Is Major League Soccer a league based on parity, or is it a parody of a league?
During ESPN's coverage of the recent Seattle Sounders v Portland Timbers match, the network made one of their usual errors during Alexi Lalas' talk on league parity, with the screen caption about league "parody". While Lalas and ESPN commentator Taylor Twellman had a good laugh about the Freudian slip on their ESPN "Big Head/Red Head" podcast, for many Americans, it is a legitimate question.
The match in which this mistake happened was the home debut of America's captain and the highest paid player in MLS, Clint Dempsey. It was in front of more than 67,000 fans in Seattle, or in other words, one fifth the audience who watched the match on television. The meager 350,000 audience (.001% of our population) was still good enough to garner ESPN its second best rating for an MLS match this season.
Part of the reason the numbers were so low could be attributed to the often late start times for ESPN MLS matches, normally 10PM start times on the East coast. ESPN often points to the small ratings as an excuse for pushing the league into a corner, often late prime time Sunday nights, and the lack of a "southern presence" from the league for their lack of support and promotion. Something that seems to me to be a sort of self fulfilling prophecy. You don't receive strong ratings, so we don't promote and push your product, airing it in a dead zone, guaranteeing a further lack of ratings.
In response, MLS commissioner Don Garber has stated the league will be expanding, and as I have stated in a previous article, two of the four expansion teams are expected to be in the south, with the leagues newest expansion side NYCFC being in the New York/East Coast media market. Don Garber seems to be acquiescing to the desires of ESPN, with no proof of support on the offer. Worst of all, with television rights ready to come up for the bidding, ESPN may not even be a partner with the league when next season rolls around, let alone by the time a "southern presence" enters the league.
As I have stated in previous posts, an increase in MLS television deals to that of what the National Hockey League receives would automatically lend itself to a massive increase in the salary cap, allowing MLS to compete financially with Mexican clubs, but also allowing itself to keep improving the standard of play with the type of players it can attract. At the same time the TV deal comes up for bidding, MLS must also renegotiate its collective bargaining agreement with the MLS players union. American Soccer Super Agent Ron Waxman, who barters for a large percentage of MLS player as well as American exports like Michael Bradley, has come out as of late and made outrageous claims about the league and its standard (insulting his own clients no?) claiming the league has never been this bad in its entire history. Obviously Waxman is either the most ignorant man to ever watch MLS, or he is completely invested in the raising of the salary cap and increasing the wallets of his clients and more importantly himself.
The behavior of ESPN toward a sports league it shows on their air, and the behavior of the most influential agent in the game in America, lend themselves to saying MLS is in fact a teenage parody of a football league. The reactionary behavior of Don Garber lends itself to people believing the league and its commissioner as being a parody of what American sports are, in particular the socialist and most popular sports league in the country (let us not forget, the organization Garber came from) the National Football League.
The Eurocentric snobbery of many fans in America is one based on wanting "the best". It may be based on "the American spirit", or more likely an inferiority complex when it comes to a game many of us came to later in life than those in the rest of the footballing world. What we have isn't as good as what you have, so we will mock what we have, ignore it, and support what others have to offer as a way of fitting in. The American soccer fandom itself can be seen as a parody of European football culture, from the support of major European football powers, to the naming of recent Major League SOCCER teams ending with an "FC". (Football club)
One of the many reasons Americans seem to mock their home league, is because it is a league based on parity. Squads are very fluid. Every club for the most part has the same advantages and disadvantages as all the others. Location and owners with open pockets can give a small leg up on the competition, but in the end, MLS is harder to predict week in and week out than any sports league in the country. And what drives many fans crazy, the league is rather secretive about its rules, as well as who and what the money is being spent upon. In response to these valid criticisms, Don Garber has given a rather snarky yet honest response, when transparency is beneficial to the product and the fan experience, transparency will be granted, until then, they will stick with what they do.
Some might argue that MLS is not a league of parity, as the LA Galaxy have built a dynasty in the era of designated players. This argument shows the short term memory loss or ignorance of many fans. The first three years of the "Beckham Experiment" were for the most part a complete and utter failure in the results department. It wasn't until the arrival of Robbie Keane to complete the Galaxy trinity that LA won back to back MLS Cups. Last season included a playoff to get into the playoffs (#4 seed v #5 home and home series) and some playoff scares along the way which could have made the "dynasty" one time champions in a five year era. Not exactly the Yankees or Patriots.
The New York Red Bulls have spent massive amounts of money on designated players while having nothing to show for it. Apart from a few US Open Cup victories, (thanks in part to a long home match streak) the Seattle Sounders have spent large amounts of money to mediocre results. Meanwhile, small spenders like Houston Dynamo continue to compete, as do Real Salt Lake and Colorado Rapids, teams that have nearly as much "dynasty" claim as the Galaxy. When it comes to results on the pitch, despite the "have and have not" mentality most fans view MLS with, MLS is the most open and unpredictable league in the world.
This weekend a few hundred thousand Americans sat in front of a television and watched Manchester City, soon to be MLS franchise owner and one of the best teams in England, take on Hull City, one of the weakest clubs in the English top flight. The majority of Americans would tell you about the quality of English football and the superiority of the product on every level. They like to watch "the best". On the same network, NBC Sports Network, a smaller audience tuned in to see the New York Red bulls, one of the best teams in MLS, take on DC United, the worst team in all of MLS. What those who tuned in saw was a much more competitive match, a much more fluid match, a much more entertaining match, a much more open match, a match filled with more talking points, and frankly, more interesting football.
When you combine the inferiority complex of American fans with the PR machine that backs European football, you get a sense that anything European is automatically better than whatever MLS can and does give us. It is rarely based on visual evidence and experience, but on old beliefs about a league in its infancy.
Am I saying MLS is better than the EPL? Of course not. But the standards are not as far apart as many American fans suspect. Don Garber has stated his goal for MLS is to be one of the top leagues in the world by 2020. While ratings would suggest MLS is a few country miles away from such a placement, those who view football from all over the world thanks to the current plethora of options available to us, reality is that MLS has already achieved that goal on the pitch. While England, Spain, Italy, Germany, and France can all lay claim to having "better" leagues, MLS is at or near the top of the pack following those top leagues. But unlike those leagues, where only 2 or 3 clubs ever have a chance of lifting the title, MLS is wide open, a potentially more inclusive fan experience.
Parity can be the strength of MLS. Revenue sharing. Salary caps. All staples of the most successful league in America. If we as fans get behind our MLS clubs and the league itself, the improvements MLS has made in the past few years will only make the league everything we hoped but never thought it could one day be. The alternative would be a continued ignorance of and disdain for the league, unnatural expectations, and a league which is nothing more than a parody. Support the league and we will get what we deserve, fail to do so, and we never will. The choice is ours, parity or parody, and the end result is completely up to us.
Until next time, remember, MLS Matters.
