The State of the League
- Thread starter Gotham Gator
- Start date
Article in The Athletic today about how all of MLS's expansion isn't going to solve the problem of not penetrating the large media markets where they already have teams.
...the league is largely irrelevant in crucial markets such as New York, Chicago (shown above), Dallas, Philadelphia, Houston, Boston and the Bay Area. That makes seven of the 12 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. in which the league is failing to make its presence felt. Things aren’t any better in some smaller markets like Denver and Columbus, both original MLS cities where the local teams have never truly made meaningful inroads.
...
New York City FC were the lone team in [the twelve largest media markets] to finish in the top half of MLS in average attendance in 2018. They came in seventh, with an average home crowd of slightly more than 23,000, and their numbers are down significantly through three home games so far this season. But this is about more than just attendance. All 10 of those clubs struggle mightily for attention in sports towns that are saturated with higher-profile pro and college teams. They don’t matter in their own markets.
https://theathletic.com/943501/2019...-major-markets-more-important-than-expansion/...
New York City FC were the lone team in [the twelve largest media markets] to finish in the top half of MLS in average attendance in 2018. They came in seventh, with an average home crowd of slightly more than 23,000, and their numbers are down significantly through three home games so far this season. But this is about more than just attendance. All 10 of those clubs struggle mightily for attention in sports towns that are saturated with higher-profile pro and college teams. They don’t matter in their own markets.
Outstanding article, and again the many comments are worth reading. A few people with pet hobby-horses but many more add context to specific situations the main article couldn't cover.
I thought the insight into Houston from the commenters was interesting, pointing out that apparently the Dynamo are making little attempt to tap into the Spanish-speaking market there. And sure, all the usual caveats apply about how the native Spanish-speakers often have loyalties to teams elsewhere, but why not make a serious push to sign big names from El Tri or Liga MX?
Another tournament we won’t qualify for. Cool.
honestly does MLS want in ( besides the potential extra cash that will probably go to owners and not even the Cap) based on CCL performance the on field results wont be pretty. Like i get bolivia teams for example are not the greatest but in that altitude even brazilian teams struggle there and in preseason form? ooof.
Cincy have apparently sacked their head coach for being an asshole or something.
https://www.fccincinnati.com/post/2019/05/07/club-dismisses-head-coach-alan-koch
https://www.fccincinnati.com/post/2019/05/07/club-dismisses-head-coach-alan-koch
man, he was their USL coach, then they got into MLS, and dude lasted two months
Maybe someone told him he needed to be a dick.
Somebody asked a question on /r/soccer to the effect of "who's the best player in MLS and where would he rank among best players in the world?", and it led me down a path of comparing estimated transfer values as a way of comparing leagues.
I don't know how one would define "best player", but the player in MLS who has the highest transfer value according to Transfermarkt is Gonzalo "Pity" Martinez of Atlanta United, most recently of River Plate, who is "worth" about €15M
For reference, that's about on par with the 83rd-most valuable player in the Bundesliga (RB Leipzig's Matheus Cunha), or the or the 43rd-most valuable player in Ligue Un (Girondins Bordeaux's François Kamano), or the 13th-most valuable player in the Eredivisie (PSV's Denzel Dumfries), or the 11th-most valuable player in the Chinese Super League (Guangzhou Evergrande's Ricardo Goulart), or the 2nd-most valuable player in the Turkish SuperLig (Trabzonspor's Abdülkadir Ömür).
So basically on the "power index" of top-tier leagues, MLS falls just below the Turkish SuperLig and just above Liga MX, whose most valuable player slots in at €14M.
I don't know how one would define "best player", but the player in MLS who has the highest transfer value according to Transfermarkt is Gonzalo "Pity" Martinez of Atlanta United, most recently of River Plate, who is "worth" about €15M
For reference, that's about on par with the 83rd-most valuable player in the Bundesliga (RB Leipzig's Matheus Cunha), or the or the 43rd-most valuable player in Ligue Un (Girondins Bordeaux's François Kamano), or the 13th-most valuable player in the Eredivisie (PSV's Denzel Dumfries), or the 11th-most valuable player in the Chinese Super League (Guangzhou Evergrande's Ricardo Goulart), or the 2nd-most valuable player in the Turkish SuperLig (Trabzonspor's Abdülkadir Ömür).
So basically on the "power index" of top-tier leagues, MLS falls just below the Turkish SuperLig and just above Liga MX, whose most valuable player slots in at €14M.
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