I attended the home opener for Real Salt Lake last Saturday. Dave Checketts, who grew up in the same neighborhood as my mom, has done a wonderful job at building a culture around the team, which is one key to success in Soccer. Portland and Seattle, IMHO, however have done the best job at this. Where Los Angeles and New York have followed the traditional American path to success at the pro level and that is spend a lot more money than everyone else. It was noted in ESPN this week that RSL has spend about 12% on payroll than the New York Red Bulls and Los Angleles Galaxy combined.
If RSL can succeed as a small market franchise in probably the 6th most popular sport in the United States (behind American Football, Baseball, Basketball, Hockey and NASCAR), then there his hope that Soccer can succeed in America. There are plenty of entertainment dollars to go around with fewer and fewer people buying into the crap that Hollywood turns out every year.
MLS will likely expand to 20 teams in 2013. Then there will be no more expansion. Why? Most of the soccer leagues in the worlds are maxed at 18 to 20 teams. Of course, here in the US, there are a lot more people, where the NBA, NHL, NFL and MLB are at or over 30 teams. Shouldn't there be 30 teams in Major League Soccer?
The answer is in scheduling. For the first time ever, MLS is having an unbalanced schedule. That is kind of tricky when the power in the league is unbalanced and they award a trophy for the team with the best record. If Kansas City finishes with the best overall record, that may not mean that they are the best overall teams in Major League Soccer when the schedule is unbalanced. That is why there is a playoff to determine the champion.
Now that US Soccer is becoming popular, it may be time to follow the traditional path the other sports established, the formation of a second league. In baseball, the National League was organized in 1876. It became popular and a rival American Association was formed in 1882. It disbanded in 1891, but was followed by the American League in 1901. There have been two baseball leagues ever since.
The National Football League was founded in 1920. When some cities could not get expansion franchises, the American Football League was founded in 1960. The two leagues merged in 1970, but still form the American and National Conferences to keep scheduling even.
The National Basketball Association was born in 1946. When cities who demanded franchises could not get them, the American Basketball Association was born in 1967. It was not as successful as the other American Leagues, but the San Antonio Spurs, New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers were absorbed by the NBA.
There are many cities jostling for the 20th MLS franchise, but the favorite to be awarded the 20th team is the resurrected New York Cosmos. There should be an official announcement sometime later this year, if rumors are to be believed. Then it will become very costly to get a new MLS franchise. If the pattern holds true, some of the jilted cities will come together and form a rival league.
The way the unbalanced schedule works in MLS is that each team plays every team in it's own conference 3 times and every team in the opposite conference once. Because there is one extra team in the East, some Eastern Conference foes will play each other twice, instead of three times. This year there are 34 games on the schedule for each team. Soon, there will be 37. In the EPL, there is a 38 game schedule with 20 teams. In addition to these 37 games, many MLS franchises are involved in international play. Later this season, RSL will be involved in the US Open Cup and their second CONCACAF Champions league. That will add at least 7 more games to the RSL schedule this year. If RSL makes it to the championship of both MLS and the US Open Cup, they will play 37+4 (US Open Cup) + 6 (CONCACAF Champions League) + 5 or 6 MLS Cup games for 53 matches. But some of the top clubs in Europe do the same. MLS teams that are not involved in CONCACAF Champions League can be involved in international friendlies. As one can see, the MLS season is packed full. There is not much room for a league larger than 20 teams.
Here is a solution for MLS...form a second league...your own sanctioned American Soccer League...although other blogs are calling this idea MLS2. (I use ASL to follow the tradition of Baseball, Football and Basketball.) While MLS now has most of their teams in Soccer Specific Stadia, the ASL can play in NFL and NCAA football stadia to begin with. But there would be less pressure, at first, to move to a SSS. The ASL can participate in the US Open Cup and when their attendance and quality of talent rival the MLS, they can play the MLS cup in a "Soccer Super Bowl."
Perhaps they can begin with just six new cities, while two current MLS franchises that are struggling for fans right now can be relegated into the new league...those two clubs would be Chivas USA and the New England Revolution, leaving MLS at 18. Each MLS club would have 4 games against teams from the ASL. The math shows that each ASL team gets 9 games against MLS clubs. There will be no expansion draft, but ASL clubs can sign MLS free agents.
ASL Western Division
Chivas USA
Phoenix
Las Vegas
San Diego
ASL Eastern Division
New England Revolution
Cleveland
Detroit
Minneapolis
Other potential ASL cities
Atlanta, GA
Charlotte, NC
Richmond, VA
Syracuse/Rochester, NY
Buffalo, NY
Miami, FL
Tampa, FL
Orlando, FL
Birmingham, AL
New Orleans, LA
San Antonio, TX
Austin, TX
Tulsa, OK
Albuquerque, NM
Omaha, NE
Edmonton, AB
Boise, ID
Calgary, AB
Madison, WI
St. Louis, MO
Cincinnati, OH
Indianapolis, IN
Louisville, KY
Raleigh, NC
Memphis, TN
Nashville, TN
2nd Chicago Franchise
2nd Bay-Area Franchise
Pittsburgh, PA
Cleveland, OH
Jacksonville, FL
Columbia, SC
Oklahoma City, OK
Winnipeg, MB
Ottawa, ON
Quebec, PQ
Hamilton, ON
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