Sporting Kansas City

[KCMax]

I love that Robb Heineman is on Twitter and that he teases us like this.

@RobbHeineman 3m

Solid deal done. Not a dp, but high quality. Just waiting on ITC stamp. Probably post 4th weekend. #happy4th

[bobbyhawks]

Besler beat twice on that first Belgian goal, but he looked absolutely gassed. I wonder if being aggressive early caused the team to be exhausted at the end and Belgium's depth was way better than ours.

Still proud of our boys, especially Tim Howard and our KC boys Zusi and Besler. Lots of great pub for SKC's guys during the tourney.

All of the "What's the USMNT look like in 2018?" articles that I read had Besler in the lineup. Apparently he was thought of as the weak link coming into the tournament. He changed a lot of people's minds.

I saw some report that Euro teams are very interested in him and Zusi now (if they weren't already). I'd be pretty surprised if they were with us next year.

As much as I'd love to have them both here, I can see how moving to Europe would be hugely beneficial to them both as far as at least the next world cup is concerned. The MLS wants to do what it takes to keep them here, but unfortunately the MLS has gone about the issue the wrong way. You can pay Besler and Zusi all you want to stay, but that does not change the fact that the minimum salaried players in the MLS earn less than $50k. Whatever Besler and Zusi make, they will still be facing lower caliber talent in the MLS.

[KCMax]

[kboish]

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mls/sp ... 69286.html

Asked about the chances Besler could parlay that into an overseas transfer, Heineman replied, “I’d say there’s a strong possibility that could happen based on the interest that’s out there.”

If it were to happen, it would happen “probably within the next 10 days,” according to Besler’s agent, Eddie Rock. Besler deferred questions about the situation to his agent.

Sounds like it is only a matter of time... so bittersweet.

Now we REALLY need to bring in several impact players when the July 8th transfer window opens.

Zusi is probably gone also.

[Unknown JimmyD]

The MLS wants to do what it takes to keep them here, but unfortunately the MLS has gone about the issue the wrong way. You can pay Besler and Zusi all you want to stay, but that does not change the fact that the minimum salaried players in the MLS earn less than $50k. Whatever Besler and Zusi make, they will still be facing lower caliber talent in the MLS.

what would you suggest is the right way? what would be an acceptable number for the minimum salary? $75k? $100k? i'm not saying that i disagree with your stance, but for argument's sake, how would you significantly raise the minimum salary so that the level of competition would be good enough that the really good players can stay here and continue to develop like they would if they went to europe ... and doing it without bankrupting the league?

[MidtownCat]

The salaries accross the board are the issue, and the MLS will have to address this if it wants to take the next step as a legitimate major sport in the US in its ability to attract and retain top level young talent. Dempsey is the only bonafide star making legit EPL money at 6 million.

Zusi is making around 365,000 and Besler 200,000 for SKC. With their showing in the World Cup, both will have the opportunity to play in top level European leagues for 4-5+ million. And I hope they do. It would be great for their development and they deserve the big contract.

[KCMax]

Sporting KC, US defender Matt Besler says spending career in KC a "dream," but he'll explore options

SC Freiburg in the Bundesliga is said to be interested in Besler.

This is also making some national news:

WATCH: Sporting KC’s Dom Dwyer celebrates goal by taking a selfie

Dwyer is like having our own little Jason Statham. Oy!

[bobbyhawks]

The MLS wants to do what it takes to keep them here, but unfortunately the MLS has gone about the issue the wrong way. You can pay Besler and Zusi all you want to stay, but that does not change the fact that the minimum salaried players in the MLS earn less than $50k. Whatever Besler and Zusi make, they will still be facing lower caliber talent in the MLS.

what would you suggest is the right way? what would be an acceptable number for the minimum salary? $75k? $100k? i'm not saying that i disagree with your stance, but for argument's sake, how would you significantly raise the minimum salary so that the level of competition would be good enough that the really good players can stay here and continue to develop like they would if they went to europe ... and doing it without bankrupting the league?

I should probably rephrase my statement above. The MLS has gone about many things in completely the right way. Growing the league slowly and methodically was necessary. However, I think they are still going down the path of looking for big names to make a splash, even though there is now a dedicated base of fans that will not evaporate if no new big names arrive for a few years. SKC doesn't even have a team payroll over $4 million based on this link:

http://www.stathunting.com/2014/04/11/m ... isualized/

SKC is charging pro-sports-in-the-USA ticket prices, selling out games, and charging pro-sports-in-the-USA prices for snacks, beer, and merch. The TV contracts suck, but there is no way they don't make a huge profit on the backs of a collective payroll that is less than the salary of Wade Davis. If the league wants to incent young athletes to choose soccer over other sports, then it needs the promise of instant "wealth" that other leagues give with ~$400k minimum salaries. I'm not saying that the MLS needs to jump to that level, but they need a plan to match that level eventually, and sitting under $50k right now has them nowhere close. There are 17 players making under $100k right now on SKC. Bringing all of them up to a minimum of $100k would cost less than $700k. That seems like a trivial amound of money to me considering that a USA-style league minimum (I believe) can be the biggest selling point in taking players away from Europe. Oddly enough, when it comes to sports, the US (with help from Canada) does socialism better than the Europeans in many respects.

[smh]

On this exact topic, a recent Freakonomics podcast talked about the rise of soccer in the US. Lots of good insight and discussion with the head of US Soccer, among others including Andrew Luck (whose father apparently runs/ran the Dynamo).

http://freakonomics.com/2014/06/12/why- ... o-podcast/

Good stuff.

[swid]

SKC is charging pro-sports-in-the-USA ticket prices, selling out games, and charging pro-sports-in-the-USA prices for snacks, beer, and merch. The TV contracts suck...

MLS will have a better TV contract starting next year. This year, between ESPN, NBCSN, and the Spanish-language networks, MLS takes in $28 million/year (minimum) for TV rights in the US, so that works out to $1.47 million/year/team. Next year, the new contracts with ESPN, Fox, and Univision will bring in $90 million/year, which will be $4.29 million/year/team (2 new teams join MLS next year).

It'll be interesting to see what SKC (and the rest of MLS, for that matter) will do with the additional money: getting more aggressive in the Designated Player market vs. upgrading the talent throughout the roster.

[beautyfromashes]

It'll be interesting to see what SKC (and the rest of MLS, for that matter) will do with the additional money: getting more aggressive in the Designated Player market vs. upgrading the talent throughout the roster.

I love how SKC is run. They don't care about flash, they develop talent within and move players when they are the most valuable. It's a solid template to win consistently. We'll probably never get a David Beckham or Clint Dempsey, but who cares if we put a solid team on the field year in, year out.

[KCMax]

Don't know if it was mentioned here, but Orlando City, the new expansion team in MLS, signed international star Kaka for the 2015 season.

[NDTeve]

Hadn't heard the name of new franchise before. Not real original but better than Real Salt Lake!

[bobbyhawks]

Don't know if it was mentioned here, but Orlando City, the new expansion team in MLS, signed international star Kaka for the 2015 season.

Kaka, Frank Lampard, and David Villa are big gets for the league name-wise, even if they perpetuate the stereotype as a retirement league for aging stars. Though these guys tend to make more than the rest of the team combined, it still does little to hurt each franchise salary-cap-wise. I only have an issue with the Designated Player rule if the team uses that excuse to claim they cannot afford higher minimum salaries. I also fail to see why the salary cap is still so low.

It is difficult to believe that an owner of an MLS team could not afford a doubling of the $3.1 million cap. That would have the average non-designated player roster spots at an average of $302k if you maxed it out all salaries and had two designated players above $388k. The current average of non-designated cap players on a maxed out team is $130k. It looks like most teams are already maxed out or close to maxed out on the cap, so it doesn't seem like moving the cap up a bit would create some wide gulf in the haves and have-nots (at this stage in the game). Also, I have read that the cap could move to up to $3.75 million and be completely covered by revenue from only the new TV deal.

[shinatoo]

How many teams in MLS now? And do you think they will ever got to tables and regulation?

[swid]

19 this year and 21 next year (Orlando City SC and NYC FC), with Atlanta set to join in 2017 and the Beckham-owned Miami team sometime in the mysterious future around or after that.

24 teams is likely the maximum size for MLS for some time to come; it's also the max you'll see for a top-level soccer league elsewhere (20 or 22 are more common league sizes, however).

[KCMax]

How many teams in MLS now? And do you think they will ever got to tables and regulation?

I doubt relegation happens in the U.S. because of publicly financed stadiums.

[beautyfromashes]

19 this year and 21 next year (Orlando City SC and NYC FC), with Atlanta set to join in 2017 and the Beckham-owned Miami team sometime in the mysterious future around or after that.

24 teams is likely the maximum size for MLS for some time to come; it's also the max you'll see for a top-level soccer league elsewhere (20 or 22 are more common league sizes, however).

Those final two teams, after 22, are going to go for a pretty penny. Once they get to 24, I think they will stay there for a long time and if a city doesn't get one of those final 2, they could be waiting for a long time.

[chaglang]

Don't know if it was mentioned here, but Orlando City, the new expansion team in MLS, signed international star Kaka for the 2015 season.

Kaka, Frank Lampard, and David Villa are big gets for the league name-wise, even if they perpetuate the stereotype as a retirement league for aging stars.

Lampard is an interesting case, because he's almost immobile. I can imagine that some of the younger players in the MLS are looking forward to playing against him. MLS should be at a point now (or very soon) when aging internationals are more reluctant to play here for fear of being run off the field.

[kboish]

From everything i've heard/read/watched- relegation is not in the cards for the mls.