After an impressive victory over Tottenham in the All Star Game, Outside90’s Dan Cunningham takes a look at the progress made by Major League Soccer in its 20th season.
Last week marked a great moment for the American competition – despite Harry Kane’s sublime finish taking the plaudits – the All Stars proved their talent and dispatched Tottenham in well-deserved fashion.
But there is more to game. It not only marks the halfway point in the MLS campaign, it also presents a moment to take stock of the season so far.
Who is losing?
Well, apparently, the league.
Commissioner Don Garber declared last week that in a so far very successful season for the MLS, they are in fact, losing money and not reaping the financial benefits one would expect.
Yet, this appears to be the only (publically-known) negative in a so far memorable anniversary campaign.
The exact deficit amount was not disclosed, but the reasons behind it are clear, coming down to the teams writing big checks for top players and to fund development through their academy programs (in the hope of discovering the next home-grown hero – a Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley or Tim Howard).
And they are spending big.
$56 million
This is the total salary pot paid to just 10 players in MLS this season.
In a league whose salary cap per team is $3.49 million, there are a lot of loopholes – 21 names cracked the $1 million mark this year, one can see the likes of Toronto FC spending more than $18 million on just three designated players.
Garber said it himself as substantiation for the losses, “we’re still in investment mode”, and it does form a valid argument that this investment is a requirement if the MLS is to reach its ambitions of becoming one of the best leagues in the world by 2022.
While apparently not monetary, there are other benefits to come of this.
MORE: What We Learned – MLS Matchday 22
21,109
Buoyed by these international soccer icons, intrigue in the league is on the up and they are drawing record attendance numbers so far this season.
After they finished 2014 with record-breaking attendance figures, pushing them over the 19,000 fan per game line – 2015 has seen an impressive 10% uplift on this figure.
More countries join the fold
When you have David Villa, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Kaka in your league, the rest of the world is going to pay attention.
Through TV deals with a range of new broadcasters, MLS stars can now be seen all over the globe – the biggest of their partnerships is a multi-broadcaster deal between ESPN, Fox and Univision worth a reported $720 million. (Supplemented in no small part with Sky in the UK, Eurosport in Europe, Globosat in Brazil and BeIN SPORTS in Asia).
So it proves there is a substantial amount of money coming in to the league. Which poses the question of how much exactly are they spending?
Four
And finally, this season has been one categorised by the league’s expansion ambitions.
Four being the number of new teams planned over the next four years. Atlanta (2017), the Los Angeles Football Club (2018), and (almost certainly) franchises in Minnesota and Miami (2019).
These ambitions are certainly a way to bring a larger cash flow into the league.
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So half-time is over, what comes next?
The next half of the season marks the beginning of a crucial three-month lead-up to the playoffs.
Despite half a season worth of matches, and a few teams experiencing a blip in form (LA Galaxy and the Seattle Sounders the notable exceptions on the West Coast), on the whole there is little so far to separate the pack in either conference.
But with Lampard, Gerrard already growing accustomed to the surroundings, and Didier Drogba’s impending arrival, things could change. and it should make for an interesting run in of games.
Where does the long-term focus take them?
While finances are not an area to shout about, there are plenty of pockets of success and a lot of momentum for the sport of soccer to be empowered by.
Supported by the cultural surge in soccer and MLS’s popularity, the direction of the league is ‘up’. They are at a unique stage in their development where they continue to invest and see their identity continue to evolve.
This competition could look markedly different two-years from now, as Don Garber aims to reach that ambition of elite status by 2022.
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