OT: MLS closing in on NFL, NBA, MLB in U.S. - Landon Donovan

[Brodie]

"LOL this league which was founded in the mid-90s and plays a sport I continue to insist is a fringe game for weirdos only got 90% of the audience of the average NHL regular season game!" is not a very compelling takedown but yet you see it on every page of this thread

 

[HajdukSplit]

That FOX number is awful especially considering how little competition there was. The BL match shown before also did less than 500K

The Saturday morning PL match involving two bottom half teams beat the MLS rating too btw...

 

[GindyDraws]

Spot on. I’m a New Yorker that wants to give soccer a chance but can’t get past that horrible Red Bull’s branding. As for NYCFC, as a Mets fan, I can’t get past their Yankee connection. So instead of the MLS, I’ve made a half-hearted attempt to follow Tottenham the past year.

And the less said about the circus act that was the New York Cosmos, the better.

I follow the Indy Eleven in the USL Championship, where the owner had just secured a deal from the Indiana state government to get $112 million to help fund development towards a stadium that would be used to be promoted to MLS (noteworthy as Indiana is a historically conservative state that overwhelmingly votes fiscally conservative Republicans to the Senate and House)... and I'm skeptical on that matter, as not only is Indianapolis nowhere near the market of what MLS is interested in, but also where Ersal Ozdemir (the owner) wants to build it. Picture a former high school in an area of the city that is part of nightlife and bar activity, except access is limited to mostly side streets. Now, plant a 20,000 seat stadium on said site and let traffic get out of hand.

 

[GindyDraws]

There "might" be an interesting development... Chicago Fire appear to be getting sold, rebranded for reasons I don't understand...

...and moved back to Soldier Field.

That rumor took fire yesterday on social media, some regular media have given it legs, and it seems possible.

Getting MLS away from a virtual transit desert in the suburbs and back towards the loop might make a difference... along with several other upgrades that this currently sorry franchise needs.

Why leave "their own stadium?" Bridgeview owns it, and it is running a considerable amount of debt, so the story apparently leans toward selling the land elsewhere and/or razing it themselves.

It's because Andrew Hauptman is a dipshit that everyone hates and that the reason why he moved to the sticks was simply because he wanted to show his dick size. Fire fans loathe the man for taking their team from contender (MLS Cup winner in inaugural season, and four Open Cup victories, with the last occurring the year before Hauptman bought the team) to pretender to laughingstock. But it might also be due to fears of encroachment of a USL Championship team that's trying to take root in downtown Chicago in 2021.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

It's because Andrew Hauptman is a dip**** that everyone hates and that the reason why he moved to the sticks was simply because he wanted to show his dick size. Fire fans loathe the man for taking their team from contender (MLS Cup winner in inaugural season, and four Open Cup victories, with the last occurring the year before Hauptman bought the team) to pretender to laughingstock. But it might also be due to fears of encroachment of a USL Championship team that's trying to take root in downtown Chicago in 2021.

Actually, they moved under AEG ownership.

But you're not right about the rest, Hauptman is Bill Wirtz 2.0.

 

[Brodie]

the really sad thing for the Fire is that almost 20 years in the burbs has given them a fanbase with the old NYI "but mah parking lots" disease

 

[Coinneach]

 

[Hasbro]

I can see both sides of this. The rebrand is silly on the one hand because the Fire have a decent brand as it is now, including one of the best logos in MLS. But on the other hand, the brand penetration is very low so there is little risk and a new brand would play better to the kind of Euro fetishists that (we assume) would make up the new fanbase of a team playing in Chicago proper.

And of course, sharing a name with a TV show that is much more popular than your team is a headache they could probably do without.

 

[WingsFan95]

Toronto FC: 290 Million
Toronto Raptors: 1.7 Billion


No. Not in 10 years and not in 20. Unless the Raptors completely fall off. The FC made back to back title games so it's not like they've proven to be hot commodities if mediocre. In fact I could buy a jersey for $15 when they were sucking.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

the really sad thing for the Fire is that almost 20 years in the burbs has given them a fanbase with the old NYI "but mah parking lots" disease

My dream used to be for Reinsdorf to buy the Fire and build a stadium in one of the Sox Park parking lots.

Now my dream is for Mansueto to buy the Sox and do it.

 

[Albatros]

Toronto FC: 290 Million
Toronto Raptors: 1.7 Billion

Using that measuring stick the Raptors are head and shoulders above the Maple Leafs, too.

 

[Coinneach]

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Only way MLS surpass NHL and MLB is if it attracts talents away from Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga etc.

And thats not gonna happen.

 

[Mightygoose]

MLS will be closing in on MLB and NBA soon in terms of number of teams.

https://www.tsn.ca/mls-announces-plans-to-expand-to-30-teams-1.1292955

Starting price for teams 28 and 29 at 200 million. Cost for team 30?....whatever the league will want by then.

 

[Brodie]

Whatever jokes people want to make, it is clear to me that MLS is making a legit case for there being 5 major sports leagues if they are getting expansion fees like that. Plain and simple, multiple NHL teams were sold for less than that this decade.

 

[YEM]

that MLS is making a legit case for there being 5 major sports leagues if they are getting expansion fees like that

except due to the centralized structure of the mls and their ownership, those fees are more akin to a pyramid scheme than the outright ownership in every other major sports league

 

[blueandgoldguy]

Good point. I'm curious to see how much tv revenues increase when the current tv deal expires. That would be telling of the league's future profitability. Right now, most team lose money. Some teams like Montreal are losing a lot with revenue streams that are not particularly impressive - barely over $20 million.

For perspective, a typical CFL team has comparable revenues to several MLS teams.

 

[GindyDraws]

It's also relevant to how people in the future will continue to support soccer, as in if they'll support the domestic league on the grounds that it's our league, or if they'll become more purist and support the international (read: Premier League) competitions due to not wanting to watch bloat or dealing with a shallow talent pool dominated by players past their prime.

I thought I'd bump this since it applies to a potential front-runner to the 30th MLS team.

Legislative Victory Sees Eleven Park Move Closer to Reality

Granted, this was tacked on to the Indiana Pacers deal that would keep the NBA team in Indianapolis for 25 years and see expansion and renovations to the soon-to-be-renamed Fieldhouse, but the Indy Eleven got their stadium deal.

 

[joelef]

soccer as a whole has eclipse hockey.

 

[Djp]

Soccer is growing for sure but it may be another generation before it gets to be on the level as a true major league in English North America.
My kid plays soccer, and Hockey and Baseball... out of all the sports he is into soccer is by far where more kids play...2nd is Hockey, 3rd and way down the list is baseball... really hard to attract kids to play baseball.
But that being said we never watch MLS...always watch hockey and watch maybe one game every two weeks of Bluejays baseball...
Even Hardcore soccer fans that I know watch English Premier/International games(Euro Cup/World Cup) but are not interested in MLS at all...but that’s maybe just a Canadian Prarries thing..

I dont see it ever getting to top level of sports.

I think the problem is similar to baseball. Many fans lose interest because its too slow. Its the kind of think families would do 1-2 times a year to see games. Their kids may watch it.

If the USA was able to have the best league with the best players from around the world playing in MLS things could be different.

IF team USa was a perenial final 4 team in the world cup that might change. They arent because players coming up have multiple sports to choose from. They could go into baseball, football. others and play in the USA and make big money or they go to europe.

soccer also loses some potential young star players because of traveling teams in youth soccer take up so much time. you dont have this in other sports you could play in middle school and high school.

Similarly there are likely people who could be good in tennis or gymnastics who just dont go this route because of how much needs to be put in to do it like going off to boarding school and then do it like a job.

 

[uhlaw97]

NO WAY the MLS becomes equal to the "Big Four" pro sports leagues in terms of TV ratings, merchandising, or total attendance.

 

[varsaku]

NO WAY the MLS becomes equal to the "Big Four" pro sports leagues in terms of TV ratings, merchandising, or total attendance.

MLS’s success is really going to come from being a solid gate driven league. They are here too late to get a big TV deal with the sports TV bubble about to pop. Attendance in a lot of the MLS 3.0 teams are really good. Fixing the MLS 1.0 teams should be there focus. Those teams are in massive markets and are barely relevant.

 

[varsaku]

Oof, attendance has not been looking good this season especially for Columbus. Maybe Precourt was onto something.

 

[HajdukSplit]

The allure of NYCFC has died off quickly, doesn’t help they don’t have a star and a new stadium is nowhere near sight

The ratings have been brutal this season too, will probably pick up in the summer when MLS will piggy back off the Women’s World Cup on the Fox networks

 

[Coinneach]