OT: MLS closing in on NFL, NBA, MLB in U.S. - Landon Donovan

[robertmac43]

I've noticed that and don't get it. It's not like the two sports are in competition TV wise. It's like some Hockey Fans feel that they are the gate keepers and that MLS or soccer will take away it's shine or attention.

Yup! People feel like it is some terrible foreign thing coming in and taking away from the ways of the past. Some of my hockey only friends will write off Soccer for stupid reasons like diving and slowness; drives me crazy!

 

[eddygee]

Yup! People feel like it is some terrible foreign thing coming in and taking away from the ways of the past. Some of my hockey only friends will write off Soccer for stupid reasons like diving and slowness; drives me crazy!

Especially considering IMO the sports have similar flows both free flowing and the passing and speed of passing and skills on the puck/ball can leave you in awe at times. I mean you don't have to like soccer at all its cool with me, but the lengths they go out of their way to bash it points to something deeper. I'll point to lacrosse a sport that doesn't interest me. I'm sure some people in the lacrosse circles will swear its the best thing since sliced bread. If I come across them it's cool I'll listen but I won't be all like your sport sucks no one watches it'll never be anything dream on. Like what did Lacrosse do to me right

 

[ForumNamePending]

In 15 years naybe MLS will bring in 2 billion in yearly revenue.


The NHL will probably be taking in 7.5 billion at the very least.

Probably closer to 9 billion.

I'm lost here MLS is basically already a 1 billion dollar league NHL AT 4.7 billion is basically a 5 billion dollar league. One league the NHL is the mature league that means in this case for NHL newer streams of significant revenues are close to being maxed out. I don't see how it will take MLS 15 yrs to get another 1 billion and have 2 billion in revenue, but NHL is going to increase league wide revenues by 50%. Where is all this new found money and interest going to come from to generate that kind of growth in the next 15 yrs?...

C'mon now... You have no issues coming up with ways to justify your opinion that the media rights for a league that pulls in 30-40 million viewers/year is worth something similar to a league that pulls in 150+ million viewers/year... Surely you have an active enough imagination to come up with zany ways the NHL could squeeze out another $2 or 3 billion by 2035.

Back in 2009-10 the NHL had already been around for ~90 years... That's pretty mature. In less than a decade the league has managed to increase revenue by nearly $2 billion. So I'm not sure adding another $2-3 billion in the next 15 or so years is as crazy as it first seems.

It's a fair cringe.

I just wish we would cringe that much every time the Super Bowl comes on and the NFL claims "HALF THE WORLD WILL SEE THIS GAME" when the game is on overnight in Europe and the ratings pretty much don't exist.

Is that really something we still commonly hear though? But ya... The old claim that a billion people (or whatever) would watch the Super Bowl was , especially so in retrospect when viewership for something like the World Cup final is estimated to come in at about a billion. To be honest though, I don't think the NFL was alone when it came to coming up with ridiculously inflated world wide viewership numbers. I also use to hear claims that 2 or 3 billion would watch the Olympic Opening Ceremony or the WC final. I think it sort of stopped when people started doing some digging and figuring out the numbers being claimed weren't even close to reality.

 

[eddygee]

C'mon now... You have no issues coming up with ways to justify your opinion that the media rights for a league that pulls in 30-40 million viewers/year is worth something similar to a league that pulls in 150+ million viewers/year... Surely you have an active enough imagination to come up with zany ways the NHL could squeeze out another $2 or 3 billion by 2035.

Back in 2009-10 the NHL had already been around for ~90 years... That's pretty mature. In less than a decade the league has managed to increase revenue by nearly $2 billion. So I'm not sure adding another $2-3 billion in the next 15 or so years is as crazy as it first seems.

We know how the growth occurred last time it was mainly fueled by TV revenue (Canadian deal) some key sponsorship's/ BAMTECH deal. I even looked at where I could see future growth outside of the common smaller revenue streams gate/merchandise. So again where do you see the additional billions coming from in revenue. Is the NHL gonna get 2-3x as much from Canadian TV deal? Is Rogers going to pay 2-3x more than what they are now? Are we gonna get a 1 billion dollar yr US TV/ digital media rights deal?

Large revenue increases in sports league are fueled by TV fees in this day and age as TV rights make up the majority of Pro Sports leagues revenues. I suppose the gambling deal money could bring more extra cash but seeing where we just signed a deal and its still a relative new thing you can't be certain of any huge windfalls right now.

 

[ForumNamePending]

The increase in Canadian rights and the BAMTECH would only seem to account for $400-500 million/year. So a substantial portion of the additional $2 billion came from other sources. What exactly?... . Wherever they got the revenue from perhaps there is more of it.

The NHL might be mature but a lot of their markets are not. The league's push into the "sunbelt" only started a few years before MLS got off the ground. Sure the NHL has been around for a century, but when you think about it they have only been trying to be a "thing" in America for about as long as soccer (in one form or another) has.

 

[eddygee]

The increase in Canadian rights and the BAMTECH would only seem to account for $400-500 million/year. So a substantial portion of the additional $2 billion came from other sources. What exactly?... . Wherever they got the revenue from perhaps there is more of it.

The NHL might be mature but a lot of their markets are not. The league's push into the "sunbelt" only started a few years before MLS got off the ground. Sure the NHL has been around for a century, but when you think about it they have only been trying to be a "thing" in America for about as long as soccer (in one form or another) has.

Sponsorship Spending On The NHL Totals $559.5 Million In 2017-2018 Season

I got $560 mil as of last season from reported Publicized Sponsorship deals. (Note) this doesn't include the TV US/Canada media rights deals Canadian = $330mil yr US current rate along with US deal = $200 mil US yr along with $100 mil BamTech deal. So I have about $630 mil yr from TV broadcast/digital deals. Along with the Publicized Sponsorship deals of $560 mil yr NHL is getting $1.2 billion yr So the questions is where is the other NHL reported $3.5Bn coming from. Could it be possible NHL is doing $3.5Bn in tickets and merchandise. You'd expect a greater league kit deal similar to NHL if jersey sells where that strong. Are local TV deals enough on avg per team to account?

I've seen charts on here from people who've estimated team revenue from based off avg attendance and avg ticket price. Maybe it's possible it's all gate driven. I'm gonna have to default to one of the insiders on here that knows more.

 

[eddygee]

The increase in Canadian rights and the BAMTECH would only seem to account for $400-500 million/year. So a substantial portion of the additional $2 billion came from other sources. What exactly?... . Wherever they got the revenue from perhaps there is more of it.

The NHL might be mature but a lot of their markets are not. The league's push into the "sunbelt" only started a few years before MLS got off the ground. Sure the NHL has been around for a century, but when you think about it they have only been trying to be a "thing" in America for about as long as soccer (in one form or another) has.

Sponsorship Spending On The NHL Totals $559.5 Million In 2017-2018 Season

I got $560 mil as of last season from reported Publicized Sponsorship deals. (Note) this doesn't include the TV US/Canada media rights deals Canadian = $330mil yr US current rate along with US deal = $200 mil US yr along with $100 mil BamTech deal. So I have about $630 mil yr from TV broadcast/digital deals. Along with the Publicized Sponsorship deals of $560 mil yr NHL is getting $1.2 billion yr So the questions is where is the other NHL reported $3.5Bn coming from. Could it be possible NHL is doing $3.5Bn in tickets and merchandise. You'd expect a greater league kit deal similar to NHL if jersey sells where that strong. Are local TV deals enough on avg per team to account?

I've seen charts on here from people who've estimated team revenue from based off avg attendance and avg ticket price. Maybe it's possible it's all gate driven. I'm gonna have to default to one of the insiders on here that knows more.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

In 15 years naybe MLS will bring in 2 billion in yearly revenue.


The NHL will probably be taking in 7.5 billion at the very least.

Probably closer to 9 billion.

I'm lost here MLS is basically already a 1 billion dollar league NHL AT 4.7 billion is basically a 5 billion dollar league. One league the NHL is the mature league that means in this case for NHL newer streams of significant revenues are close to being maxed out. I don't see how it will take MLS 15 yrs to get another 1 billion and have 2 billion in revenue, but NHL is going to increase league wide revenues by 50%. Where is all this new found money and interest going to come from to generate that kind of growth in the next 15 yrs? The next US TV deal could generate a additional $200-300 mil a yr for NHL. NHL just signed that gambling deal, not sure how much that is or how long but lets say its $100m so thats $300-400 mil yr additional revenue. That gets NHL to about 5.5 billion a yr in revenue. Where is the additional billions coming from? Will the Canadian TV deal triple? Will the existing US hockey markets go hockey mad? Serious question.

Inflation in the form of increased ticket prices, concessions, merchandise, and additional streams of income currently not contemplated or that don't exist. [Think some new technology that we don't even know about or that exists but hasn't been remotely leveraged.]

$5 billion at 2.5% inflation growth for 15 years gets you to about $7.24 billion; $5 billion at 4% inflation gets you to $9 billion. Not that far-fetched at all.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Sponsorship Spending On The NHL Totals $559.5 Million In 2017-2018 Season

I got $560 mil as of last season from reported Publicized Sponsorship deals. (Note) this doesn't include the TV US/Canada media rights deals Canadian = $330mil yr US current rate along with US deal = $200 mil US yr along with $100 mil BamTech deal. So I have about $630 mil yr from TV broadcast/digital deals. Along with the Publicized Sponsorship deals of $560 mil yr NHL is getting $1.2 billion yr So the questions is where is the other NHL reported $3.5Bn coming from. Could it be possible NHL is doing $3.5Bn in tickets and merchandise. You'd expect a greater league kit deal similar to NHL if jersey sells where that strong. Are local TV deals enough on avg per team to account?

1. Unpublicized sponsorship deals
2. Local broadcast rights
3. Local sponsorship deals
4. In-arena advertising
5. Luxury box sales
6. Club box sales

That's just off the top of my head before we get to tickets, merchandise, concessions, parking, etc.. What I will say is that it's incredibly difficult to understand that $560 million number with absolutely zero details of how it was computed [e.g., how much various sponsors are spending at the league and team level] to begin to understand what's missing in it.

 

[MNNumbers]

This will be a completely 'throw some spaghetti at the wall' analysis....

From wiki, 22.2M fans attended regular season games last year. If the average $ amount spent by those fans was, let's say $100, then that is 2.2B of ticket revenue right there.

Add playoffs. There were 84 playoff games. at 18.5K each, that would be 1.554M fans. Let's call it 1.6M. If those fans spent an average of $200 each, that makes more than another 300M in ticket revenue.

So, really quickly, we are finding about 2.5B of tickets. That doesn't include suites, clubs, etc....

Like ACAS, the number for sponsorships is incomplete. But, it's not that difficult to see in general where the $$ is coming from.

 

[eddygee]

This will be a completely 'throw some spaghetti at the wall' analysis....

From wiki, 22.2M fans attended regular season games last year. If the average $ amount spent by those fans was, let's say $100, then that is 2.2B of ticket revenue right there.

Add playoffs. There were 84 playoff games. at 18.5K each, that would be 1.554M fans. Let's call it 1.6M. If those fans spent an average of $200 each, that makes more than another 300M in ticket revenue.

So, really quickly, we are finding about 2.5B of tickets. That doesn't include suites, clubs, etc....

Like ACAS, the number for sponsorships is incomplete. But, it's not that difficult to see in general where the $$ is coming from.

Ok good suff, I see it now I'm a stickler at stuff like this. I was trying to find out the rest for my personal records. That makes more sense so in a way NHL is still more of a gate driven league. The only areas left untapped to really increase revenue would be TV/digital rights. Arenas can't get bigger well they theoretically can but it's not plausible. I do suppose as has been mentioned the Sun belt strategy started in the 90s could start to pay league wide dividends.

 

[MNNumbers]

Ok good suff, I see it now I'm a stickler at stuff like this. I was trying to find out the rest for my personal records. That makes more sense so in a way NHL is still more of a gate driven league. The only areas left untapped to really increase revenue would be TV/digital rights. Arenas can't get bigger well they theoretically can but it's not plausible. I do suppose as has been mentioned the Sun belt strategy started in the 90s could start to pay league wide dividends.

However, eddygee,

You should keep in mind that while Bettman and his associates like to talk about the league wide number....
The important thing is really what happens locally.

And, that is the real issue. Here's why....

A market like Toronto, which dominates a huge metropolitan area and is having a great season, can likely raise all ticket prices for next year by an average of, say $10. That's going to increase their revenue by.....
750K fans or so, *10......7.5M dollars. If they can renegotiate their local TV contract, they will get more out of that as well. So, in this way, there is room for growth. But, it's on the local level.
In contrast, a market like Arizona can't really afford to raise its prices like that because their arena seldom sells out as it is....So they will have trouble keeping up. Likewise, the local TV there is not worth nearly as much at Toronto's.
And, thus, the revenue disparity keeps growing and growing, and that puts a lot of pressure on the finances of clubs like Arizona, Florida, Carolina.....and even, in come cases Colorado, St Louis, Columbus, etc.

 

[Puckstuff]

MLS will be a top 5 soccer league sooner then people think; possibly (and honestly likely) within the next 5 years.

Once they have 28 teams, 28 soccer stadiums and quality on the pitch better then it is now with the parity they have now; it's going to be hard to denounce that it's not a top 5 league. All of this will happen in the next 5 years.

MLS has similar average attendance numbers to Ligue 1; with much more teams. MLS has more parity, new stadiums and momentum. They have started acquiring young talent from South America and Europe much more rampantly. Nearly every team has a "star" or top level talent and they are improving the overall depth of the league fast. There is an obvious need for better academies, and more depth throughout the league and some of the markets don't have high quality soccer specific stadiums but they're coming.

2024 projection: MLS has 28 teams, it's one of the most competitive, wealthiest soccer leagues in the world, the average MLS salary is top 7 in the world (in soccer) and it is a financially responsible with quality on the pitch.

 

[2023FriendshipTour]

It will never be the best league, which is why it will never be very popular.

 

[PCSPounder]

I feel like no matter how Soccer does in the NA there will always be a crowd of people who are anti-Footie. Especially in the Hockey fan community.

The discussions on this board regarding soccer are 10 times more fair-minded than I have historically found on boards focusing on pointyball or baseball. Part of that might be because this forum is moderated in a somewhat tight manner. Part of that is because Canada isn't really infected with sports radio of the same "verve" with which America is infected (at least from what I can tell... I know there's a couple exceptions).

 

[robertmac43]

The discussions on this board regarding soccer are 10 times more fair-minded than I have historically found on boards focusing on pointyball or baseball. Part of that might be because this forum is moderated in a somewhat tight manner. Part of that is because Canada isn't really infected with sports radio of the same "verve" with which America is infected (at least from what I can tell... I know there's a couple exceptions).

Yeah my experience with Soccer throughout HF is pretty good. Sometimes when Soccer is used to compare anything to hockey things can get a little silly but for the most part the anti-soccer agenda is less evident here.

I actually find there is far less crap on the soccer board than on any of the other boards. I believe it is because the board is an afterthought to most, so the consistent posters are those who actually really appreciate the sport.

 

[cutchemist42]

Overall, I found there to be nothing more annoying and counter productive than internet posters whining over sport A vs sport B. The like-my-sport crowd sometimes does more harm than good. I'm joy going to say which sports I feel are the worst offenders but you likely know them.

That being said, we live in a time where almost every sport in the world is accessible which is why I find obsessing over a sport's popularity to be sad. Sport a being more popular than sport B in 2019 doesnt stop you from being able to consume the less popular sport. I would have understood the annoyance in the 80s/90s but now?

Lastly, I personally dont buy that the correlation va youth sport vs adult sport interest as strongly correlated as some internet posters think. I think there's too many examples both anecdotal and also macro observations that might indicate otherwise.

 

[AllDay28]

I love what the MLS is, what it brings and I love the thought of the future of soccer in the US and Canada being way better since its unacceptable for Canada to be this bad in a sport with a 30+ mil population.

that said, the MLS being close to those other 3 sports cant even be remotely true

 

[robertmac43]

I love what the MLS is, what it brings and I love the thought of the future of soccer in the US and Canada being way better since its unacceptable for Canada to be this bad in a sport with a 30+ mil population.

Canada will get there. I think the next decade will see much improvement for the Mens National team.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

MLS will be a top 5 soccer league sooner then people think; possibly (and honestly likely) within the next 5 years.

MLS is still viewed as the place where older players past their prime come to make a few bucks and get adored on by U.S. soccer fans who are nostalgic, not the place for players in their prime to go to show off their skill and play against even a handful of the world's best. Until you get even say a half-dozen of the world's 100 best in the league at the point(s) in time where they rank in the top-100, you're left with "what we don't have in quality, we make up for in quantity" and that's not an argument I'd lead with.

Once they have 28 teams, 28 soccer stadiums and quality on the pitch better then it is now with the parity they have now; it's going to be hard to denounce that it's not a top 5 league. All of this will happen in the next 5 years.

Mexico's Liga MX has 10 titles and 18 finals in the CONCACAF Champions League, and only once has failed to get at least 2 teams into the semis [2015, which was followed by getting all 4 semifinal spots the year after]. MLS has had three (3) finalists and 9 semifinalists over the same span. Let's seen MLS win a (one) CONCACAF Champions League [distinguished from the Champions Cup, which D.C. United and L.A. Galaxy won back in 1998 and 2000 respectively], not "someone gets to the finals every 2nd or 3rd year" and "most years, we can get a team to the semifinals" before we start "top-5 in the world" talk. [And even then, it's still got a way to go to displace Liga MX on this continent.]

Moreover, when the MLS All-Star XI can consistently beat top European teams who aren't using the MLS All-Star game as a preseason tune-up, then we can talk about how MLS might be getting toward the top-5 and how the top MLS teams might be able to go hang with a PSG, Lyon, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, or Porto - or even

MLS has similar average attendance numbers to Ligue 1; with much more teams. MLS has more parity, new stadiums and momentum. They have started acquiring young talent from South America and Europe much more rampantly. Nearly every team has a "star" or top level talent and they are improving the overall depth of the league fast. There is an obvious need for better academies, and more depth throughout the league and some of the markets don't have high quality soccer specific stadiums but they're coming.

Is depth improving? Yeah. Is top-level talent flowing in, though? No. [Well, yes - but it's "really good for MLS" and not "pretty decent for even Ligue 1."] Hell, even our best young talent isn't staying here to play in MLS.

MLS as a top-5 league at some point? Sure, I'd buy that. Eventually. In the next 5 years, though? Not a chance. I'd say 15 years, best case - probably more like 20-25.

 

[eddygee]

MLS is still viewed as the place where older players past their prime come to make a few bucks and get adored on by U.S. soccer fans who are nostalgic, not the place for players in their prime to go to show off their skill and play against even a handful of the world's best. Until you get even say a half-dozen of the world's 100 best in the league at the point(s) in time where they rank in the top-100, you're left with "what we don't have in quality, we make up for in quantity" and that's not an argument I'd lead with.


Mexico's Liga MX has 10 titles and 18 finals in the CONCACAF Champions League, and only once has failed to get at least 2 teams into the semis [2015, which was followed by getting all 4 semifinal spots the year after]. MLS has had three (3) finalists and 9 semifinalists over the same span. Let's seen MLS win a (one) CONCACAF Champions League [distinguished from the Champions Cup, which D.C. United and L.A. Galaxy won back in 1998 and 2000 respectively], not "someone gets to the finals every 2nd or 3rd year" and "most years, we can get a team to the semifinals" before we start "top-5 in the world" talk. [And even then, it's still got a way to go to displace Liga MX on this continent.]

Moreover, when the MLS All-Star XI can consistently beat top European teams who aren't using the MLS All-Star game as a preseason tune-up, then we can talk about how MLS might be getting toward the top-5 and how the top MLS teams might be able to go hang with a PSG, Lyon, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, or Porto - or even


Is depth improving? Yeah. Is top-level talent flowing in, though? No. [Well, yes - but it's "really good for MLS" and not "really good for even Ligue 1."] Hell, even our best young talent isn't staying here to play in MLS.

MLS as a top-5 league at some point? Sure, I'd buy that. Eventually. In the next 5 years, though? Not a chance. I'd say 15 years, best case - probably more like 20-25.

Yeah it's definitely not top 5 but it is about top 12/13 right now. They are top 10 in revenue in soccer leagues globally I say after next TV deal they have a shot to be number 6 or 7 behind the Top 5 Euro leagues where the top 4 all put a claim to being the best. Counter argument to the MLS will never be big because it's not the #1 league in the world like MLB/NBA/NFL/NHL. MLS makes plenty of noise already now as a top 12 league when it gets to Top 6/7 level that will be plenty enough for US fans to take up the banter that our league is the best like the countries of the other Top 5 leagues make that claim in their country. This is part of the whole "soccer is the worlds game" thing is all about.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Lol, nah dude.

Though with the rapid reproduction rate of the Hispanic community, it's definitely going to grow.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Lol, nah dude.

Though with the rapid reproduction rate of the Hispanic community, it's definitely going to grow.

I agree soccer as a whole will grow but its lazy assumption to assume a) Hispanics who grow up here will like the sport and even if they do b)they will spend money on MLS.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Lol, nah dude.

Though with the rapid reproduction rate of the Hispanic community, it's definitely going to grow.

I agree soccer as a whole will grow but its lazy assumption to assume a) Hispanics who grow up here will like the sport and even if they do b)they will spend money on MLS.

 

[Puckstuff]

MLS is still viewed as the place where older players past their prime come to make a few bucks and get adored on by U.S. soccer fans who are nostalgic, not the place for players in their prime to go to show off their skill and play against even a handful of the world's best. Until you get even say a half-dozen of the world's 100 best in the league at the point(s) in time where they rank in the top-100, you're left with "what we don't have in quality, we make up for in quantity" and that's not an argument I'd lead with.


Mexico's Liga MX has 10 titles and 18 finals in the CONCACAF Champions League, and only once has failed to get at least 2 teams into the semis [2015, which was followed by getting all 4 semifinal spots the year after]. MLS has had three (3) finalists and 9 semifinalists over the same span. Let's seen MLS win a (one) CONCACAF Champions League [distinguished from the Champions Cup, which D.C. United and L.A. Galaxy won back in 1998 and 2000 respectively], not "someone gets to the finals every 2nd or 3rd year" and "most years, we can get a team to the semifinals" before we start "top-5 in the world" talk. [And even then, it's still got a way to go to displace Liga MX on this continent.]

Moreover, when the MLS All-Star XI can consistently beat top European teams who aren't using the MLS All-Star game as a preseason tune-up, then we can talk about how MLS might be getting toward the top-5 and how the top MLS teams might be able to go hang with a PSG, Lyon, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, or Porto - or even


Is depth improving? Yeah. Is top-level talent flowing in, though? No. [Well, yes - but it's "really good for MLS" and not "pretty decent for even Ligue 1."] Hell, even our best young talent isn't staying here to play in MLS.

MLS as a top-5 league at some point? Sure, I'd buy that. Eventually. In the next 5 years, though? Not a chance. I'd say 15 years, best case - probably more like 20-25.

Average age in MLS: 25.3.
Average age in EPL: 26.7.

MLS is not a retirement league anymore.

I don't get why your stating LIGA Mx's history to make a point of how it relates to future MLS growth, especially when MLS is in hyper growth. The moment in time MLS catch’s Liga Mx or surpasses it, all history is irrelevant re: best league.

If Ligue 1 is currently the 5th best league in the world (widely assumed to be top 5) , I'd bet MLS would catch Ligue 1 in the next 5 years.

MLS might not have a PSG type team in 5 years because they will spread out their talent among 28 teams. Overall the league will have games that are much more competitive. (More regular competition in Liga MX, MLS - Martino)

12 of the top 13 highest paid players in Ligue 1 are on PSG. The quality drops significantly after the top 5 teams.

MLS has an average of 21 k attendance right now and actually has more teams. Ligue 1 has an average of 22 k.

So how could MLS catch Ligue 1 in 5 years? Here's some different factors you would consider.


1) Attendance average (very close right now)
2) Number of teams in the league (MLS by a lot in 2024)
3) T.V viewership numbers and contract deals.
4) Stadium and maintenance
5) Financials
6) Parity (how competitive is each game)
7) Entertainment: How will a league with parity and a unique playoff championship system attract new fans?
8) Quality on the pitch - What will MLS CBA allow teams to do?
9) Fan atmosphere during the games.


The leagues will be very hard to compare and we basically have to estimate and use our own bias' to state what we value most in a league. MLS could be a better league with a slightly lower average salary for example; especially as they continue to buy young south americans and bring them over. My estimation is young players in North America, South America and Central America will choose MLS in 2024 over playing for a mid table Ligue 1 clubs; mean while MLS teams will have opened up the strings to allow teams to spend more.

 

[YEM]

MLS will be a top 5 soccer league sooner then people think; possibly (and honestly likely) within the next 5 years.

There's no chance of this happening, for a few dozen different reasons. Similar things were said/written 5, 10 years ago also. Adding more teams will only decrease the chances of this happening.

 

[Bookie21]

There's no chance of this happening, for a few dozen different reasons. Similar things were said/written 5, 10 years ago also. Adding more teams will only decrease the chances of this happening.

Agreed. If MLS could have kept it to 15-20 teams, maybe they could have cracked the top 10. They got greedy and money hungry and added teams at an unrealistic pace and the product got watered down. Right now MLS is ranked world wide in the 18-22 range. This won't change