Mls New Season

[purpleronnie]

Shame that it's a Franchise

American sports are....thats the reality of all sport in the US.

[lavrentis]

American sports are....thats the reality of all sport in the US.

Shame the MLS is which is why it won't develop into a world league like La liga or the premier league or be as skillful as them

[purpleronnie]

I don't think anyone involved in the MLS ever believed it would be as popular as some top european leagues, their aim was a sustainable, affordable league, thats what they have. They also wasn't expecting to get a 18,000 average crowd, signings like henry, beckham, and for most teams to have brand new stadiums....so you never know.

All I know is I'd rather have a league like the MLS which is pretty wide open, encourages fans, has extremely cheap tickets etc etc....over a league that is very popular in thailand and fans are oppressed and bled dry.

[lavrentis]

I don't think anyone involved in the MLS ever believed it would be as popular as some top european leagues, their aim was a sustainable, affordable league, thats what they have. They also wasn't expecting to get a 18,000 average crowd, signings like henry, beckham, and for most teams to have brand new stadiums....so you never know.

All I know is I'd rather have a league like the MLS which is pretty wide open, encourages fans, has extremely cheap tickets etc etc....over a league that is very popular in thailand and fans are oppressed and bled dry.

Has beens looking for a last payday in desirable locations ?

Yeah agree on those last points but I suppose it has to encourage fans and have cheap tickets to make the sport become more popular.

I do think you have the wrong idea on English football nowadays, you seem to think every single fan just sits down and shuts up, you moan a lot about it. When was the last time you went to a Leicester game away or at home. Sure it's not the best but its not as bad as you think it is

[Happy Fox]

Are Houston Dynamo any good? might go to a game.

[purpleronnie]

Has beens looking for a last payday in desirable locations ?

Yeah agree on those last points but I suppose it has to encourage fans and have cheap tickets to make the sport become more popular.

I do think you have the wrong idea on English football nowadays, you seem to think every single fan just sits down and shuts up, you moan a lot about it. When was the last time you went to a Leicester game away or at home. Sure it's not the best but its not as bad as you think it is

Beckam at 32 was a has been....ok.

Don't get me wrong I do love the english game and sometimes the atmopshere is good, but it seems to get worse every year.....I don't think every fan sits down in silence but the majority do.

Last game was villa in the cup....everyone said how good the atmopshere was....maybe I need my ears testing because if that was a good atmopshere they we're doomed, and from what I've read (and heard) the atmopshere is worse now...so I cant see too many positives as far as the way fans are treated at games and the growing apathy towards atmosphere inside our stadiums....you know its bad when the yanks take the piss.

[purpleronnie]

Are Houston Dynamo any good? might go to a game.

I would say decent...not as good as we were a few years ago, stadium is a cracker though....not been too impressed with the atmosphere I thought it was better at our old one but theres been teething problems with security and the new stadium but things do look like they are improving, if I had to pick a team to see go visit portland, shit team brilliant atmosphere.

[Happy Fox]

I would say decent...not as good as we were a few years ago, stadium is a cracker though....not been too impressed with the atmosphere I thought it was better at our old one but theres been teething problems with security and the new stadium but things do look like they are improving, if I had to pick a team to see go visit portland, shit team brilliant atmosphere.

Nah I am of to Houston for the holidays, anything decent to do their sporting wise?

[lavrentis]

Beckam at 32 was a has been....ok.

Don't get me wrong I do love the english game and sometimes the atmopshere is good, but it seems to get worse every year.....I don't think every fan sits down in silence but the majority do.

Last game was villa in the cup....everyone said how good the atmopshere was....maybe I need my ears testing because if that was a good atmopshere they we're doomed, and from what I've read (and heard) the atmopshere is worse now...so I cant see too many positives as far as the way fans are treated at games and the growing apathy towards atmosphere inside our stadiums....you know its bad when the yanks take the piss.

To be fair I'd say in most leagues the majority of fans sit down there the minority make the noise. Honestly I agree with you I hate atmosphere at the KP but no way will we ever see what it was like in the 70's and 80s in England again and that's sad for people like me that never saw it anyway. People need to let go of that.

I actually think there is sort of like an upcoming of fans in the English leagues that want to sustain some atmosphere or bring some more back, but you still see English fans standing and singing at most grounds in the country.

Aye stewards are ***** sometimes but even so, you still do get atmosphere and I think some people exaggerate.

[purpleronnie]

Nah I am of to Houston for the holidays, anything decent to do their sporting wise?

when are you going?

[purpleronnie]

To be fair I'd say in most leagues the majority of fans sit down there the minority make the noise. Honestly I agree with you I hate atmosphere at the KP but no way will we ever see what it was like in the 70's and 80s in England again and that's sad for people like me that never saw it anyway. People need to let go of that.

I actually think there is sort of like an upcoming of fans in the English leagues that want to sustain some atmosphere or bring some more back, but you still see English fans standing and singing at most grounds in the country.

Aye stewards are ***** sometimes but even so, you still do get atmosphere and I think some people exaggerate.

Maybe in england but portland, seattle, Kansas....I would say have around 60-70% fans standing all game. I would say seattle might have 20,000 standing at home.

[purpleronnie]

Nah I am of to Houston for the holidays, anything decent to do their sporting wise?

You could go and watch a astros game (baseball)..nice stadium, good side too...I actually liked baseball when I was over there but theres no real atmosphere,,,only at certain points of the game.

The houston rockets (basketball) never seen a game live....supposed to be a poor side.

Plus houston dynamo of course.

NHL season is over, NFL doesnt start till September.

[Happy Fox]

You could go and watch a astros game (baseball)..nice stadium, good side too...I actually liked baseball when I was over there but theres no real atmosphere,,,only at certain points of the game.

The houston rockets (basketball) never seen a game live....supposed to be a poor side.

Plus houston dynamo of course.

NHL season is over, NFL doesnt start till September.

Cheers for the info looking forward to going their haven't been to the States in yonks cannot wait for a decent steak.

[purpleronnie]

Cheers for the info looking forward to going their haven't been to the States in yonks cannot wait for a decent steak.

.

I know what you mean.

[Jordan]

Comments about American fans, stewards, atmosphere etc. should come with a few caveats.

Yes, in many stadiums, the stewards (or "ushers," as we call them) don't bother the fans, but that wasn't always the case, even as early as three or so years ago. It has gotten better, though, as more teams have built their own stadiums. Dealing with stadium staff at the old Giants Stadium was a nightmare for Metro/Red Bulls fans, and there were a few ill-tempered incidents between the ESC et al. and ushers. We were treated like hooligans for no good reason. A lot of other fans had to deal with a lot of bullshit, too, especially wherever teams rented from NFL teams.

MLS has changed its approach, though, and it's good to see teams actually embracing this element of fan support. MLS used to be all about being a "family" league that patronized its multicultural support. Two funny things happened along the way, though: 1) even while the league made steady progress, the general public and media didn't take MLS seriously and 2) all those kids from the league's early stages are now young adults and would rather hang out with adults and get rowdy. MLS also realized that, unlike the "big four" sports that rely on big sponsorship deals, big TV deals and big-spending corporate luxury box and season ticket holders, its most loyal consumers were the hardcore support. So, the league has embraced this image (it sure looks good on TV).

(But as a backlash against it's gooey earlier image, you'll MLS has tried to use "traditional" names that really sound pretentious, like "Real Salt Lake" and "Sporting Kansas City," which is stupid).

Also, in no other American sport will you even find anything remotely close to what you see in the stands at MLS games. Most other games look and sound much, much more like what you'll think of when you think of a stereotypical American sporting atmosphere. It is good that MLS breaking away from this mold.

As for purpleronnie's comments about MLS fans being well-organized, they are. A lot of this stems from years of being on the periphery of the sporting consciousness, when soccer fandom was like a cult, where we had to go out of our way to do even simple things like find our local team's game on TV. Tifo, road trips, etc are nearly all done by the fans. If you're not going to an away game, there is always a home bar for the supporters group where everybody goes to watch.

As for comments about "franchises," I fail to see how that matters about anything. NBA is a cartel, and basketball is getting big around the world (European players are getting much, much better, not to mention China and Argentina), but the NBA will always reign supreme. Even besides that, I don't quite see how that hurts the league. MLS really needed big money owners to cover the debts it needed to run to get started, anyway.

[purpleronnie]

Portland v seattle tonight, atmopshere will be amazing.

[Jordan]

I only caught a second or two of that, but it seemed like another fun day at the Jeld-Wen.

Red Bulls vs DC was thrilling today. 3-2 for the Metro, including the first two goals of Brandon Barklage's MLS career, months after being cut by DC. His second was especially gorgeous.

[purpleronnie]

I only caught a second or two of that, but it seemed like another fun day at the Jeld-Wen.

Red Bulls vs DC was thrilling today. 3-2 for the Metro, including the first two goals of Brandon Barklage's MLS career, months after being cut by DC. His second was especially gorgeous.

Yep, loads of goals recently in the MLS.

[purpleronnie]

Great tifo from portland

[Bridge]

The picture in the lower middle is Clive Charles..ex West Ham, Cardiff City defender. He's a local legend as an NASL Timber & coach of University of Portland men's & women's football teams. (coached Kasey Keller in his days as UP) Sadly died in 2003 at age 52. The match was a success by the way..2-1 Timbers win.

[purpleronnie]

LA lose again in a corker of a match 4-3 san jose.

Houston win.

[Jordan]

NY draw at Toronto--TFC they looked better than they had under Winter, but even away, only getting one point against that sorry bunch feels like a loss.

The top of the East is still finely poised, though. And if Jürgen Klinsmann insists on calling Chris Wondolowski into the next USMNT lineup at the expense of Chris Pontius (no, not the guy from Jackass), I'm going to sigh and shake my head.

[purpleronnie]

over 50,000 saw san jose beat LA btw.

I still think some of the new stadiums in the MLS arent big enough I reckon the league could average 30,000 in a few years.

[Jordan]

Averse attendance now is about 18k league-wide, so I doubt MLS can bring it up to 30k in a few years.

Average attendance would be a little higher if Chicago didn't play in Bridgeview, or New York didn't play in Harrison, or especially New England in Boston, not Foxborough (edit to add that Red Bull Arena is still much better for attendance than Giants Stadium was). A 2nd team in the NY metro area could be a big boost to attendance, but the proposed location in Queens for the new place is actually farther away than Harrison, NJ for a lot of people even in neighboring Brooklyn.

Montreal's attendance has been disappointing lately.

[purpleronnie]

Averse attendance now is about 18k league-wide, so I doubt MLS can bring it up to 30k in a few years.

Average attendance would be a little higher if Chicago didn't play in Bridgeview, or New York didn't play in Harrison, or especially New England in Boston, not Foxborough (edit to add that Red Bull Arena is still much better for attendance than Giants Stadium was). A 2nd team in the NY metro area could be a big boost to attendance, but the proposed location in Queens for the new place is actually farther away than Harrison, NJ for a lot of people even in neighboring Brooklyn.

Montreal's attendance has been disappointing lately.

No I meant if the stadiums were big enough weve seen seattle open larger areas up for bigger games and attract over 40,000, san jose got 50,000, I just think the bigger games could get much larger attendances but due to the fact a lot of MLS stadiums have a capacity of 20,000 theres little room to increase them, portland sell out every game, even toronto sell theres out and they're terrible.....maybe I was pushing it by saying 30,000. but if they continue to switch some big games to larger stadiums they could easily average 20,000+ which will put them up with the best attended leagues in the world.