New money for MLS

[OSF]

Adidas has signed a 10 year contract worth $150 million to be MLS official sponsor.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/soccer/10/05/mls.rdp/index.html

[Herndonite]

Cool. I wore Adidas cleats exclusively when I played.

[JureM]

Good for the MLS...this is exactly the shot in the arm the league needs. The league seems to be moving in the right direction. Teams are starting to build soccer only stadiums for themselves, and for the league, $150 million over 10 years is a nice shot in the arm...two things are important now..the first being getting the transfer fees for our top talent and not letting the Euro teams get that talent for nothing..and of course, start with a better marketing campaign to get fannies in the seats.

[JureM]

Cool. I wore Adidas cleats exclusively when I played.


Hern...I gotta tell ya there is such a thing as bad carma. I too wore Adidas exclusivly when I played (I love the Copa Mundials..though because of the soft leather they tend to break apart easier). But, one year I switch over to Puma King's (a great pair of boots) and what happened? I blew out my knee during a game. The Adidas gods were angry I guess.. :grin:

[Herndonite]

Good for the MLS...this is exactly the shot in the arm the league needs. The league seems to be moving in the right direction. Teams are starting to build soccer only stadiums for themselves, and for the league, $150 million over 10 years is a nice shot in the arm...two things are important now..the first being getting the transfer fees for our top talent and not letting the Euro teams get that talent for nothing..and of course, start with a better marketing campaign to get fannies in the seats.

Getting the soccer-only stadiums is the top priority. Right now, there is no demand pressure for tickets in markets like DC, Dallas, New England, etc. because they play in huge stadiums. You can walk up to the gate on game day at those places and get whatever kind of seat you want.

By building 25,000-set soccer-only stadiums, you instantly create some supply and demand tension because people will realize that they could miss out if they don't buy tickets ahead of time. This will generate more season-ticket sales, there will be more talk of "only a limited number of tickets are available" and there will be sell-outs.

The smaller stadiums will create a better atmosphere for soccer. You won't be in a cavernous structure built for helmut ball but a cozy, soccer-specific stadium. Fans will want to return to that sort of environment.

The next three things that have to happen are:

--The NHL goes on a long strike
--The NBA continues to present a boring product and more marquee players get arrested for various crimes
--Baseball continues to eat itself alive by not profit sharing, not speeding up games, and generally ignoring that it is losing its future fan base. The league is running on fumes (i.e. nostalgia).

As those three professional sports decline, MLS can be there to fill the vacuum with a fast-paced game played by guys who aren't overpaid, obnoxious, overgrown babies.

Winning the 2006 WC would help too. ;)

[JureM]

Hern, totally agree. I was in France for the World Cup back in 1998 and the best experience I had was at the smaller venues. One of the stadiums (I believe it was Lens) had a capasity of 35,000 and you felt like you were part of the action. When I was in the Stade De France (the new one in St. Denis where they had the WC final) when Croatia played France in the Semi-Finals, the stadium was so big and I was so far away from the action it didn't that same feel as the smaller venue did.

Yes, you're right, the smaller venue will lead to a more cozy atmosphere, BUT, the beauty of it is that you don't feel demoralized in a smaller venue. What do I mean by that? Simple, when you go to say Giants Stadium in New Jersey to watch a Metro Stars game, when there are 10-17,000 people inside an 80,000 seat stadium you feel like no on is there and if you weren't a big soccer fan, you'd think "why am I wasting my time." Now, you get 17,000 in a 25-30,000 seat stadium, the place looks full and the stadium sounds louder. Then as a fan, you start thinking that its not bad after all.

As a hockey fan, I believe strike or no strike, its not going to affect MLS at all for the simple reason that hockey is played mostly when MLS is not. Their season's don't over lap that much and if they do, its at the extremes of the seasons...MLS season is winding down when hockey season begins. Being a season ticket holder to the Islanders, I can tell you there isn't much interest early in the year because of the long schedule. Then when MLS starts, hockey is in the middle of the playoffs. The other thing is, hockey is a very regional sport here in the States so, for a lot of people, the interest ends when their team is out. Pretty much the same thing with NBA.

Helmet ball is another problem and why a soccer only stadium is so much a need. Training camp starts right in the middle of the season. Then you have to start worrying about pre-season games and availability. Then, to me, there is nothing more of a distraction than going to watch an MLS game and all you see is helmet ball lines and field markings all over the place. It takes away from the "Professional" aspect of the game and gives it the feel of watching a high school or college game. That is not how to make the sport better.

Baseball is to boring of a sport for kids. They'd rather watch something where there is more movement and speed.

[Herndonite]

Baseball is to boring of a sport for kids. They'd rather watch something where there is more movement and speed.

Well, I watched tons and tons of baseball as a kid. Of course, the game moved much faster back then (late '60s-'70s) and it wasn't competing against video games, 100 cable channels, "The Fast and the Furious" DVDs, IPODs, IMing, web sites, etc., etc.

Mind you, I would have loved to have had all of those things as a kid, but baseball can't compete with that stuff nowadays.

[JureM]

Hern, I guess times have changed...I remember as a kid, the parks always being packed with kids or even the streets around the neighborhood and we'd play everything from baseball, stickball, wall ball, punch ball, soccer, street hockey, roller hockey, etc etc. If it was summer vacation we'd start at 8 am and go almost non-stop till 9pm taking breaks only to eat and go to the bathroom....you don't see that anymore and its kind of sad.