Major League Soccer

Letter to Major League Soccer

Dear Major League Soccer,

November 19, 2004

I am a tremendous supporter of the League and have been since its inception in 1996. I just attended, yet another, trip to the MLS Cup in Los Angeles on November 14th. I truly feel that the Commissioner, Don Garber, has done a more than admirable job of taking the League to higher levels in not only competition, but also ownership and sponsorships. That being said I think there should be change in 2005.

I feel that the League has an undeniable opportunity to set itself apart from other American sports and allow fans the ability to see what makes soccer the best sport on the planet. Mr. Garber has stated that his goal for the League is to be the number one sport in the United States. A lofty goal indeed, but highly unlikely if we continue to focus on the sport as if it were like the National Football League, which it is most certainly not.

I have put together a list of suggestions that would definitely make Major League Soccer more exciting, manageable, interesting, convenient and most importantly reward the fans with a League that fits their interests. What most fans really want is soccer played and organized in a manner that most resembles the leagues around the world. Tim Leiweke, of Anschutz Entertainment Group, in a recent interview with the L.A. Times, also supports some of my suggestions.

A recent poll conducted on my website, Soccerloop.com, showed that fans would most like to see Promotion/Relegation instituted in the United States. We understand that this is unlikely, at least in the relative near future, however I put together a list of suggestions that are possible and would get excitement generating in a positive direction. Here are those suggestions:

Make the schedule make sense

MLS and U.S. Soccer need to work together to create a calendar that makes sense for both parties. The suggestion would be that U.S. Soccer create a list of dates needed for the USMNT and submit it to MLS. In return, the League would not schedule matches on those dates. Everyone would be on the same page and focus would shift towards the USMNT when they are playing and then focus on the League during the other dates. This would eliminate scenarios where teams are losing star players during key matches of the season. And U.S. Soccer wouldn't have to deal with club vs. country rows.

Create a single table

Bottom line, fans want this. We understand that a single table only makes sense if each team plays one another home and away. This would mean MLS teams in 2005, with 12 teams, would play a 22 game season. This may seem like a short season, but I have thought this through. The season could run throughout the same months as 2004, but there would be open dates for the USMNT matches and the U.S. Open Cup. MLS in 2004 had a 30 game season plus the play-offs and MLS Cup for a total of 33 match days. MLS in 2005 could offer 22 dates for League matches, maybe four dates for the USMNT, and four dates for U.S. Open Cup matches and one date for the MLS All-Star Game for a total of 31 match days. A single table would put much more pressure on each team to win every match and create better competition throughout the League. Every point earned in a match would be vital towards winning the championship. Dare to be different! It could lead to tremendous growth and success with the Sport in the U.S. As expansion teams are added throughout the years the number of League match days would increase as well. A goal of a six-teen team league would offer a thirty match season.

Focus more on the U.S. Open Cup

We understand this is a U.S. Soccer sanctioned tournament, but it's your teams that win it every year (except 1997 when Rochester defeated Colorado). So work with U.S. Soccer on this venture. If you give us the Single Table and make the schedule make sense as aforementioned, this will be the premier single elimination tournament within the U.S. If weekend dates are left open for this event, teams could promote it better, attendance would be up, there would be more press coverage, more television coverage and so on. Sponsors could get behind it and take it to the next level. It would also support A-League teams with much more profitable weekend matches featuring MLS competition and eliminate unheralded, low attended weeknight matches. If I can go even further with this I would request that all teams that make it to the fourth round would be on level playing ground. Eliminate the seeding and throw all team names into a â€œhatâ€ and do a drawing. If MLS teams are playing MLS teams and PDL teams are playing PDL teams then so be it. That's exciting! We understand that this Cup tournament could be expensive for most lower division teams. An answer to that would be to have the higher seeded team always travel to the lower seeded team which almost always is the case with the current format anyway. This would help promote MLS in smaller markets and make a footprint as a truly national sports league.

Restructure the play-off system

If you opt not to make the above suggestions, at least support a restructuring of the current play-off format. The current format plainly doesn't work with eight out of ten (next year 12) teams making the play-offs. I'm sure you want people to care about the play-offs and currently not enough of them do, hence the decline in attendance for the play-off matches. Eight teams out of ten or even eight teams out of twelve, like 2005, is simply overkill. If you will continue to have Conferences then at least make this exciting by only allowing the top team in each Conference to advance to the final. This would of course mean no play-offs. Those top two teams could either play a home-and-home series to allow their home fans the excitement or if you would have promotional problems with that, then at least just have a single Cup Final at your selected venue.

Modify the All-Star Game

We greatly appreciate your efforts in trying to get Real Madrid to play our MLS All-Stars in the All-Star match this season. That is exactly what will excite the majority of fans. To this day, the best and most exciting MLS All-Star Game was the match against Guadalajara Chivas. It would be greatly appreciated if you could continue to make matches such as this possible every year.

Stop rewarding the losing teams

We understand your efforts to create parity, if that is what you are looking to do throughout the League. This, however, makes no sense to me. We already have the salary cap which is instated for many reasons, one of which is to create parity. Allowing that to be the only source of parity would be acceptable. Currently, the team that finishes last receives the #1 SuperDraft Pick as well as priority allocations while the team that did everything to win the Cup gets nothing. Does this make sense? Along with that, those teams that win the Cup historically have to make elaborate changes during the following off-season that severely damage the team's nucleus due to the salary cap. On top of that, dynasties are great for sports and especially soccer. If you won't make the aforementioned changes for next season at least give the #1 SuperDraft Pick to a team that earns it, such as the Supporters Shield winner, whom currently gets nothing. Even the NBA doesn't just reward the worst team in the League with the #1 Pick. They offer a weighted lottery between all the teams that didn't make the play-offs the previous year. I don't totally agree with this approach, however it makes more sense than just outright rewarding the worst team.

Improve the quality of refereeing

This change is detrimental to success in this League. The quality of referees was never really that good from the start and has only gone down since the losses of Esse Beharmest and Paul Tamberino. As the saying goes, the best officiated matches are the matches when you don't notice the referee. Unfortunately for us, we know all the referees in this League much too well. The officiating in this league is so atrocious that a certain MLS MVP candidate said he didn't even want to come back next year because of it. I think some hardcore fans might just even do the same.

Create Your Own Traditions

Tradition is what makes soccer exciting. Matches like the newly created Hall of Fame Game, the U.S. Open Cup, and obviously the MLS Cup should remain highly anticipated traditional events, but you should also add a few. I'd love to see the Colorado Rapids 4th of July match nationally televised as an annual event. The highlights of the matches always look exciting and the large fan turnout is fantastic! Another match to add would be to kick-off the season with a match much like the Charity Shield Match in England. MLS could start the season with the winner of the MLS Cup vs. the winner of the U.S. Open Cup. If a team wins "The Double" the season before, then the runner-up of the MLS Cup would play the match. Also keeping the SuperDraft televised is crucial and maintaining its presence at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's Convention is key.

Compete Internationally

A lot of soccer fans within the U.S. still support foreign clubs and don't think the quality of MLS is as good as other leagues around the world. I firmly believe, as should MLS, that your teams can compete with those clubs. One way to prove it to those non-believers is by putting together matches between MLS clubs and clubs from around the world. Getting involved with the ChampionsWorld Tour would be a start, but ultimately cup competitions like the Copa Libertadores are what the League should be striving for. The Copa Libertadores is the premier cup competition in the western hemisphere and MLS should make an effort to be involved.

Create Drama

This request is subject to your efforts to follow through on the above suggestions. Drama drives the excitement of this sport. All of the above suggestions will create the drama. If you, the powers that be at Major League Soccer Headquarters, will adhere to suggestions 1-9, then I promise you won't have to worry about #10.

Sincerely,

Steven Patton
SoccerLoop.com
www.soccerloop.com

Article by: Steven Patton