Friday, November 26, 2010

MLS Owners Play It Safe With Expanded Playoffs, Increasingly Irrelevant Final

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mls cup mls playoffsTORONTO -- No wonder the stands at BMO Field were two-thirds empty by the time Colorado Rapids captain Pablo Mastroeni lifted the trophy (very) late Sunday night.

No wonder ESPN's ratings for the MLS Cup Final plunged 44% from least year's to the lowest level since 1998.

You can't expect fans to care who wins the title when the league doesn't.

One might think that the ultimate raison d'être for a sports league should be to organize a meaningful competition that produces a deserving champion, but MLS has demonstrated that doing so is pretty far down on its list of priorities.

The league's first aim, of course, is to be stable and profitable. That's understandable. Anyone who invests millions in something, especially American soccer, has a right to put financial concerns first. And make no mistake: it is those men, not commissioner Don Garber, who run the league.

 

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Source: http://soccer.fanhouse.com/2010/11/25/mls-owners-play-it-safe-with-expanded-playoffs-increasingly-irr/

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