With the MLS Cup Final done, it's time for the offseason. A few thoughts on this season of MLS and the upcoming offseason.
Best Season Ever?
Given that there was some doubt that this season would even happen, this was a very good season for MLS, perhaps the best ever or at least one of the best ever. Attendance continues to rise, as do TV ratings, and the playoffs included two penalty shootouts and record-breakingly fast goals. With the TAM system, more stars and great athletes are coming to MLS too. Of course, much ballyhooed expansion team NYCFC is going to be playing in Yankee Stadium for the foreseeable future and David Beckham's Miami dreams were stymied for most of the season, but hey Orlando City SC was a huge hit and already are 2nd in attendance, so it's not all bad news on the expansion front.
Records Were Shattered
Cyle Larin destroyed the old rookie scoring record with 17 goals, enough to put him in the top 6 for the golden boot (beyond Bradley Wright Phillips only due to assists being the tie-breaker). Sebastian Giovinco scored a combined 38 goals and assists to beat the old record for combined goals and assists set by Chris Wondolowski. We've had the records for fastest playoffs goal and fastest MLS Cup goal broken, by a long distance. All told, aside from the goals in a season record (that Giovinco was only 5 away from tying) virtually every major scoring record was broken in MLS this year.
The TV Deals Worked Out
Some of the biggest news this season was the start of the new TV deals with Univision, ESPN and Fox Sports; so far it looks like those deals have panned out. Ratings are up and as a fan, I must say knowing that every Sunday afternoon there is at least one game makes it easy to remember, even if I can't see those Univision games on Friday. There were some hiccups and problems, like games being moved to Fox Sports 2 to accomodate NASCAR delays, but overall it was a pretty positive deal. For the love of God though, get Alexi Lalas out of the commentator's booth, he's terrible.
The Future: Free Agents and Foreigners?
Much was made in the last offseason about free agency, for the first time in MLS history we actually have free agents and, from a fan perspective, it's not exactly an exciting group. Due to the heavy limitations on free agents, almost all of them are mediocre talents, guys that have always been just good enough to stick around in MLS, but not good enough to become designated players or jump over to Europe; the only real exception is Mike Magee, and even he is a little doubtful after a year filled with injury recovery and disappointment.
During the season, much hang-wringing was done about Sebastian Giovinco and Didier Drogba coming into the league and being so good after being mediocre in Europe mere months before, so is MLS destined for a future in which foreign players dominate the league? I don't think so, and not just because MLS artificially limits the number of foreign players, after all a lot of other big name European transplants flopped (See: Lampard and Pirlo) and others were actually outperformed by their local counterparts (Cyle Larin outscored Kaka, after all). Ultimately, if our boys can't hack it then that's on the US, its players and its training systems though, not on MLS; coaches are paid to train and field the best teams possible, general managers are paid to assemble the best team possible and team owners aren't owners for charity purposes.
The future, in my opinion, looks bright for the league as it reaches drinking age, and that is unquestionably a good thing for soccer in the US.
Best Season Ever?
Given that there was some doubt that this season would even happen, this was a very good season for MLS, perhaps the best ever or at least one of the best ever. Attendance continues to rise, as do TV ratings, and the playoffs included two penalty shootouts and record-breakingly fast goals. With the TAM system, more stars and great athletes are coming to MLS too. Of course, much ballyhooed expansion team NYCFC is going to be playing in Yankee Stadium for the foreseeable future and David Beckham's Miami dreams were stymied for most of the season, but hey Orlando City SC was a huge hit and already are 2nd in attendance, so it's not all bad news on the expansion front.
Records Were Shattered
Cyle Larin destroyed the old rookie scoring record with 17 goals, enough to put him in the top 6 for the golden boot (beyond Bradley Wright Phillips only due to assists being the tie-breaker). Sebastian Giovinco scored a combined 38 goals and assists to beat the old record for combined goals and assists set by Chris Wondolowski. We've had the records for fastest playoffs goal and fastest MLS Cup goal broken, by a long distance. All told, aside from the goals in a season record (that Giovinco was only 5 away from tying) virtually every major scoring record was broken in MLS this year.
The TV Deals Worked Out
Some of the biggest news this season was the start of the new TV deals with Univision, ESPN and Fox Sports; so far it looks like those deals have panned out. Ratings are up and as a fan, I must say knowing that every Sunday afternoon there is at least one game makes it easy to remember, even if I can't see those Univision games on Friday. There were some hiccups and problems, like games being moved to Fox Sports 2 to accomodate NASCAR delays, but overall it was a pretty positive deal. For the love of God though, get Alexi Lalas out of the commentator's booth, he's terrible.
The Future: Free Agents and Foreigners?
Much was made in the last offseason about free agency, for the first time in MLS history we actually have free agents and, from a fan perspective, it's not exactly an exciting group. Due to the heavy limitations on free agents, almost all of them are mediocre talents, guys that have always been just good enough to stick around in MLS, but not good enough to become designated players or jump over to Europe; the only real exception is Mike Magee, and even he is a little doubtful after a year filled with injury recovery and disappointment.
During the season, much hang-wringing was done about Sebastian Giovinco and Didier Drogba coming into the league and being so good after being mediocre in Europe mere months before, so is MLS destined for a future in which foreign players dominate the league? I don't think so, and not just because MLS artificially limits the number of foreign players, after all a lot of other big name European transplants flopped (See: Lampard and Pirlo) and others were actually outperformed by their local counterparts (Cyle Larin outscored Kaka, after all). Ultimately, if our boys can't hack it then that's on the US, its players and its training systems though, not on MLS; coaches are paid to train and field the best teams possible, general managers are paid to assemble the best team possible and team owners aren't owners for charity purposes.
The future, in my opinion, looks bright for the league as it reaches drinking age, and that is unquestionably a good thing for soccer in the US.