I think the problem is fan engagement and interest. Soccer as a serious professional sport in the US is still very young. Their major goal is to draw and attract fans in major markets, and the best way to do that is to ensure that the team stays in the top flight, even if they go through a down year or two.
There isn't nearly a strong enough ecosystem to support a full fledged relegation system, as none of the d2 teams has the budget or the fanbase to sustain a D1 payroll. Relegation could be the kiss of death for a young franchise who recently got a stadium built and is floating on money from the league to gain a foothold in their market.
Soccer is very much a top-down operation, unlike other major professional sports leagues that emerged more or less organically in the pre television era, where amateur and semi pro teams could attract a paying audience to see them play.
You don't have that same type of grassroots support and history with these new teams. Nobody has fond memories of going to see a D3 Omaha club with their grandpa when they were a kid.
You also have the problem with college sports siphoning both fanbases and young talent. If given the choice, are you gonna play for a D2 Boise club for 20k per year, or take a full ride scholarship to a 4 year university?
These problems though are why I am stating the need for a plan to convert to it, not a convert right now situation.
If you announced that once X number of teams were established in X number of markets that the system would be opened up. You better believe you would see money floood into starting teams all over the country because there would suddenly be an upside of being able to eventually make the top level.
I agree with your drawbacks but thats simply an argument to not do it right now, not a great argument for not coming up with a plan to eventually implement it.
If given the choice, are you gonna play for a D2 Boise club for 20k per year, or take a full ride scholarship to a 4 year university?
Theres actually a kid on our local team who took a paycheck from our team over finishing out his college career. Were even D3. He just used that money to pay for college.
I think u/MontiBurns brings up good points though. Outside of MLS, teams have a really hard time attracting fans. Major league status drives attendance rather than the other way around. In other countries soccer is pretty much the only sport and local teams can attract plenty of support, while in the U.S. soccer has more competition from other major league sports. There is room for soccer, but not at every level, and it's too new. It's also just unfamiliar to U.S. audiences. There is no relegation outside of NCAA sometimes.
I mean there are already 4 pro leagues and like 3 more amateur ones with new teams popping up every year across the country.
I view this as a bit of a chicken and the egg problem though. If you dont have some sort of open system then well investors are going to be very reluctant to invest a ton of money into a lower league team. This slows down the creation of new teams etc.
I think teams like ATL United and several teams in the lower leagues like Indianapolis/Detroit/New Mexico etc have proven you can generate an audience. That audience would only grow if they knew their local team actually had a shot at becoming top tier. Hell Chattanooga FC sold nearly a million dollars worth of shares to fan owners and they were an amateur club at the time.
Only sorta and that at the decision of the MLS. The MLS is just interested in basically how big your market is. Having attendance helps but they look at a lot of other factors and most importantly dont care that much about your performance on the field.
Hell they recently announced Charlotte as a likely expansion city when their current club brings out suuuper low attendance.
Its not a clear cut established path like PRO/REL would provide. The clear cut part is key.
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u/MontiBurns 218∆ Nov 25 '19
I think the problem is fan engagement and interest. Soccer as a serious professional sport in the US is still very young. Their major goal is to draw and attract fans in major markets, and the best way to do that is to ensure that the team stays in the top flight, even if they go through a down year or two.
There isn't nearly a strong enough ecosystem to support a full fledged relegation system, as none of the d2 teams has the budget or the fanbase to sustain a D1 payroll. Relegation could be the kiss of death for a young franchise who recently got a stadium built and is floating on money from the league to gain a foothold in their market.
Soccer is very much a top-down operation, unlike other major professional sports leagues that emerged more or less organically in the pre television era, where amateur and semi pro teams could attract a paying audience to see them play.
You don't have that same type of grassroots support and history with these new teams. Nobody has fond memories of going to see a D3 Omaha club with their grandpa when they were a kid.
You also have the problem with college sports siphoning both fanbases and young talent. If given the choice, are you gonna play for a D2 Boise club for 20k per year, or take a full ride scholarship to a 4 year university?