Playoff Implications; A Statistical Look at the Proposed NASL Format Changes
Editor’s note: This post originally appeared on Jesse Erdmann’s blog Screaming at Pigeons. Jesse is a long time friend and technical consultant to IMSoccer and du Nord futbol. He is also a board member for the Dark Clouds, supporters of pro soccer in Minnesota. After reading this post it will become clear that Jesse loves soccer and loves numbers and particularly enjoys it when he can mix the two.
Brian Quarstad
As you most likely know by now, the NASL has announced a change in the season format for 2013. The league will split their season into two parts, an opening and closing season much like some leagues in Latin America. The champions of the two halves would play each other for the Soccer Bowl trophy. After reading Neil Morris and David Fellerath’s article at Indy Week.com’s Triangle Offense blog, which was referenced on the IMSoccer News NASL Podcast that discussed this very issue, I decided to take a closer look at the changes in this new two-part season. During the podcast, Brian Quarstad specifically asked how many games most teams would play after they were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs or winning the championship, depending on the format. That question was the premise for my in-depth look and comparisons between formats.
In part one, we’ll look at both NASL 2.0 seasons thus far to see how things would have shaken out in the new format. Part two will focus on simulating next season to see how a ninth team would affect the outcomes. Finally, part three will look at some modifications to the format to try to balance the number of games with playoff implications vs. the need to reduce playoff games to cut costs.
To get started, let’s take a look back at the 2011 NASL season.
As you’ll recall, Carolina dominated the league most of the season before some midseason transfers including the announcement of Martin Rennie leaving for Vancouver seemed to derail the RailHawks. Montreal, in their final season before joining MLS, struggled mightily early on before being edged by Minnesota on the last day of the regular season. Minnesota went on to win the Soccer Bowl as the last team in. The Atlanta Silverbacks struggled all season.
In the first table, we summarize the final standings and add a few data points beyond what we’re used to seeing. The first column is the number of games played after a team was eliminated (EL) from playoff contention. This means that on game day, the team woke up already knowing there was no possibility for them to play in the post season. In 2011, Atlanta was the only team that experienced this. However, numerical elimination isn’t the only time fans can tell a team isn’t playing well and isn’t likely to make the playoffs so we added a few more columns. Two back (2B), three back (3B) and four back (4B) referring to the number of games a team would need to win to get even with the final playoff spot. So, if a team is two games back, that means they are at least six points behind the final playoff spot at kick off of the game. Three and Four back would respectively mean at least nine and twelve points behind the final playoff spot. So, if a team is twelve points out and eliminated from the playoffs, each of these four columns will have one added to them at the start of their next game.
2011 Team GP W T L GF GA Pts EL 2B 3B 4B Carolina RailHawks 28 17 3 8 50 26 54 0 0 0 0 Puerto Rico Islanders 28 15 7 6 41 32 52 0 0 0 0 Tampa Bay Rowdies 28 11 8 9 41 36 41 0 0 0 0 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 28 9 11 8 35 36 38 0 0 0 0 FC Edmonton 28 10 6 12 35 40 36 0 0 0 0 Minnesota Stars FC 28 9 9 10 30 32 36 0 0 0 0 Montreal Impact 28 9 8 11 35 27 35 0 10 3 0 Atlanta Silverbacks 28 4 4 20 25 63 16 5 19 14 10
Clearly, Atlanta fans did not have much to cheer about with half of their games coming when they were at least nine points out of the playoffs and had to play five games after they were eliminated. Montreal was bad enough early on that they were at least six points out of the playoffs at the beginning of ten games, but still managed to not be eliminated until the end of the last game of the season. Meanwhile, Carolina and Puerto Rico were the class of the league throughout the season. Let’s see how things would be different if we just chopped the season in half for each team, without balancing the schedule.
2011 Apertura (as played) Team GP W T L GF GA Pts EL 2B 3B 4B Carolina RailHawks 14 12 1 1 33 11 37 0 0 0 0 FC Edmonton 14 7 3 4 18 15 24 2 8 7 3 Puerto Rico Islanders 14 6 4 4 22 22 22 4 10 8 7 Minnesota Stars FC 14 4 7 3 17 15 19 3 10 4 1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 14 4 5 5 17 21 17 4 9 8 6 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 14 3 8 3 19 19 17 5 8 8 7 Montreal Impact 14 2 4 8 11 15 10 5 12 11 9 Atlanta Silverbacks 14 1 2 11 12 31 5 6 12 11 9
2011 Clausura (as played) Team GP W T L GF GA Pts EL 2B 3B 4B Puerto Rico Islanders 14 9 3 2 19 10 30 0 0 0 0 Montreal Impact 14 7 4 3 24 12 25 1 7 1 0 Tampa Bay Rowdies 14 7 3 4 24 15 24 1 4 1 0 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 14 6 3 5 16 17 21 1 7 3 1 Minnesota Stars FC 14 5 2 7 13 17 17 4 8 6 4 Carolina RailHawks 14 5 2 7 17 15 17 2 10 3 1 FC Edmonton 14 3 3 8 17 25 12 5 12 8 8 Atlanta Silverbacks 14 3 2 9 13 32 11 5 8 8 7
So, hey, that apertura wasn’t too exciting. Carolina ran away with it from early days, with all other teams finding themselves at least 12 points heading into at least one game. Plus the final two rounds started with absolutely nothing to play for, except maybe the outside chance that Carolina would repeat and the team with the second most points would get into the final. The Clausura was slightly better with only one completely pointless round of games. So we went from the regular season as it happened with only one team, Atlanta, playing games without a shot at the playoffs to three full rounds where no one was playing for any reason other than the schedule said they had to. As for Atlanta, they ended up playing 11 games in the split season without hope for the playoffs as opposed to just five in the single season. Instead of just 10 games started 12 or more points out of the playoffs, the split season format had the Silverbacks starting 16 games 12 or more points out of the playoff spots. That is 2/3 of the season spent without much expectation of a playoff spot.
Now, what if we were to switch things around and balance the schedule the way discussed in the Triangle Offense blog. Before listing the tables, I would like to mention that the 2-4 back numbers are skewed in these tables due to shifting dates from apertura to clausura. For instance, Atlanta looks like they went from less than six points back to more than 12 points back in one game. This is because Atlanta’s schedule was front loaded with repeat matchups leading them to have four “clausura” games before other teams had more than a game or two in that half of the season, and then didn’t play another “clausura” game until most teams had five or six “clausura” games while the Silverbacks were still busy filling out their “apertura” slate.
2011 Apertura (adjusted): Team GP W T L GF GA Pts EL 2B 3B 4B Carolina RailHawks 14 9 2 3 28 15 29 0 0 0 0 Puerto Rico Islanders 14 8 3 3 26 20 27 2 9 6 3 FC Edmonton 14 6 3 5 20 18 21 3 9 5 0 Minnesota Stars FC 14 5 6 3 18 14 21 4 8 3 1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 14 3 7 4 20 23 16 5 8 8 7 Tampa Bay Rowdies 14 3 6 5 14 20 15 5 9 8 7 Montreal Impact 14 2 5 7 14 15 11 4 12 11 8 Atlanta Silverbacks 14 3 2 9 17 32 11 6 12 11 10
2011 Clausura (adjusted): Team GP W T L GF GA Pts EL 2B 3B 4B Tampa Bay Rowdies 14 8 2 4 27 16 26 0 1 0 0 Puerto Rico Islanders 14 7 4 3 15 12 25 0 5 0 0 Carolina RailHawks 14 8 1 5 22 11 25 0 0 0 0 Montreal Impact 14 7 3 4 21 12 24 3 12 6 2 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 14 6 4 4 15 13 22 0 6 2 0 FC Edmonton 14 4 3 7 15 22 15 4 6 5 3 Minnesota Stars FC 14 4 3 7 12 18 15 4 8 6 5 Atlanta Silverbacks 14 1 2 11 8 31 5 5 10 10 10
As we can see, the clausura was much more interesting after balancing things out although the apertura turned out roughly the same. This time around four teams were still in the running for the title heading into their last game and, in fact, Tampa Bay became the champs instead of Puerto Rico. Poor Atlanta had an even rougher schedule as their record ended up flipping with some of their wins moving to the apertura where Carolina was so dominant, which ended up having them spend even more time out of any real playoff contention. Either way you slice it, using a split season with only one team making the playoffs in each half means that the 2011 Stars don’t get a chance to win the title as they did in the current format.
Now, let’s take a quick look at the 2012 season. In this set of tables, we’ll include POS, or the total points possible for a team to accumulate given the games they have remaining.
2012 Team GP W T L GF GA Pts POS EL 2B 3B 4B San Antonio Scorpions 27 13 7 7 44 25 46 49 0 0 0 0 Tampa Bay Rowdies 27 12 8 7 37 30 44 47 0 0 0 0 Puerto Rico Islanders 27 11 7 9 31 29 40 43 0 0 0 0 Carolina RailHawks 27 10 9 8 43 45 39 42 0 0 0 0 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 27 9 8 10 38 44 35 38 0 0 0 0 Minnesota Stars FC 27 8 10 9 33 32 34 37 0 0 0 0 Atlanta Silverbacks 27 7 8 12 34 45 29 32 2 15 8 0 FC Edmonton 27 5 9 13 24 34 24 27 2 14 2 0
From looking at the current standings, we can see that there weren’t any outliers like Atlanta in 2011. Instead of five games played by one team out of playoff contention we have two teams that will have played a total of six games out of playoff contention. Again, only two teams, this time Atlanta and Edmonton, will have spent any time out of touch with the playoff spots. All in all, even the poor teams had reason to hope they could turn their fortunes around and get into the playoffs until the season was winding down.
2012 Apertura (as played): Team GP W T L GF GA Pts POS EL 2B 3B 4B San Antonio Scorpions 14 8 4 2 22 12 28 28 0 2 0 0 Puerto Rico Islanders 14 7 3 4 21 14 24 24 0 0 0 0 Minnesota Stars FC 14 6 5 3 22 18 23 23 1 1 0 0 Tampa Bay Rowdies 14 6 3 5 18 18 21 21 2 4 0 0 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 14 5 4 5 19 21 19 19 1 7 0 0 Carolina RailHawks 14 4 5 5 23 22 17 17 2 10 4 2 FC Edmonton 14 3 3 8 12 16 12 12 3 12 10 3 Atlanta Silverbacks 14 1 5 8 14 30 8 8 3 11 8 6
2012 Clausura (as played): Team GP W T L GF GA Pts POS EL 2B 3B 4B Tampa Bay Rowdies 13 6 5 2 19 12 23 26 0 0 0 0 Carolina RailHawks 13 6 4 3 20 23 22 25 0 1 0 0 Atlanta Silverbacks 13 6 3 4 20 15 21 24 0 2 0 0 San Antonio Scorpions 13 5 3 5 22 13 18 21 0 2 0 0 Puerto Rico Islanders 13 4 4 5 10 15 16 19 0 4 0 0 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 13 4 4 5 19 23 16 19 0 0 0 0 FC Edmonton 13 2 6 5 12 18 12 15 1 7 0 0 Minnesota Stars FC 13 2 5 6 11 14 11 14 2 9 7 0
Splitting this season without consideration for balance results in a much more interesting situation with San Antonio and Puerto Rico heading into their final games of the apertura vying for the first playoff spot, but everyone else was just biding their time. The as yet to be completed clausura shows that there are still four teams in contention, although Puerto Rico and Fort Lauderdale have yet to play a game where they will not be in contention. The Stars and Edmonton have already been eliminated for a few games.
2012 Apertura (adjusted): Team GP W T L GF GA Pts POS EL 2B 3B 4B San Antonio Scorpions 14 8 5 1 27 11 29 29 0 2 0 0 Puerto Rico Islanders 14 7 3 4 19 14 24 24 0 0 0 0 Tampa Bay Rowdies 14 5 5 4 16 15 20 20 2 7 3 0 Minnesota Stars FC 14 4 6 4 18 17 18 18 2 10 3 1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 14 4 5 5 21 24 17 17 1 7 3 0 Carolina RailHawks 14 3 6 5 23 30 15 15 2 10 6 3 FC Edmonton 14 3 4 7 13 16 13 13 3 12 10 1 Atlanta Silverbacks 14 2 6 6 16 26 12 12 3 11 8 5
2012 Clausura (adjusted): Team GP W T L GF GA Pts POS EL 2B 3B 4B Tampa Bay Rowdies 13 7 3 3 21 15 24 27 0 0 0 0 Carolina RailHawks 13 7 3 3 20 15 24 27 0 3 0 0 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 13 5 3 5 17 20 18 21 0 4 1 0 Atlanta Silverbacks 13 5 2 6 18 19 17 20 1 12 8 2 San Antonio Scorpions 13 5 2 6 17 14 17 20 0 8 0 0 Puerto Rico Islanders 13 4 4 5 12 15 16 19 1 8 1 0 Minnesota Stars FC 13 4 4 5 15 15 16 19 0 6 0 0 FC Edmonton 13 2 5 6 11 18 11 14 2 13 10 1
The balanced schedule tells much the same story, with the exception that Atlanta is no longer in contention for the clausura title and, instead, lags well down at the foot of the table, though they could still finish as high as third.
Finally, let’s compare the number of games where at least one of the teams is no longer in contention for the playoffs, or is otherwise well out of contention if not officially eliminated. Of the 218 games played in 2011 and to this point in 2012, the following table shows the outcomes.
Total Games: 220
One Season Split Season Split Adjusted
Both Eliminated 0 18 19
One Eliminated 8 27 24
Both 4 back 0 19 28
One 4 back 10 36 41
With regards to elimination, the table above says that while the current format did not produce a single game where both teams started the game after having been eliminated from playoff contention, depending on how you split the results either 18 or 19 games would have been played with no bearing on the playoffs. Likewise, while 8 games in the current format featured one team eliminated from playoff contention, the split season would have either 27 or 24 games where one of the two teams was eliminated. That is a total of either 45 or 43 games where at least one of the teams has been eliminated from playoff contention.
Comments are closed.
I don’t mind the change. It’s a bit cut throat and there’ll be more “meaningless games” or more teams ending the season with nothing to play for. Whatever, the supporters will still be there to support the club and the casuals will either come or they wont. I don’t there’s really that big of a bandwagon of fans only showing up to watch a winning side.
Great article, Jesse, and thanks for the shout-out. Your findings certainly merit consideration in assessing the impact of next year’s split-season format. I think one fallacy many—including myself—have been under is that games not involving teams battling or bound for the postseason (in whatever form) are “meaningless.” The counterpoint was driven home for me this week. Atlanta, a team already eliminated from playoff consideration, won their last two matches at home against two playoff teams, including a win over San Antonio Wednesday night. They drew over 5,550 to last Saturday’s win over FTL, and 2,300 to the midweek win over the Scorpions, a higher attendance than the quite meaningful match between Carolina and Tampa Bay the same night. A team with “nothing” to play for is playing to, well, win.
Meanwhile, we’ve already heard from both Colin Clarke and Ricky Hill that they will probably field a smattering of reserves and rest some starters for their match this Sat. at Carolina since both their respective clubs have nothing to gain playoff-wise. I suspect the other playoff-bound teams will follow suit.
So, under year’s format, the teams out of contention will likely field full-strength squads this weekend, while those looking to stay healthy for the playoffs will not. While I don’t espouse the notion of “meaningless games” from a fan perspective (for other reasons I won’t chronicle here), the closest we’re seeing to meaningless regular season games from a competitive standpoint are the ones involving playoff-qualified teams playing it safe in advance of postseason play. Under next season’s split format, you’re likely to only have a maximum of two teams in that position during the last game or two of the Clausura (if that many).
Thanks Jesse for the analysis, and putting some context into what the change may mean. And I take the opposite position than MD-Law. I enjoy game days myself, but i think attendance will dip when seasons become a series of friendlies – at least for the Clausura portion as failure in Apertura can still be remedied. And I think the play on the field will reflect that more and more games will have less meaning.
Also, I would add that all Clausura games for the Apertura winner become irrelevant because their playoff ticket is already punched. I don’t think a bunch of professionals would intentionally tank, but human nature would suggest the intensity won’t be the same.
Based on Jessie’s analysis: my guess is that they go with this format for a season or two, and then expand the post season to a 4 team playoff consisting of the top 2 from the Apertura and Clausura. (or perhaps go back to the way it was if finances are looking up).
I love numbers analyses, thus I greatly appreciate Jesse’s write-up. Thank You, Jesse! However, statistical numbers don’t always match up with fan passion; particularly in football/soccer. Neil Morris gave a great example of the statistics not really painting a perfect picture of game experience. Personally, I firmly disagree with the concept of ‘meaningless game’.
Jesse wrote the article with absolutely every commentary on the statistics looking solely to the playoffs as the major goal of the season. This perspective is very simplistic, speaking of the playoffs as the ‘get into heaven’ threshold. Please do not misunderstand me; as I’m not calling Jesse ‘simplistic’. In fact, he did a great statistical analysis.
I believe this change is very healthy for the league and the sport in this country in general. So, let’s ask ourselves some questions in order to figure out where we stand as a soccer culture.
1) Why do soccer players – especially in minor leagues – choose to pursue professional careers? It is because they LOVE THE BEAUTIFUL GAME. Their dream is to play; to play well, to play well every single time they are on the pitch. They are passionate about creating beautiful, symbiotic relationships with the other 10 players between the opening kick and the closing whistle. They love to create plays and win games in which they share the rush of joy with all the fans in the stands.
2) Why do soccer fans – especially of minor league teams – choose to attend games. The truly passionate fans support their local teams because they LOVE THE BEAUTIFUL GAME. Their dream is to have a fantastic experience which they share with the other fans and with the players of their team. They want to see beautiful and creative soccer, hard work, play with heart attitude. True fans support their team even when they perform poorly. The more casual fans attend games because they seek an entertaining experience. Passionate players and passionate fans, along with good management of game day activities are the ingredients that attract the casual fans. It isn’t the playoffs.
Once again, I think Jesse’s statistical analysis is fabulous, and I encourage him to do more such work. My intent is to simply point out that if we truly evaluate where our passion for soccer originates we will realize that it’s with the game itself and the experience, not with playoffs, not with championships. There are certainly other aspects more specific to the technicalities of a dual championship season which I haven’t touched on due to limitations of time; perhaps later.
my head hurts after that, give me a beer.
we have to stop thinking NASL as minor league the requirement makes it hard press to consider teams in this division minor leagues
I’m very interested in whether NASL’s new format will stimulate a change in the way we view post-season playoffs. Like Neil and fotbalist, I am skeptical of the concept of “meaningless” games. For example, a large crowd is expected this weekend in Cary for the “meaningless” season finale between the RailHawks and the Rowdies.
There’s been a lot of concern about whether the Apertura winner will have anything to play for. In fact, the Apertura winner does have one concrete thing to play for: the Clausura title, and thus, “the double.” If this seems like a trifling goal, it’s a sign of how little we currently value our regular seasons.
I’ll be very interesting to see if NASL’s change will reorient the stakes toward league play. While I suppose it’s nice that a seventh- or eighth-place team can have a fighting chance for the playoffs under the current arrangement, do they really deserve it? Is it fair to a team like Tampa Bay or San Antonio that has performed strongly all year to have their achievements wiped out after the regular season concludes?
Although it’s true that the top two teams receive first-round byes under the present arrangement, for all practical purposes, the playoff teams are on a level playing field. Minnesota won the NASL championship last year from the sixth seed, and perhaps they’ll do it again. Who knows?
Does a large playoff pool make for a more exciting competition? Perhaps–certainly for three weeks, it does, if not for the rest of the season.
Does it do justice? I’d argue not. This year, Orlando won the USL PRO regular season by 16 points, and were far and away the class of the league. Yet, because they lost a single semifinal game at home to fifth-seeded Wilmington, their season ended in failure. You can look it up: Charleston Battery are the USL PRO champions.
As Neil’s co-author of the Triangle Offense blog post, let me thank Jesse for digging deeper into these numbers.
I’m not even going to pretend like I understood all of what Jesse just broke down–coz I don’t. It’s waaaaayy over my head.
But I gotta give the Brother mad props for that grand labor and mental acumen (that I admitedly LACK)!!!
All,
Thanks for the feedback! I made a specific effort to leave the term “meaningless” out of my analysis for a lot of the reasons suggested above. I even try to avoid any conclusions other than that there will be a dramatic spike in games where teams are no longer playing for the playoffs. Players and teams certainly have a range of reasons to motivate themselves with and fans likewise have a diverse range of reasons for paying for a ticket.
However, winning a championship is a significant one that will affect subsets of players and fans in different ways. My primary concern with this is analysis is perception of potential ticket buyers and how many are swayed by team performance and championship potential.
Given this feedback, I’m going to plot attendance in relation to a few factors, current form, home record, playoff potential, distance from the leader, etc. The sample size is far too low and there are far too many other factors to draw any real conclusions, but hopefully I’ll be able to suss out some anecdotal evidence whether and what the relationship is between team performance and butts in the seats.
Even if the effect is small, I think it’s pretty clear that nearly every dollar counts for many NASL teams. Especially teams like the Stars!
While I’m not a huge fan of the split season experiment that the NASL is trying next year, I do think it’s worth pointing out that it’s not strictly the Apertura/Clausura format that causes more games to be played without post-season implications.
The only reason that so many matches at the end of this season have post-season implications is that 6 of the 8 teams make the playoffs. Admittedly, I’m no statistical genius, but it seems a little like apples and oranges to compare the playoff implications of a six-team playoff system and a two-team playoff system.
I think the NFL is a solid analog here. I believe that the NFL playoff format involves 12 teams with 4 of them getting byes in the first round (someone correct me if I’m wrong). Now, I’m obviously too dumb to run all of the same type of numbers for the NFL season that Jesse ran for the NASL season, but I’d be willing to bet that, no matter what format the regular season took in the NFL, there would be a lot less games in the NFL season with playoff implications if the NFL’s playoffs consisted of only 4 teams. (I use 4 because that would be a third of the current amount of teams, just as the two-team Soccer Bowl next year is a third of the current teams that make the playoffs.)
Of course, I may have missed something completely here, but it does seem like the split season isn’t to blame for the increase in games without post-season implications, rather the two-team playoff format is.
@MD Law – I don’t know if you’re new to posting here at IMS, or if perhaps you’re even new to lower division American soccer in general. So I’m going to be as nice about this as possible…you’re absolutely crazy my friend. In D2 and D3 we need every single last fan we can attract to come to every single last game possible. I can’t even stress how vital this is. Fans showing up in sufficient quantity spell the difference between surviving and dying at the team level, and by proxy, if it’s the latter for too many teams, then your league as well. We can’t afford to be as non chalant about fans showing up as you seem to be. Every team has a core of fierce supporters that show up every match, rain or shine, and next year maybe snow….. But that isn’t enough for teams to survive. We need casuals, and winning, or the hope there of is a big part of attracting casuals.
@Neil – While I respect your viewpoint, I disagree on your point of contention with regard to “meaningless” games, for a couple of reasons. First off, Atlanta this year is kind of a unique situation. The bringing in of someone as well known as Wynalda, and the gutting of the roster and bringing in of his own players from his own club en masse isn’t something you see every year. Plus we don’t know how many of those ticket numbers you mentioned where sold after Wynalda and all his chanegs, and prior to last week when the Silverbacks were finally eliminated. There are way to many variables invovled for you to be making such a blanket statement about ATL fans showing up for a “meaningless” game.
Second, and what I believe everyone who keeps making these comparisons by laying the new format over the last season or two is forgetting, is that those teams, coaches, and players approached each game and the season as a whole based on the format as it was/is being played. I highly doubt a worthwhile coach or GM is going to manage his players the same way in two 16 game “half seasons” as they would over a full season, full points, long haul. You’re not comparing apples to apples. Adjustments will have to be made. There is no way to do that until this format plays itself out for a couple of years. And therein lies a huge problem for me – No One knows what affects it will have. It’s taking a risk for the sake of……? Still have yet to hear a valid answer to this question. WHY was this necessary? And by the time we have an answer, what will we be able to do about it if it’s bad?
The ONLY thing I have heard that is even halfway reasonably logical is knowing four months in advance the date and place of the Soccer Bowl final. But, did we really need to go through the process of THIS radical of a change simply for that one point? That’s it? Every other way you look at this thing, it causes more problems than the current system. Weather is a bigger problem now. MORE meaningless regular season games for FAR MORE teams is going to be a problem. You can come up with all the numbers and scenarios you want, but you can’t twist them in such a way that having only one spot to play for instead of six will make less meaningless regular season games. And just wait until we expand by another two or three teams. It’s only going to get worse. The weather situation will get worse too, unless we start playing all kinds of weekday games inbetween weekend ones.
And I don’t want to hear anyone else utter a word about how great it is the NASL break (extending the season for another month for nothing) coincides with the international transfer window. Nobody in the world today is saying, oh thank God the NASL aligned itself with the transfer window! Nobody but a few thousand of us give a shite about the NASL and its players. Make your changes about us, the fans who do.
The more you look at this over a longer course of time, the more problems there are going to arise from this format. No doubt about it. So why implement it? The certainty of one game? To be different from everyone else in US Soccer? Pretty stupid reasons. And if you do want to stand out and emulate soccer from somewhere else in the world, why on Earth wouldn’t you try to implement a system more casual soccer and sports fans might know, like England or Germany. Single table, full season points champ. But instead we’re going to copy Guatemala??? Are you kidding???
@fotbalist – Oh boy. More dreaming. Let’s address a few points..
1) Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. The vast majority of players playing in D2 and D3 are there either because they are young and are hoping to stand out and get an opportunity at the next level, have spent time at the higher level and are trying to find a way to get back there, or have been at a higher level for some time, but now are too old to be wanted there, but they still want to earn a paycheck. Your perception of pro athletes is a bit naive I daresay.
2) Actually agree with a lot on this one. Each team has its core fanbase that will come no matter the circumstances, standings, or weather. But at this level THAT IS NOT ENOUGH to survive. It just isn’t. Team to team, and even year to year this number fluctuates of course. But WINNING always brings out the curious and causes the casuals to come back to the NEXT game instead of waiting for one on a weekend where they have nothing else going on. Probably just about every one of us posting here is a part of that hardcore fanbase of their local team, or like Yanki and Gerry, certainly would be if they were fontunate enough to have a local team currently. But hold the NASL BoG’s at gunpoint and tell them to answer honestly if the between 1,000 – 4,000 supremely loyal fans they can ALWAYS count on is enough to sustain their team long term, and to a man they’ll say NO.
As a kid my my father took me to Lockhart and Ray, Nene, JVB and the rest hooked me on this game for life. I have season seats for the current Strikers for my whole family. I’ll be there, gritting my teeth and bearing this “solution” in search of a “problem” as a few people I’ve discussed with have noted. And I’ll be hoping, as every point I have been making since the announcement was made about why this change makes no sense, hoping, that it will at some point become clear to NASL management that this idea won’t work very long, and that they don’t have too much ego to admit it was a bad idea and make a change again. My fear is that too much ego will allow this to go on for too long, causing too many problems, with an attitude of, everyone might not like it now, but they’ll get used to it.
@David – I can buy your argument better than most out there so far. Questioning the “fairness” of the ability of a sixth or eighth (yanki’s Islanders) place team to win the league Championship. It’s kind of counter intuitive to the way most Americans think of pro sports in general, but in soccer it’s a very legitimate concern. So how to address it? Make two “half” seasons, and crown a champ for each one? Really? If you think no playoffs is foreign to most American sports fans, try selling them on two “half season” champs.
I agree with your concern, but couldn’t disagree more that this new format is a good way to address it. If you want the “best” team to win the title, then it’s simple – single table, FULL season, keep your mid-season break if you feel it is absolutely necessary for some reason, and points champ is League Champion. Or, to add a slight American feel without too much additional concern for playoff costs, give a week break at the end of the regular season, then play a one game championship #1 hosting #2. This again ups the whole idea of more meaningless regular season games for more teams, but it FAR better solves your issue of who would be a “fair” league champion. And we’d be in line with leagues American soccer fans actually know and enjoy, ie. EPL, rather than Honduras……..
@ Neil Morris – I don’t believe Atlanta’s attendance numbers for a second. I believe they have been inflating all year. And one of the games was part of the Mexican Independence Day Festival.
@Strikers Return – That part about the transfer window made me chuckle. Very true. I also agree with most of your other points. I think a lot of players are going to be sitting around for a month doing nothing while they get paid. Not good. And once we start adding teams, can this schedule even work? There might be too many games. Games = more chances to lose money.
I have an idea where top NASL contracted players could trial with MLS teams during the break. If the MLS wants the player they can pay a very modest fee. This would also help most of the top NASL players stay sharp since it is doubtful many MLS teams would even buy any.
But alas, one of David Downs’s great failures as NASL commish is his inability to get a working relationship with MLS. While he loves to talk expansion(30-60 days!), I wish our top minor league would work out something with our top major league. Now the rumors are MLS wll throw its lots in with the USL and NASL will be out of the loop. This could really end up biting the NASL in the butt.
@Jesse – Apologies for not getting a reply in to you first. Excellent article, and break down of the numbers. I for one am not at all surprised by what your numbers bear out, with the very big caveat that I don’t think looking at seasons played under a different format are completely reliable to predict what will happen once the change is actually made. Coaching and operating the teams and players will change, no doubt about it, and what affect that will have we’ll just have to wait and see. I very much believe that despite the efforts of at least 8 coaches per “half” (ugh) season, we will see far more “meaningless” regular season games next year. There’s just no way around this, the math won’t workout any other way when there is only one spot to play for. And that’s not even taking into conisderation the motivation of the Apertura winner. That scenario Meil is discussing above regarding Tampa and Carolina for the last game of this season – that WILL play out much more frequently over the entire second half of next season for the Apertura winner. Count on it. No coach or organization is going to risk their players for an entire 16 game run already knowing they are locked into the Championship game, as the host no less.
I hope you stay on this analysis and keep crunching the numbers next year. That’s when we’re going to see who falls on which side of these arguments. I firmly believe I can see how things will trend. Good stuff, and thanks for contributing your insights here at the home for lower division soccer news!!!
@Dave – I think if the NASL ever starts expanding the way we keep hearing they’re going to (you returned the chuckle with the 30-60 day nugget!) this format is going to be a nightmare real fast from that point alone. And you’re spot on about NASL players going on trial for MLS teams. I highly doubt an NASL team would make an MLS team wait until their mid-season break to take a player on trial. If there is even the remotest chance of the MLS club ending up paying to take that player on loan, and possibly even eventually buy out, any NASL club would jump at the chance. Except maybe SA, for them it might depend on circumstances if they truly are already profitable.
I too am disappointed at the rumors of MLS possibly buying into USL as a solution to their reserve team situation. Downs has talked repeatedly about trying to establish more formal ties with MLS, something that should be a no-brainer if you look across the world at other soccer pyramids. Our economics of the game are far different, and that has an effect of course. But if MLS does end up buying into USL Pro and making it their reserve league for all intent and purpose, then where does that leave NASL? A stand alone, national D2 league, with little if any interaction with the levels both above and below it? Sounds cold and lonely in a country where soccer still doesn’t matter enough to the sports fanbase at large to be supported just by there being enough demand and interest for the game itself, jut mattering enough to enough people simply for what it is. We’re still a long way from being at that point, if we ever get there.
@Strikers Return,
You need to get with the USL Pro mission statement that you have laughed at, which is “USL Pro is the most professional and best run league below MLS”.
NASL will inevitably be THE stand alone national D2 league with little if any interaction between D1 and D3.
The problem is that while NASL took that brass ring called D2 by blowing Traffic’s moolah, it don’t make them the truly legitimate and respected league below MLS. You can thank a number of people for that, Downs and Davidson, along with Wellman for being instrumental in that regard.
And while you folks think it is sexy to bring on the names of the Cosmos, the Rowdies and yes even the Strikers from days gone by, there is no way that ultimately sits well with Papa Garber as he grows his D1 empire.
Papa knows that USL will never attempt to usurp MLS in terms of respect or challenge their D1 authority. NASL wants to be a junior, if not in the end, THE Empire. In fact, its business model requires it to be a stand alone competitor to MLS.
Y’all folks know that and that is why it gets exciting to you when the Cosmos is brought in as a new team and Atlanta gets back its old name of the Chiefs. Glory from days on by. A branding and resurrection of a former D1 league from that glorious past. An irritant to MLS that will not allow that sort of distraction to take place in its world order.
Before you slam, think about it. Close your eyes and smell the coconut oils, grasshopper.
so basically, by what i read here, the new season is going to suck. Statistically speaking.
So in other words, USL is willing to take a big financial hit because MLS wants this all for nothing and doesn’t want to support the reserves monetarily. NASL says, from a business perspective, this doesn’t make sense to shoulder the cost of the MLS reserve league. I would have to agree with the NASL on this one.
It’s possible with the East Coast based USL PRO teams that they could make this work better. At least in that area.
So now back to discussing the content of this article. Split season and relevant games.
i wanted to know can someone play in NASL and still go to college
I think it’s great that NASL is not taking part in a feeder type structure.
We have independent clubs like around the world. I would hate it for my team to be a stepchild of a MLS team.
Guess who’s going to rollover in USOC: LA Galaxy or LA Galaxy reserve team?
The last Rowdies game they didn’t try hard because they knew they needed a draw for semifinal bye…
@WSW
u right
with usl trying to affiliate with mls shows they have no sense of direction
@John, Really my friend. You jump from USL having an affiliation with MLS as having no direction. Where in the WORLD did you come up with that set of logic. Having USL work with the reserve league of MLS might be a great way for them to push forward as a D3 league. I wonder if they are saying that same thing about the leagues in Europe (Germany and Spain) that allow their reserve teams to play in their 2-4th divisions?
Also, WSW and John, since this isn’t my post but Jesse’s I’m going to ask nicely this time, lets keep the conversation on track as you guys love to go off on tangents on almost every article about USOC, NASL expansion, USL v NASL etc…
The track of this conversation is pros and cons of split season. If you don’t want to post about the pros and cons of a split season that then hold off until some other article were we are talking about the subject you would like to talk about.
In advance, thanks.
alright brian will do
@BQ, Nothing is always as it seems. What gets promoted publicly by a second place finisher does not mean that is the agenda behind the scene, nor what is actually happening. The devil is always in the details.
This article is well thought out. Unfortunately, in spite of the math, I think a split season will not give NASL the benefit it thinks it will receive. A month break, continuing to pay players for general training is an expense constant, one that the Scorpions cannot recoup as there are no home games to play. OR, do the NASL teams suspend payment to the players until the next season starts.
I just don’t see how a split season translates into bringing more fans into the seats when it is needed most. Ultimately, this is all about increasing revenue, and less about reducing expenses. I think the reduction on the expense side does not counter the need to expand revenues overall, and a split season with two really weird names for Americans is not going to accomplish that.
Let’s face it, for the most part, D2 is a semi-pro league, in that the majority of the players need a second and third job to put soup on the table. A revenue issue all over again.
The split season, for the NASL players, may hinder them more than help them.
@Bart
what if during the summer break they book and promote friendlies in advance…especially since more teams in the world do take the same break. that’s the way to promote the game to potential fans.
@WSW
We are not the world, we are the United States of America. The American people are used to a certain standard, or way of life, in sports. No one here in the good ole USofA truly cares about the “world” and what the “world” does in their domain for sports.
A “friendly” in the US is an unknown quantity. In sports, the US plays to win not just be happy to be part of the process. A friendly serves no particular purpose here in the US. It is much like the Harlem Globetrotters, you bring the grandchildren for a show, but not much else.
If soccer in the US gets weird, then the already fickle fan base will move on to other, more exciting events. After all, Major League Baseball has its World Series, and this event invites no one but the MLB teams.
We are, in the eyes of the globe, the “Ugly American”. We are proud of it, and it serves us well.
@ Danwolf
I do not understand why you choose to slander me in this way. Frankly, I thought I had a right to express those opinions. Did I say something to offend you? Righteous indignation has no place on this site.
I just want to make myself clear in the vettin process, especially to you, as it is not in what you say, but in how you say it.
@Bart
“more teams in the world take the same break”
hint, hint…NASL has more teams to pick for friendlies.
Well, my suspicions about Danwolf have been confirmed. I’ll leave it at that.
Yep, I’m sure those high profile teams from England, Spain, and their like will be all giddy over the prospect of scheduling friendlies against U.S minor league teams at their low capacity stadiums and converted baseball parks. Sounds like a solid business plan to me, they should have done the split season sooner.
Next year may be the last straw for Traffic if they don’t market some beef during the transfer window. All those mystery expansion teams Downs keeps talking about better show up quick!
First of all, Jesse, great article. Very interesting to see how the current and previous seasons would have shaken down under the new format.
That being said, I feel is should be noted that this sort of analysis does have one inherent flaw: the teams didn’t actually play a split season schedule either this year or last. You don’t run a sprint the same way you run a marathon. Ultimately, the only way to find how a split season will play out is to play out a split season.
THAT being said, just because it isn’t perfect, that doesn’t mean there’s no value in doing this kind of analysis. I’m looking forward to parts two and three!
@Strikers Return
We seem to be in agreement about the value of a single table and the way a large playoff pool negates the accomplishments of good teams while rewarding mediocre teams with a second bite at the apple.
You also don’t seem to object to the July break, which I’m glad to see. Those of us who live in the South (including you, presumably) know from experience that July games are without exception unpleasant for players and spectators alike, and the games themselves are threatened by ever-present thunderstorms.
As for turning the season into what is officially described as two round-robin tournaments, I think it’s a promising idea (although it’s entirely possible that tweaks will be required). The round-robin, tournament approach answers one significant downside to reducing the postseason to a single game: In a single season, teams that get to a slow start in the spring will never recover in time to claim one of the two playoff spots.
On the other hand, breaking it into two “tournaments” gives teams that performed poorly in the spring a chance to reboot their seasons. As shown by the work Neil Morris and I did over at Triangle Offense, and Jesse did here, Carolina is the best example of a team that recovered from a dreadful start. My guess is that next year, another team or two or three will also rebound strongly in the clausura.
I don’t think this will be all that difficult to explain to fans. Although those of us who choose to comment at insidemnsoccer.com follow the minutiae closely, I strongly doubt that most fans do. They simply want to watch soccer, preferably entertaining and winning soccer.
Let me close by noting that under the apertura-clausura format, tonight’s Tampa Bay-Carolina game is a big, big one indeed. They are level on points in our hypothetical split tables. The winner goes to the Soccer Bowl.
But what about all the meaningless games we’ll supposedly have under apertura-clausura? Well, under the present system, all of this weekend’s games are meaningless, and what might have been a huge game in Cary will instead feature reservists from both teams. But the weather forecast is beautiful, and a large crowd is expected.
@Strikers Return et al.
One more point: Some have pointed out that the new format may result in the team with the second-best record failing to make the post-season championship game. Under this season’s hypothetical split tables, that team would be Tampa Bay. But guess what? They DO have a chance. They simply need to beat the RailHawks tonight. In effect, tonight’s game is no different from a playoff semifinal: The winner goes to the final.
@Bart
no you did not offend me, But you do seem like the type of person that thinks there farts smell like roses.
The more I look at this article, the more opposed to the new system for 2013.
@David Fellerath – Personally speaking, I would not prefer the single table points champion format myself. Mostly because of one of my two main sticking points on the new format, namely significantly increased meaningless regular season games. But the only reason I’m opposed to this is because here in America we have no pro/rel. Nobody go crazy, I’m not here to advocate for it in any way. I’m simply saying that because of it, the EPL, Bundesliga, etc. have meaningful games til the end for more teams.
Playoffs are American. Unfortunately I’m in the unenviable position of agreeing with a few of Bart’s comments. We like things “our” way here in America. Soccer has been, and will continue to fight an uphill battle here because we aren’t the best in the world, and the rest of the world isn’t trying to emulate us. Plus, in order to keep growing the game we have to convert the average American sports fan. But if we do things TOO “foreign” we’ll continue to be scoffed at and looked down upon by those casuals we need to get in our corner for the game to keep growing.
I have lived in South Florida my whole life, and I respectfully disagree a bit when it comes to the “dodging” the worst of the weather argument with the break. I actually hate the break. Cutting out July in no way diminishes my chances for sitting in the rain at Lockhart. The rainy season starts in late April/early May and runs pretty much through now. If we take say two home games from July and plug them in on the front and back ends, maybe that helps a little, I don’t know. But it certainly isn’t making any significant dent if your intent is trying to avoid rain. Plus, let’s assume for a moment WSW isn’t completely nuts and NASL teams are able to attract international friendlies with teams big enough to move the needle, and that the cost of them isn’t actually a detriment to your bottom line, and we end up with them being scheduled right in the middle of that month we were supposedly trying to avoid playing games.
Every time I hear an “argument” in favor of this format, I find it relatively easy to shoot it down. I’m still insearch of someone giving me a logical, sensical NEED for this change. It’s not accomodating to fans in any way. It creates new problems the league, which was doing well, will now have to figure out how to handle.
@Danwolf
You don’t make a lot of sense, and I don’t know what this post has to do with the subject at hand. You can love the split season or hate it, but it will have an effect on fan base next year.
It will not be easy for the first time fan to understand this structure, but more importantly, it is not the sporting culture of the US.
Next season will certainly be interesting to see how fans view all of this, and by that, I mean everyone’s viewpoint.
@Bart
what i am saying is your comments come off as smug.
@ Danwolf,
That would be your interpretation, not everyone else’s. Some would consider this judgmental and condesending. From what I understand, this is not your style. Maybe we need to take a step back and smell the roses. Now, do you really feel this way?
I didn’t quite understand Bart’s 2nd reply to Danwolf, something about a moon? The last one made more sense though.
Anywho; I’m finding myself agreeing with some of Strikers Return’s comments, who is agreeing with some of….Bart’s comments??? Is this bizarro IMS? Sorry, getting back on topic again. The change in format doesn’t solve anything, it just gives Traffic use of the summer transfer window. I don’t understand the idea that splitting the season “gives teams that performed poorly in the spring a chance to reboot their seasons”. Doesn’t the current format do a better job of that? What are the realistic odds of a 5th or 6th place finisher in the first half rebounding strongly enough to finish 1st in the second half?
Tweaking the playoff format would have made much more sense. I hope I don’t get scolded for mentioning Women’s Soccer here, but I always liked the WPS post season set-up. Four teams with a three game playoff; 3 vs. 4 first, the winner played 2, and that winner played the regular season champ in the final. Teams were rewarded for finishing higher in the standings, and the top 3 each hosted a game. Win the regular season title, and you automatically host the championship game. That league didn’t do many things right, but I thought they nailed the playoff portion.
Then of course, how many teams are going to be in this new split season league? Eight? Nine? Ten? More? Don’t ask the Commish, he doesn’t know either. Will the Stars still be in the league? Will the Cosmos actually be in the league in 2013? How many games will the season consist of? (one of the detriments of having a ‘balanced’ schedule). These and many other questions will be answered (maybe) on or after…October 27th? Makes selling season tickets tough, don’tcha think? Was this really a good time to implement a season format change? Can you say cluster + that nasty four letter word?
I believe this split season change will do a lot more harm than good, and has the potential to cause the league some serious damage that it may not able to recover from.
http://www.soccersam.com/media/audio/20120922.mp3
51:13
What do you think of split season?
OMG what a joke, they are intentionally trying to ruin the sport in U.S
Ah, Soccer Sam-the PT Barnum of American lower division professional soccer.
I gotta give him serious props for keepin’ it real and admitting that he wasn’t familiar with the concept of a split season.
As far as him clowning the idea goes-he’s the guy that was preaching more rock and jock jams during matches. Coz we all REALLY need to hear the Black Eye Peas “Tonight’s gonna be a good, good night!!! Let’s pump it up!!!” one more time in our lives-and even better yet-during the run of play during a soccer match, no less.
Yep!!! That’s what us Americans really want. Coz it’s-ya know-a lot like the NFL (except they don’t actually do the music thing during the uhm, actual play).
I kid you, not. He actually blamed a reduction in the Carolina Railhawks attendance several year ago on the organization dropping the stadium music and trying to be too European or foreign or whatever. They became “too FC”.
Of course firing a head coach who Sam was personally familiar with, a coach who happened to have built an incredible rapport with the community-especially the youth clubs had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the drop off in attendance.
Good Ole Soccer Sam…In a world of uncertainty and upheaval, it’s nice to know that we still have his consistently unintentionally comedic commentary to light the way to help make soccer a success here in the USA.
If Sam ever decides to take my calls again, I gotta ask Wizard of Western New York if he still wants to bring back the SHOOTOUT for regular season matches (coz everybody knows that we Americans hate ties.)
Thank your lucky stars that Soccer Sam is going to keep fighting the good fight and help save soccer in America from all the people that are trying to intentionally trying to ruin it. That knowledge is what helps me to be able to sleep at night. The guy who wants to bring back the shootout and the first two lines from Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” after chippy tackles to a soccer stadium near you…
@yankiboy
You miss the point with Soccer Sam, his franchisees, by and large, make a damn good pizza! Always delivered on time and always with a smile (of course you need to tip them).
I would bet he is still an advocate of the shoot out, and I wonder if his Lancers are ready for the upcoming season. He does put his money where his mouth is.
Are two seasons really enough to provide us with useful statistical data? I’m not so sure, especially given that the seasons we’re using were set up completely differently.
@ Strikers Return
Your comment to my first point is actually correct. We really aren’t saying opposing things, just different things which point to the same aspect of the output of the players. Thanks for the agreement on the second point. You’re right about the ‘core fans group’ needing to grow in order to sustain some real salaries at the D2 level. I would say (very amateur guess) each team needs the core base to reach between 8-10 at the D2 level.
You also made the point that since the American soccer landscape doesn’t include pro/rel yet the single table (& no playoffs) system has a tough road. Whenever you have pro/rel there’s lots of excitement at the top and bottom of various divisions. I remember that when I lived in Europe; the pro/rel excitement at the D2,D3, D4 was more fun to get into than the D1 dramas. I remember that once the season got past the half-point there were always 3-5 teams that were scared to death of relegation, while their counterparts in the division below were excited as heck trying to get a crack at it. We’ve got some ways to go, but I’m glad you brought it up.
@ yankiboy – thanks for that last post about Soccer Sam. I don’t know if I should laugh or cry when I listen to the show, but….what can you do. I guess I’ll have to try a slice of that pizza at some point….tough to say ‘no’ to pizza.
@Bart: Soccer Sam does make a tasty pizza (and that’s no joke).
You’re also right when you stated that he puts his money where his mouth is and has for a long time. His leadeship helped save the Rhinos a few years back.
I saw his Lancers play twice last season and I look forward to seeing them play again this upcoming MISL season.
I’ve seen a few people now make remarks concerning the Cosmos participation in the 2013 NASL season. As much as I HATE this new schedule format and think it’s an eyesore for the league, it is less than nothing in comparison to the complete debacle it would be for the Cosmos not to be taking the field in the NASL next April. Somebody needs to step to the plate and squash this rumor ASAP, not wait for October 27th. We’re pretty much at 6 months from next year’s kickoff at this point. I know teams have skated by getting themselves ready for a season in less time than that. But when you look at the Scorpions and how they’ve shown how incredibly beneficial it is to have as much lead time as possible, how can anyone be dragging their feet still if they do intend to be playign in 2013?!? And that includes any other start up expansion team that might be coming in with the Cosmos. Or are we going to just go with the thought of, eh, no big deal if these expansion teams are a mess in the first “half season.” They always have the second “half season” to turn it around and be crowned “Half Season Champs!!!!”
@yankiboy –
Soccer Sam may say a lot of “crazy” things about his opinions on the state of soccer in the US, but the boy does know marketing, and he is absolutely passionate about his views on these issues.
The sausage and mushroom pizza is to die for. And he ain’t cheap on the ingredients, either. There is a reason he has, shall we say, a larger girth than most.
I thought there was a sort-of rule about not taking threads off on tangents, and here I am reading all this Soccer Sam guff. Oh well, when in Rome….coming from a fellow paisan, his joints do make a savory pie. Even tried their lasagna once, not too shabby. As for his Soccer-related temperament; he is certainly all about the sizzle, and barely smells the steak. He’s part marketing gimmick himself, and most listeners of ‘Kick This’ know not to take his off-the-cuff remarks too seriously. Can’t say I was thrilled about him buying the Lancers name and slapping it on an indoor team, but it is his money and his right.
As for the Cosmos, and having brought that issue up a couple of times, you really do have to wonder. No mention of an established home venue, any sort of an infrastructure being put together, etc. When BQ interviewed Downs recently and directly asked the question, Downs didn’t (couldn’t?) give a straight answer. With a split season now pushing things forward, they’re rapidly running out of time.
Unless you go with the crazy theory the Stars will only be funded for the Apertura, and the Cosmos come in for the Clausura season?
Nah, they wouldn’t!
…Would they?
Here is a thought for the split season…..
NASL should grow to 16 teams immediately. 8 teams play the first season and the other 8 play the second season. The winner of each mini-season plays a fight to the death match on neutral territory.
The trophy is dipped in the blood from the losing team players, and the bodies are piled high in the middle of the field and set on fire as a tribute to the end of the season.
NASL is forced to grow one new team a year, so fresh “blood” is always ever present in this dynamic new league.
I guarantee the networks will pick this up.
Oh look, someone at Cosmos HQ read my post yesterday and got with the program today. LOL