I would like to see the MLS expand into North Carolina. One would hope that the Railhawks can get their financials in order and make the jump to MLS from the NASL, like Vancouver did a few years ago.

(05-12-2014 03:52 PM)UConnFB Wrote:  

(05-12-2014 03:51 PM)SteveUCF19 Wrote:  EAST: UConn, Temple, UC, ECU, Memphis, UCF, USF, Tulane
WEST: Hou, SMU, Tulsa, CSU, N. Mex, UNLV, SDSU, Fresno

I would prefer not to have the academies. I don't think they do much to enhance a conference.

Too many teams. That waters down the payout, at some point you have so many schools that you have diminishing returns.

at face value but we'd have a dramatically better shot at securing our own access spot with an unquestioned "best of the rest" (would instaneously double our value), the threat/fear of losing teams becomes dramatically, lose 2 in 16, you'll be fine.

and become the first true cross country league. that probably wont be that valuable to espn (who owns every conference already), but nbcsports, cbssports and fs1 would pay to get that, not only would create a psuedo p"6" we've dramatically decreased the value of competition we'd be a power conference that wouldnt cost them billions a year.

we'd get around 10-15mil each (but boise would have to be included)

(05-12-2014 02:41 PM)UConnFB Wrote:  Remember back when all of those geniuses said that soccer would never make it here? I suspect their next contract will be even bigger.

I'm glad that MLS has signed this bigger deal, but the jury is still way, way out on whether soccer will actually "make it" in the USA. E.g., MLS isn't really "major league" soccer, not evaluated on a world-wide standard. It's about equal in terms of talent with the English "Championship" league, which is their third-tier league.

(05-12-2014 04:19 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-12-2014 02:41 PM)UConnFB Wrote:  Remember back when all of those geniuses said that soccer would never make it here? I suspect their next contract will be even bigger.

I'm glad that MLS has signed this bigger deal, but the jury is still way, way out on whether soccer will actually "make it" in the USA. E.g., MLS isn't really "major league" soccer, not evaluated on a world-wide standard. It's about equal in terms of talent with the English "Championship" league, which is their third-tier league.

The Championship is the second-tier in England.

(05-12-2014 04:11 PM)PirateJP Wrote:  I would like to see the MLS expand into North Carolina. One would hope that the Railhawks can get their financials in order and make the jump to MLS from the NASL, like Vancouver did a few years ago.

I would have rather seen that than Atlanta

(05-12-2014 04:19 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-12-2014 02:41 PM)UConnFB Wrote:  Remember back when all of those geniuses said that soccer would never make it here? I suspect their next contract will be even bigger.

I'm glad that MLS has signed this bigger deal, but the jury is still way, way out on whether soccer will actually "make it" in the USA. E.g., MLS isn't really "major league" soccer, not evaluated on a world-wide standard. It's about equal in terms of talent with the English "Championship" league, which is their third-tier league.

It outdraws baseball in several cities in the USA. Which isn't saying much nowadays. But it is pretty safe to say that it made it when it is raking in 90 million bucks a year and the fanbase grows every season.

(05-12-2014 04:27 PM)CalallenStang Wrote:  

(05-12-2014 04:19 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-12-2014 02:41 PM)UConnFB Wrote:  Remember back when all of those geniuses said that soccer would never make it here? I suspect their next contract will be even bigger.

I'm glad that MLS has signed this bigger deal, but the jury is still way, way out on whether soccer will actually "make it" in the USA. E.g., MLS isn't really "major league" soccer, not evaluated on a world-wide standard. It's about equal in terms of talent with the English "Championship" league, which is their third-tier league.

The Championship is the second-tier in England.

I meant it's their third-best league.

(05-12-2014 05:22 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-12-2014 04:27 PM)CalallenStang Wrote:  

(05-12-2014 04:19 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-12-2014 02:41 PM)UConnFB Wrote:  Remember back when all of those geniuses said that soccer would never make it here? I suspect their next contract will be even bigger.

I'm glad that MLS has signed this bigger deal, but the jury is still way, way out on whether soccer will actually "make it" in the USA. E.g., MLS isn't really "major league" soccer, not evaluated on a world-wide standard. It's about equal in terms of talent with the English "Championship" league, which is their third-tier league.

The Championship is the second-tier in England.

I meant it's their third-best league.

Behind the PL and Rugby?

(05-12-2014 04:39 PM)UConnFB Wrote:  

(05-12-2014 04:19 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-12-2014 02:41 PM)UConnFB Wrote:  Remember back when all of those geniuses said that soccer would never make it here? I suspect their next contract will be even bigger.

I'm glad that MLS has signed this bigger deal, but the jury is still way, way out on whether soccer will actually "make it" in the USA. E.g., MLS isn't really "major league" soccer, not evaluated on a world-wide standard. It's about equal in terms of talent with the English "Championship" league, which is their third-tier league.

It outdraws baseball in several cities in the USA. Which isn't saying much nowadays. But it is pretty safe to say that it made it when it is raking in 90 million bucks a year and the fanbase grows every season.

Those of us who are older remember a time when many thought the NASL had "made it" too. Jury is still out, though I think the odds now favor this league.

(05-12-2014 05:27 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-12-2014 04:39 PM)UConnFB Wrote:  

(05-12-2014 04:19 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-12-2014 02:41 PM)UConnFB Wrote:  Remember back when all of those geniuses said that soccer would never make it here? I suspect their next contract will be even bigger.

I'm glad that MLS has signed this bigger deal, but the jury is still way, way out on whether soccer will actually "make it" in the USA. E.g., MLS isn't really "major league" soccer, not evaluated on a world-wide standard. It's about equal in terms of talent with the English "Championship" league, which is their third-tier league.

It outdraws baseball in several cities in the USA. Which isn't saying much nowadays. But it is pretty safe to say that it made it when it is raking in 90 million bucks a year and the fanbase grows every season.

Those of us who are older remember a time when many thought the NASL had "made it" too. Jury is still out, though I think the odds now favor this league.

The old NASL spent money foolishly. That isn't happening in MLS right now.

(05-12-2014 05:27 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-12-2014 04:39 PM)UConnFB Wrote:  

(05-12-2014 04:19 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(05-12-2014 02:41 PM)UConnFB Wrote:  Remember back when all of those geniuses said that soccer would never make it here? I suspect their next contract will be even bigger.

I'm glad that MLS has signed this bigger deal, but the jury is still way, way out on whether soccer will actually "make it" in the USA. E.g., MLS isn't really "major league" soccer, not evaluated on a world-wide standard. It's about equal in terms of talent with the English "Championship" league, which is their third-tier league.

It outdraws baseball in several cities in the USA. Which isn't saying much nowadays. But it is pretty safe to say that it made it when it is raking in 90 million bucks a year and the fanbase grows every season.

Those of us who are older remember a time when many thought the NASL had "made it" too. Jury is still out, though I think the odds now favor this league.

Please. You're being absurd. The MLS is 18 years old now, they build their own stadiums, this isn't same situation as the NASL, which had a business model that wasn't sound or built to endure.

$90M/year? ESPN pays more than that for just one Monday Night Football game.

(05-13-2014 09:23 AM)CommuterBob Wrote:  $90M/year? ESPN pays more than that for just one Monday Night Football game.

Yes, but I wasn't comparing the new contract to MNF. I was comparing it the current contract that MLS has.

$18million < $90million.

(05-12-2014 02:30 PM)SteveUCF19 Wrote:  Under the current deal, with NBC and ESPN, MLS makes a combined $18 million per year. They announced a new TV deal today with ESPN, Fox and Univision that will pay a combined $90 million per year starting next season. This is the kind of jump the AAC needs to make with our next TV deal.

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journ...LS-TV.aspx

Problem with that theory is that is the market correction, in part, due to the increased value of sports programming. Every current major conference, save for the Big Ten, has signed a contract under the "new" market conditions, including the AAC.