Should Major League Soccer Look to Lower Leagues for an MLS Cup Solution?
The Seattle Space Needle was painted specifically for MLS Cup 2009
We await the release of the 2011 Major League Soccer schedule in which we’ve been told we’ll see changes to the playoff format. Perhaps one of the many possibilities for the delay is the league is looking to a new solution to MLS Cup final.
As the final currently sits and has since its inception in 1996, a venue is chosen months in advance. This allows MLS the time to plan properly for events like the MLS Supporter’s Summit and MLS league meetings which are also held that same weekend.
Supporters of MLS also get to book flights and hotels ahead of the event. But what happened in Toronto this year, with frustrated TFC supporters and not-so-ideal weather conditions, proved a predetermined MLS Cup final may not be the best solution. In fact the 21,700 fans [supposedly] at the game was the lowest attended MLS Cup since 2005 and 3rd lowest of all time. To make matters worse, many of those fans didn’t actually show up at the game as many seats sat empty. With a national TV audience and corporate sponsors looking on, this did not make MLS Commissioner Don Garber happy.
Perhaps MLS needs to look no further for a solution that its lower leagues.
In 2009, the United Soccer Leagues was in charge of the 2nd division of soccer in the U.S. They went to a slightly Americanized version of a playoff series for their final and yet held the integrity of soccer tradition from around the world. For the first time, they played a 2-legged total goals aggregate series. It was successful enough that when U.S. Soccer took over the league for 2010 they held to the same format. With 2 years of the home and away final seeing increased attendances at each venue, the NASL is proposing the same format for this year’s division 2 season.
“The awarding of the final caused a lot of issues,” said Chris Economides, who is now Senior Director of the United Soccer Leagues new USL PRO league. Economides understands both sides of that issue. He was with the Rochester Rhinos for years before joining the league and helped that team win four championships, three league titles, and the 1999 US Open Cup during his time with the club.
“Granted there were certain parameters that had to be met and some things that had to be in place in order to host the final. But it created a lot of animosity between the ownership groups and even with fans of the teams with the league dictating where the final would be played. How the general scenario of how we came to that decision was asking the question: How do we make this a fair scenario? Both teams have earned the right to be in the final and you want to give both organizations a chance to host the final. How do you accomplish that? That’s how the idea was born and it was adapted by the owners.”
Before you tell me why this wouldn’t work for MLS let’s look at a couple of facts:
• Two times in the 15 years of MLS Cup, the home team has by chance hosted. DC United did so in 1997 with United defeating the Colorado Rapids 2-1 with 57,431 in attendance. The New England Revolution hosted the 2002 MLS Cup and lost in overtime to the Los Angeles Galaxy to a crowd of 61,316. To date these two games both stand as the top 2 attended MLS Cup finals. The average attendance for the finals has been 36,094. That attendance number could drop in the future as more cup finals are played at teams’ new soccer-specific stadiums instead of the larger American football stadiums were many teams played in their early years.
• With a two-legged final you are incorporating the best of sports in the US and the tradition of a home and away game familiar to soccer fans. The only major sport in the US with a single game final is the NFL with its Super Bowl. With all the hype and coverage of the game it’s imperative that there be a single event with a predetermined venue. However, a single game at a neutral site means that the NFL misses out on the rabid crowds it would have if the game was played at home of the team with the best record.
• The NBA, NHL and MLB have a playoff series. These three sports lend themselves to a best of 7 series, giving fans of both teams opportunities to attend games and hopefully, drive up television and ticket sales revenues.
MLS Cup in Toronto - Photo by Brian Quarstad
Soccer is more like American football in the recovery time needed between games. For MLS, a single game works but a home and away over a two-week period is plausible and here’s why.
Over the last 5 years or so, MLS has realized that it’s the excitement and uniqueness of its supporters that marks it apart from other sports in the US. That’s how MLS markets the game today. With that in mind, it’s counter intuitive to set MLS Cup in a neutral venue. A neutral location means neutral fans. While Seattle did a great job in 2009, rolling out the red carpet to MLS Cup fans, Toronto showed why it doesn’t work very well with little promotion seen throughout the city and an almost negative crowd. With a home and away series you my not have the time to promote the game to the extent that Seattle did but you will have that organic excitement that will come with a home game. Even if the weather is bad, home crowds will show up to support their team. No more empty seats. No more apathy.
So why not just award the game to the team with the best record? A two-game series would allow the team with the second best record a week to market the game and sell tickets generating more revenue and publicity for their team. More importantly it will give the team with the best record two weeks to market the game. It would also give MLS a chance to plan for the bigger of the two games and do a proper amount of promotion. This will also give soccer media two weeks to prepare for the final game. Just look at the media rush the week before the Super Bowl. While MLS is not anywhere near as popular as the NFL, there’s some lessons that can be picked up and learned here. Commissioner Garber is fully aware of that coming from the NFL himself.
MLS Cup 2010 held league meetings at the InterContinental hotel in Toronto. Photo by Brian Quarstad
The supporters summit and other events could still take place at the site of the second venue. Is this ideal? No, but it’s better than holding those events during the All-Star game, an idea I’ve heard thrown bounced around by Garber himself. Quite honestly, for most hardcore soccer fans like those that would attend the Supporters Summit, the All-Star game doesn’t appeal to them as much as the more casual fan from the city that is hosting that event. While the All-Star game is a great promotional tool for MLS, it would not serve the Supporters Summit well and the handing off of the Supporters Shield would still have to be done at the final.
The league meetings have also become an important piece of MLS Cup. It works out perfectly for the league. It’s at the end of the season for team officials and it’s the ideal time to start planning for the next year. Of course league meetings could instead be held at another time and place and as MLS expert Beau Dure creatively suggested to me, that event could take place at NSCAA convention in mid January. The SuperDraft is already held at the event. This too could be the place to hold the Supporters Summit.
“I always thought that the teams that have worked hard all year long and who’ve put the time, energy and money into getting the best record should have the right to host those games,” concluded Economides.
It’s hard to argue with that.
Comments are closed.
I think it is good business for a two game final. As stated, it rewards the rabid fans of both teams, which in this electronic age, creates a following of fans globally.
It also makes money, and that is the bottom line. Toronto can easily be called a disaster.
So you can guarantee two separate dates on the ESPN family in the middle of college football/NFL season without knowing the days and time zones needed until 1-2 weeks before the games are on television?
While I like the home/home series concept, I have come to enjoy and look forward to the MLS final match–single elimination makes things more interesting. I do think MLS was absolutely stupid to have a final match in Toronto during the month of November. Yeah, I know they have a “warmer” climate than the rest of Canada, but it just seemed so illogical. If I am going to travel anywhere after the end of October/beginning of November, I want to go some place warm like…Dallas!
PS: I hope it snows a ton with the Super Bowl is in NY.
@BQ – Great article! MLS Cup is never going to be on par with the Super Bowl, so trying to package and present it in the same manner doesn’t make sense, and we have a dismal example from just last year to show how bad it can be. Something different is definitely needed.
You’re not going to find a perfect solution that fits everyone’s wants. This means you have to find the solution that just works as best as possible. The 2-leg final has a lot of positives. I see two major drawbacks. Rabble Rouser posed one, and that is scheduling in relation to what is THE top TV sports draw in this country which is college and pro football. That’s some MIGHTY expensive airtime on ESPN duing their seasons. I think if you’re going to stay with ESPN, you’ll have to keep the games on Sunday evenings. Maybe move the start time up to 6 PM Eastern? That way you can minimize your overlap with whatever Sunday night game is on, and actually if marketed right, you could possibly grab some casual sports viewers who are looking to fill the gao between the end of the 4 PM games and the start of the Snuday night game. But it’s going to be a bit difficult to pull in more casual fans during the football season no matter what anyway.
But to me the biggest drawback you’re going to have to a 2-legged final is, what if the first game is a blowout, especially by the visiting team? If the visitors go in and spank the home team in Game 1 by a score of 4 – 0, how much viewership are you going to lose on the second leg when the Championship is all but already determined?
@Soccer Boy – I think you’ve hit on the only way that the single game final is a long term possibility, and that’s to always play it in warm weather climates. I know it keeps a lot of teams from ever being able to host the match, but it has worked for a long time in the NFL. Well, the NFL can play in domes as well. But I think this week in Dallas we are seeing the major downside to trying to host the Super Bowl in an outdoor stadium where it can get real “wintery.” Lord help the league when New York hosts the Big Game…….
Good article.
1) Why not have game one of two legged final on FSC (or Versus if they get the contract) and the second game on ESPN/ABC? This would allow for both television partners to get a piece of the action, and it could be a nice tool to broker a new deal.
2) After watching and reading about the Toronto disaster for MLS Cup 2010 I have found myself despising that team. They rest at the bottom of teams in the league that I like, yes, even below the Union.
@ Soccer boy – Toronto is not actually the ‘warmer’ place in Canada. That’s most definitely the SW corner of British Columbia/Canada – thus the Greater Vancouver area and Vancouver Island. Toronto is warmer than places like Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg but much colder than Vancouver.
I think Rabble Rouser & Strikers Return make great points. The scheduling would be a serious issue and secondly is the scenario where either one of the games becomes inconsequential. On the other hand, the MLS needs to perhaps try the two home game series for a few years. It’s definitely worth a try.
My suggestion is that the USSF come up with a system where the US Open Cup has one format and the play-off championship (of all pro leagues) has the other format. That would incorporate the best of both worlds and it would popularize both competitions.
I actually very much disagree, and that is primarily because MLS teams already struggle to sell out playoff games, but also because I think playoff series are wholly unnecessary in most sports. Baseball is the only sport in which I think holding a series actually makes sense. Series in other sports (namely the NBA) sacrifice excitement in order to make additional revenue via TV and ticket sales. Basketball, as evidenced by March Madness, has no sporting reason to be playing seven-game playoff series.
I just don’t think MLS is strong enough to divide its marquee event in two. And had this been the case last year, I’m not confident that Dallas or Colorado would have sold out.
My suggestion for MLS Cup …. Two games format like you describe but the same week, not waiting for two weeks in between games……. …. (Play first leg on Wednesday and 2nd leg on Saturday/Sunday during the same week) …. .. Single format Table … Have 1st seed play 8th seed, 2nd seed play 7th seed, 3rd seed play 6th seed, 4th seed play 5th seed in a two game format) …… Do not reward the other division winner automatically 2nd seed ….If you want the regular season to mean something do not automatically reward 2nd see the other division winner …. Rank them according to Total point standing and give the division winner home field advantage (Thats it ) ….. Obviously number 1 seed will get home field advantage to the entire playoff but other Division winner should be rank according total points and received home field advantage in the playoff … ….. Hockey, NBA & Baseball play back to back games in the playoff ….. Why can you play two playoff games in one week (Wednesday & Saturday/Sunday) ….thanks
Home and home is the way to go. Fans get a chance to see their teams in the championship in person, 2 games means more TV revenue, and probably more viewers. The neutral site is a terrible idea. I remember the ’09 Cup Final and all you heard was “SEAAAAAAATTTTTLE” from the crowd. That was funny. Now imagine how insane that atmosphere would be if it was the Sounders playing in the title? Nearly every team has a venue that it controls. Houston and KC are getting their own places, DC is the only tenant at RFK, and Kraft owns Gillette so if need be something could be worked out on short notice.
For all the hype and overexposure of the Super Bowl, it’s easily the WORST championship in American sports. Unlike European soccer finals, the distance is almost always too far for fans to travel to see their teams, and with one game an injury or bad call etc. could easily decide the title. A 2-legged final is the most fair setup.
I like your article. Here is my two cents on the playoff and cup format fix.
MLS fans need to accept that conferences and playoffs are a permanent fixture in the league. However, in saying that, having Colorado (2010) and Salt Lake (2009) as Eastern Conference playoff champions and NY (2008) as Western Conference playoff champions is, to say the least, embarrassing. I would like to see the league make the regular season and playoffs cohesive; an eight team post season with the Eastern and Western Conference Champions seeded #1 and #2 based on their regular season record.
The league scraps Eastern and Western playoff brackets, seeding every other team by their regular season record regardless of conference. Conference Champion would mean a conference trophy, priority placement in the playoffs and home field advantage.
#1 Galaxy (WC) vs. #8 Earthquakes
#2 Red Bull (EC) vs. #7 Rapids
#3 Real vs. #6 Sounders
#4 Crew vs. #5 FC Dallas
The league uses a two leg format throughout the ENTIRE post season, including MLS Cup, with away goals deciding the aggregate. The second leg (game) would go to penalty kicks if the goal differential was equal; no overtimes in either leg (used in CONCACAF Champions League).
Since the Supporters Shield seems to be the hurdle many fans use against a playoff format, the league should reward the Supporters Shield recipient, besides a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League, by allowing them to host the following season’s All-Star game.
Have to say two things would help:
1. Home and Home series
2. Sponsor of the MVP award getting the player’s name right…that was “Casey, Conor” not Casey Conor!
Remembering 94, 04 and 2009, I have to say that I would have hated to see the Impact win in another city than Montréal. I guess that a final at a neutral cite makes sense only for fans of the NFL (or CFL).
The general, casual soccer watching population that most likely would only go thier local teams “big games” or the other casual viewers on television would not understand the two game aggregate scoring method.(Both the technical and the practical aspect of it) Much education would have to be done and that might become bery tedious.
The finals should be a 2 game aggregate played at the home fields of the 2 final teams. Playing these final games at a neutral site is anti-climatic. The MLS Cup game in Toronto went practically unnoticed since it did not include the local team.
I’d rather reduce the festivities leading up to the big games and place the focus on the field. Having a sellout crowd cheering for the local team will do more to promote the game and build rivalries.
I totally agree with you, BQ.
Moreover, it’s not just our lower leagues that do it this way, a 2-leg final is the defacto standard for club international club competitions/league playoffs around the world (the UEFA Champions League is a notable exception).
Ughh, I just wish they’d announce the new playoff format and be done with it. The solutions seem obvious to me (i.e. just copy the mexican league format), but MLS adding 2 teams to the mix proved that I’m not on the same page as the competition committee.
I would prefer the playoffs have nothing to do with the league championship actually. I say just do a single table with a balanced schedule, the leader at the end being league champ, they and the runner-up going to the Champions League, and then teams 3 through 10 doing a tournament to decide the final Champions League spot.
Have the Open Cup final be the big neutral site end-0f-the-year event. That way you’ve got so much longer to sell tickets to the fanbases of the teams actually in the game, which can be marketed as the national championship (since it, you know, is).
@Michael on Long Island
Ya just like the English Premier League.
ARSENAL FC and NY RED BULLS FOR EPL AND MLS CHAMPIONS.
Solution to what, exactly?
The final should be played in Las Vegas every year.