I think I’m gonna push back on Zealand (or his weird bit where he’s not Zealand?). He kept discussing only two teams where fan bases are struggling to thrive, Red Bull and Chicago. And then he goes on to mention a bunch of teams that have, in his words, been successful. NYC, LAG, LAFC, Nashville, Seattle, Portland, Atlanta, Charlotte. Can we add more teams to the struggle bus? Sure. Rapids, White Caps, Earthquakes, Revolution. All old guard teams. But I’d say more than half of our teams are successful. Including small market teams. Last year RSL sold out their stadium close to 15 games in a row. When they don’t suck, Austin has a riotous crowd. Orlando has been steadily climbing and so has NYC. Audi Field has really helped DCU. All this is meant to say most teams in the league are successful which is enough. Especially when you add in that we are a parity league, then it makes every game relevant because the level of the highest team and the lowest team are not insanely far apart like they can be in other leagues like La Liga, Premier League, and Bundliega. Most games are competitive. And the ownership groups have paid into basically making sure they all are successful by buying into MLS instead of just a singular team. So everyone’s success rides on one another.
So I see your point Shwafta that having a strong healthy Red Bulls franchise only helps our team and our rivalry. But also feeling sympathy for the devils (or the bulls) isn’t going to make them a better franchise. The worst thing that can happen right now is Red Bulls fold. Which they won’t because they are also apart of a network of teams in other leagues. So your second worst outcome is that the HRD becomes obsolete because one team always wins. Which would be a bummer but then we also have a rivalry with Toronto and Philly that could be ramped up. Which would get our fan base going. This is what happened with the Rocky Mountain cup. RSL fans consider SKC more of a rivalry than the Rapids.
So I just don’t think this is as big of an issue that Zealand is making it out to be. Most teams are successful, parity keeps the league entertaining and brings back fans for most to all teams, and owners have incentives to have successful teams so you will continue to see declines in poor performing teams.
And lastly, just to throw it out there, There are many teams in MLB, NBA, NFL who are not super successful and those leagues are doing alright.
