I don’t think they need a Messi or Ronaldo to compete. Croatia almost won it and they didn’t have a Messi or Ronaldo

@@MLSMoves Almost is not winning and they have a world class player called Luka Modric that won ballon de’Or in 2018. How many American players have won that award or have been nominated?

He’s a good dude!

You think Jozy is the worst American player you’ve seen live?

Hopefully he is gone afterwards

He is holding this team back so much it’s actually insane

@@MLSMoves yes he is. It's so damn infuriating.

I don’t think it will be that bad. But if it is….. we’re in trouble

Do you even watch soccer?

It’s not looking good but we will see. What happens if we do make it to the Semifinals?

@@MLSMoves what happens if I win the lottery? Same odds tbh.

Promotion-Relegation looks like an awful system. I don't know how fans in those other countries live with it, to be honest. It must be that they don't know any better, they've never experienced anything else. So while they are stuck with Pro-Rel in most of the world of Soccer, us in MLS and the U.S. do not have to suffer their fate. The "Major League" system makes things much more competitive and more entertaining.

Relegation is too nonsensical for the U.S.

I always see people say that MLS is actually a more fun league to watch, even though the skill is better in some such other league (in the comments of most of the "bigger videos" of MLS high lights/recaps on KZbin).

@@davidday2373 I think it's because it's a lot more raw and maybe the newer watchers appreciate the physical play more as it aligns with a lot of other US sports. I think the lack of technical skills will always put MLS into the lower rungs in terms of league strength.

MLS will grow even with the rules in place that help ensure Parity within the league. Every other league in the U.S. has restrictions like in MLS and are HUGE and competitive sports leagues.

@@davidday2373 none of the other leagues are competing against leagues around the world that have high talent levels and the salary caps and those other leagues are over $100 million except for the NHL but even that is rising they get the best players from around the world MLS doesn’t

@@alanwylie7207 MLS actually does increase spending on players. Average Payroll has been doubling every 5 to 6 years. But people don't see that -- I didn't know that until I did the research myself. If the trend continues, MLS will be spending the 6th most among European leagues (per team) within a couple of years. Also, MLS currently spends a smaller % of revenue on Player Salary than most Euro leagues AND all other U.S. Major Leagues. So when the time comes, MLS can increase that % even with the current restrictions in place (U.S. style), and further increase Player Salary. The point is that the restrictions in place is not what is keeping MLS teams from spending. It's simply the overall philosophy and strategy. The restrictions are to help ensure a degree of Parity.

@@davidday2373 I guess my thing is teams like the Premier league and La Liga don’t have much parody but they get higher quality players. Honestly, if the MLS didn’t have much parody but could compete with those types of leagues I’d be happy. look, let’s be honest if inter Miami were to go to the Premier league they be relegated.

That’s how you improve a league atleast in the short term. Eventually those homegrown players will be able to compete with these guys

@@MLSMoves Homegrown players haven't competed in awhile. What do you think MLS has been doing since 1996? Doing exactly as you suggest, not in the amounts you are saying, but spending more either in salary or roster expansion. Just take a look at 4 teams.... randomly selected... 1996 San Jose Clash 22 68% 2006 Metrostars 23 70% 2016 FC Dallas 32 44% 2023 LAFC 46 30% The first column is the roster size, the %s column represents the share of roster spots occupied by US Players. A comparable breakdown of players who actually started is even worse. Spending or not, Pro/Rel or not, expansion or not.... these are side show issues. This is the real example of MLS' dereliction of duty to soccer in the United States. But by all mean's lets talk about not spending enough even as median team salary (Only one data point... I know) increased from $2.5 million in 2007, to $6.5 million in 2016, to $15.3 million in 2022.

I agree we are our own worst enemy

No. That is not why MLS does not have promotion and relegation. And the J League is a hybrid of closed league.

Speak for yourself and the other MLS haters

@@eddygee694 I think you may want to re-read what I actually wrote. I am not one of those people.

@SimpleCoachTV Pardon me then it was hard to tell if you were saying what you said as a statement of support, because it wasn't clear why you would say it. Don't give the haters oxygen. There are more MLS fans than those type of folks you mentioned. Those folks are just a vocal minority. They just want attention, so best to ignore them.

@@eddygee694 I get it. Friendly banter all around. I just wanted to respond to what they said at one point in the video. No one wants to see MLS go away. And that's just not true. There are some real life examples of people who are willing to throw the baby out with the bath water in order to form a more perfect Federation.

No

Not having Relegation is not a problem, it's an advantage.

The real "problem" is that most of the Soccer fans in the U.S. are (excuse the expression), cucks for the European "Glam" teams, and that comes at the expense of our domestic league. So instead of helping MLS grow, by contributing to the Viewership and in turn increasing Broadcast Revenue $$ (to spend on better players, to spend on development)... they watch Euro leagues and help the EPL and La Liga (and not to mention our neighbors, Liga MX) instead.

The argument about "Middle Class game" holds no water because Baseball isn't cheap, Football isn't cheap, Basketball, Hockey, Tennis, etc.. No Sport Is Cheap to develop the youth in the U.S. It's a weak ass excuse for Soccer to try to use that arguemnt.

Pele was a traveling circus back in that era. Big crowds for his games, and small crowds for other games. MLS today has the 3rd LARGEST ATTENDANCE in all of Soccer (only behind EPL and Bundesliga). MLS today, doesn't need Messi. MLS is using Messi as a stepping-stone.

Full context to the quote: "It's not a sport, it's not a league if there aren't folks like us talking about it, at times being critical, and at times screaming and yelling about it. I mean, that's what sports is... You have to be emotional, you have to be PASSIONATE and if that goes away, then it's just normal everyday life." These Alexi-haters are weak.

The only thing successful is NFL? You lost me there. I agree to some extent. I would love to see promotion/relegation, . But if you do that you can’t have teams promoted that play in High School fields with bleachers!!!! (errrr pitches 😅). Who’s going to build these smaller clubs stadiums? Who’s gong to sponsor them to pay the bills and get local tv contracts. Etc etc. without local/ regional tv no league in America is going to succeed. And certainly not be able to pay players if you’re selling 3,000 tickets to sit in bleachers with no concessions and good beer to drink! You think it’s only NFl that has fans and ratings on tv???? college sports works, and those programs build stadiums and fan basses decades ago! Who’s going to invest in that in today’s economy? Think about it!!!

LOL. *9 different teams* have been Champs in MLB in the past 10 yrs. In MLS its 8 different teams. For the NHL it's also 8. For the NFL it's 6 different teams. In the NBA it's 7 different Champs. The U.S. Major League system is very COMPETITIVE. NOW compare that to the weirdo- European League system. *_"Cheer not to be the worst!"_* WTF!?

@@mackdeen7021 These Europeans have no clue about SPORTS, they only conceive of Soccer. All of our "Major League" sports are competitive and exciting without that "Pro-Rel" they keep trying to force onto MLS/the U.S. Also, we have College sports. North Dakota St, from the "11th-Tier" of College FB has larger avg attend than 5 tms in Serie A, 6 tms in La Liga, 7 tms in Ligue 1 and one in the EPL.

And you show how clueless you are about sports. The fact that this WNBA girl, Catlin Clark, is breaking through the sports landscape and even through to general pop-culture, has very clear parallels to Lionel Messi in Miami, bringing more attention to MLS. The Indian Fever is selling-out arenas, that never happened in the WNBA before. Honestly there may even be deeper components to what's happening with Catlin Clark, she may be the "Jackie Robinson" of Women's Basketball (and I'm only half-trolling about that). You probably don't understand that reference either, though, so never mind.

Players have a say. The Players Union in other sports over the years have forced the NFL, MLB, NBA to split Revenues' 50/50 between Players/Owners. MLS's Players Union is a bit too quiet. Even the MLS Referees Union decided to make demands on MLS Owners just this year.

No thanks! I’m good with no pro/rel and a salary cap. Makes the league much more interesting. Just keep raising the cap.

I’ve been saying this recently. With the World Cup coming here, it’s time to make bold moves. And I believe that promotion/relegation is something that needs to be considered. And I believe what was said in this video was spot on. This isn’t a hit piece against Don Garber. He has done a lot for MLS. The problem is that we have a commissioner who can’t see past what the league was like at the time he took over. There’s also no denying that the laws are very outdated. Only having 3 DP’s for each team which was implemented in 2011. And I do believe that these outdated rules keep MLS teams from being successful in CONCACAF competitions.

That makes no sense. The truth is that Promotion-Relegation only weakens a league's competitiveness.

@@erickbyarushengo4726 How is adding a couple of USL teams in place of MLS a couple of MLS teams, a "bold move"!?? Relegation has no place in Major League sports. It would only weaken MLS and hamper MLS's growth.

@@davidday2373 this is a game that rewards teams that have played well with promotion into a higher division, and punishes teams that have played poorly with relegation. It gives teams at the bottom a reason to keep playing to fight against the drop. It allows the supporters and the community as a whole to rally behind the team even more so, knowing the importance of remaining in the league. And I took my time to watch Alexi Lalas’ response to the USL considering promotion/relegation. He said that with the World Cup coming here, now’s the time to make bold decisions. And if the USL decides to implement promotion/relegation and it works, then that’s good. We cannot approach this upcoming World Cup as though we’re still in the same position we were as a country the last time the World Cup was here in 1994 and there was no league. US soccer needs to find a way to draw interest from those who will see the World Cup up close and personal, and it’s an opportunity that cannot be missed. I can see the benefits of having teams such as Sacramento or Louisville playing in MLS from being promoted. Not that they’d stay there permanently, but having them there for a season or two can have its benefits for the team and the community that they’re in. Especially after MLS ripped off Sacramento from being in the league. “Relegation has no place in Major League Sports.” Just because it hasn’t happened doesn’t mean that it can’t happen. This is no longer the early 2000s when most of Americans weren’t familiar with the game or the structure of promotion/relegation around the world. Now people have become aware of it. The problem with MLS is that by now the league has become too big to where the schedule is imbalanced to where every team won’t play against each other in the season. Having a system of promotion/relegation would help the league with making sure that the season is balanced. Yes, it’s easier said than done. But one big challenge MLS would face is having to tell the wealthy owners, who bought into a league with the promise of always being in the top division no matter what, to agree on a system like this.

We have to change the transfer fee rule. It shouldn’t dictate if a player is a DP

@@MLSMoves yeah that’s one of the things I’d like to see go. Honestly in my idealistic fantasy world where I get to write the rules, with the cap raised to $20+M there wouldn’t be as big a need for DP slots so I’d like it dropped to where teams can choose to name 1 DP if they’d like that counts as 10% of the cap so they can have one big marquee player that makes however much they wanna give him. And transfer fee wouldn’t even have to. factor into it, it’s just whoever the team wants to use their designation on.

Absolutely spot on.

Get rid of some of the crazy rules, but the cap can go higher. Right now, the effective salary cap is around $15m + DPs. I’d like to see GAM/TAM eliminated, a cap closer to $25m, and two DPs.

Different approach here, tell me what you think -- Instead of talking about a particular "amount" such as $25M salary Cap and an 80% Floor, how about looking at the Player/Owner Revenue Split instead. The Players Unions in other sports (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL) have negotiated with their Leagues/Owners to have a 50/50 Split (roughly). So if the League generates $2 Billion, the TOTAL Salary of all Players combined must be around $1 Billion, and the Owners get the other $1 Billion. That way, Owners are squeezed a lot more to get "Profits" from a small percentage of Revenue... so that's motivation for Owners to increase Revenue...while FORCING increased Spending on Players. But it all depends on the Players Union to negotiate that.

Stan Kroenke hasn’t shown he cares about the Rapids

He’s spent money this year. A lot of the bad teams do spend money (Chicago). Montreal probably has the worst owner. Montreal fans are lucky to get one DP.

​@@MLSMovesThey do proper work on the Avalanche in the NHL side, but yeah they're way too divided in attention

Colorado Rapids owner also owns a SUPER BOWL and NBA CHAMPIONSHIP with the Rams and Nuggets, both very recently.

Also... forget to mention, the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup not long ago too, which he also owns.

I don’t think it will if all the leagues in Concacaf get better or if we combine with CONMEBOL

@@MLSMoves combining with SoAmerica is not realistic.

@@1donjuego from 2000 to 2016 Mexican clubs were invited to participate in Copa Libertadores. In essence the CONCACAF champ league did away with that need. Although if I was a Mexican Club, I would much rather play Fluminense and Milionarios than Colorado Rapids or New England Revolution.

So when are they going to step things up in spending?

I think he has some good points even if he gets a lot of hate

Hes rarely spot on. And I’d say he’s way behind what most of us have been saying for a while. Anyway…I would really love to see USL grow. I’ll support that league before I do the MLS!!!

@@mackdeen7021 Actually his critics are rarely spot on, and seem to exaggerate a lot. I'm fairly new to the sport, I had no negative or positive impression of Alexi Lalas as a "media guy" when I first stepped into this sport/league... but I always here fans clown on the guy. When I listen to him, none of the fans criticism really stick. The "hate" doesn't make sense.

They man is a wealth of knowledge and uniquely experienced when it comes to all things MLS.

@@davidday2373 For sure his knowledge on MLS and soccer in the usa is immense

When should the Players go on strike?

Can’t we push for a change? I’m not giving up that easily

We're not giving up

I honestly don’t watch much USWNT or NWSL. I’m stretched thin for time as it is 😂

@@MLSMoves nah I understand

I would love seeing this too. Especially going into a Olympics. A joint piece on the U23 and USWNT at the Olympics would be amazing!

If your revenue is barely covering your operating costs, it is impossible to pay a higher cut to the athletes. As the league continues to grow, we will see a larger share got to players.

@@stevenygabbyperez695 But the question is, are they just barely covering operating costs at this point in 2024?

I don’t believe that figure. Where did you get that from? Not many teams have revenue over $60m/year, but average payroll is around $16m/team.

MLS has sunk a lot of revenue into infrastructure and academies. They had to start from the ground up. It is getting to the point where more money can go to players-since infrastructure and academies are in a much better place.

@@HarveyWallbangers2 Which figure? I listed many. The reference of what the UFC/Dana White said is from years ago when MLS payroll was tiny, and there were fewer teams. However, I do not remember if Dana mentioned "15%" specifically, but I do remember the media were claiming it was 15% (and thus Dana responded with the comparison with MLS). Today, using Sportic's latest estimate and the official MLS-PA salary report, Total MLS Salary is about $500M and estimated MLS Revenue is $2B... so MLS = 25/75 split between Players/Owners.

Man you hate Alexi don’t you? Lol

At least you didn't say, "I don't agree with you!" What's that say?

@@joeyfosterWVU Sounds like you didn't watch/listen to the episode. Alexi has great insight. And pretty much in tune with our host on most issues/topics.

@@davidday2373Alexi is the “company man”. If he said it , it’s because he got permission to think and give his two cents. I think he knows and wants to say a lot…but he’s also smart because he has a good gig and has to appease the big bosses and powers that be. One of them is the USSF. The other is the “network”. Honestly though, one of the big problems with “footie” here in the U.S. is the despicable media that doesn’t do their job and the “footie culture” that eats it up like avocado on toast or whatever trendy plate is “in”. It’s nauseating watching this sport in this country. Sometimes Alex I infuriates me and then at times I realize how smart he is about things. But we all know who his bosses are!!!!!!

@@mackdeen7021 I suppose he is a "company man," in a sense, but nothing he says (that I've heard) is unreasonable or outlandish in one way or the other. But if you're faulting the man for not "exposing" this or that, regarding certain privileged information he may have through his relationships in the sports, in the league, and/or sell people out... THAT is unreasonable of YOU to expect that.

You would be surprised

I wouldn’t say it’s finished. It will be if they don’t capitalize on 2026

@@MLSMovesthat’s absurd to say. “Finished”? You were at CLT FC game with 30k people yesterday. In what world is the league anywhere close to being finished based on the World Cup. You’re having this whole conversation about patience and perspective on the growth of the league but putting these timelines and caps on things that likely don’t matter. I’m not sure what you even mean by “capitalizing” on the WC. The impact of the WC could be something that impacts for the decade beyond 2026. I don’t think players from elsewhere have the urge to be in the host country and I don’t think fans will come to games or care more about MLS leading up to it. If anything there may be kids that take more interest because of the WC but again that’s a long term play and an area I think MLS has already had a great impact in.

MLS is adding the final piece (San Diego FC) that makes it a full-grown 30-team league in 2025. MLS is just now getting ready to take flight.

I am from Ecuador (living here, of course) and I watch MLS and I know people from Germany, England, Argentina and Brasil, who watch the league. So you are wrong, absolutely wrong.

I don’t think that will happen tbh

@@MLSMoves The bleepin' Referee Union is demanding pay increase from MLS!

I’m in favor of salary cap but without all the silly rules. Raise it to $20m and have a separate cap for transfer fees . Or let teams spread out the transfer fee over the length of the contract.

@@user-yw7fq7ro6h I thought they do, do that for the transfer fee. But anyway, we can all come up with good ideas of how it should be... but who's going to actually initiate it? Honestly, it going to have to be the Players themselves, through their Players Union, to pressure MLS to increase Salary spending in general.

@@user-yw7fq7ro6h Yeah but what is going to provoke and propel any change like that? The rules aren't silly, they may be overly complicated but they are smart rules... or at least they were for their time, to help the growth and stability of the league. But at some point the salary rules/limitations will need to open up.

I wouldn’t say that we’re getting passed the discussion on promotion/relegation. As mentioned in the video, the owners whose teams are at the bottom never feel the threat of relegation. And that can be both good and bad. Good as in they’re always in the top league no matter the outcome at the end of a horrible season. Bad because these owners, who let’s admit, don’t want to hear any criticism, aren’t facing the larger amount of criticism if that system was there.

@@erickbyarushengo4726 That team is Colorado, that owner also owns the Denver Nuggets who are the current NBA champions

lol I will try.