I'm seriously considering not watching MLS anymore over this. There are too many high-quality soccer leagues and other American sports to watch to keep wasting my time with a league that celebrates mediocrity.
I’m a La Galaxy fan that wanted the boycott from the beginning and it worked and Got Klein out and us our 6th championship. I know we can’t do this without everyone’s help but am I crazy to say boycott MLS and all games and cancel Apple MLS subscription until Garber is out? #GarberOut! Enough is enough! We need to be a top league in America were the best country in the world we can afford to pay these world class athletes let’s be better why be slow!
I'm in favor of a boycott. Not for Garber to he out necessarily but until they allow more spending. If they fire Garber and hire another guy to do the same, it's pointless
@lilcasper5622 Th sad part the only reason they don't change is because some owners are too cheap and don't want to pay even a little more money. We should definitely boycott this league.
Honestly, they need to redo the tv deal and make it accessible to everyone. No one is paying to have access to the games behind a paywall, unless you’re a die hard fan! I liked when we had double headers with the epl, nbc or nfl and fox. This helped spread the game to the casual fan. They would advertise the mls cup during epl or nfl games. None of that takes place with Apple, and no one even knew the mls cup was going on!
I always wonder what Garber is thinking when he sees MLS teams get easily bounced from the CONCACAF champions league tournament against Liga MX teams. It infuriates me to think he doesn’t care as much as we do as MLS fans. The on field product needs to continue to improve if not people will get bored with stagnation.
@@MLSMoveshe shouldn’t take the fans support for this league for granted. As a season ticket holder and consumer of MLS products I want to see the league grow and flourish as I know and many fans know it can. It’s sad to see the way he insults the intelligence of the fans of this league by not being more transparent on why the cap and rules can’t improve.
As an outsider, Garber’s approach to MLS expansion is overly cautious and lacking ambition. What’s the long-term goal for the league? What will it look like in ten years time? More of the same, I think.
@@Lonestarr022 Because the main source of income of those that operation/invest in MLS franchises is, Soccer United Marketing (SUM). MLS franchise owners are in the business to profit off the sport outside (such as USMNT, USWNT, and Mexican NT games in USA) of the league than they are with the league. MLS by itself is not a profitable league and the clubs will not have much value to them without the inclusion a board member seat to SUM being attacked.
A couple of points. As you pointed out, the TV ratings were abysmal. But ratings are down for almost all professional leagues. I think post pandemic people would rather spend their time and money on live events. Which incidentally is what Garber said when asked what the main revenue of MLS is. He said ticket sales. With that info, he knows the future of MLS doesn't lie on linear tv or streaming. He knows the Apple TV deal is a bust but provided some capital. For now the live experience is where the money is at. I think Garber is waiting to see how the DAZN deal with FIFA will work. If it does, the creation of MLS TV could become a reality.
@@MLSMoves the apple tv deal is ahead of it's time if we are being honest, but MLS was not going to get that amount of money from any other tv deal offered to them.
I don't always approve of Don Garber's decisions. But I'm also old enough to remember what MLS was like before Garber was hired as commissioner. I have witnessed the incredible expansion and growth of the game under his leadership. MLS literally still exists today because of him.
@@MLSMoves He's talking about in a staying alive kind of way. Before Garber I heard the MLS was headed towards not existing anymore because of the lack of money. And what Garber did saved it financially. But yeah I think Garber has lost any real vision. Unless he's seeing some money signs in the background that show that the MLS is just sitting on some kind of weird financial bubble and if they change the rules the bubble might burst and the whole league may crash or something... Idk. But I doubt it. I think it's Garber is still scared honestly. Still scared the league could crash if it goes down any other paths. Unless he's somehow just pocketing a ton of money from all of this that we don't know about and that's why he won't change things.
And that's fine. I thank Garber for his services for getting MLS to where it is. But it's going to be almost 30 years since he signed on, even if he was the best possible person, he should still step down because staying with the same leadership for years on end eventually stunts the growth. I think MLS has peaked enough with him, it's time for newer more radical ideas to come with someone more enthusiastic and knowledgeable in both the sport and business to lead the league.
Sadly, I'm not surprised. Even if they increased the max salary by 400k to be over a million, which makes TAM over 2 mil, then add 4 mil to salary cap would be a big boost. MLS just doesn't get the importance of these international tournaments for outside exposure. They should be putting importance into win as many CCCs as possible to get those CWC spots, but.... Anyways, I wonder at what point it becomes like college football and the ambitious teams pack up and create their own league.
@AzureStarline Yes, they would have to give up their franchises, but if there were enough of them, they could set up their own competing league. They would have to petition US Soccer for D1 status, but they gave it to the women's USL Super League. Or they could look at creating a men's USL super league and petition for D1 status. Technically, USL has access to the CCC already, through the US Open Cup, but that would only be one spot.
I think is about time someone like Messi speak up and tell this MLS owners or the ones that are holding the League back his words carry alot of weight needs to say if the league wants to progress needs to do more spending so MLS could be more competitive without blowing up the league
Yeah I agree that if we can get casual fans and have them grab ahold of the culture of soccer in this country it would be huge. And yeah everyone is hoping the World Cup in 2026 will make that happen but it really needs to happen NOW. By using the MLS like you were talking about. We have Messi in the MLS... And I feel like no one even really knows about it outside of diehard soccer fans in this country. Like 99% of people I talk to personally and are around personally have no idea what's going on with Messi, MLS, or soccer in general. I barely know any other soccer fans where I live. And that makes No Sense when the best player in the world is playing right here in the USA. Only one state over from me. Garber and MLS in general are striking out on this bad. It's literally going to extra time on this and Messi WILL retire in a few years... And the excitement will likely retire with him. Even if the World Cup goes over fairly well. I think at this point the Only hope for soccer in this country is if somehow the USMNT actually wins the whole thing at World Cup 2026. And I just don't see that happening.
The USMNT does not need to win the world cup, what needs to happen is players who come and play here enjoy the idea of playing here, and want to play in MLS. But there a lot that may need to be done to have that happen.
@@Lonestarr022 That's a small part of it. But I'm talking about getting casual fans to like soccer in this country. Most sports fans in this country don't care about soccer. They care about the NFL. They care about college football. They care about the NBA. Etc. Etc. I barely know anyone personally that likes soccer like I do. They need to have soccer put in their faces as a big time sport by a team that is big time IN the sport. If the USMNT won the World Cup... It would make casual fans notice. Otherwise casual fans will just think of soccer as that sport that Other countries play. lol.
@MLSMoves there ya go, I think that most teams want to spend, but they need to have their profits, income, and fan growth 📈 guaranteed. They're still afraid of what happened to NASL
@@ftwsam2246 They are afraid of what Almost happened to the MLS itself before Garber stepped into the commish job. MLS almost died back then. And Garber keeps reminding them of that and I think all the owners are terrified they will lose their investments and become broke.
I mean I'm not an MLS fan My club is in USL I'm a USL supporter and a league MX supporter But yeah it's tough man when you have don garber as your commissioner thank god he's not commissioning USL
If MLS folds, then USL will follow, and MX is seeing it's ceiling lower to the point where it's going to eventually merge with MLS. The 2026 World Cup is pivotal to soccer in North America. Because while it will never die, it will eventually have to accept it has a ceiling.
How this guy is still Commissioner after 2026 pisses me off. He's done enough to get MLS to where it is now. A New Commissioner is needed. Sure the MLS Final Matchup are from the Biggest Media Markets, but LA Galaxy has been so bad for 10 years that it's only now they're good again. Red Bulls went on a decline to the point that they can't even sell out their Stadium. It was a Final for Relevancy for the 96' Clubs. Hence why it's probably low TV viewership.
I can't see them getting rid of the salary cap but something needs to happen to allow teams to spend more, even a luxury tax would be something, allow teams to go over the cap but there is a luxury tax for doing so, like for example if your $1 over you have to pay another dollar into the luxury tax pot...I was also thinking earlier about players that MLS clubs could go for, Ben Chilwell, LB at Chelsea, he doesn't really fit Maresca's system, if anyone needs a new left back why not, Chilwell is only 27 years old too, another one is Saul Niguez, CM for Atletico Madrid, he's currently on loan at Sevilla, he's a decent player, only 30, would be ideal for say Houston as a Hector Herrera replacement, and if Atletico don't really want him, again why not, even if you have to wait until the summer, Djed Spence, RB at Tottenham, cant get a game for Spurs, 24 years old, is again a pretty good player, my point is there's some good players out there that are probably available if you want them
They’re going to need to get players like this if they want to change the perception. Also why are teams willing to spend not allowed to? If an owner wants to spend his money on his club I don’t understand why they discourage it
@MLSMoves yep, and like I've said before the Riqui Puig deal shows thar MLS can be a legitimate option if the money's right, and living in the US kind of sells itself, so lifestyle won't be a problem, they just need to allow the owners that want to spend to actually spend, I say Saul to Houston as an obvious option, but say Arthur Blank wanted to pay for him to be at Atlanta, he's good enough to potentially be a superstar in MLS, no he's not Messi level (let's be honest, who is?) but he's a quality midfielder that'd probably improve whichever MLS team massively
@@mrmr5580I agree , think of the calibre of player the mls could attract… players would jump at the chance to play in America if given the option even that is equal financially. the league could be top drawer but cheap owners are holding it back…
@lewiss7711 thing is with the US like I said as a place to be, it sells itself, players would go if the money was right, the owners wouldn't even need to go mad like they do on this side of the pond (im in the UK) £100m transfer fees arent out of the question over here (im an Arsenal fan and we spent £105m on Declan Rice for example) but there's plenty of decent talent for a lot cheaper than that, I just named 3 that are probably available (i could name others that'd probably go to the MLS if offered), even if on loan, they need to relax the spending rules somehow even if its only a little bit, players would go it's why I use Riqui Puig as an example, a young guy, who's only issue was Barca had Pedri and Gavi coming through who play the same position and are potentially superstars of the future, because of that Puig became expendable, and make no mistake there were a lot of good European clubs he could have gone to, he chose LA Galaxy, that proves that if the money's right it can happen, MLS isn't a top league yet, but it's not a joke, for example I'd rather watch MLS than the Scottish league for example, apart from Celtic and Rangers the Scottish league is a hard watch, MLS is a pretty fun league to watch, a few more quality players and it'll be a top 10 league, you're not far off now imo
@ I genuinely couldn’t agree more with anything you said, I’m a English mls fan. Like you say the 100M transfer fees done ever have to come in really just instead of having to play below average American players every week you should be able to have players like even lindelof level but a lot of them .
I find it shocking and amazing and maybe a little embarrassing for every game played in the states for the World Cup will probably be at a American football stadium instead of one of the MLS club fields
@@izzac909 los estadíos de la MLS son demasiado pequeños, para la impotencia de un encuentro mundial de fútbol ⚽ , no califican según los estándares de la. FIFA
I find it really hard to believe that the MLS couldn’t literally double the salary cap over night,when literal billionaires own these teams.Even if it means the MLS contributing more General Allocation to less wealthy teams.
Garber and many of the owners are destroying soccer in this country. I’m a diehard fan from 1996. I’ve had season tickets with DC United for YEARS. But, I canceled them for 2025, and not just because DCU is a miserable franchise. I also dropped them because I simply am running out of patience with MLS leadership holding back spending to make the product better. It is becoming harder and harder to back the league and to care.
If nothing changes..may the owners retire the teams and make another league, like the Super League in Europe. Make a league with the top 16 or 18 teams without salary caps and go all out? I understand the franchise model, but it doesn't work for the development of a great futbol league. My opinion of course.
if you (a person, no one specific) were in New England this season and watched any game other than the one Montreal match, what you would have seen would definitely not have converted you as a new fan
You also forgot to mention that MLS will have two teams representing the league in the Club World Cup which is just as important for league perception and reputation among domestic casual audiences as well as international ones. And they are moving like they don't care for that. That could be damaging to the brand and they seem almost oblivious to what's coming.
Cause they ain't serious, I'm sorry but anyone with a brain saw this coming. Everyone knew they would just milk Messi and try and use it for money rather than actually making the league more competitive and better overall. I stopped worrying about this yrs ago tho tbf 🤷🏽♂️
Don could only get 250 million from apple and mls still pays for production, the nhl which by all metrics were ahead of got 400 million from disney and another 200 from tnt and they cover production we are a joke with this commissioner the nhl salary cap is also over 80 mill per team plus were behind a paywall. when he presented this deal he should have been fired.
Don Garber maybe should have a meeting with the guys/gals who run the EPL. Also, MLS footballers/teams need something to fight for (limited spots for play offs), and something to fight against(relegation). The MLS is too 'safe'. The stakes are not high enough. It need some jeopardy. Yes, and some loosening of the purse strings.
The obvious solution is two things: 1. Raise the salary cap by $10M 2. Tell all teams that PRO-REL starts in 2029 The big teams (LA, NY, SEA, MIA, etc.) will be able to build bigger more exciting teams capable of winning international match-ups. The littler teams (Colorado, Chicago and San Jose etc.) will have time to put up or shut up. PRO-REL is what will make every game much closer to must-watch matches. Imagine every game at the bottom of the table being just as exciting as the matches at the top of the table. It's not rocket science. Of course, yes, I know, that the owners don't want PRO-REL, at least not immediately, because they want to greedily protect their investment. But they must be shown how a smaller slice of a bigger pie works. They have to see how powerful it is for drawing excitement. And then give teams 5 years of warning. That's the obvious solution.
The only other option is raising the salary MAX and the salary MIN at once. Tell Miami they can spend $25m and then tell Colorado and the other minnow that they have to spend at least $10m on their roster, or something like that. Then some of the smaller teams might actually opt for relegation and run their smaller operation in a lower league.
it’s ridiculous, I get it’s the owners mainly but he needs to loosen the caps a lot, 6/7 dps ect and let the owners who wanna spend spend and the ones who are cheapskates can get what they deserve from fans. Every year concafaf is an embarrassment to the league, think how many players would love to move to America…
I also do agree they need to capitalise on messi and the World Cup to propel the league to a top 6 league in the world if they don’t it’ll just be maybe top 10 hovering adding more bs/stupid
I think we all want change - but you say Don Garber has to sell owners on new ideas, I agree, but if he gives them too many ideas that all the owners dont want, hes out of a job. It's not 2+2=4 levels of simple. If you make significant change as well you also have to contend with the CBA needing changes, Players will want more guaranteed if there is significant change to Cap and Spending rules. We can mess with the mechanisms and add stuff on... which they did just do a little in the middle of last year, but big changes cant really happen until post CBA unless they get the players on board with bigger changes sooner. but ultimately... its the owners. I hope change happens going into the World Cup year - but making it seem like its all Don and it should be more simple is disingenuous imo. It's the old head owners that are the ones holding back the growth. Look at the owners that are on the board to discuss changes - half of them are guys that dont want to change off the status quo. I would love to see a new commish as well... but I do not think a new commish will reach significant change Sorry for the ramble, commented while video was still going and kept adding points.
They should demand more. No professional player should be playing for less than 100k per year on any team. MLS is a D1 league, it needs to pay like one. Raising the cap means they have the potential to earn more. It also increases competition, as an increased salary means higher standards and more applicants for the position. So players have to actually improve in quality to even maintain or score those positions. It's on owners, you can argue the revenue isn't coming in to allow such a raise but on the other hand if you don't raise then the revenue might not ever increase because there will be fewer people tuning in which mean lower ad revenue. At this stage, I think MLS owners need to take the short term loss for long term gain. I know American businessmen rarely look beyond short term profits though, so it's hard.
If you Add Pro/Rel and get rid of the salary cap, you will see just how fast some of these clubs fold. It's not smart business model for clubs in MLS. Hell, you can argue it's not smart for Europe, look at what Leeds United went through, and Portsmouth. Most EFL clubs are one bad year from going into administration. In Scotland, Rangers had to restart in the 4th tier, Bordeaux in France just went under, and Lyon could do the same.
I stopped following the league after Beckham left, becuz I saw no ambition from the owners to spend and improve the level of play. Messi, brought me back with hopes that purse strings would be opened up more, but alas MLS owners don't really care. I barely even watched any MLS games this season. Maybe like 5.
Do you have faith in Don Garber?
Are you disappointed in this decision by the league?
Don Garber sucks
I'm seriously considering not watching MLS anymore over this. There are too many high-quality soccer leagues and other American sports to watch to keep wasting my time with a league that celebrates mediocrity.
Don Garber is just a mouthpiece for the owners. He doesn’t have the power to change league rules unless it’s approved by the majority of the owners.
He is responsible for advising them how to move the league forward and negotiate deals for the league
I’m a La Galaxy fan that wanted the boycott from the beginning and it worked and Got Klein out and us our 6th championship. I know we can’t do this without everyone’s help but am I crazy to say boycott MLS and all games and cancel Apple MLS subscription until Garber is out? #GarberOut! Enough is enough! We need to be a top league in America were the best country in the world we can afford to pay these world class athletes let’s be better why be slow!
I'm in favor of a boycott. Not for Garber to he out necessarily but until they allow more spending. If they fire Garber and hire another guy to do the same, it's pointless
@@stevenygabbyperez695 I agree no puppets
@lilcasper5622 Th sad part the only reason they don't change is because some owners are too cheap and don't want to pay even a little more money. We should definitely boycott this league.
Honestly, they need to redo the tv deal and make it accessible to everyone. No one is paying to have access to the games behind a paywall, unless you’re a die hard fan! I liked when we had double headers with the epl, nbc or nfl and fox. This helped spread the game to the casual fan. They would advertise the mls cup during epl or nfl games. None of that takes place with Apple, and no one even knew the mls cup was going on!
Not sure they will do that
I always wonder what Garber is thinking when he sees MLS teams get easily bounced from the CONCACAF champions league tournament against Liga MX teams. It infuriates me to think he doesn’t care as much as we do as MLS fans. The on field product needs to continue to improve if not people will get bored with stagnation.
He’s not thinking. He’s coping
@@MLSMoveshe shouldn’t take the fans support for this league for granted. As a season ticket holder and consumer of MLS products I want to see the league grow and flourish as I know and many fans know it can. It’s sad to see the way he insults the intelligence of the fans of this league by not being more transparent on why the cap and rules can’t improve.
As an outsider, Garber’s approach to MLS expansion is overly cautious and lacking ambition.
What’s the long-term goal for the league? What will it look like in ten years time? More of the same, I think.
No vision.
We have enough billionaires in this country, that if they wanted to, they could be enticing world class players from all over the world.
the long-term goal is to, let's face it, not go out of business.
@@nerychristian but why waste such money on that when it can be put to better use? And it's not like that will make them more money, it won't
@@Lonestarr022 Because the main source of income of those that operation/invest in MLS franchises is, Soccer United Marketing (SUM). MLS franchise owners are in the business to profit off the sport outside (such as USMNT, USWNT, and Mexican NT games in USA) of the league than they are with the league. MLS by itself is not a profitable league and the clubs will not have much value to them without the inclusion a board member seat to SUM being attacked.
MLS Teams are gonna be embarassed more in the coming years. Might not even qualify a single team in the cwc 2029.
That would be tragic
That sadly could Easily be reality. Since we won't be able to have a host team.
A couple of points. As you pointed out, the TV ratings were abysmal. But ratings are down for almost all professional leagues. I think post pandemic people would rather spend their time and money on live events. Which incidentally is what Garber said when asked what the main revenue of MLS is. He said ticket sales. With that info, he knows the future of MLS doesn't lie on linear tv or streaming. He knows the Apple TV deal is a bust but provided some capital. For now the live experience is where the money is at. I think Garber is waiting to see how the DAZN deal with FIFA will work. If it does, the creation of MLS TV could become a reality.
I’m starting to really hate the Apple TV deal
@@MLSMoves the apple tv deal is ahead of it's time if we are being honest, but MLS was not going to get that amount of money from any other tv deal offered to them.
I don't always approve of Don Garber's decisions. But I'm also old enough to remember what MLS was like before Garber was hired as commissioner. I have witnessed the incredible expansion and growth of the game under his leadership. MLS literally still exists today because of him.
But we need to see more progress on the pitch. Not just news teams coming to the league
@@MLSMoves He's talking about in a staying alive kind of way. Before Garber I heard the MLS was headed towards not existing anymore because of the lack of money. And what Garber did saved it financially. But yeah I think Garber has lost any real vision. Unless he's seeing some money signs in the background that show that the MLS is just sitting on some kind of weird financial bubble and if they change the rules the bubble might burst and the whole league may crash or something... Idk. But I doubt it. I think it's Garber is still scared honestly. Still scared the league could crash if it goes down any other paths. Unless he's somehow just pocketing a ton of money from all of this that we don't know about and that's why he won't change things.
And that's fine. I thank Garber for his services for getting MLS to where it is. But it's going to be almost 30 years since he signed on, even if he was the best possible person, he should still step down because staying with the same leadership for years on end eventually stunts the growth. I think MLS has peaked enough with him, it's time for newer more radical ideas to come with someone more enthusiastic and knowledgeable in both the sport and business to lead the league.
Sadly, I'm not surprised. Even if they increased the max salary by 400k to be over a million, which makes TAM over 2 mil, then add 4 mil to salary cap would be a big boost. MLS just doesn't get the importance of these international tournaments for outside exposure. They should be putting importance into win as many CCCs as possible to get those CWC spots, but.... Anyways, I wonder at what point it becomes like college football and the ambitious teams pack up and create their own league.
Would make a huge difference
But they can't, can they? I thought once a team joined the league, it relinquished its freedom? It's like a US state not really being able to secede.
@AzureStarline Yes, they would have to give up their franchises, but if there were enough of them, they could set up their own competing league. They would have to petition US Soccer for D1 status, but they gave it to the women's USL Super League. Or they could look at creating a men's USL super league and petition for D1 status. Technically, USL has access to the CCC already, through the US Open Cup, but that would only be one spot.
I think is about time someone like Messi speak up and tell this MLS owners or the ones that are holding the League back his words carry alot of weight needs to say if the league wants to progress needs to do more spending so MLS could be more competitive without blowing up the league
I wish he would
why would he do that? That would hurt his brand.
Yeah I agree that if we can get casual fans and have them grab ahold of the culture of soccer in this country it would be huge. And yeah everyone is hoping the World Cup in 2026 will make that happen but it really needs to happen NOW. By using the MLS like you were talking about. We have Messi in the MLS... And I feel like no one even really knows about it outside of diehard soccer fans in this country. Like 99% of people I talk to personally and are around personally have no idea what's going on with Messi, MLS, or soccer in general. I barely know any other soccer fans where I live. And that makes No Sense when the best player in the world is playing right here in the USA. Only one state over from me. Garber and MLS in general are striking out on this bad. It's literally going to extra time on this and Messi WILL retire in a few years... And the excitement will likely retire with him. Even if the World Cup goes over fairly well. I think at this point the Only hope for soccer in this country is if somehow the USMNT actually wins the whole thing at World Cup 2026. And I just don't see that happening.
Casual fans are so key
The USMNT does not need to win the world cup, what needs to happen is players who come and play here enjoy the idea of playing here, and want to play in MLS. But there a lot that may need to be done to have that happen.
@@Lonestarr022 That's a small part of it. But I'm talking about getting casual fans to like soccer in this country. Most sports fans in this country don't care about soccer. They care about the NFL. They care about college football. They care about the NBA. Etc. Etc. I barely know anyone personally that likes soccer like I do. They need to have soccer put in their faces as a big time sport by a team that is big time IN the sport. If the USMNT won the World Cup... It would make casual fans notice. Otherwise casual fans will just think of soccer as that sport that Other countries play. lol.
@@MLSMoves Yes. Soccer and MLS won't ever come close to No. 1 in this country without them.
I think they will change to just a hard salary cap when San Diego FC are solidified, meaning in about 2 years.
He said there would be no changes until possibly after 2027
@MLSMoves there ya go, I think that most teams want to spend, but they need to have their profits, income, and fan growth 📈 guaranteed. They're still afraid of what happened to NASL
@@ftwsam2246 They are afraid of what Almost happened to the MLS itself before Garber stepped into the commish job. MLS almost died back then. And Garber keeps reminding them of that and I think all the owners are terrified they will lose their investments and become broke.
I mean I'm not an MLS fan My club is in USL I'm a USL supporter and a league MX supporter But yeah it's tough man when you have don garber as your commissioner thank god he's not commissioning USL
He sucks
If MLS folds, then USL will follow, and MX is seeing it's ceiling lower to the point where it's going to eventually merge with MLS. The 2026 World Cup is pivotal to soccer in North America. Because while it will never die, it will eventually have to accept it has a ceiling.
How this guy is still Commissioner after 2026 pisses me off. He's done enough to get MLS to where it is now. A New Commissioner is needed. Sure the MLS Final Matchup are from the Biggest Media Markets, but LA Galaxy has been so bad for 10 years that it's only now they're good again. Red Bulls went on a decline to the point that they can't even sell out their Stadium. It was a Final for Relevancy for the 96' Clubs. Hence why it's probably low TV viewership.
We need new ideas and a new leader
I can't see them getting rid of the salary cap but something needs to happen to allow teams to spend more, even a luxury tax would be something, allow teams to go over the cap but there is a luxury tax for doing so, like for example if your $1 over you have to pay another dollar into the luxury tax pot...I was also thinking earlier about players that MLS clubs could go for, Ben Chilwell, LB at Chelsea, he doesn't really fit Maresca's system, if anyone needs a new left back why not, Chilwell is only 27 years old too, another one is Saul Niguez, CM for Atletico Madrid, he's currently on loan at Sevilla, he's a decent player, only 30, would be ideal for say Houston as a Hector Herrera replacement, and if Atletico don't really want him, again why not, even if you have to wait until the summer, Djed Spence, RB at Tottenham, cant get a game for Spurs, 24 years old, is again a pretty good player, my point is there's some good players out there that are probably available if you want them
They’re going to need to get players like this if they want to change the perception. Also why are teams willing to spend not allowed to? If an owner wants to spend his money on his club I don’t understand why they discourage it
@MLSMoves yep, and like I've said before the Riqui Puig deal shows thar MLS can be a legitimate option if the money's right, and living in the US kind of sells itself, so lifestyle won't be a problem, they just need to allow the owners that want to spend to actually spend, I say Saul to Houston as an obvious option, but say Arthur Blank wanted to pay for him to be at Atlanta, he's good enough to potentially be a superstar in MLS, no he's not Messi level (let's be honest, who is?) but he's a quality midfielder that'd probably improve whichever MLS team massively
@@mrmr5580I agree , think of the calibre of player the mls could attract… players would jump at the chance to play in America if given the option even that is equal financially. the league could be top drawer but cheap owners are holding it back…
@lewiss7711 thing is with the US like I said as a place to be, it sells itself, players would go if the money was right, the owners wouldn't even need to go mad like they do on this side of the pond (im in the UK) £100m transfer fees arent out of the question over here (im an Arsenal fan and we spent £105m on Declan Rice for example) but there's plenty of decent talent for a lot cheaper than that, I just named 3 that are probably available (i could name others that'd probably go to the MLS if offered), even if on loan, they need to relax the spending rules somehow even if its only a little bit, players would go it's why I use Riqui Puig as an example, a young guy, who's only issue was Barca had Pedri and Gavi coming through who play the same position and are potentially superstars of the future, because of that Puig became expendable, and make no mistake there were a lot of good European clubs he could have gone to, he chose LA Galaxy, that proves that if the money's right it can happen, MLS isn't a top league yet, but it's not a joke, for example I'd rather watch MLS than the Scottish league for example, apart from Celtic and Rangers the Scottish league is a hard watch, MLS is a pretty fun league to watch, a few more quality players and it'll be a top 10 league, you're not far off now imo
@ I genuinely couldn’t agree more with anything you said, I’m a English mls fan. Like you say the 100M transfer fees done ever have to come in really just instead of having to play below average American players every week you should be able to have players like even lindelof level but a lot of them .
I find it shocking and amazing and maybe a little embarrassing for every game played in the states for the World Cup will probably be at a American football stadium instead of one of the MLS club fields
@@izzac909 los estadíos de la MLS son demasiado pequeños, para la impotencia de un encuentro mundial de fútbol ⚽ , no califican según los estándares de la. FIFA
Venues are too small
I find it really hard to believe that the MLS couldn’t literally double the salary cap over night,when literal billionaires own these teams.Even if it means the MLS contributing more General Allocation to less wealthy teams.
They act so poor
Do the teams vote to take these decisions, or does Garber hear everyone but has the final choice???
He advises the Governors board on what to do and then they vote on it
Garber and many of the owners are destroying soccer in this country. I’m a diehard fan from 1996. I’ve had season tickets with DC United for YEARS. But, I canceled them for 2025, and not just because DCU is a miserable franchise. I also dropped them because I simply am running out of patience with MLS leadership holding back spending to make the product better. It is becoming harder and harder to back the league and to care.
They are for sure. It’s sad and why I want a new commisioner
If nothing changes..may the owners retire the teams and make another league, like the Super League in Europe. Make a league with the top 16 or 18 teams without salary caps and go all out? I understand the franchise model, but it doesn't work for the development of a great futbol league. My opinion of course.
That has been speculated. Some Liga MX teams joining MLS teams
if you (a person, no one specific) were in New England this season and watched any game other than the one Montreal match, what you would have seen would definitely not have converted you as a new fan
You also forgot to mention that MLS will have two teams representing the league in the Club World Cup which is just as important for league perception and reputation among domestic casual audiences as well as international ones. And they are moving like they don't care for that. That could be damaging to the brand and they seem almost oblivious to what's coming.
I mentioned that
It’s the old guard that’s keeping the league from reaching its potential.
Don has been in charge for 25 years. Way too long
Cause they ain't serious, I'm sorry but anyone with a brain saw this coming. Everyone knew they would just milk Messi and try and use it for money rather than actually making the league more competitive and better overall. I stopped worrying about this yrs ago tho tbf 🤷🏽♂️
Sad tbh
Don could only get 250 million from apple and mls still pays for production, the nhl which by all metrics were ahead of got 400 million from disney and another 200 from tnt and they cover production we are a joke with this commissioner the nhl salary cap is also over 80 mill per team plus were behind a paywall. when he presented this deal he should have been fired.
Don Garber maybe should have a meeting with the guys/gals who run the EPL.
Also, MLS footballers/teams need something to fight for (limited spots for play offs), and something to fight against(relegation).
The MLS is too 'safe'. The stakes are not high enough. It need some jeopardy.
Yes, and some loosening of the purse strings.
The obvious solution is two things:
1. Raise the salary cap by $10M
2. Tell all teams that PRO-REL starts in 2029
The big teams (LA, NY, SEA, MIA, etc.) will be able to build bigger more exciting teams capable of winning international match-ups.
The littler teams (Colorado, Chicago and San Jose etc.) will have time to put up or shut up.
PRO-REL is what will make every game much closer to must-watch matches. Imagine every game at the bottom of the table being just as exciting as the matches at the top of the table. It's not rocket science.
Of course, yes, I know, that the owners don't want PRO-REL, at least not immediately, because they want to greedily protect their investment. But they must be shown how a smaller slice of a bigger pie works. They have to see how powerful it is for drawing excitement. And then give teams 5 years of warning. That's the obvious solution.
The only other option is raising the salary MAX and the salary MIN at once. Tell Miami they can spend $25m and then tell Colorado and the other minnow that they have to spend at least $10m on their roster, or something like that. Then some of the smaller teams might actually opt for relegation and run their smaller operation in a lower league.
They have to change things.
I think it would be cool to have pro/rel but I don't think MLS would make as much money if they did that.
I don’t think they will do it the traditional way. Thank you for becoming a member of the channel!
@ of course my friend ❤️
it’s ridiculous, I get it’s the owners mainly but he needs to loosen the caps a lot, 6/7 dps ect and let the owners who wanna spend spend and the ones who are cheapskates can get what they deserve from fans. Every year concafaf is an embarrassment to the league, think how many players would love to move to America…
I also do agree they need to capitalise on messi and the World Cup to propel the league to a top 6 league in the world if they don’t it’ll just be maybe top 10 hovering adding more bs/stupid
Would make such a big difference
I think we all want change - but you say Don Garber has to sell owners on new ideas, I agree, but if he gives them too many ideas that all the owners dont want, hes out of a job. It's not 2+2=4 levels of simple. If you make significant change as well you also have to contend with the CBA needing changes, Players will want more guaranteed if there is significant change to Cap and Spending rules. We can mess with the mechanisms and add stuff on... which they did just do a little in the middle of last year, but big changes cant really happen until post CBA unless they get the players on board with bigger changes sooner. but ultimately... its the owners.
I hope change happens going into the World Cup year - but making it seem like its all Don and it should be more simple is disingenuous imo. It's the old head owners that are the ones holding back the growth. Look at the owners that are on the board to discuss changes - half of them are guys that dont want to change off the status quo. I would love to see a new commish as well... but I do not think a new commish will reach significant change
Sorry for the ramble, commented while video was still going and kept adding points.
They should demand more. No professional player should be playing for less than 100k per year on any team. MLS is a D1 league, it needs to pay like one. Raising the cap means they have the potential to earn more. It also increases competition, as an increased salary means higher standards and more applicants for the position. So players have to actually improve in quality to even maintain or score those positions. It's on owners, you can argue the revenue isn't coming in to allow such a raise but on the other hand if you don't raise then the revenue might not ever increase because there will be fewer people tuning in which mean lower ad revenue. At this stage, I think MLS owners need to take the short term loss for long term gain. I know American businessmen rarely look beyond short term profits though, so it's hard.
bro this dude cant even buy LED BOARDS .
What lol?
Adding Pro/Rel and getting rid of the salary cap would make MLS the equivalent of Brazil in its confederation.
The dominant League.
I don’t think Pro/Rel is going to happen
I don’t even think you need to add pro/rel, it would help maybe but the players that would move to America compared to Brazil would be massive
If you Add Pro/Rel and get rid of the salary cap, you will see just how fast some of these clubs fold. It's not smart business model for clubs in MLS. Hell, you can argue it's not smart for Europe, look at what Leeds United went through, and Portsmouth. Most EFL clubs are one bad year from going into administration. In Scotland, Rangers had to restart in the 4th tier, Bordeaux in France just went under, and Lyon could do the same.
@@Lonestarr022 th-cam.com/video/QdmdmKWHSno/w-d-xo.htmlsi=DMMbEEN7u59cWgku
#GarberOut
OUT
it doesn't matter who runs things, Garber will be replaced by someone who will do the same things he's doing.
I stopped following the league after Beckham left, becuz I saw no ambition from the owners to spend and improve the level of play. Messi, brought me back with hopes that purse strings would be opened up more, but alas MLS owners don't really care. I barely even watched any MLS games this season. Maybe like 5.
It’s sad