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HOUSTON – 3:30pm EST- Sources tell MLSR that Don Garber and Mark Abbott met with a group of NASL owners at the NY Football Challenge about the possibility of NASL working with MLS on a reserve league as early as 2011. Also discussed was the potential of returning MLS to Florida down the road.
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I hope they do. And I hope the MLS helps financially support this league (even the NASL teams reserve teams) so both leagues can strive to produce American talent
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Would this be a system where one MLS team is linked to one NASL team? Also, I do not know much about the NASL but would they also be considering youth academies? This is good, but I hope that the league does not grow too quickly instead of growing at a slower pace, but more securely. I am definetely for a team in the Southeast, be it Atlanta, Miami, or Tampa.
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I think that NASL will be the reserve league of MLS. More or less like you have in NBA (D-League) with an affiliation system, at least that is my idea about this issue!
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I think its a terrific idea. I think the way how the NASL/RESERVE league work is that it will have the big NASL teams and also it will contain some of the MLS reserve teams in the league, just like they do in some countries on Europe, like Spain. Its an advantage for both, firstly the MLS reserve players will play in a league that is a good league, and the NASL teams will draw bigger agianst the MLS reserve teams. The MLS reserve teams might even play outside their current staduims to give other areas exposure to PRO soccer.
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The Southeast will not support a MLS team. Put it in Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, it doesn’t matter where…it will fail.
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This is a much better idea than a free standing MLS Reserve League OR a free standing NASL as Division 2. I think you can mix the league between NASL/USL teams and MLS Reserve teams. This will create a competitive environment and help the NASL/USL improve its standing with the public through common branding with MLS, while giving MLS Reserve teams much higher levels of competition against the likes of Montreal, Rochester, Tampa Bay, Puerto Rico etc all teams with good internationals. Tampa Bay even had a good World Cup player.
This is a win for everyone. It makes too much sense to actually happen, though!
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I hope they do that. Would be nice have NASL/USL playing against B sides. I don’t know if the D-League system would work well for MLS and soccer in general, because teams could play against the “bigger” teams in the Open Cup. I don’t know…
Cheers
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idk, our soccer pyramid is pretty fucked up, mls expanding and taking away our second division and making it a dumpster/farm league for the mls cartel doesnt sound good to me. maybe have a mls club linked to a NASL club but i hope mls doesnt do a take over of the league. that will definalty delude our second divison
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I think the American soccer pyramid will be structured something like this: Top Division: MLS 2nd Division NASL 3rd Division USL (unless it goes broke) 4th division MLS/NASL reserve league 5th division regional leagues.
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I like the idea, but I would rather see MLS reserves just loaned to the 2nd division teams in between transfer periods. This could help reserves gain playing experience and also help build up the US soccer pyramid. Lets face it, if we want American soccer to become successful on the world stage we need to build from the bottom up and not just use the lower divisions as a “farm system”.
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It should work just fine, and it will give MLS and investers the chance to see if teams can come up to MLS from the NASL (IE) seattle,Montreal,portland,vancouver. It will also give a chance to teams in non traditional markets to show what they have and if they can support MLS in the future. For instance Des Monies Iowa, Can support a D-3 team and most likley they can support a MLS team. Just my 2 cents worth
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This is certainly good news. It’s a nice step towards a more organised football system here in the US. (I certainly wouldn’t mind a DC United/Crystal Palace Baltimore parnership, either.)
What is also news is the fact that MLS is talking to NASL’s rank-and-file, NOT to the USL’s officers. That also means that MLS might be doing so with at least some support from US Soccer. It might be a determining factor in the NASL/USL-1 Second Division debate.
Also, if MLS is looking at possibly putting a club in Miami, then we could be looking at possibly some version of promotion and relegation in the future. (Or that could be some VERY wishful thinking.)
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Guys,
Promotion-relegation isnt feaseble for the MLS. Why pay a 40 mil fee to join a league when someone else can just be promoted. Look what is happening in Europe, most team are in the negative becuase of this system. Why do we want that to happen in the MLS. Perfect example is the BIG team in Europe trying to start their own league and escape EUFA rules. They see that as teh only way to be in the plus. Also why do we need 5 soccer team in LA, NY and other big towns like in Europe(London, Moscow… all have 5+ teams.)
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Ivan,
The argument that Pro/Rel can work in the MLS is just as valid an argument that it can’t. People keep saying that investors are not going to shell out 40mil plus and stadiums to face only face relegation. I use to think that was a valid argument as well. However, what if MLS decides or that somewhere in the purchase of the franchise it mentions that after you have made that fee back in revenue, then it’s all off and we are under no obligation… Let’s take a hypothetical look at the fact that while Garber says he would like to see possible 24 teams he does mention that there will be a break after 20. Now, this is not saying that Pro/Rel is going to happen or happen anytime soon, as there are a shit load of other things that I have pondered that would have to be taken into consideration, but I don’t have the time to express in this short comment. Ivan, I’m not calling just you on this, I see so many people on so many forums regarding the question of pro/rel who just feel that mentioning this simply puts it to bed. As to negotiating w/ NASL on the Reserve league issue, I would rather see something like what AFL commented on.
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What the MLS needs is to “delete” the playoff scheme and accept relegation. The NASL can act as a second division, allowing at least two teams to earn their way up to NLS. This would make the season more exciting, with battles for the championship and relegation at season’s end. This system works for almost every other league in the world, why not in the US?
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why on earth is everybody obsessed with putting a team in Miami again. they had a team. it failed miserably. their other professional sports teams. they are almost all terrible attendance draws compared to the rest of their leagues. miami has an incredibly high poverty rate, an incredibly poorly educated population, an incredibly old population all of which are the exact opposite of the MLS fan demographic. miami has a D2 team right now. it sucks. nobody comes. they average 1,200 fans in a league where 4,500 is the average.
i say until Miami can support its D2 team with the passion and attendance that can be found in the top D2 cities (ie the ones that are moving up to MLS like Portland, Montreal and Vancouver) they should STFU about getting an MLS team. at least Tampa Bay is trying to prove they deserve a 2nd shot by actually SUPPORTING their D2 team the Rowdies.
anybody who thinks Miami should get an MLS team again is a fool. just because there are a lot of hispanics in Miami DOES NOT make it a good MLS market. because it had some high WC tv ratings (but not high ratings for USMNT games mind you, and USMNT fans are those most likely to be convinced to become MLS fans) DOES NOT make it a good MLS candidate. the fusion had the worst attendance in the HISTORY of MLS. Miami FC has had the WORST attendance in D2 for their entire existence. how much more evidence do the delusional need?
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NASL? Montreal, Vancouver, STL will all be gone….leaving….
Miami FC not supported
RailHawks declining….
CPB serious money issues
yeah 3 teams woot that does seem like a PDL reserve league….
NASL was create only to get montreal and vancouver into MLS.
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Atlanta could support an MLS team, if located in the right area. Keep them away from downtown would be the best decision. The old GM plant off of 285/85 would be ideal. That area is huge, plus it has a train station directly beside it. Atlanta needs a team, especially with the decline or dying sport of baseball, it would be a great addition to a city that is struggling in every possible way.
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St.Louis, Atlanta, Tampa & Puerto Rico should right now be in the MLS.
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@Matt
The problem with Atlanta is the fact that the Silverbacks drew a fairly poor amount of fans. I know because I went to several of the games. I would also like to see an MLS team in Atlanta, but not in the current climate as it might be almost definetely destined to fail.
Also, there are a lot of questions being raised about the old GM plant. Arthur Blank is considering building the new Falcons Stadium there as the Georgia Dome is a fairly poor place to play football, and as you said it is right on the Marta line which would help a lot of fans avoid traffic.
In short, the only way that I see Atlanta being a good city to host an MLS team is through the proper ownership group such as Arthur Blank who would market the team well and do the same thing they did as Seattle and allow the MLS team to use the Football season. Asking the city to build a SSS at this point, other than the Silverback arena, would be crazy.
Also, as far as I know it, Atlanta is not doing extremely poor. It is a pretty good place for college graduates to move and they are doing a lot of urban renewal. Plus, Sweetwater Brewery.
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San Diego needs a franchise. SD had the highest TV ratings during the world cup.
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It’s seems to me that people aren’t dealing with reality. So let me gives some.
1. MLS has to bring another team in NY.
– Quality player want to come to this league, most want to come to NY.
-I predict, Wilpon ( probably building & operating stadium with a minority interest in team, plus local NY T.V. rights for his SNY Network.
Beckham, Paul Kemsley, owners of Manchester City will own the rest of the team to be called NY.Cosmos
2. People who are fanatical about MLS, must realize that we live in the USA. Promo/regulation is crazy for MLS. What happens if NY & LA teams are regulated in the same season? MLS will survive that? U think? Will the fan & the media be energies covering say a RED BULL, AC ST Louis game.
The only form of promo/regulation that can work in the USA is the NBA model.
Scatching yur head, ask A NY Knicks fan were the team has been since the trade of Pat Ewing’s contract with one yr. remaining. The salary cap of the NBA is promo/reglation. A team with a bad cap can find themselves one in the EPL, then a fews yrs later they are in League 2. Just in the NYKnicks case they are in Conference North Lol!
However I don’t know how that would operate in an ownership structure like the MLS’
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@Yorkie:
Well said. The whole promotion relegation issue is a pretty frustrating one. It’s a lot like arguing politics in a way. You have the hardcore meritocracy group on one hand. And you have the… I don’t know what to call it, the people who dismiss the idea as if it were some kind of crop circle.
I’d like to consider myself a centrist on the issue. As an American who developed a love for the game while living overseas, I really don’t want to see MLS follow the model of the other US leagues. Championships decided by geography, farm teams, 16 team playoffs, etc, are not something I want to buy season tickets for.
However, while salary caps, drafts, and allocation money may reward failure, removing them would be worse for the league IMO. Best case scenario would be an American big 4 like the Prem. A more likely scenario would be everybody goes broke.
I don’t think pro/rel is impossible. But finding a way to make sure everybody makes money, and prevent under performing and relegated clubs from dragging the league down with them, that a HUGE challenge.
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