Capture The Imagination of The American Soccer Fan: Endorse The Plan
American Soccer is Hot. MLS is Not.
Soccer is alive and well in the USA...
- since 1986, it has been our most popular youth sport
- 2006 World Cup matches drew more Ameican TV viewers than NBA finals or World Series games
- pre season European friendlies draw sellout crowds in American stadiums
- our USMNT pushes deeper into international tournaments than at any time since 1930
- Americans lead the way in World Cup ticket sales
... but a closed and debilitated MLS lays atop a stunted pyramid.
- WWE draws an average of twenty five times more cable TV viewers than MLS
- MLS average attendance records are as old as the league itself
- The "failed" NASL averaged twice as many network TV viewers in 1980 than any single MLS Cup
For over a century now, our domestic professional sports establishment has marched in lockstep. Every pro league is closed. Every pro league is ceded more power than any club. Since 1894, every time our domestic model has been applied to club soccer, it has failed.
Major League Soccer, the entitled first division in our stunted, fragmenting soccer pyramid, has taken league control to new heights. This latest installment of the closed league saga sets a protectionist standard that our other entitled professional sports owners salivate over. On top of being entitled protection from relegation, their single entity model has stacked miniscule salary caps, squad size limits, and other curbs on club autonomy, enforced by league majority ownership of every club.
They have succeeded in shielding owners from financial risk, but at great cost to our club game. Their limits on club autonomy have given us an exhibition league that cannot capture the imagination of the average US soccer supporter. As a result, we have been left with a debilitated club game that has been on and off life support for a decade and a half.
It is no coincidence that our clubs struggle in international play, and that no US club has ever won a match on Mexican soil. By replacing performance with parity, they have debilitated our top clubs in international play. By redistributing profits, they restrict our top clubs.
Perhaps most importantly, by dismissing the proven model of promotion and relegation, they have robbed every lower division club of hope, sponsors, and support.
Join Us
We are ready for great club soccer. No matter how many new protectionist entitlements our owners are offered, our old, closed, domestic model cannot provide it. Promotion, relegation and independent clubs made soccer the sport of the planet. It is no coincidence that it hasn't been implemented here, and that countless North American leagues have failed since 1894.
Do you want to see every club granted an unlimited future? Would you like to see clubs spring up in new communities across America, with new investors, new supporters and new homegrown players? Can you imagine a pyramid with 160 clubs in four top divisions battling for promotion, against relegation, and striving for international glory? Are you excited to see a new generation of fans exposed to unlimited club soccer in their local communities for the first time?
Together we can show US Soccer, potential sponsors, and the world that we are ready to let our clubs strive for greatness, instead of packaging mediocrity as parity. We can show them that great club soccer can prosper in the USA without owner entitlements and tight league controls. We can show them that we understand promotion and relegation. We will capture the imagination of millions of new supporters.
Players are asked to risk their livelihood every day on the pitch. Is it too much to ask owners to do the same?
Don't wait for another league to fail. Show them you are ready for great club soccer in the USA. Show them you understand.
Endorse the plan at www.soccerreform.us.
.jpg?w=600 "Offseason Moves for Every Team 👉")
.png?w=600 "New NBA Mock Draft 📝")
