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MLS - 2023 Season

Viqsi

Viqsi

"that chick from Ohio"
Oct 5, 2007
53,797
31,237
40N 83W (approx)
KevFu said:
But there's another factor in here that I assume was part of the equation, and forgive my ignorance. I'm hoping you can help me with the timeline:

FC Cincinnati. I thought Precourt's unhappiness in Columbus began with the efforts of Cincinnati to get an MLS team, starting in early 2016 when they made the initial list of 10 teams to express interest in MLS expansion. Precourt first mentioned moving to Austin in October of 2017. FC Cincinnati was announced as an MLS expansion team in May of 2018, which was two months after Ohio filed a lawsuit against Precourt for the Modell Law.
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Precourt first contemplated moving to Austin before he even bought the team; his purchase agreement had, buried in the fine print, a provision that would enable relocation to Austin and Austin alone.
 
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PCSPounder

PCSPounder

Stadium Groupie
Apr 12, 2012
2,876
574
The Outskirts of Nutria Nanny
KevFu said:
I'm conflicted. Obviously it's a deplorable thing to destroy the Open Cup...
But the line I saw that sums it up perfectly is "The ROMANCE of the Open Cup far exceeds the actual product."

And it's because if you compare it to the FA Cup in England, they have fixed numbers per tier (20-24-24-24) and fluid membership, and in the US it's the opposite: Membership is fixed, but the number is fluid.

Rochester beat four MLS teams to win the 1999 Open Cup. There were TWELVE MLS teams then.

You mentioned Cincinnati, @kingsboy11, and they're a club which effectively "Switched Sides."

Say you had the same Round of 32 once per decade of:

Richmond, Rochester, Charleston, Sacramento, Louisville, Memphis, Seattle, Portland, Orlando, Nashville, Cincinnati, Minnesota, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Charlotte, Miami, Philadelphia, New York Red Bulls, New England, DC United, Columbus, Chicago, San Jose, Kansas City, Salt Lake, Colorado, MLS Los Angeles #2, LA Galaxy.

In 2003, that's 10 MLS teams and 22 second division teams.
In 2013, that's 16 MLS teams and 16 second division teams.
In 2023, that's 26 MLS teams and 6 second division teams.


The Open Cup is pointless because MLS is so big the only way to make it a good tournament is if they enter in the Round of 64; so they're playing six games and by Game 3 you're gonna be at 2 or 3 non-MLS teams left. What's the point?


But it's horrible to say the Open Cup is pointless, and the reason the Open Cup is pointless is because of the way they've managed pro soccer in the US to be one CLOSED league of 30 instead of being a CLOSED PYRAMID of 96 teams that paid them to get in.

My #1 soccer belief is that MLS should have expanded from 16 by selling about 40 clubs "MLS-2" licenses and expanding via promotion. And then done it again with 40 more clubs to start MLS-3 and taken like 20 years to actually get a balanced pyramid. So by the time they started to RELEGATE anyone, the gap between the OG 16 teams and other 80 would be so vast that they'd be entrenched in the top flight and impossible to move.

And soccer would be far more popular because 64 more cities could support their team to try and move up instead of being clubs like the Richmond Kickers, who are stuck succeeding constantly in the second division; or the Rochester Rhinos, who are the biggest tragedy of American soccer.
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Sigh.

You’re trying to argue structure here, and that’s understandable.

The problem you’re ACTUALLY encountering is that we are fans of our teams, and in some cases, those teams have convoluted but long histories, including pre-MLS. Some aren’t quite that, but they are fans of their teams. And if we had our way, we’d bury the structure head first with the toes sticking out of the ground so we have something to spit at.

Basically, viva American soccer, F MLS. That’s what any real message board eventually gravitates to.

The structure of MLS was designed to do what most North American major leagues do. Protect the owners, be a cartel, protect the club values and ticket prices. So the reason we will debate you on this is because trying to entertain the possibility is antithetical to the existence of the LLC. Even if they said they’d consider it.

I do think a lot of people here want to see pro/rel, and IMO if that gets rid of Merritt Paulson as owner of the Timbers, all the better. Seven years ago, I’d have told you it would never happen, because about that time, the zealots on social media were so idiotic on social media (and taking my comments out of context) that I blocked them. But this discussion is renewed because, born from actual proposals out west, college athletics got into the discussion last fall.

The practicality of it, however, is very different, and has to be well crafted to work. MLS is incapable.
 
Chimaera

Chimaera

same ol' Caps
Feb 4, 2004
30,994
1,742
La Plata, Maryland
they're an aging team on a world tour without it's star for much of it. They're not really great unless some of the old crew turn back the clock a bit.
 
Wee Baby Seamus

Wee Baby Seamus

Yo, Goober, where's the meat?
Mar 15, 2011
14,965
5,931
Halifax/Toronto
theathletic.com

66 replacement referees lined up for MLS season start, sources say

The Professional Referees Organization (PRO) has a plan in place ready to be executed for exactly who will be MLS’ replacement referees with the Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA) locked out, sources briefed on the plan tell The Athletic. PRO has commitments from a total of 66...
theathletic.com theathletic.com

Scab league
 
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