TOA and USL, is Everything Exploding or Imploding?
I can’t even begin to report on everything I’ve heard on the record let alone the things I’ve heard off the record in the past 3 days. The rumor of the North American Soccer League (NASL) being used for the proposed TOA league was proven out yesterday with a press release by the organization’s PR firm. At IMS and our partner site, The Kartik Report, we ended up with almost identical numbers in our polls that asked if people liked the name for the proposed league or not. On average, between the two sites, 73% liked or could live with the retro name while only 28% didn’t like it.
Did you know the USL looked at the name NASL five years ago before they changed from A-League to USL First Division? They decided it would be disrespectful to the legacy of the NASL and went with USL First Division instead, which I guess proves yet one more difference between the two organizations.
And if you noticed, I called the TOA a proposed league. Remember this is not a done deal by any stretch of the imagination.
I have been corrected that the USSF did not meet concerning the TOA situation on Friday evening but the meeting was held on Saturday. I have heard stories about the contents of the USSF meeting and the truth is … none of it can be confirmed. For now, there is no story, only speculation.
On Friday, I heard Charleston would be dropping down to USL-2 and reported the possibility on Saturday. Sadly, now we know that this was true. The statement from the Charleston Battery is important to read carefully and absorb. It rings of the fundamental differences in beliefs between the TOA and the USL.
In yesterday’s Battery press release, President Andrew Bell said, “Playing in this division (USL-2) will also substantially reduce our travel costs as we won’t be flying all over the country.”
For a smaller market like Charleston it will be difficult for them to make enough in attendance to pay the costs of flying all over North America to play in a league. As pointed out previously at IMS, with an average attendance of 5,000 per game, most clubs would hardly break even for their travel expenses. For most teams, it takes at least 2 home games to pay for away game travel expenses.
It has been said that the Battery’s management was also concerned with keeping up with the likes of Montreal and Carolina and felt that the league was heading in a bad direction with the escalating players’ salaries.
“The Charleston Battery has never been a part of TOA, not because we disagreed with some of the legitimate complaints they had about how USL1 operated in the past, but because we totally disagreed with their stated vision to be a viable alternative league to Major League Soccer (MLS) and to compete with MLS on and off the field,” said Charleston Battery CEO Tony Bakker. “This made absolutely no sense to us.”
When one of USL’s strongest allies makes a statement like that, it leaves little argument that there have been some fundamental problems with the structure and running of the USL. But that statement was particularly interesting and is perhaps the biggest core difference between the USL and the TOA: the belief that one needs to run the league as if it’s minor league compared to the TOA’s belief that you need to compete with MLS.
Tim Holt, now President of the USL, told Kenn Tomasch in an interview last spring, “The owners of USL-1 teams who are pursuing Major League Soccer is not a desirable situation for us. It doesn’t help us in stability as a league.”
“We can either sit around and say, well, we can let this happen over time or we can continue to try to evolve the business model in USL-1 that it’s such a viable alternative to MLS that certain ownership groups would prefer to stay in USL-1 and be able to run their professional soccer franchise rather than be part of MLS. Our models are very different,” continued Holt.
The TOA has made statements that they feel they should be competing against MLS and not accept themselves as a second tiered league, even though they are asking to be a second tier league to MLS! The application to USSF was as a 2-Division league. Also, Holt has said he is looking at cities that would not be MLS desirable.
Holt further explained, “A market like Austin, Texas is a perfect market for USL-1… somewhere between 20 through 50. That’s not a market that MLS is likely to expand into any time in the near future.”
It is also said that the TOA wants their league to do more marketing where the USL currently believes the league is a minor league and needs to operate as such, being fiscally responsible and not spending exorbitant amounts of money on players and advertising and living within their means.
Currently, the USL only has 4 remaining teams from last year: Rochester, Austin, Puerto Rico and Portland. As reported this weekend at IMS, Rob Clark, owner of the Rochester Rhinos, is playing his cards close to his chest and could go either way. If he walks, the other teams are sure to follow. If Clark walks and the other teams follow then what?
What are the options?
Even with all the clubs sliding into the TOA camp, US Soccer could still reject the TOA. USSF could tell the USL they would have to accept all the teams back into their league. That would make for some very unhappy people on all sides but it is possible. Or perhaps USSF could force them all to return to the USL but demand reform from USL.
Another scenario would be for US Soccer to approve the TOA. If this happens it seems USL would have every right to sue some clubs for breach of contract for this year or any other year they were contracted for. It’s also a sure thing that USL-1 would have to fold. As things stand now, USL-2 look to be a very strong league.
Another scenario is that the TOA application is accepted with the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA). The CSA is Canada’s equivalent to the USSF. If the application is accepted in the CSA, all teams could play within that league just as the other Canadian teams have been playing in the USSF-sanctioned USL.
Yet another scenario would be if FIFA or CONCACAF stepped in and put pressure on USSF to accept or deny the TOA. It is possible FIFA has been paying attention to this mess that is tearing apart this second division league in North America. They could decide the US needs to get away from franchise-run leagues (MLS & USL) and force a change by telling USL they need to allow more power to team owners.
The bottom line is the possibilities are endless and so are the opportunities for lawsuits and counter lawsuits. Someone needs to get hold of this situation and steer it in a direction of resolution. TOA could be seen as an explosion of possibilities, but on the other hand, this whole thing could implode and be tied up for years in court with no good 2nd division league in the US or Canada. This would look ugly to FIFA when making a decision about a US bid for the World Cup in 2018 or 2022. In my opinion, Sunil Gulati has to be concerned.
With so many teams making an exodus from the USL it is telling of big problems, but would a brand new league be the answer or would compromise by all parties be the best solution at this point? Jeff Di Veronica from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle said yesterday, “It”s time to start acting like real businessmen and not spoiled children. Because with every day that passes and this mess isn’t cleaned up, you devalue your product more and last I checked this is STILL minor-league soccer and you need all the HELP you can get, not this nonsense.”
“This breakaway is not good for soccer in the United States,” said Tony Bakker. “Cooler heads should have prevailed with all parties sitting round a table and resolving their differences for the benefit of the sport. This did not happen and we will all have to deal with the consequences.”
Di Veroncia concluded his rant today with a similar statement that was much more direct. “EVERYONE LOSES. So … STOP THE NONSENSE.”
The general managers of all these organizations are desperate for their teams to resolve things and get schedules so they can book their venues, plan their play dates and start to put together the corporate sponsorships that every team desperately needs to allow the organizations to survive. With every passing day of no resolution it hurts every party involved, including you the soccer supporter.
Perhaps it’s time for Sunil Gulati to step up to his role and pull the major players in this mess into a room and tell them no one leaves until this thing is resolved. By they way Sunil, you may want to leave Don Garber at home this time. After all, he does run a competing league.
Come on gentlemen, it’s time to get this thing done!
Comments are closed.
It’s a paradox. It will always be challenging to have upper level soccer here due to the cost structure while on the other hand, the larger markets like MSP, St. Louis, Montreal, Tampa Bay, Miami, Charlotte, etc… have a hard time supporting anything that isn’t upper level as the populace expects the same high level as their other professional teams. Do you really think there is much of a demand for a PDL game with the Thunder vs. Des Moines Menace game or Springfield, IL? Lower level also means lower caliber which just won’t sell in this market.
That’s what makes this so difficult. It’s not the same answer in all markets. I agree with that. You have a fairly sophisticated soccer market here that won’t come out to see PDL and even USL-1 is a struggle. We have every other major sport here as well as D-1 sports (not soccer except women Gophers) and lots of D-2 and D-3 college sports as well. Baseball, football, hockey and basketball. We have it all here except for MLS and I think a lot of fans of the game in this market think really should have a major league soccer team if we are to have soccer here.
If you go to Rochester the scenario is different as it will be in St. Louis as it will be in Miami as it will be in Puerto Rico. It’s just not as simple as putting a US mainstream sport in a city.
I agree.
The Thunder has no value to NSC. When you buy a financially distressed asset, usually there is process/product value or brand equity. There is no process/product value since this is not a manufactured product. With Academy fiascos, there is virtually no value left in the brand. From what Erickson has stated, they have everything already in place from the front office perspective (and he could hire away anyone he felt was critical).
Missed Missions,
To what Academy fiascos do you refer? Just look at the success of the Academy teams.
It seems the Academy has been very successful and that the pro team/ownership was the piece that failed.
Please elaborate.
Missed Mission – not sure I neither comprehend the Academy fiasco comment nor how it affects the overall brand equity of the Thunder.
Sure, MTA was successful on the field and have drawn many players to the program. But to what expense in the short run? In the long run, this wouldn’t have been an issue, but with a short-term issue fueled by a debt crunch and faltering economy, the long run mission hasn’t been allowed to play out.
MTA has effected the equity through both negative publicity and recruiting of players. This has created the majority to say, “we lost our best players, we won’t go Thunder games”, and in a sense turned off a base of their target/core market. If they had a year to repair the issues, then equity would be recaptured. There is no reason, in a takeover, to repair it for the high price tag attached to it.
I am surprised that this comment caught people off guard.
I believe it “caught people off guard” as in my opinion most folks don’t share your viewpoint. The recruiting angle is a non-issue as that is prevalent at every high level club and I believe the core demographics for professional soccer is the male, 20-45 year old. The target base is evolving though as the next generation gets older as most of them will have played the game instead of only driving their kids to practices, games, and tournaments.
To all those who say cooler heads should have sat down with each other in an unbiased environment etc.
THIS HAS ALREADY HAPPENED
numerous times… USL doesn’t care all they want is their big fat paycheck at the end of the month
this has been going on for over two years and after promises and promises from USL for change and restructuring .. nothing NOTHING has happened.
The restructuring they did was to put a figurehead at the “helm” of USL-1 and add some marketing people who gt sucked into the whole USL philosophy of doing absolutely nothing.. end result? a couple of news letters and a terrible USLLive interface and that’s it!
where are all the promises the USL made to the teams to help elevate the league?
My guess they are hidden in Economides’ bank account
end Rant
The USL has been a joke from Day 1. Francisco Marcos colluded with the USSF to set up the structure. How do you explain that when the MLS began its first season in 1995 the MLS took from the (USISL) USL 183 players and did not pay any of the owners of the USISL teams one dime for transfer fees. The contracts were actually owned by the league. So whatever money changed hands (I am sure it was mid six fiures) went into Francisco Marcos pocket. The same year when the owners of the Northeast Division of the USISL wanted to merge with the old A League, there was Franciso Marcos and the USSF to block the deal, therby giving the MLS a monopoly that it enjoys today.Frncisco had 4 0f the 7 votes on the professional side of the USSF. So essentially he controlled 1/3 of the USSF. However he voted was the way the Professional Ranks went. Youth had 1/3 and Adult soccer had 1/3. He was the most powerful man in the USSF for many years. The USSF bowed to his every wish. No promotion or relegation. I was one of the fools who bought a franchise from Franciso and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The joke was at the annual convention when Francisco was standing at the podium addressing the group, someone asked for anyone who made money in the room to stand up. None of the 44 owners stood up. The joke was Francisco was already standing up. Great set up, no transfer fees, no promotion and the league is owned and operated by the USL and not the team owners. No one has ever made money owning a USL Team. It would be interesting to go back and sue them for breaking the United States anti-trust law. All the former owners of the USISL teams are too tired and lost too much money. It was time to break away back in 1995. It certainly is now.
I thought this was interesting, it just shows the different way we do things in American soccer and maybe the players have had enough. It looks like MLS/USSF has bigger things on its plate than TOA/USL issues.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=704098&sec=mls&cc=5901
Sour milk and bad breath is all I hear. False innuendos and no real facts. Jim Jones is a sourpuss that is pissed off because he could not profitably run a team. If his facts are correct, and not one team was profitable, then how is this a USL problem, it sounds like soccer in America does not work, and that is more plausible that Marcos being the problem child here. It sounds as he is the scape goat.
Hell, MLS, other than Seattle and Toronto does not work and both of those are former USL teams.
Investing $40,000,00 does not guarantee success either, in fact, it most certainly subjects you to more capital calls.
Jorey, here is a better article with links and quotes from Garber. Its written by Grant Wahl at SI.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/soccer/11/23/fifa.mls/index.html
Also, check out Major League Soccer Talk. Some good stuff there on the subject. As well, Kartik has written at The Kartik Report about thing getting tough for the USSF with all these issues going on, including the USL/TOA saga. It’s going to be a tough couple of months for USSF, even though FIFA is saying the player contract issue is a MLS issue and not a USSF issue, we all know that USSF and MLS are commingled in a way that you cannot deal with one without dealing with the other.
Anybody else seen this yet?
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4005:qu71pg.10.1
Could be interesting being that Miami Strikers is taken too.
http://www.mls-rumors.net/4828/2009/11/report-old-nasl-names-revived-minutemen-atoms-strikers-roughnecks-atlanta-chiefs-baltimore-bays-detroit-express-all-trademarked-on-nov-19/
“Do you really think there is much of a demand for a PDL game with the Thunder vs. Des Moines Menace game or Springfield, IL? Lower level also means lower caliber which just won’t sell in this market”.
“If you go to Rochester the scenario is different as it will be in St. Louis as it will be in Miami as it will be in Puerto Rico. It’s just not as simple as putting a US mainstream sport in a city”.
Great stuff guys. How cities support their team depends on a LOT of factors. Having a committed right-minded owner with gobs of cash never hurts though
And -while I hate to bring up pro/rel- but the way the leagues are structured makes a big difference too. I’m a lot more motivated as a fan to cheer on my Sagantosu men to J1 glory than to cheer on the Quad City River Bandits to a Midwest League Championship.
But the PDL is a different animal all together. While I doubt there’s much difference in demand for a PDL match in DesMoines, or Springfield. But I think there’s a lot of potential for a team like the Fire Reserves to pull a few fans in if the price and kick-off time is right. But, that all depends on your definition of success too.
By the way, does anyone know what kind of relationship the PDL or USL2 has with the NCAA?
I’m with NASL Forever and the posters who say cooler heads DID prevail when the TOA sloughed off USL. Charleston’s CEO Tony Bakker is flat-out wrong to say “This breakaway is not good for soccer in the United States.” What is not good for soccer in America (or Charleston) is for USL team owners to sit and watch while their clubs and league become increasingly irrelevant.
USL’s big dream is to be a semi-pro league where college players can hone their skills in the off season and keep their NCAA eligibility. So let it be just that; and American soccer fans will continue to ignore both the USL and the NCAA. I’m fine with that.
What I am not fine with is the socialist league structure of American sports brought on by powerful leagues and the franchise system. This system encourages incompetence and mediocrity with excessive profit sharing, salary caps, player movement restrictions, and franchises (granting local monopolies to one team – protection from local competition is the enemy of excellence, customer service, and creative and competent management). MLS is the worst of all American sports leagues in this regard because of the single-entity structure.
If there is an effort to form a league run by teams, that strives for excellence, with a goal of competing with and eventually surpassing MLS in quality, that allows the best-supported clubs to excel – that effort should be backed by every American soccer fan.
Chuck, so every American should be waving a red white and blue flag and supporting TOA, right? No room for questions, just follow TOA blindly? Come on man, you should know better than to make things so black and white because things never are that clear. Lets dialog here and weed out what works and what doesn’t. I love your passion but not you’re wanting to group everyone together to make them all think like you.
First, I think you are taking Tony Bakker’s comments very literally. Didn’t hey say that the TOA has some very legitimate points and didn’t he drop to USL-2 showing that he was very unhappy with the USL and USL-1 in particular. I think what he was saying was he didn’t like the rebel nature of the TOA and both sides inability to work something out. Perhaps you are right that there was no way to work this out as they fundamental beliefs between the two sides are too cavernous.
Right now my fundamental concern with the TOA is their plan will call for spending that is far beyond what they can afford. Even MLS isn’t making money yet. If not for SUM they would be up a creek without a paddle and so would American soccer. That is not to say that TOA/NASL does not have a new and fresh approach to things that could certainly work. But there’s lots to work out and a lot of money to spend before they get there.
No one should drink the Kool-Aid coming out of either camp . . .