What, by moving the cities?

The DP rule to me needs to be tweaked, not abandoned. Indeed efforts are rumored to be underway to allow an additional DP per club. The salary disparity is bad I agree but the new CBA should help even that out at least somewhat. Teams just need to do a better job of finding DP’s. Blanco and Angel and Schelotto have unquestionably added immesurably to MLS and that should be allowed to continue.

Also, the oft repeated ad nauseum euro paranoia about the “americanization” of the game is just misplaced; the argument would have more legs were MLS still offering a countdown clock and shootouts (both of which were done away with years ago) …but it was the American fan who demanded those things be done away with and it’s the American fan who to this day continues to fight for things like more traditional league structure, balanced schedules (which is hard with the number of teams), and the like.

There’s a reason Vancouver, Portland, and Rochester are always touted as potential MLS cities (and I personally think Rochester SHOULD get to MLS). It’s because they draw much more than Charleston. That’s just a fact. There’s not enough cities to have a pro/rel system in America.

Realities are to have a pro/rel system, you need about 36 stadiums that fits the MLS model upfront. Not going to happen. Taxpayers will not foot the bill for a pipedream that’s foreign to them. MLS opposes it, USL opposes it, it’s not happening.

Now, if MLS and USL wanted to start a FUTSAL league in the winter (to further promote soccer), that CAN be set up as pro/rel rather easily, as you are looking to rent basketball venues to play futsal. It would be split to two conferences, teams only play in conference, the pro/rel applies to each conference. Maybe they could do that to see if pro/rel works in America.

The attraction of MLS is parity. Seattle is having a great start this year and they are an expansion team. A pro/rel system benefits the richest clubs and handcuffs teams struggling to stay out of the drop zone. Anyone seriously think Man U, Liverpool, or Arsenel will ever get demoted again?

Parity and playoffs is all the “Americanization” MLS needs. To me, they should shorten the season to a dual round robin (play a team only twice each), PAY players more, get rid of the designated player rules, offer team bonuses for wins, and increase the salary cap. I’d rather would have seen the money wasted on Beckham spread out to CONCACAF-based players for winning games.

The idea that American players have to go to Europe (where there’s always an excuse not to play them) is laughable. We need our top players here promoting MLS.

And you make a fair point. If you add up all the time MLS clubs spend travelling for games over the course of a season, how many times do you think they make it all the way around the world?

That being said, the state championships in Brazil pretty much screw up the regular season. So there’s all the for and all the against I guess.

And I agree with Jason. Conferences and playoffs are the American sports way of life. Football/soccer simply wouldn’t work without them. However, that doesn’t mean relegation and promotion couldn’t (POTENTIALLY) also be a part of it.

What then would you describe the Mexican league’s use of groups, playoffs, AND a split season? Mexicanizing the sport?

There’s a lot of different ways leagues are organized across the world. Just because Europe does it a particular way doesn’t mean that’s the way it “should be.”

As for the original article, points 3 and 4 are definitely ones to take on board. Point 2 probably doesn’t happen without the steps taken in point 4.

I have mixed feelings about the designated player rule. Yeah, it allows you get a “name” that you can then pander to the Eurosnobs or the Mexican chauvinists, but as most of the MLS sies who’ve used it have demonstrated, it risks crippling your ability to field a complete team. I think there’s something to be said in the fact that successful teams like Columbus, New England, and Houston have not gone the DP route.

As for the interminable debate over pro/rel, it’s never going to happen as look as television revenue is important to the future of the league. ESPN will never pay a rights fee without a New York team, and as much as I appreciate FSC’s single-minded focus on soccer I doubt they could pony up cash in quantities like the WWL can. Maybe that changes if PPV packages (like Direct Kick) and streaming video on the Internet (like MLSLive) become more important. But for now, television is still the 800-pound gorilla.

Obviously as many have alluded to, this will not be for quite some time, at least 10-20 years Id imagine, but I think it will happen. The way I see it some sort of agreement would have to be reached between USL1/2 and MLS at least 5-10 years prior to the begining of a promotion/relegation structure. MLS will need to ensure that the USL leagues reach a designated number of teams and that they reach a certain level of financial success. In short the USL teams and leagues as whole would need to jump through some these “hoops” you guys are talking about before they would be given the chance to achieve promotion to MLS. Think of it as a way of continuing MLS expansion without adding more teams directly to the MLS table.

The date was pure coincidence, and the ’7′ reasons purely tongue-in-cheek.

Screw relegation, what about reducing the distances clubs travel?

2. See #1. As others have commented, ‘show me the money’.

3. Let em do what they want at halftime. It’s on the pitch that will keep me or lose me.

4. The grass roots are taking seed. As I see it, it’s like a jigsaw puzzle that hasn’t figured out what the final picture will look like. There are a load of youth clubs nationwide, the US Soccer Development Academy program now has over 70 teams, USL’s lower divisions, the Super Y and Super-20 have over 90 teams and PDL has over 60 teams. Throw in high school and college and there is a lot of organized youth soccer out there. Now are there enough good coaches? That’s another question.

5. Maybe in 30 or 40 years. Not with the current economics(and I don’t mean the current financial crisis).

Two trivial ‘conferences’ and the playoff system is exemplary of Americanizing the sport.