Great News For Mls And Nycfc : Possible Attendance To The Copa Libertadores

The travel to another hemisphere is really difficult for MLS teams to participate. Exposure is good for the league, but the sacrifices of the clubs are too much to compensate for the goods.
 
The travel to another hemisphere is really difficult for MLS teams to participate. Exposure is good for the league, but the sacrifices of the clubs are too much to compensate for the goods.
The travel is the reason I am opposed to this idea. Don't forget, the players in this league already have to travel far more than almost every league in the world. Adding South American trips would be a disaster, especially for northern teams like NYC and Canadian clubs.
 
Copa Libertadores is my favorite tournament, it has all those little things of south American futbol that makes it really hard to win.

But imagine NYCFC playing a saturday night MLS game and then traveling during a week day for 11 hours to Buenos aires to come back another 11 hours to play on the weekend again. Uffff thats a lot

OK, but you imagine New York City FC - Boca Juniors or New York City FC - Flamengo......
 
OK, but you imagine New York City FC - Boca Juniors or New York City FC - Flamengo......
Yea just imagine playing Vancouver on the weekend and then fly to Brazil for a mid week match then back up to New York or Montreal for the weekend. What a nightmare. We would have to make wholesale lineup changes at some point in that stretch, forcing us to either put the League match or the Copa match on the back burner. It's just not worth it just for the opportunity to play those semi-famous clubs.
 
To be fair, does the league even WANT to make a big deal out of either tournament? They are both run by outside federations who control the sponsorhips, tv rights and probably share the revenue. It does not really make business sense for MLS to use their resources to make a big deal out of either competition.
I guess that you are right.
 
Not sure if this is the correct thread, but it must be noted that MLS teams have done pretty well in this season's CONCACAF Champions League so far. They have only played 1 or 2 games each but some good results thus far. I don't think any MLS team has suffered a defeat yet and some have big wins (4-1 for Portland for example).
 
Plausible extensive travel issues aside whats the CONCACAF Champions league worth? If I recall right (can't be bothered checking again) a MLS side has won it before so there wouldn't be any "firsts" involved. The only fixture in CONCACAF that might mean a great deal would be a visit to the Azteca. They could at least have this for a trial period and ultimately make a decision later on. Wrestlers are hardly ever off planes (and there's more famous wrestlers who died early deaths than famous soccer players for a reason) so surely footballers can take a tougher schedule now and then?
 
I don't think a MLS team has ever won the CONCACAF champions league. I think one or two MLS teams won the predecessor tournament which had a different name and format. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, which I very well may be.
 
The previous version of the Champions League was called the Champions Cup. DC won in 1998 and LA in 2000. So we could technically be the first MLS team to win the Champions League, and the first to win either in over 15 years--assuming no other team claims that spot over the next two years.
 
I think CCL is a great tournament and needs to be a priority for us. First we need to qualify, but road trips to Costa Rica or Mexico would be amazing. Playing Cruz Azul or America would be amazing for the city and fan base. I went to the NYRB v. FAS game and it was a great environment. Playing a big mexican team will be even more fun.
 
The best CCL result for MLS so far was orchestrated by none other than Jason Kreis while at RSL.
 
The previous version of the Champions League was called the Champions Cup. DC won in 1998 and LA in 2000. So we could technically be the first MLS team to win the Champions League, and the first to win either in over 15 years--assuming no other team claims that spot over the next two years.

Well the UEFA Champions League used to be called the European Cup but cumulative trophies still count for the same thing. After all Real Madrid don't just count their Champions League victories in their record total. Of course its a more prestigious competition (that's understament of the century) but assuming CONCACAF similarly rebranded as UEFA did then its the same thing. Technicalities are either meaningful or pedantic and probably the latter in this case.
 
Well the UEFA Champions League used to be called the European Cup but cumulative trophies still count for the same thing. After all Real Madrid don't just count their Champions League victories in their record total. Of course its a more prestigious competition (that's understament of the century) but assuming CONCACAF similarly rebranded as UEFA did then its the same thing. Technicalities are either meaningful or pedantic and probably the latter in this case.

As far as I know there was also a format change from Cup to League, so it was more than just rebranding. I think you might be right that trophies still count anyway though. Even then, first MLS team to win in 15+ years is still impressive.
 
IMO just abolish the CCL and make the Libertadores a joint CONCACAF and CONMEBOL competition.
 
IMO just abolish the CCL and make the Libertadores a joint CONCACAF and CONMEBOL competition.
Not a good idea. We can barely compete w/ Liga MX in CCL now. We wouldn't have a prayer of a chance inn Libertadores.
 
The travel wouldn't be too bad as its North and South and doesn't ctoss too many time zones.

If Australia can make it work in the Asia Champions League, I think we can make this work.
 
I think combining North and South American Club and national team tournament should happen eventually. Copa America in 2016 is this way. But for now CCL is the most prestigious tourney for MLS teams to win, so that should our goal.
 
I think CCL could stay, though maybe under a new name, and be like our Europa League and Copa Lib. could morph into the new Pan-American Champions League.
 
Not a good idea. We can barely compete w/ Liga MX in CCL now. We wouldn't have a prayer of a chance inn Libertadores.

Let's wait and see until the new CBA takes effect. A higher salary cap plus an added DP slot would make us on an even playing field with Liga MX.

For me, combining Copa Lib with the CCL is a win win situation for everyone involved. It'll expose the Copa Lib to a huge new revenue stream in Mexico,USA, Canada which in turn would equal more money to the South American clubs. For North American clubs, the new competition will finally give them a relevant competition to compete in and again more revenue.

The CCL is just too limited for it to ever be viable.