperLiga would be Chivas USA, Chicago, New England, Kansas City.
Rosters as had been hinted at have been cut back and the money saved from that will be rolled into the MLS academies and development. Clubs will still only be allowed to sign one academy player per year.
As Steve Goff mentioned yesterday senior rosters would be expanded from 18 to 20 senior players plus 4 developmental players. But we now learn that the MLS reserve league is no more.
MLS has grown in revenue but not in profits since they are in growth mode and are reinvesting the revenue into league infrastructure and quality of play. Austerity measures may be the rule of the day going into 09 and beyond so as to mitigate the effects of the down economy.
The competition committee has worked on scheduling the season around FIFA dates and is not averse to having MLS Cup be held in the city of the highest finisher.
Here's the OFFICAL MLS Press Release:
The MLS Board of Governors approved these changes, recommended after a thorough review process by the MLS Competition and Technical Committees and discussions with representatives from all clubs.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber discussed these changes in his annual state-of-the-league press conference. Audio from that event can be found on the Video/Audio page of MLSnet.com.
"We have thoroughly reviewed our competitive format to ensure that it provides the right framework to continue the progress MLS has made in recent years," Garber said. "There are many factors to be considered and balanced, none of which can be considered in isolation. We believe we are striking the proper balance among presenting a compelling championship quest for our fans, putting our clubs in position to succeed in league and tournament play, and maintaining the sound business sense that has allowed us to prosper in our first 13 years."
Competition elements for the 2009 MLS season are:
Rosters:
Following an extensive review of the operation of the Reserve Division over the past four years, MLS has decided that it will be more efficient to cease operation of the Reserve Division and to divert funds from its operations to more directed programs such as a bolstered senior roster, increased commitment to the Generation adidas program and focused initiatives to provide leading prospects with game experience, whether in MLS or elsewhere. These options are currently being reviewed by an MLS working group.Each team will be permitted to carry 18, 19 or 20 senior roster players (at its option) within the overall salary budget (the limit in 2008 was 18 senior roster players). In addition, teams will be permitted to carry up to four developmental players (including Generation adidas players) outside of the team salary budget. Any team with more than four Generation adidas players carried forward from 2008 will be grandfathered with respect to the size of their developmental roster.
Schedule:
The 2009 season will start on March 21, one week earlier than the 2008 season. Each team will play 30 regular season games. During the 2009 regular season, MLS will either clear its schedule on two weekends, or play with a reduced schedule over four weekends, to reduce World Cup Qualification conflicts. This, the elongated window of the schedule, and a few additional weeknight games, is aimed at reducing the number of conflicts with FIFA fixture dates that teams have faced in recent years.Of the 15 teams that will compete in 2009, seven will be in the Eastern Conference and eight will be in the Western Conference, where Seattle Sounders FC is the additional team.
Each team will play every other MLS team home and away, for a base of 28 games. Two additional games against intra-conference rivals will complete each team's 30-game schedule.
Playoffs:
A total of eight teams will qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs in 2009. At the conclusion of the regular season, the top two teams in each conference will earn automatic berths. The next four teams in the standings, regardless of conference, will earn wild card berths. This is the same format used in 2007, the last time MLS had an uneven number of teams in each conference.
International Competitions and U.S. Open Cup:
MLS teams may participate in either the CONCACAF Champions League or SuperLiga - but not both.All MLS teams will participate in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Qualification for the 2009/2010 CONCACAF Champions League will be as follows:
(1) MLS Cup Winner
(2) Supporters' Shield Winner (Columbus Crew)
(3) MLS Cup Runner-Up
(4) U.S. Open Cup Winner* (D.C. United)
In the event that the same team occupies two qualification spots above, then as needed the following team(s) qualify for the tournament:
(5) Next Team in Regular Season Points.
(6) Next Team in Regular Season Points.
(Ties are broken according to the same system used for MLS playoff qualification.)
Given these criteria, the teams qualifying for the 2009/2010 CONCACAF Champions League will be Columbus Crew, New York Red Bulls, D.C. United and Houston Dynamo. Because Columbus will occupy both the Supporters' Shield berth and either the MLS Cup Winner or MLS Cup Runner-Up berth, Houston qualifies as the fourth team with the next most points in MLS during the 2008 regular season.
Qualification for SuperLiga 2009 will be as follows:
The top four teams, based on regular season record, who are not competing in CONCACAF Champions League in 2009, will qualify for SuperLiga 2009. Given these criteria, Chicago Fire, New England Revolution, Kansas City Wizards, and Chivas USA have qualified for SuperLiga 2009 based on their records in 2008.
MLSR- do you know if mlsnet or someone will put out the state of the league address out so we can watch it.
wow montreal out. a shocker to say the least.
Scheduling around Fifa dates !!!
Finally Garber !!
About time !!
i thought it was pretty obv. that montreal and miami won it...
so who goes in along with miami? i'd guess st. louis, with pujols joining the bid.
Looks like Miami Barca is becoming more of a possibility especially since im sure St. Louis is probably having the same problem due to their lack of strength in their owners group.
Hum... Little, but good changes. Anyways, still far from what is really necessary to develop soccer in USA at the highest level...
I am dissapointed... Montreal would be a huge expansion to MLS (especially if you think about soccer fan bases). Now who would take Montral place? Vancouver? Will Miami be one of the expansions? I doubt it...
MLSNet's camera recorded it so it should appear eventually. When it does we will either link to it or embed it here.
Just look at the exhange rate. It was only a few months ago that the Canadian dollar was worth more than the US dollar. The economic slide has quickly pushed the Canadian dollar to 78 cents US. Montreal's expansion fee rose by over 20%. Might be smart for them to wait it out.
I now think that st. louis and either miami or vancouver will get the 2nd team.
Tim- I'm pretty sure that mlsnet will have it later tonight or tomorrow. It's just like the highlights for the games, it takes them some time.
That is true, maybe was a good move for Montreal drop this expansion. The also might be waiting some better changes in MLS too. Being a USL soccer team, they got into the Champions League, beating an MLS club (Toronto) for the Canadian place. But what cities will have more chances now, without Montreal? Would Vancouver take this spot?
In a poor economy we have to protect our own. That means ONLY US TEAMS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED FOR EXPANSION!
"Protecting our own" type philosophy is how we got into this mess. Let's get the best teams in there. The best teams to help grow this league. Vancouver and Portland!.. Surround Seattle with some natural rivalries. And both have great fan support already established.
Yes let's "PROTECT OUR OWN"....... by charging them up the ass for $40 million they don't have! lol
Losing the reserve league is a huge step backwards in my opinion...
But the league at least saw the problem with having teams in both the Champions Leauge and Superliga and fixed it (See under DC United). Now if we could go to single table, we'd have a CL/UEFA cup thing goin on here and that would be a big step forward..
I told you all. Montreal didn’t stand a chance. Miami and st Louis won’t get a franchise either.
In 2011 it will be Vancouver and Portland!!!
Go Portland Timbers FC!!!
^^^
LOL, read the Comishs statements on ESPN.com. He talks about expansion into Canada diluting $$$ from the US footprint.
Sounds like Canadian expansion has been axed for this round. My money is on St Louis & Miami
Montreal dropped out was a shock, but in hind-sight the writing was on the wall.
George Gillett had a back of liquid cash because he is actively trying to sell Liverpool, but his effort are continually blocked by his partner Tom Hicks. The problem is being compacted by the hate these men now feel for each other and the hate that the Reds' supporters feel for them (mostly Hicks). Had Liverpool FC been sold, than cash wouldn't be an issue for Montreal.
great. changes. good job mls.
good improvements, however we still need to have teams thinking about two trophies...
1 - the championship - regular season
2 - the mls cup
I'm shocked Montreal is dropping out. I thought they were a lock. New rankings 1. Miami 2. Voncouver 3. Portland 4. St. Louis.
I like the changes to the schedule. I like the roster expansion, but heard no mention of the salary cap.
Why would MLS limit the number of players that can be brought up from development system? It makes no sense to me.
it says "All MLS teams will participate in the US Open cup"
Toronto as well?????? that doesn't make sense! but it doesn't say otherwise....
anyone knows what the deal is???
All US based teams, obviously. Why would Toronto take part?
CLEVELAND CITY STARS TO USL-1!
ATL!!!1!
http://sounderatheart.com/2008/11/it-is-a-change-year/
My full thoughts on the changes.
Also MLS Clubs need to think about the following trophies
Supporters' Shield
MLS Cup
US Open Cup
CCL title, second isn't half bad as you get invited to something in South America
SuperLiga
I would place the signifigance of the titles in that order, in that the first three set a club up well for the CCL.
as well as the hopefully expanding preseason tournaments (PPC, Carolina Cup)