MLS's problems are Seattle's problems

From what I’ve read, it sounds like the Hunts don’t want to spend money on advertising, especially in Dallas. They are getting a lot of the blame for that situation, at least from soccer commentators, but MLS seems reluctant — at best — to do anything about it.

You’d also think that with Dallas being in Texas… they should have a better attendance considering Dallas has a population of 35.6% Hispanics (US census Bureau http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48/4819000.html) and so forth. It’s a stereotype I guess… but they tend to be into football/soccer. Also, I wonder how many people know the stadium is not in Dallas but is in a suburb Frisco… Dallas has been relatively horrible in recent history but I wouldn’t say the MLS has many very strong teams (most barely achieve the ranking of mediocrity imo). When they made their run winning the last 4 games (before meeting the Sounders in the final game) I think there attendance picked up considerably… but haven’t look hard to find the attendance number to show one way or another.

If the Crew are struggling with attendance/marketing, they should take a page from the RSL playbook and start giving out college discounts. Columbus has a massive student base at tOSU, and as we know, any large campus has a large number of football supporters from around the world. If they could get some rowdy, drunken students to show up, not only would it help fill the stands, but it would help to create a great atmosphere.

It’s like 30 miles from Dallas.

Is not in downtown, but neither is the population. Their stadium proposed stadium location is actually pretty great, as it’s right next to two freeways, already has access because of the airport, is reasonably near CalTrain, there’s actually a pretty nice park that essentially leads from downtown all the way to the site and is very close to the stadium they’re playing in now. I can’t speak to the locations of the other proposed stadiums other than the fact that I think you’re right about them being outside of downtown.

I definitely didn’t paint a “sky is falling” picture. Mainly, I was saying that attendance looks real bad in Dallas and not as good as it should in Columbus.

The numbers from opening weekend are up overall, which I acknowledge. It’s just that they’re up mainly on the back of NYRB and Seattle, while flat everywhere else but Dallas, where they are down by 50 percent.

Its way too early to judge attendance after one game. I’m not looking at Seattle’s schedule (or any other for that matter) but how often are you guys playing at 4:00 on a Saturday afternoon?

Columbus’ game against Toronto was in the middle of the day (a nice one, in Columbus is hard to find these days). You could attribute part of it to that. As the season goes on, the attendance will level out to where its supposed to be.

After spending over a month in London, however, I don’t think that’s what’s holding MLS back. I met plenty of people who are MLS fans, which requires just as an absurd of a schedule as being an EPL fan in the states. In addition, it’s rare that European games would conflict with American games. They are simply not the same schedule.

Yes, a Mexican or CONMEBOL match might occur during an MLS game. But I don’t think that’s why people aren’t showing up. Football fans are football fans, and we will watch anything from a non-league game to a Champions League match. I’m betting that the issue with Dallas is the location—it’s simply difficult to get to and from that stadium. If it’s not an atmosphere that makes it work it, makes the fans feel like they are part of something, then they’re not going to go. The footy on the tv or, even more so, kicking the ball around the park is going to be more enticing.

Are you saying we don’t want to be United? And that if the league is skewed in terms of attendance, we will end up with a dominant Top 4 and then MLS will be a joke?

If teams like KC, San Jose, Dallas, etc were relegated, that would be their absolute demise. Already low numbers combined with now suddenly becoming part of the “minor league” would kill them. American sports tiers aren’t perceived the same as in Europe. The Championship is still a pro league and is viewed that way. AAA Baseball is pro, but is viewed as being in “the minors”. It’s not taken seriously. Much the same way nobody takes USL teams seriously. You don’t see big ticket sponsors lining up to sponsor minor league teams, or networks clamoring to get their games on their channel. Only the big leagues. That’s how I see it at least.

And to a degree, I think it’s kind of irrelevant to the issue at hand: Relegation doesn’t fix, and probably exacerbates, the fact that some teams are underperforming at the gate. Whether we had a relegation system or not, the overall strength of the league is the important issue. This isn’t about winning on the field, it’s about spinning the turnstiles. We can debate relegation til we’re blue in the face. I don’t see how it boosts attendance league wide.

Let’s just assume that Seattle, New York, Los Angeles and Toronto end up the kings in our relegation alternate universe. Does anyone really believe that MLS becomes more popular on a league-wide basis. Does it do those four teams any good if they essentially play in a division amongst themselves while the other 20 teams (random assumption) fight for the crumbs. Absent strong leadership, how long before that setup fails miserably?

The point is, without strong leadership in every market, the league is bound to struggle. I don’t see how relegation solves that issue.