The Villainy of MLS

We’re coming to this a bit late, but we had two birthdays to celebrate this past weekend (December is not a cheap month hereabouts!) and so were otherwise occupied.

Most of you will surely have heard the news that MLS is planning to withdraw its first teams from the US Open Cup in 2024 and enter its MLS Next Pro teams instead (DC United, by the way, doesn’t even have a Next Pro team). The purported reason is to reduce schedule congestion on its teams, but that is a spurious excuse, as we will explain later. The real reasons are dual and closely linked.

Money.

Control.

The money side is obvious. First, USOC games are likely a net cost to MLS, even if played at home. Attendance at these is much lower than for their own league games (partly because they are mostly midweek) as MLS fan interest is relatively weak. For example, the 2019 final in Atlanta drew 35,709 fans as compared with a regular season average of 52,510. It also didn’t match the Campeones Cup game (the match between the reigning MLS and Liga MX champions) at 40,128. Traveling makes that much worse, of course.

Second, MLS has its shiny new contract with Apple TV+. The Open Cup is not part of that deal. The Cup is broadcast by Bleacher Report Live, CBS and Paramount+ (the last two are the same company, of course). So MLS revenues from the Cup are limited to say the least. And an entity that is essentially a Ponzi scheme can’t have that.

Control is a problem for MLS because up till just last year, all marketing activities for the US Soccer Federation were handled by a shady and little-known company called Soccer United Marketing. SUM is owned by MLS, and also handles marketing for CONCACAF and CONMEBOL. Its President is Don Garber and its Chairman is Sunil Gulati, who for a long time was simultaneously President of USSF. The relationship was extremely cozy. Thus, any marketing activity for USSF could hardly be separated from what was in MLS’ best interests.

The Cup is not in MLS’ best interests, as they see them. Aside from the financial aspects, the potential of losing to lower league clubs (and, let’s face it, the gap between MLS and lower divisions in US soccer is wider than in many other countries, partly because of the lack of promotion and relegation) fills them with dread. It’s embarrassing, and they really don’t like that at all. But that is of course a huge draw of cup competitions worldwide. Everyone loves a giant killer.

But this is why marketing efforts for the Cup over the past 20 years have been next to non-existent. No major sponsor has been secured, the TV contract is cheap and prize money is next to nothing. MLS has long wanted to starve the Cup out of existence and is doing its utmost to achieve that goal. Moreover, since the relationship between SUM and USSF is now more at arm’s length, their interest in supporting USSF is even weaker.

Back to that schedule congestion reasoning. MLS cited LAFC’s 53 games this year as a example of that problem. But 53 games is pretty much run of the mill for European clubs, even at lower levels. The English League Two, the 4th level in that country, has 24 teams. That’s 46 league games each already. That doesn’t count potential playoffs, the EFL Cup, the EFL Trophy, the FA Cup and potentially the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League.

Further, part of that congestion is the new Leagues Cup format instituted this year. All MLS and Liga MX teams play in it with a total of 77 games between 47 teams. That is also part of the Apple deal. So it’s their own greed that caused the problem, although it really isn’t a problem at all. MLS teams max out at 6 games in the Cup if they go all the way. Only 3 have done that in the past two editions.

A secondary justification for the move is that it “will provide emerging professional players with additional opportunities for meaningful competition.” True, but only if those players happen to play for MLS clubs. For everyone else competing in the Cup the opposite is obviously true. That is self-serving in the extreme. And if the Cup is “meaningful competition”, why withdraw from it? MLS basically wants to have its cake and eat it.

Frankly, they want everyone else’s cakes too. As a closed system they have consistently encroached on other leagues’ clubs. San Diego Loyal is just the latest victim in that ongoing plan. And if they can’t shoulder you off the map, they’ll starve you off it.

Outside of the media directly attached to MLS, this move has been met with near-unanimous condemnation. The one entity though that has been relatively silent so far is USSF itself. Apparently they heard about at the same time as everyone else, another indication of MLS arrogance. Still, it rather tells you who wields all the power in the US soccer landscape. But it’s not as if USSF is without options.

The biggest club the federation can wield is sanctioning. Many have already noted that it is a requirement for all Division I and Division II leagues to enter their teams into all USSF competitions for which they are eligible. Division III leagues must also enter the US Open Cup. Previously, MLS2 teams, whether in MLS Next Pro or in the USL, were deemed ineligible as they were reserve squads for the parent teams. Refusing to compete in the Cup is a violation of the sanctioning requirements and USSF has every right to pull MLS’ sanction. Ironically, the way the league standards are written pretty much protect MLS’s monopoly on Division I status. Specifically, 75% of the league’s teams must be in metro markets of 1 million or more and all stadiums must have minimum capacity of 15,000. Among USL Championship teams, only the Legion meets that second criterion. So if MLS loses its sanction, there will be no Division I in the US unless the rules are changed.

So maybe not quite that big a club, then. MLS is engaging in a bluff here, but knows that USSF holds a weak hand anyway. They are daring USSF to call the bluff. My guess is, they probably won’t.

There is another avenue that can be pursued, independently of USSF. CBS and B/R doubtless bid on the TV contract with the expectation of full MLS participation in the Cup. They can possibly sue to force compliance with the league standards. But they aren’t the only group who have potential legal redress. You see, the 2024 US Open Cup is already under way. There have in fact already been four qualifying rounds with 109 teams participating. Those teams paid entrance fees, as will the D2 and D3 teams that enter the competition later. Pulling out of a competition after it starts is dirty pool. The teams already in will have entered with every expectation of a chance to play against top tier opponents. And iof they plan to host, that’s a huge revenue source being withheld That’s a class action suit waiting to happen.

The sad fact is that MLS is probably going to get away with this. Worse, their own fans probably won’t care. Many are likely barely aware that lower leagues even exist. There can be no valid argument that this is beneficial to US soccer or anyone outside the MLS arena. MLS should be utterly ashamed of themselves, but frankly, I doubt they have the capacity for shame.