The MLS has no Impact: the 2021 thread

[Hot Pepsi]

I truly, deeply wish that game had been on varsity CBS for everyone to see

CBS core audience is not awake at 10 pm on a Sunday.

[ursus arctos]

[Hot Pepsi]

The game being stopped for an anti-gay chant and Reyna being hit with a bottle is rather unpleasant.

I hate to cast aspersions, but I’m confident the offenders are Mexico supporters.

[ursus arctos]

Yes with the bottles (they also hit one of their players)

Apparently more uncertainty with the chant, which isn't surprising given the muppet quotient among the US support

[jefe]

USL is going to bring back the W-League officially for next year.

8 teams announced to begin with announced this week or next up to 30 to begin play. One will be a women-led, fan owned team in Minnesota, another is the return of DC United Women. W-League will be amateur again, but academy kids will be allowed to play.

Again in USL, Miami got an olimpico against RGV at home early, then ended up getting pounded 4-2.

[jefe]

One bottle thrower already arrested.

San Diego officially joins the NWSL next year along with LA. Torero Stadium for 2022, something else for 2023. Name/logo/colors/etc next month.

Rodolfo Pizarro already wants out of Miami.

LAFC hosts the All Star game

[jefe]

Dallas bought a defender from Lanus, and Jamie Vardy bought half of the Rochester Rhinos.

[jefe]

Quote of the decade goes to Gonzalo Higuain, who actually said out loud that he thought he could play here with a cigarette in his mouth. Miami didn't even bring him to DC tonight he's so unfit. And they ended up down to 9 men anyway. And Antoine Griezmann would like to come over in 2024 when his contract runs out.

Oakland Roots home opener against Sacramento was called off just before kickoff because of the state of their turf. Which was Rayo OKC's old turf. It looked like a jigsaw puzzle.

Wrexham at Philadelphia Union this summer, cue ALL THE MEMES.

Chicago Fire came up with a replacement new crest, and it's a LOT better than current. New England are trademarking a new one, and it's unimpressive.

[ursus arctos]

Both crests are pictured in the relevant thread.

I'm surprised that you can type after that Isles game.

[jefe]

I'm surprised that you can type after that Isles game.

I do not watch my teams play on TV. I can't stand it. Things get thrown.

[jefe]

Both USL and Major League Rugby would like to put teams into a destroyed and rebuilt Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.

Atletico Madrid lent a Spanish U-20 international to their Ottawa farm team.

Houston's new owner was announced today-the NY real estate guy rumored to have been buying them; and he announced that Tim Parker gets a 3 year extension, Jamey Rootes leaves the Texans to return to soccer with their FO, and they're spending DP money on a defender named Teenage Hadebe playing in South Africa, one of whose previous teams was named Chicken Inn.

DCU are setting up a 4 team tournament during the Gold Cup league break, international participants to be named soon.

A couple years ago, RSL's reserves sold a kid they'd signed for free to Sweden for $150k and a 10% sell on clause. genk will now be gutting them a heck for 10% of 3.5M euro/$418K.

[jefe]

DCU are setting up a 4 team tournament during the Gold Cup league break, international participants to be named soon.

Puebla and Alianza of El Salvador, in the Capital Cup. (eyeroll)

Spokane is getting both a 5000 seat stadium downtown, and USL1 and USLW teams by 2023.

[jefe]

And Alajualense to complete the tourney, playing Wednesday Sunday Wednesday doubleheaders.

Christian Ramirez finally off to Aberdeen, and Caden Clark to RB Leipzig after the season.

[jefe]

San Jose fired their GM

[jefe]

Yesterday, we put 7 past Toronto; today, Chris Armas got fired.

US v CAN WCQ will be in Nashville in September.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Proud parent moment: when DC put their sixth in, the girl (reasonably, she thought) asked for the channel to be changed and the boy flat out refused. "This is exactly the game supporters have to watch to the final whistle. If you don't watch disasters like this, the good times are meaningless." Too right.

[Hot Pepsi]

Yeah. But you don’t have to actually watch it to have that effect, I’ve found. The shit feeling watching whatever your sister wanted to watch would accomplish the same thing, I’ve found. I mean, I don’t have a sister, but I’ve been in that situation.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Was thinking about you during the game, actualy. Because this is the only time in team history we've shipped more goals than the time you were in town and we lost 6-2.

[Hot Pepsi]

Was that the score? I recall that Philadelphia won, but don’t recall the score.

[Anton Gramscescu]

Oh yeah. It was a godawful performance and the fans were *really* angry. You turned to me at the end at the game and said "I fell like something broke here to day. I'm glad I was here to see it".

Meanwhile, TFC spend their first 25 post-Armas minutes building a 3-0 lead against the division-leading Revs and then holding on for a 3-2 win. Now that we are thankfully rid of all that jacked-up gym-teacher energy, we can get back to being one of the league's top 5 teams.

[Hot Pepsi]

I do remember that. It felt like a watershed moment for the club. It was interesting.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Toronto and Vancouver propping up their respective divisions. I've never sensed so much disinterest in professional soccer here as there is at the moment. It doesn't help that the Caps aren't actually in town, or even the country, of course, but attention was flagging even before that. No one can be arsed it seems. Not the club, not management, not the players, not the fans. Especially not the fans. Message board comments are down to a trickle, column inches in the local rags get briefer by the week, no mentions to speak of on radio or TV. It would be depressing, except no one even seems to care enough to be depressed.

[Hot Pepsi]

More important things going on in the world, I suppose. Of course, that's always true, but it feels especially true now. Not much energy to follow bad teams in a relatively minor league.

Ratings for sports across the board were surprisingly low all last year. The assumption was that people were stuck and home and would watch, but it turned out that it was just too hard to care.

[Amor de Cosmos]

You're dead right. In BC interest in sport watching has declined across the board. At the top end by 28% (BC Lions), at the bottom 23% (Canucks.)

[Hot Pepsi]

The Stanley Cup ratings were pretty good in Canada. In the US, they were better than last season but way down from 2019. The NBA is seeing the same thing. Better than last year but worse than the previous.

The matchups have a lot to do with that, I’m sure. The weird calendar does too.

The US TV ratings for the Euro tournament is up about a third from 2016.