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I'm just not sure that removing the product from free-to-air television is going to increase the fan base in the US. It might do worldwide, but I feel the US population who are perhaps hostile to the game are losing any kind of exposure to it to convince them otherwise. No one is going to come across a MLS game without looking for it.
The point is to attract a younger generation of fans who already embrace a subscription model; social media platforms have been key in driving growth (in the US) as well.
Perhaps I'm too romantic about it, I want the game to grow organically, I want people to fall in love with the game and their local team and I just don't see how that happens in America at the moment.
But I'm aware I come from the UK sporting culture and the US is a whole different ball game.
US professional sports doesn't have the UK concept of "local team". The population of New England is around 13 million. There is one soccer team. The New England Revolution. An enormous metro like New York or LA might support two professional teams. It's not like the UK where every town has their football club. It might play in an obscure regional league but it has one.
I'm an hour from Gillette and an hour from Boston. A city of 100,000 is four miles away. Another city of 90,000 is 10 miles away. In the UK, I'd have two local clubs likely playing at the equivalent of League 2, League 1, or Championship. Instead, I drive an hour to an NFL stadium with artificial turf if I want to see my "local" MLS club.
Personally, I love the UK local club culture but the US is simply too physically large to have something like that. A bus ride from Sunderland to Plymouth is pretty long but it's nothing like a 3,000 mile Boston-LA flight which is common in US professional sports.
US professional sports doesn't have the UK concept of "local team". The population of New England is around 13 million. There is one soccer team. The New England Revolution. An enormous metro like New York or LA might support two professional teams. It's not like the UK where every town has their football club. It might play in an obscure regional league but it has one.
Personally, I love the UK local club culture but the US is simply too physically large to have something like that. A bus ride from Sunderland to Plymouth is pretty long but it's nothing like a 3,000 mile Boston-LA flight which is common in US professional sports.
There's an answer to this though, regional leagues that then go into national playoffs. You don't have to have regular season games flying 3000 miles coast-to-coast. If you create local rivalries, I think that's a more organic way of growing support, and you see that perhaps a little more in baseball, where games between the Red Sox and Yankees are, by American sports standards, pretty vitriolic. That familiarity with local rivals makes the games more important on the supporters level. Honestly who cares if Atlanta play Portland, no one's travelling to the away day for that one.
I'm aware I'm flying dangerously close to the classic "European tries to tell Americans how to run their soccer league" but I just find MLS so cold and with a complete absence of jeopardy, but then, I'm not the target audience. I really hope it grows as some people expect it to, I really do.
There's an answer to this though, regional leagues that then go into national playoffs. You don't have to have regular season games flying 3000 miles coast-to-coast. If you create local rivalries, I think that's a more organic way of growing support, and you see that perhaps a little more in baseball, where games between the Red Sox and Yankees are, by American sports standards, pretty vitriolic. That familiarity with local rivals makes the games more important on the supporters level. Honestly who cares if Atlanta play Portland, no one's travelling to the away day for that one.
I'm aware I'm flying dangerously close to the classic "European tries to tell Americans how to run their soccer league" but I just find MLS so cold and with a complete absence of jeopardy, but then, I'm not the target audience. I really hope it grows as some people expect it to, I really do.
You’re preaching to the choir. I shifted from MLS to English football years ago. The last season tickets I had for the New England Revolution were 2016. I go to occasional games because I know people with season tickets but I’m way more interested in my Championship team and Premier League team. In Championship, between promotion playoffs and relegation, almost all matches are meaningful with a month left in the season.
I don’t think the US is capable of the culture shift to have regional leagues. Not enough of the country has the population density to support it. I’m Northeast Corridor. It’s dense enough that you could make 3 or 4 leagues work.
I think the prices of tickets to go watch your team get pumped by Messi are also outrageous. I can't imagine fans anywhere else on planet earth paying more for tickets because of an opposition player. It is creating an imbalance, and it will come back to haunt MLS when he's no longer there.
This especially is absolutely ridiculous. I looked at the OCSC vs Inter-Miami game coming up at Exploria, and what would normally be a $20 nosebleed ticket is up around $400.
The single game tickets I normally purchase in 32C are as cheap as $49 for the game vs Columbus Crew, a team that's actually in the playoff run and only 2 points shy of Orlando and New England for second place, but running $1,250 for the Inter-Miami game.
I agree that it is creating a massive imbalance.
I go to the games to watch the TEAMS play live -- not just to see a single player get coddled, escorted around by private bodyguards, while the rest of the players are treated like regular human beings, having to use the standard Players' Entrance/Exits to get to their parking lot and cars/buses.
Having Messi join the league is both a blessing and a curse. What it does is prevent actual MLS fans and team supporters from attending certain games, while only diehard "Messi fanatics" will dish out that kind of money for those tickets. And they won't care about the actual game -- rather, all they care about is seeing Messi.
Notice how if you go to Ticketmaster and look for tickets to the Orlando City game at the end of the month, EVERY SINGLE TICKET available is a resale. Meaning, most season-ticket holders (aka, MLS and/or local team supporters) don't even care to go see the game, but are instead taking advantage of the situation to rake in some insane profits.
This especially is absolutely ridiculous. I looked at the OCSC vs Inter-Miami game coming up at Exploria, and what would normally be a $20 nosebleed ticket is up around $400.
That's is insane and is actually harming the supporters who are there week in/week out. A lot of these people aren't Orlando fans, they're Messi fans, and when he goes, there's going to be such a huge hole.
Things like this make me thankful that my local team, Tampa Bay Rowdies are "only" in USL, the prices are reasonable and the Messi circus isn't rolling into town driving out real fans.
That's is insane and is actually harming the supporters who are there week in/week out. A lot of these people aren't Orlando fans, they're Messi fans, and when he goes, there's going to be such a huge hole.
Things like this make me thankful that my local team, Tampa Bay Rowdies are "only" in USL, the prices are reasonable and the Messi circus isn't rolling into town driving out real fans.
Price regulation depends on supply and demand. If the fans don't accept these crazy prices, they will have to lower them.
Messi may be the best player in the world, but he's beyond what you're willing to pay to see him. I am confident that the people of the United States are more aware and more grounded than my countrymen.
Price regulation depends on supply and demand. If the fans don't accept these crazy prices, they will have to lower them.
Messi may be the best player in the world, but he's beyond what you're willing to pay to see him. I am confident that the people of the United States are more aware and more grounded than my countrymen.
There was no "regulation." This was literally just season ticketholders "reselling" their seats to profit off of non-fans. Pretty much everyone I know who are avid OC fans and attend virtually all home games sold their seats to this game.
There was no "regulation." This was literally just season ticketholders "reselling" their seats to profit off of non-fans. Pretty much everyone I know who are avid OC fans and attend virtually all home games sold their seats to this game.
One can hardly blame them. For a price jump like that, they could pay for next season's tickets.
One can hardly blame them. For a price jump like that, they could pay for next season's tickets.
Oh I agree. It was still annoying though, as it prevented actual fans of the league and the team from attending a rivalry game.
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