MLS Playoffs: Why, and How, the MLS Really (Really) Wants Us to Care

The MLS Playoffs begin this week and, frankly, it's okay if you didn't know that. It's not just me saying that, by the way. The people in the MLS offices totally understand their place in the American sports landscape. Heck, the people in the MLS offices totally understand their place in the American soccer landscape.

Though it would be nice, MLS isn't trying to get every single soccer fan to suddenly care about their league; they just want to know how their league can grow a footprint in a country that habitually ignores its product.

I was invited to the MLS offices last week to sit in on a roundtable with some top soccer writers and general sports folks like me to talk with members of the MLS staff. It was clear, over the four-hour meeting, that MLS really wants people to care, going so far as to ask us—and ask us to ask our readers—what they can do to make the experience better. It's entirely progressive, and wonder if it will work.

We met with Nelson Rodriguez, the Executive VP of Competition, Technical and Game Operations, and much of that time was spent talking about the league's operations, focused mostly on why the referees have been so terrible (note: Rodriguez agreed they were "poor" to start the season but have gotten better as the year went along).

We also talked about the current playoff structure that allows 10 of the league's 18 teams to qualify for the postseason, leading to a rabbit-hole debate about whether MLS should institute relegation to make the regular season more exciting and if that would or wouldn't raise the quality of soccer across the league.

Rodriguez brought up the point, which has been echoed for years by those inside MLS, that the quality of play in the league is on par with many international leagues—going so far as to say that the MLS product is a higher brand of soccer than many teams currently playing in the English Premier League.

He's probably right.

As Americans, we are used to having the best league in the world when it comes to our traditional professional sports—football, basketball, baseball, golf, hockey—and there's a belief that more Americans would watch soccer if they had the best players lacing up their boots on our soil. While MLS certainly doesn't boast the best players in the world, the quality of the league is leaps and bounds better than we think.

How do I know this? Well, because for almost 15 years I was one of the soccer snobs laughing when people like Rodriguez or Alexi Lalas did interviews talking about how the top teams in MLS would be competitive in the English Premier League. It's a ludicrous idea—until you watch quality MLS teams play. I'm not suggesting the LA Galaxy would go out and win the UEFA Champions League, but you can be damn certain that team is better than one or two teams in each section of the current UCL pool play.

No, MLS teams are not as good as either of the two teams in Manchester, but there's a case to be made that Stuart Holden's old team, the Houston Dynamo, could wipe the pitch with his new team, Bolton (granted, having Holden on the field would certainly help).

I admit I didn't realize the level of quality until a team was placed in my city. Having a chance to really watch MLS matches with the same focus and dedication given to EPL matches, I'd much rather watch the Philadelphia Union and New York Red Bulls, from a quality of soccer standpoint, than Wigan or QPR. Sure, I used the example of a team that was recently promoted and a team that will almost certainly get relegated, but the point stands that if you take everything else out of the equation and just talk about the soccer on the field, MLS isn't nearly as bad as we perceive.

(The idea of MLS relegation is another column for another time. Suffice it to say, Rodriguez is no fan of relegation and thinks that the playoff structure for MLS, while different than traditional soccer leagues, is important in an effort to cater to American sports fans' sensibilities. He's right; we need playoffs in MLS; we just don’t need more than half the league getting in.)

I mentioned Alexi Lalas, one of the biggest defenders of the MLS product. He was at the roundtable too, talking about how the league needs to do a better job identifying and developing stars. The league needs bigger personalities if it expects more attention in the already-crowded US sports landscape. Lalas said that using traditional forms of media—even ESPN where he currently works—isn't the way to go for a league like MLS. Using social media, and blogs, is the best way for the league to grow its young stars.

"If Twitter and camera phones existed when I was playing," Lalas explained, "my career wouldn't have lasted more than one year."

It's a great line, and probably true if you know anything about Lalas as a player. But it's a different world now, and players should be using the direct access to fans to build their personal brands, creating a more dynamic brand for the league and the sport in the process. Lalas said that, when he was a GM, he would love it if a player blasted him on Twitter, because it showed that the player cared, had strong opinions and wasn't afraid of the spotlight.

Plus, it got people talking about his team, which is always good. I like Lalas, but it should be noted that he's not a GM in the league anymore and maybe (maybe) wanting players with "star personalities" over robots who fit into a team mold, is part of the reason why.

Lalas is right, though. The fact is, there aren't enough stars in the league and American fans aren't wrong to ignore MLS. Having said that, New York has some of the league's biggest stars with Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez, plus young U.S. soccer names Juan Agudelo and Tim Ream, and they can't even sell out a brand new arena just outside New York City. How is this possible?

We talked a lot about that in our roundtable discussion. Some inside the room feel that fans have wavered after years of mismanagement and poor results from the former NY/NJ MetroStars. Others inside the room—mostly people from the New York market—feel that the team and league do a poor job targeting the right fans for matches.

The Red Bulls will never get fans from Queens or the Bronx to come down to Harrison, N.J. to watch a soccer match, no matter how many times they remind people they are New York's team. But should they be doing more to target specific soccer fans inside the city? Should Thierry Henry go to popular Manhattan bars on Saturday mornings to watch EPL matches with fans, in hopes that some will eventually turn into Red Bulls fans and show up to matches on Saturday night?

It can't hurt, but it takes time. And it takes us.

The league is willing and able to accommodate a new form of media—even asking us for specific examples of what we want to see on their website in an effort to help get MLS stories out to you on ours. The answer, by the way, is video of crazy goals, controversial calls and singers screwing up the national anthem. And, sadly, horrific injuries and David Beckham fighting with fans and/or picking his nose, I assume.

We were asked why nobody is talking about how terrible New England have been and why more writers (read: any writers) aren't calling for Steve Nichols' job. The answer is simple: nobody cares. There's such a small pocket of Revolution fans that care enough about the team that it's really not worth spending the time to break down why a coach should be fired on a national soccer site or promoting the story as big news on national sports site like this.

The local guys are a different story, and if the MLS is going to thrive, they need to do a better job educating all teams on what sites can help them grow. The Philadelphia Union should not be ignoring Bleacher Report or SB Nation because they look at them as team sites.

Now, I assume I can get a credential for the playoffs, but I know the SB Nation writer who dedicates his time to covering the team has been unsuccessful in the past. I'm not even sure if the B/R writer who covers the Philadelphia Union can get a pass. Frankly, I don't even know if that person exists.

And that's part of the problem, I suppose. We can post five stories about why Arsene Wenger should be sacked at Arsenal and each story will get tens of thousands of views. If we do a story on Steve Nichol or a story on the first-ever playoff game for the Philly Union, and they might get a few hundred. Heck, even this story won't do as well as if the headline said something about any EPL squad. Why? Because there is a history in the EPL that doesn't exist in America.

Major League Soccer is a first-generation league. In 1994, the U.S. national team finally arrived, after decades of virtual non-existence. We grew up with the USMNT as the only soccer team we cared about, and even that was years after most European teams had the kind of following they boast now. MLS was born a year or two later, but it really took five to 10 years to get to the point of reaching legitimacy.

Now, the league looks strong and sustainable and it's amazing how far MLS has grown since its inception. But it's going to take a decade or two—a generation or two—for fans to care as much as we do about the teams we've followed our whole lives.

MLS knows that, but they can't just wait around until our kids start buying tickets. They need more attention now. It's great to see they understand we are part of that.