Last Saturday the MLS announced the formation of the SuperLiga, a tournament that will pitch the best club teams in the MLS against the best club teams in Mexico. Eight teams have been chosen for this years upcoming tournament. The MLS teams are: D.C. United, FC Dallas, Los Angeles Galaxy, Houston Dynamo. The representatives from the Mexican clubs are: Club America, CF Pachuca, Monarcas Morelia and CD Guadalajara from Mexico. The participants of this round were selected, but next year's competitors will be chosen based on finishing results in their respective leads. The prize to the top club is $1M.
This news won't (and has not) made the same splash that Beckham's LA signing has made, but to me, it is just as important. Pitching our top teams against Mexico's top teams will be a big step in demonstrating how competitive the MLS has become. It will add a competitive goal to breaking into the top four of the MLS. It will give our players a chance to compete against our biggest CONCACAF rival. I don't think game locations have been announced but I am hoping for a Houston venue in at least one of the fixtures.
The next step is establishing relegation rules in the MLS. I am not holding my breath.
2 comments:
A step in the right direction for sure, I just hope we don't embarass ourselves...
Other things the MLS needs to work on:
1. Aligning the playing calender with the international calenders
2. Doing away with the US Styly playoff to determine a champion. Have one big table, total points wins championship. Create a League Cup, and keep the US Open. In other words, mimic virtually every other soccer league in the world, and make ALL the games count.
3. Relegation, but I agree, this is not going to happen. Imagine this, NY RedBulls build a $100M stadium, finish last, and are forced to play in a minor league for a year, while Charleston Battery play with the big boys...people won't show up anymore, fans are not THAT loyal yet...At least that's my take on it.
I think we will compete. I have nothing to base that on except for optimism though.
1. Agreed. Not holding my breath.
2. That would be interesting. I hadn't really thought of that. This may come about eventually if things like the SuperLiga take off. I think that our sports culture seems to value the "Final" format...I wonder why that is...
3. Relegation would rock. But you have an excellent point on the Red Bulls example. It's a pretty funny example actually and you are spot on. They would probably lose more than 50% of their fans. However, it would also make some serious headlines.
Post a Comment