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Soccer-specific stadiums being built to accommodate game’s growing interest stateside
Future bright for MLS
By peter sharkey
Published: 21/01/2009
GOLDEN BALLS: The signing by Los Angeles Galaxy of midfielder David Beckham has helped raise interest in football in America
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David Beckham’s recent appearance in an AC Milan shirt prompted inevitable questions about a permanent return to Europe, although whether he would be prepared to forfeit the £3.5million guaranteed annual salary paid to him by Los Angeles Galaxy is another matter.
Beckham insists he has unfinished business in the States, a comment initially interpreted as a sop to his north American sponsors, but with the new US Major League Soccer season little more than a month away, the Stateside version of the game is, in contrast with its European cousin, in rude health.
It’s three years since MLS introduced the Designated Player Rule (or Beckham Rule) which enabled US clubs to break their salary cap and have the option of buying big name players. The former Manchester United player was the first to fall into this category as he signed a lucrative contract worth up to £30million over five years, with a guaranteed annual minimum of £3.5million.
MLS clubs operate with a total salary budget of around £1.6million, though each is allowed to sign one player whose remuneration may exceed the salary cap. Many have taken advantage of the rule, most notably the New York Red Bulls who now employ the former Aston Villa forward Juan Pablo Angel.
Designated players have been complemented with investment in clubs’ academies and in more talented international players, moves which have dramatically boosted skill levels.
“MLS players are now more highly coveted than ever before, as demonstrated by the recent transfers of Jozy Altidore to Villarreal for £6million, Maurice Edu to Rangers and the £2.5million for Clint Dempsey to Fulham. These sums will not be taken out of the game, but reinvested into our product, creating a virtuous cycle which will reinforce the elevation of the game,” said MLS deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis, who joined the organisation in April 1994, two years before the league’s inaugural game, as a member of its founding management team.
He remains as enthusiastic about its future as he was 15 years ago.
The writing was on the wall a few years ago when the World Cup final between Italy and France attracted more US viewers than Major League baseball’s world series. This enormous audience will continue to grow as America’s Hispanic population increases and as north American youngsters follow the sport through distribution channels which didn’t previously exist.
Broadcasters are targeting ratings by promoting the game as a major sport. The US is paying Fifa more than any other country in the world for the broadcast rights to the next two World Cups.
Another MLS franchise, Seattle Sounders, are due to join the league this season before the Philadelphia area becomes home to the 16th team in 2010.
By 2012 the league is expected to have 18 teams.
So popular has the game become MLS is currently considering bids for the 17th and 18th teams. The franchise fee for these new clubs will be at least £29million, money with which prospective owners could comfortably acquire most UK-based professional clubs and have plenty of change.
Spread across an enormous area, the league is well represented demographically, yet perhaps the principle reason for its burgeoning success has been the rise of the soccer-specific stadium, a development which has transformed the MLS landscape.
Since 1996, the venues in which clubs had to play, often cavernous NFL stadia capable of accommodating more than 80,000, had failed to create the type of atmosphere essential.
With MLS supporter bases ranging between 10,000 to 22,000, the construction of new stadiums has rejuvenated the league. The New York Red Bulls and wonderfully named Real Salt Lake are among those to unveil new stadiums.
MLS has also taken huge commercial strides, perhaps the most significant being the recent landmark deal agreed with some of north America’s major TV networks. The new contract will earn the league £12million every year and for the first time, broadcasters will take responsibility for producing the games. The arrangement is considered a turning point in the league’s financial status, one designed to boost its profitability.
In addition, fresh tournaments involving MLS clubs are beginning to bring north American football more in line with those of other continents in respect of format and timing. For example, the new Concacaf Champions League, open to MLS clubs, bases its format on that of the Uefa version so beloved by Europe’s elite.
“We are pleased with the progress we’re making,” said Gazidis. “But this is a long-term project based on strategically controlled growth.
“Our focus remains on elevating the quality of play on the field, strategic expansion, raising our international exposure and credibility, and broadening the scope and activity of our very successful marketing arm, Soccer United Marketing.”
The elements, likely to make the goal achievable, would appear to be in place. The US is experiencing dramatic demographic changes with exploding populations of football-loving Hispanics, Europeans and Africans, while the indigenous youth market continues to grow.
Little wonder when his short term loan in Italy has concluded, Beckham will be returning to the US where he can influence soccer’s development to an extraordinary degree.
Het zal er wel nooit komen maar het is te hopen dat Amerikaanse ploegen structureel in de Copa Libertadores mee mogen doen of minimaal in de Sud Americana. Dat leidt alleen maar tot een hoger niveau in de VS en meer competitieve wedstrijden
"We moeten ons bewust zijn van de superioriteit van onze beschaving, met zijn normen en waarden, welvaart voor de mensen, respect voor mensenrechten en godsdienstvrijheid. Dat respect bestaat zeker niet in de Islamitische wereld".