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How many franchises can MLS have at one time?
Vancouver and Portland were just rewarded MLS franchises so they'll be 18 franchises for the 2011 season. MLS Commissioner Don Gerber has expressed interest in expanding to 20 franchises by 2012 at the earliest (I think it will be later). How many franchises can MLS successfully hold at one time?
Remember NASL had a peak of 24 clubs and we know rapid expansion was one of the reasons for its demise = Owners got greedy because they made money on the new franchise fees. I know the talent base for American soccer players has greatly expanded in the last 20 years, but is MLS diluting the talent pool too much by expanding too quickly?
FIFA likes a limit of 18 clubs in a league though the EPL, La Liga and Serie A have 20 clubs.
26-30 clubs? Wow... I would think this would be blasphemy to traditional soccer fans. A club would only play 1 match against some clubs each season (as opposed to 2 in other leagues= home and away).
If MLS becomes huge, I could imagine a promotion/relegation system. But MLS would be divided by region so the league wouldn't have a huge concentration of 1st division clubs in a certain region.
e.g. The worst 2 clubs in the Eastern and Western Conferences would be relegated to the 2nd division.
If this happened, this would take a huge television contract. Plus I could see MLS form (or purchase the USL-1 league) a 2nd division without a promotion system and see how well it goes, and then move to a promotion system.
4 Answers
- Anonymous1 decade agoFavorite Answer
I think that in any sports league once you get past 20 teams it makes it harder for fans to follow.
Ideally I'd like to see MLS capped at 16 ... problem is that the commissioner's office makes decisions based on the bottom line, and expansion teams are the easiest way to bring in truckloads of cash.
- SpudLv 51 decade ago
MLS will not have 20 clubs by the 2012 season. I think MLS will cap its number of clubs at 24. Soccer is different than othersports. MLS should try to keep the league close to the same number of clubs that other leagues around the world have!
- KevinLv 51 decade ago
I agree that the mls wont have 20 clubs by 2012
but this league is doing a very good job in selecting the franchises. its not rushing their decisions.
i think 30 clubs is an ideal number for american standards but should be satisfied with around 25 clubs. who knows by when. as long as they are taking the right steps. i think we will see at a point divisions and conferences (just like mlb, nfl and nba)
Source(s): as long as they take the right steps in forming a franchise and continue finding players then the mls shoul be fine holding about 25-30 clubs. but thats a long way - 1 decade ago
it is not limited. the amount for an american league will be more around 20-30 b/c thats how we like our leagues. i think the league will stop around 26 b/c the still dont have teams south of washington DC on the east coast.
plus the team in portland is gonna disband like the old miami and tampa bay b/c portlands market for it is awful compared to other areas it is to close to seattles market and the areas market for soccer is not big enough
