We're a Selling League Now! MLS 2019

[Anton Gramscescu]

I kind of like the rain. But yes, the others are probably related

[jefe]

FAO Ursus collective: David Villa's Queensboro FC in the USL in 2021 is now official. They'll play in a modular stadium to be built about a block away from the end of the E/J/Z lines.

San Jose signed a 14 year old GK as a homegrown, only slightly older than Freddy was.

We have 2 magnificent new entries in the stupid name competition: Landon's San Diego Loyal SC coming to the USL, and the NWSL team in Kentucky is going to be Proof Louisville FC. Really.

Victor Ulloa traded to Inter Miami is official, as are Dax McCarty and Dave Romney traded to Nashville, all for the usual assortment of picks and MLSbucks and probably promises to not pick anyone from them in the expansion draft. Everyone who lost a player in the Cincinnati draft also can't lose a player in this one. Mini trade window open through sometime on Wednesday

RBNY has a new, blocky logo; if team #30 was awarded now it would be Charlotte, and the likely next NYCFC manager is Gio van Bronckhorst.

[ursus arctos]

I will have to figure out just how many grounds that will make on my list for the Metropolitan area. Eight or nine, maybe more (especially if one counts all of the versions of Yankee Stadium as different).

[imp]

Süddeutsche Zeitung had a report on the final yesterday, a full two days after it took place, and managed to tell its readers that the score was 3:0. I know Toronto's goal came late, but even if you'd left the stadium by then, it might have been wise to check the box score before you filed your copy.

I'm too out of the loop now to have an opinion, but I'd be interested to know what all US-based OTFers think off this MLS expansion mania. Some questions - who is insane enough to throw $200m at an MLS franchise in a league stretching out to 30 teams? Where is all that cash going? Does MLS still release no financial statements? What happens to these franchises once the novelty's worn off in places like Nashville and Cincinnati, say, and their mediocre team's getting 8-9k crowds for home games? And although I know the circumstances are different in multiple ways, does anyone remember that this was how the NASL over-reached and collapsed? I'm just not convinced that the market for pro soccer is that sustainable yet, though, like I say, I'm no longer clued up enough to know if that's true or not, which is why I'm canvassing your views.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Some questions - who is insane enough to throw $200m at an MLS franchise in a league stretching out to 30 teams?

Quite a lot of people apparently. The Fire sold for something like $400M didn't they? And they're crap.

Where is all that cash going?

It;s a ponzi scheme. Collectively, teams are losing something on the order of $100-$150M per year. They need an average of 1 new team per year to make that balance out.

Does MLS still release no financial statements?

AFAIK, no. Stuff gets leaked occasionally though. Some good stuff in this Athletic article though the data is a few years old now.

What happens to these franchises once the novelty's worn off in places like Nashville and Cincinnati, say, and their mediocre team's getting 8-9k crowds for home games?

It might not fade quickly, you know. Orlando are a walking catastrophe and they can pull 23k average. Minnesota seems to be holding around 20K. The franchises in trouble in terms of attendance are the old guard - Chicago's down to 12K, while Columbus Dallas and Colorado are all sub-15. Plus what those new teams' fees are funding really is a very slow but gradual improvement in quality which simultaneously slowly and gradually builds a loyal domestic fanbase. I've been watching 13 seasons now and the difference in quality really is enormous - and while a bit of that is because of the Zlatans, et al, it;s mainly just that the players are better and tactically the league has evolved by leaps and bounds.

The refs are still fucking awful though.

Will defer to jefe on what the league's endgame is. I've assumed for awhile that by about 2030 we're going to end up with 36 teams in two leagues (East and West) with a balanced schedule. Which would be just fine. But perhaps I am too optimistic

[Hot Pepsi]

It is both a Ponzi scheme and fairly successful in most markets. The ones that are suffering are the ones that wanted a soccer-specific stadium so badly that they built one in a bad location - Chicago, Denver, Columbus.

There doesn’t seem to be a shortage of rich guys willing to lose money on teams.

A reckoning may come someday and some teams might fold, but I don’t think it will collapse.

[jefe]

I think I said upstream in this or last year's thread that if they really wanted to, they could go to 40 teams, and have 2 self contained conferences for a 38 game season. Some people have speculated that if they hit 36/38/40, there would then be instituted an MLS2 with pro/rel between the 2 leagues. That I highly doubt. Given that the standard number for a pro sports league in North America is about 32 teams, they still have a bunch of wiggle room.

Darwin Quintero to Houston for Marlon Hairston and a bunch of allocation money.

The most useless friendly in the history of MLS takes place Friday: DC/Loudoun United v Bermuda, in St. Croix.

Toronto trades Jay Chapman to Inter Miami for allocation money. Miami's home opener will be March 14 v the Galaxy. The 2020 season starts on February 29.

Chicago fired their coach.

NYCFC got $2M from Gladbach for one of their homegrown defenders, and get to keep him next season as well.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Toronto trades Jay Chapman to Inter Miami for allocation money.

100K. Which in theory makes him as valuable as Dax McCarty.

[imp]

I can't believe Dax McCarty is still going. He was useless at DC about a decade ago now.

Thanks for the replies on the viability of expansion. I've heard "Ponzi scheme" from other people too. Two conferences of 20 teams would mean a lot of dead-rubber games from August onwards without any relegation. Unless the top 16 in each conference qualify for the play-offs...

Would an alternative to home and away games only against your conference opponents be one game each against all other 39 teams? Seems a bit sad to lose (any connotation of) NY v LA, say, except for a possible final.

[jefe]

The thing about expansion lately, which may in the end screw DC United for one, is that you can drop $200M or $300M on a team and the same on a stadium with civic blessing, and you get to play landlord for an entire neighborhood, redeveloping it to make you money as you please. Sacramento's bid is a prime example-they get a whole former railyard downtown to play with and a stadium only takes up so much of the footprint. The rest you can stuff with shops/residences/hotels/restaurants and my god how the money rolls in, is the thinking.

Thierry Henry is Montreal's new coach. They didn't interview anyone else, and Vancouver's social team has already asked if he's going to coach on turf.

[ursus arctos]

That is an excellent point, and instructive as to the difficulty NYCFC is having, as the number of such sites in NYC is very small and the number of much better connected and funded developers interested in them (see Hudson Yards) much larger.

Even your Islanders appear to have absolutely left them in the dust when it comes to Belmont.

[Hot Pepsi]

NYCFC are owned by the Yankees, aren’t they? How much more connected can they get?

[ursus arctos]

The Yankees only have a 20 percent stake. The Emiratis own the rest through City Football Group. And even the Yankees can't hold a candle to the likes of Related, Extel, Ratner or other massive developers in today's New York.

[Hot Pepsi]

I thought it was more than that. I see.

But I also thought that group got the expansion franchise largely because MLS thought they could get the stadium deal done.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Thierry Henry is Montreal's new coach. They didn't interview anyone else, and Vancouver's social team has already asked if he's going to coach on turf.

Hiring a stunt coach when the squad itself is in such desperate need of an upgrade is, well, very Saputo.

I really enjoyed everyone defending the appointment by claiming "he knows the league"! He knew League 1, too, but that didn't stop him being terrible at Monaco.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Would an alternative to home and away games only against your conference opponents be one game each against all other 39 teams? Seems a bit sad to lose (any connotation of) NY v LA, say, except for a possible final.

So this was the last year we could do anything resembling a balance schedule. 24 teams - 2 divisions of 11 - means in a 34 game season you could do home and away against each team in your own division and one game against every team in the other division. They have to be sacrificing at least one of those two next year with the move to 26, but I don't think we know which yet (jefe may know).

Also, is it a given that Miami is gong to play in the east and Nashville in the west? I would have thought based on air connections there would be a case to keep both in the east and shift the Fire into the west.

[jefe]

Also, is it a given that Miami is gong to play in the east and Nashville in the west? I would have thought based on air connections there would be a case to keep both in the east and shift the Fire into the west.

Miami east, and Nashville TBD I believe is the current situation.

DCU 4-2 Bermuda, and I'm angry they even got over the midfield line.

[Amor de Cosmos]

The Whitecaps have hired Axel Schuster — ex-Schalke and Mainz — as Sporting Director. Remarkably the Caps have never had one of those before, in fact no one in charge of researching prospects and hiring players. No wonder they've been so effing useless when it comes to team building.

[jefe]

Safe standing goes in at the south end of BMO in 2021.

The USL seems to have decided they want to set up a rival league to the NWSL.

MLS fired (essentially) Brian Fernandez for failing the substance abuse program and are going to sue Necaxa over it.

Next year's ASG is MLS v Liga MX XI's

[jefe]

Sky Blue will play at Red Bull Arena next year.

Nashville opens at home to Atlanta on 2/29.

LA extended the Cristian Pavon loan.

Real Monarchs beat Louisville last night for the 2nd division championship.

Fiorentina offered SKC $3ish million for Gianluca Busio; SKC wants $10M.

[jefe]

So there was an expansion draft and a bunch of trades and we beat Cuba in the Cayman Islands 4-0 and none of it matters right now because after 17 minutes BERMUDA LEADS MEXICO IN MEXICO

[jefe]

Eighty. Four. Seconds. Away. Mexico 2-1 final. GWG in the 93rd.

[imp]

If Bermuda scores against Mexico in the middle of the night and only jefe sees it, does the goal count?

[jefe]

24 hours later and I'm still angry.

Doniel Henry sold to Suwon Bluewings.

Bunch of trades today as well as contract extensions and nonextensions.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Doniel Henry sold to Suwon Bluewings.
.

Is this legit or is he being cycled through some Pini Zahavi-controlled club for money laundering purposes again?