May be, but the american solutions are definitively out, I mean all the clubs being “franchises” of the league? no relegations?, the worst teams having first pick of the players?
Now, may be something could be done with the money the teams get from the matches broadcasting rights, giving more money to the smaller teams for example.
Or may be just going right to the isue and having some sort of “tax” to the earnings of the bigger teams and passing that money to the smaller ones.
Or just wait, sooner or later every sport domination comes to an end, but that may be false hope in this case.
I don’t want a draft, that ruins the idea of youth development. I don’t think relegation has anything to do with this problem. Bayern isn’t worrying about that. I do think more equal profit sharing would be a big part of my proposed solution. However, the petro-owned teams seem to be pretty good about laundering money through their other businesses.
You say every sport domination comes to an end, but Bayern and has been dominant the entire history of their leagues and Bayern is becoming more dominant over time. La Liga and Serie A also have had the same teams dominant the entire history of the league. However, they at least have a couple teams competing against each other. Juve, Inter, and Milan might have 80% of the Italian championships between them, but you might not know who it’s going to be next year. I’d be shocked if Bayern don’t make it 12 next season.
Maybe Germany’s rule about domestic ownership makes it difficult for upstarts to challenge the status quo. But then you get the petro-club situation… I dunno. Tough problem. Just frustrated after that loss and I’m tangentially a Dortmund supporter.
Eh, you say that like the Superdraft is MLS’s major avenue of talent acquisition. It really isn’t. These days, most MLS teams have one or more USL teams where they stock college-age talent with potential, and development academies and club partnerships at the middle & high school levels. Most of the rest of MLS acquisitions are from the transfer market.
(Yes, the partnering clubs are almost always pay-to-play, but dev academy slots are typically not, or offer scholarships.)
In a typical recent Superdraft, you might have a handful of players who bloomed late and can start on a bad team if they’re a positional fit, some more who are going to be roster filler on the big league squad for a couple years, but most of the rest are trying to work their way up through the USL ranks to have a shot at making the team or getting picked in the next expansion draft.
Most of the drafted players are looking at their age cohort and seeing players that didn’t have to labor under the NCAA rulebook about limits on practice/play times, and have consequently developed better skills over their last four years. Sometimes, a talented player who really wanted to go to college can make a splash - say, a Jordan Morris - but many of them have already been put under contract as a Homegrown Player (like Jordan Morris), and are not Superdraft eligible.
Is it a mess? Yes, and it used to be a more important avenue for player acquisition before the academies had been set up. But these days, the MLS Superdraft is an afterthought for a team is looking to build a Cup-competing team for the long haul.
It has a bit of relevance, because struggling teams get relegated and then lose a lot of revenues, they get loans to make it back the the first division, but then struggle to pay them, eventually getting relegated again, sometimes.
Yes, but I also said that I’m not sure that’s applicable in this case.
Well it seems that Messi goes into semi-retirement in the MLS.
oh well, as I said before he has won the right to go wherever he wants (and to 3 or 4 selected and careful assassinations…)
I just hoped he would remain in a competitive league for a couple of years more.
I only read a headline that he’s probably going to Miami, and my question is: can they pay him what a Saudi-Arabian club could have paid him (in the ballpark of what Ronaldo gets)? Is the MLS that rich?
No, the MLS isn’t close to that rich, and in theory has a salary cap structure. It’s likely that it is Apple (who has the MLS broadcast rights) and Adidas that will be paying Messi the big money if this goes through. When Beckham came over he was promised part ownership in a team, which turned out to be Inter Miami. Haven’t read anything about that being on the table here…
Even so, there’s no way he’ll be making what Saudi Arabia could pay him. But he’ll be in Miami rather than Saudi Arabia, which has got to be worth something…
Read somewhere that they are giving him some percentage of streaming rights. In any case, he has a house there, and Argentina has a new training ground there, so some of it might just be convenience.
It’s a soft salary cap, theoretically Miami could pay him whatever they want.
I’m sure this is a lifestyle move as much as anything. If I was as rich as Messi or Ronaldo, you couldn’t pay me enough to play in Saudi Arabia. Maybe if I was living in France and flying in and out only for games.
I once took a vacation to Barcelona with a ticket to watch them, but 1) my flight was delayed and I missed the game and 2) Messi was injured anyway. So I’m glad I’ll probably be able to watch him live at least once in my life.
I’m curious how he’ll do. Zlatan I was sure would dominate because of his style and physicality. Messi’s style isn’t suited to playing with scrubs, IMO. And Inter Miami is terrible.
Yes, they’re awful. And another weird thing, their stadium is tiny…a capacity of 18,000, and average attendance 12,600. It’s not like his signing will be able to create a massive boost in ticket sales, unless they negotiate something with Hard Rock Stadium (I know, they’ll sell lots of merch, but still).
He’s definitely going to Miami, he has said so himself in a press conference so no more doubts about that.
He also said that Arabia offered much more money but he preferred Miami.
The dude is obviously tired of football bullshit and wants to play a couple of years without the pressure of Europe.
Wait, really? I just googled that and only see rumors. Another rumor is Luis Suarez coming up. I haven’t watched him since leaving La Liga, but his scoring rate is still decent in Brazil. Might be a really fun year if all 3 of them joined.
Hopefully Messi is just tired of the off the field stuff and is still hungry. Guys that came to MLS still eager to win (Vela, Zlatan, Villa, Keane) did well, and those that came for vacation (Matthaus, Marquez) didn’t.
