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This isn't much different than basketball. Some high school players skip college and play basketball in Europe before being drafted into the NBA.
I guess I just don't see the big problem with a draft. If the main issue is college players not being ready for pro soccer, then the MLS/USSF needs to somehow work with the NCAA to rectify that.
Soccer is not basketball. In basketball College is a good place to learn the game. There are a lot of good coaches and the competition is very high.
The problem with the draft, as I stated earlier, is that for some players it is an unnecessary barrier to entry to get into the league. It's also not fair to the players who should be allowed to decide where they start their careers. Especially considering how low wages are (this isn't the NBA where a 1st round pick becomes a millionaire). Tell me how a player from Michigan enters MLS without first having to go to college and then entering the draft?
Soccer is not basketball. In basketball College is a good place to learn the game. There are a lot of good coaches and the competition is very high.
The problem with the draft, as I stated earlier, is that for some players it is an unnecessary barrier to entry to get into the league. It's also not fair to the players who should be allowed to decide where they start their careers. Especially considering how low wages are (this isn't the NBA where a 1st round pick becomes a millionaire). Tell me how a player from Michigan enters MLS without first having to go to college and then entering the draft?
There are open tryouts for the Chicago Fire, not sure if other clubs have that. i don't know who gets in the draft and who can be in open tryouts though.
I think all teams do tryouts similar to that. I know Colorado has tryouts too. We had a few trialists at the game vs Houston that we played. Teams need to focus on youth academies, college level athletes are young but not young enough. You need to get kids at 12 years old and train them then.
I never watch the draft, couldnt care less about the concept behind it. If we get good players from it we get good players but I dont think it has a place in football.
I don't hate soccer. I really don't. I'm not one of these knee-jerk critics of the game. But the MLS will have an uphill climb no matter how much tinkering you do. For while soccer is the primary sport in most of the world's countries, it doesn't even register a blip in the U.S. or Canada because it has to get in line behind football, baseball, basketball, hockey, golf, and auto racing. Even lacrosse is coming up fast on the horizon, with a 141% increase in participation over the past five years, while all other youth sports seem to be in decline.
It isn't a matter of exposure, given the sheer numbers of children who grew up playing soccer in their youth. It's not as if Americans don't know how the game is played, again given the sheer number of people who played or watched on the sidelines. It's just that soccer doesn't interest Americans the way other sports do. Every four years, we kind of get excited about the World Cup, then lose interest the moment we lose to Upper Volta or Oman or Trinidad.
I guess what I'm suggesting is that no amount of re-engineering is going to make a difference. If soccer hasn't captured the imagination of Americans after decades and decades, it's never going to. I know that's an unpopular opinion, but that's pretty much the way things are.
Even lacrosse is coming up fast on the horizon, with a 141% increase in participation over the past five years, while all other youth sports seem to be in decline.
Yeah, more sports options and the sedentary lifestyle (e.g.videogames) are creating declines in youth sport participation. Soccer is still the #2 youth sport in the country behind basketball, while lacrosee is growing it is stil somehting like 1/7th the size of soccer or basketball. Anyway, it would be cool to see lacrosee continuing to grow. I do think it is eating into football participation.
On your other points, I do think American views of soccer are changing. A few anecdotal pieces of information that support future success of the sport:
-MLS gets good attendance at the stadium, but it hasn't translated to the TV, yet
-NBC is carrying the BPL (soccer is actually on TV, it wasn't when I was a kid)
-MLS signed a much more lucrative TV deal for upcoming seasons
-Demographics conitnue to shift in the US, bringing in more people that care about soccer
-Globalization continues, which changes attitudes towards many things
-More high profile players are coming to play in the MLS, people like watching players they have actually heard of
I don't hate soccer. I really don't. I'm not one of these knee-jerk critics of the game. But the MLS will have an uphill climb no matter how much tinkering you do. For while soccer is the primary sport in most of the world's countries, it doesn't even register a blip in the U.S. or Canada because it has to get in line behind football, baseball, basketball, hockey, golf, and auto racing. Even lacrosse is coming up fast on the horizon, with a 141% increase in participation over the past five years, while all other youth sports seem to be in decline.
It isn't a matter of exposure, given the sheer numbers of children who grew up playing soccer in their youth. It's not as if Americans don't know how the game is played, again given the sheer number of people who played or watched on the sidelines. It's just that soccer doesn't interest Americans the way other sports do. Every four years, we kind of get excited about the World Cup, then lose interest the moment we lose to Upper Volta or Oman or Trinidad.
I guess what I'm suggesting is that no amount of re-engineering is going to make a difference. If soccer hasn't captured the imagination of Americans after decades and decades, it's never going to. I know that's an unpopular opinion, but that's pretty much the way things are.
How do you explain the very good ratings that the EPL is getting on NBC? Most of those games are on early in the morning here and they are still pulling good ratings.
The World Cup gets better TV ratings than the World Series.
The Euro championships get good ratings on ESPN. Same goes for the USNT games against Mexico. In fact, all USNT games are way up ratings wise.
How do you explain the very good ratings that the EPL is getting on NBC? Most of those games are on early in the morning here and they are still pulling good ratings.
The World Cup gets better TV ratings than the World Series.
The Euro championships get good ratings on ESPN. Same goes for the USNT games against Mexico. In fact, all USNT games are way up ratings wise.
The sport has grown leaps and bounds here.
The EPL is more popular in this country than the MLS. That's evident based on the ratings it gets, the TV coverage it gets and the fact that any time an EPL team comes on a pre-season tour, the matches either sellout, or come pretty close.
The fact that the Champions League Final gets much better coverage than the MLS Final speaks volumes.
The EPL is more popular in this country than the MLS. That's evident based on the ratings it gets, the TV coverage it gets and the fact that any time an EPL team comes on a pre-season tour, the matches either sellout, or come pretty close.
The fact that the Champions League Final gets much better coverage than the MLS Final speaks volumes.
I think it speaks to the perceived quality of the leagues. MLS has to grow in perceived quality to gain more eyeballs, in my view. I think this offseason may have helped with Bradley, Devoe, Parkhurst, etc coming into the league, but still has a ways to go. The Beckham/Miami thing also gets MLS in newspapers during the offseason, which is good.
Well there is TONNES of money in the Champions League, everybody wants a piece of it. Its kind of unfair to compare MLS final to CL final's coverage. MLS final is dragged out and boring, the CL isnt because we have domestic leagues running till the week before the final. MLS has a week or two between matches for a playoff, even a diehard like me loses interest but thats something MLS has to work on.
MLS teams are getting more people in the doors each year, slowly but surely. TV ratings are pretty poor but I think they will slowly increase over time. No MLS final wont be on par with the Super Bowel but thats OK with me. As much as I hate Beckham I think he will build a good club and bring in big names too. Not sure how sustainable it will be with Miami's fickle fans but time will tell. For now I am excited to see what happens.
I think it speaks to the perceived quality of the leagues. MLS has to grow in perceived quality to gain more eyeballs, in my view. I think this offseason may have helped with Bradley, Devoe, Parkhurst, etc coming into the league, but still has a ways to go. The Beckham/Miami thing also gets MLS in newspapers during the offseason, which is good.
I'll add that their are many fine, competitive, talented leagues around the world that would pale in comparison to the English Premier League and later-round Champions league matches on TV.
Said better, TV ratings for the EPL are probably higher than the domestic league in many many nations across the world. A South African has a decent domestic league but put Arsenal v Chelsea on and he's watching that. MLS is no different. Probably all nations exept Spain, Italy, Germany, Argentina, and Brazil, and maybe France are more tuned in to EPL matches than their own domestic leagues.
Partially because of this, I think MLS needs to maximize its presense in June, July, and August when the Euro leagues (esp. EPL) are on break.
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