An open letter to Don Garber…a solution to the competitions.
First off, the easy solutions:
CONCACAF Champs: Leave it as is – I believe its run by CONCACAF anyways.
Lamar Hunt US Open Cup: A fantastic competition where a team/club from the US has an opportunity to win. No real suggestion on this competition other than to have it start a little sooner so that it can finish up in June or July which will allow for the Final to be played in a revolving Northern City. This will allow for the Final to be played in different venues and avoid the oppressive heat usually found in the Southern part of the States during the summer. Winner receives auto CONCACAF bid
MLS Cup: Single Table, Balanced Schedule (Home/Away for each team) with the weighted-point-system (No more West/East). This is the Cup that everyone wants – the long-haul test for a true champion. You can’t bide your time in the beginning of the season, enter a playoff system, get hot, & be crowned champ. Winner receives auto Concacaf bid.
At some point, if another division is created, relegation could be introduced to spice up the bottom of the table.
More drawn-out solution:
Supporters Shield: Open only to MLS clubs, will continue with the West/East thing because of travel & to assist in building up rivalries (Supporters could travel). Play begins the same month as the Final for LHUSOC and ends in Nov or Dec and the Final is to be played in a revolving Southern City which allows for different venues & avoidance of the oppressive cold found up North during the winter months. Set up a random draw and in the first round no Club is allowed to travel further than one time-zone (we want Supporters traveling!). The first two rounds could even be regionalized so that there is potential for mass Supporter travel. Both Finals participants earn a bid in CONCACAF so there is incentive for both sides of the bracket.
**If the MLS Cup winner, LHUSOC winner, or Supporters winner is a repeat, the final MLS standings are used to determine who earns a bid to CCL.
That gives three quality domestic competitions for MLS to compete in & 4 berths into CONCACAF to be earned. All trophies would require full effort & there is no slacking one’s way to the crown.
So come on Don, the growth of the League has been fantastic – let’s sort out those competitions!
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Inconsistency
You suggest to leave the CONCACAF Champs alone because it is run by CONCACAF, but then suggest some pretty striking changes for the Open Cup…which is run by US Soccer, not MLS. Gotta question the logic on that one.
And one more point……………RELEGATION/PROMOTION WON’T EVER HAPPEN…PLEASE STOP BRINGING IT UP AS SOME KIND OF REALISTIC OPTION.
Thank you…goodnight.
Upon further review...
I may be wrong but it would seem to me that US Soccer & MLS ablility to come to an agreement would be much easier than MLS & Concacaf – maybe I assume too much.
So perhaps moving the US Open to the beginning of the year is too “striking”. Leaving it in its current late summer/fall time slot of June to October would work. Play the Supporters Shield Competition in the Spring – see there, easily solved.
Mr. texg8r – I don’t recall ever having a conversation about promotion/relegation – seems obvious that you’re against it.
One thing I would suggest, is to “never say never.” I’m not sure your reasoning for “R/P won’t ever happen” but I’m sure you have some valid points. I would like to see the League continue to grow & it’d be nice if the good people of Clevleand, San Diego, St Louis, and even perhaps 3 cities in the Southeast could obtain Franchises in MLS. What if MLS grew to 35 or even 40 teams (would be great, wouldn’t it)?
If we were 35 teams strong, I think two Leagues, one with 20 & one with 15 and a promotion/relegation system would make things very interesting.
DTID – Let’s beat Alianza!!!
DTID
COYW
A slight edition:
Swap the MLS Cup and Supporters’ Shield names, then you have a winner. The Supporters’ Shield is already awarded to the round-robin winner, so it makes no sense to change that. Then, of course, the 4th CONCACAF slot should go the Shield runner-up. That wouldn’t have been good for FC Dallas this year, but it would be more in line with how things work elsewhere.
Also, if MLS expects to expand beyond 20 teams, they’ll either have to split the league or get a special dispensation from FIFA. Bear in mind that soccer is the only professional sport in North America where the pro league is subsidiary to a national and an international body, and has to operate within their strictures. To this end, not having promotion and relegation restricts the growth of the sport. If MLS eventually expanded to 30+ teams, there would have to be an MLS 1 and an MLS 2. Japan, mind you, had no history of vertical divisions in their pro sports, but the J.League eventually came to split into J1 and J2, and they seem to be doing all right so far. (Another concept we might borrow from the J.League: pre-selection of expansion clubs from existing outfits at lower levels — most, if not all, of the J2 clubs came from being pre-selected, then accepted when they finished in the top 4 of the JFL, which is a semi-pro league at Division 3 level. We sort of have done this with Seattle, Portland, Vancouver and Montreal next year, but those clubs’ acceptance was not conditioned on their placement in their respective leagues, and they’ve been partially reconstituted on their joining MLS.)
league tiers
Wouldn’t it be great if the leagues, NASL, MLS and USL just set everything into tier league play? There’s huge salary mechanics to be worked through among other issues but the preface for a relegation system is in place. Many of the USL teams draw nice crowds and have set venues already. NASL is just returning again but with proper management they can grow as well as the other leagues are.
by Timothy Winning Voyles on Aug 4, 2011 11:09 AM CDT up reply actions
Seems logical
Mr. TWV, I agree. It would seem practical to set up the tiers that way but I’ve read that an issue could arise with new MLS clubs (such as Philly) who pay $40 million expansion fees. After paying a sum of that amount, they may not be too keen on dropping down a tier.
I do like the concept explained by Mr. SWTTU, & MLS seems to be putting it in place; the existing outfit being promoted. I’m not familiar with the J.League’s way of doing it but I think a condition of a Top 4 finish is a good idea…
DTID
COYW
by Steve_orino on Aug 10, 2011 12:35 PM CDT up reply actions

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