Why The Yanks’ World Cup Success Is Bad For MLS.
By: Ben | July 8th, 2010
While America had what is surely a solid run in South Africa, they have, as we all know, long since been knocked out. Yet, while the tournament still rages on in preparation for Sunday’s final, Americans are showing a newfound interest in the sport; one that is not entirely built around the hype of a world event but reflects a deeper enjoyment of the game. This passion has been reflected in MLS attendance, as last week’s league-wide average was greater than that of the same week last year by nearly 1,500. Dallas, whose average attendance thus far of 9,515 makes it the laughing stock of the league, pulled in nearly 16,000 people for their game against the Wizards while Galaxy, RSL, and San Jose all saw sellouts.
Clearly, this attendance jump is good for the league and its comparative standing as a professional sport in America. Yet, the World Cup isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for MLS. As has been noted many times before, the majority of the players on the US team are products of MLS development and at one point played in the league before being shipped overseas to Europe and Latin America. This inability to retain players is a travesty in and of itself, but it is one that seemed to be near its end at the start of this World Cup as many players seemed interested in returning to the league. Rumors of returns from Jozy Altidore, Jay Demerit, and Clint Dempsey spread like wildfire as Americans prepared to watch their nation go into battle.
Then the USA went into the round of 16, playing three nail biting games in the process. Immediately, all hopes of returns from Americans abroad were dashed as clubs worldwide saw what talent the players possessed. These teams wasted no time in acting, as rumors now fly of AC Milan pursuing Clint Dempsey. While this can be interpreted as a tribute to the strength of America’s development programs and its ability to produce top-flight players, it shows our league being robbed of a cure for its biggest area of critique: skill level. When explaining why many Americans send their support to teams abroad, skill level is always on top of the list. MLS, as they say, simply doesn’t compare to the European might of the Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A. The addition of these great American players would have not only raised the overall skill level of the league but shown that it doesn’t require a foreign DP to do so. Unfortunately, with the Yanks’ success, these players will now be pursued by European clubs whose fat payrolls are beyond anything MLS can offer.
What do you think?
Category: MLS
Comments
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I somewhat agree. We do need that talent in the MLS. However, many people (such as myself) are more than willing to watch both. Especially since the MLS plays in a totally different season from the other leagues. Between the the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the MLS I can watch soccer year-round. That’s great! Although I would like to see more talent in the MLS, it’s not going to stop me from watching it.
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i think the mls is serving its purpose of developing future stars and then selling them off so that they can gain experience in Europes top leagues and make our national team more successful
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As Scott pointed out, it’s great to have top league soccer all year round to watch. I have been a Red Bull (Metrostars) fan and a general MLS fan for quite some time now. I have always enjoyed football, so naturally when the US created it’s own top flight league, I became a fan.
THere’s two ways to look at this. THe talent and quality of the MLS has improved vastly since its inception in 1993. THis “shipping” of players to larger leagues can be seen as a good thing. It is an indication of just how improved the league has become; if these clubs from top tier leagues want MLS’s players, there must be quality. The Mexican Primera has been this type of “farm system” for larger leagues around the world for years. Also, as Neutral said, gaining this experience in EUrope or Latin America, will eventually help these players perform better on an international stage.
On the negative side, each time one these higher quality players leaves the league, the MLS as a whole takes a major hit both finacially and quality wise. Take a look at the Galaxy. A moajorty of their ticket sales, jersey sales, and general merchandise sales are based off of Landon Donavan. If you took a poll at a Galaxy game 90% of the people there will tell you they are at the game to see Donavan play, not Chris Birchall. Let’s say Donavan does make the switch to Manchester City this summer, the Galaxy ticket and merchandise sales will fall dramtically, as will the quality of their play.
On one hand, these clubs coming to snatch up MLS players is an indication of the generally positive progression of the quality of the players. On the other hand, it hurts many aspects of the league when one of these players leave. Trying to to find a balance between those two things is almost impossible, because 99.9% in the MLS would pick the EPL, Ligue 1, Serie A, La Liga, or the Bundesliga over the MLS if given the chance. So I guess the solution is just to enjoy the players while they are still here in the states
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The Dutch league has struggled with this for years, but they seem to be doing just fine. Same with the French and German leagues, though to a much lesser extent (and I don’t mean to suggest that the MLS is at the same level as the Dutch, French or German leagues). The answer is to simply develop more talent. Invest in youth. I’m really surprised at the way young talent is dealt with by the highly centralized MLS.
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There is no way that MLS can compete with the bankrolls of the big Euro leagues. Nor should they want to. The clubs in those leagues are financially unsustainable.
I think MLS is putting a pretty good product on the pitch and the ticket prices are very reasonable. It makes for a great contrast to the overpriced tickets of the NBA, MLB and NFL.
I agree with Brenton. The keys for creating a good product here in the US is to focus on developing good, young players. I like what the MLS is doing to encourage MLS teams to invest in player development.
However, they really need to continue to increase both the cap space and the number of slots each team possesses. Young players need to make a living wage and to have slots on teams to develop.
It would also greatly reduce the strain some MLS teams face when trying to juggle MLS, Open Cup and CCL games.
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Brenton: I would add the the Brazilian, Argentine, and Chilean leagues to your list of top-level leagues that still ship their talent to Europe b/c they cannot afford to keep their best players. MLS should be aiming for that level, not Premier League level.
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It might be bad for MLS players to leave their home country, but it really does happen to all leagues in the world. It is like Fernando Torres leaving La Liga for Liverpool because his career was stagnating at Atletico. Torres fans in Spain must have been heartbroken, but it is not necessarily bad for the league to have one of its greats leave.
I think having foreign players play against MLS-bred talent has some of an attractive quality to it, as evidenced by Beckham and very recently Thierry Henry. I know I have much more interest in seeing an MLS game now that I get to see one of the best players of my youth.
The USA team needs a striker that is hungry for goal at the top level, and sadly, the MLS is no at the top level. Until we find a striker who can consistently score goals overseas, we will be doomed to Round-of-16 knockouts in the world cup.
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I don’t mind the lack of skill level in the MLS. We’ll get there. In the meantime, the best thing for our good American players to do is to go abroad and play where there is a higher skill level. I don’t think that’s a travesty, it’s just where we’re at. Many countries are in similar situations.
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