MLS, meaning the corporate entity that runs a soccer league rather than the competition of teams on the field, announced the formation of two committees this week. Though these committees have different tasks, one looking inward while the other focuses on league fortunes abroad, they collectively represent a visible commitment on the part of the people in charge to address two of the more frustrating (and blogged about) issues facing the league: The US Open Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League.
The former is an absolute disaster from an MLS perspective. Few fans care, fewer show up to watch, and clubs rarely prioritize it above de facto reserve league status. The abject nature of the competition at the top level is a death spiral: the fans don't care because the clubs don't, and the clubs don't care because the fans don't show up.
Midweek matches are notoriously tough to sell in the US, and with US Open Cup clashes existing only in that attendance wasteland, it doesn't behoove teams to market it aggressively. Often, the financial considerations lead clubs to choose cheaper auxiliary facilities over their usual homes, driving the relevance meter down further. Simply put, the MLS profile and interest level of the US Open Cup is at life-support levels, and though proponents of the history-rich tournament do their best to breath what life into it they can, it's clearly time to assess the situation.
The latter is a matter of Major League Soccer's ability to compete with other teams from the region (mostly Mexican) for the title of CONCACAF champion. The deflating fact that they simply can't, with the the relative quality of its teams lacking and the tournament format penalizing a league that is only just starting its pre-season during the knockout stages, is doubly troubling in light of Mexico's biggest teams giving more weight to the Copa Libertadores than their own regional championship. If MLS has dreams of ascending to regional supremacy, or simply hopes to make the FIFA Club World Cup for marketing reasons, something has to be done.
What exactly, short of spending significantly more on player salaries across the board, something we know won't happen anytime soon, is anyone's guess. MLS will not, under any circumstances, alter their business philosophy and slow-growth model just to finally have a team or two win in Mexico when it counts.
Hence the committees for both problems, groups likely to make recommendations commiserate with the over-arching attitude of a frugal, yet aspiring, league. Whether these groups will have any real power, of if their suggestions will be noted, discussed, but ultimately discarded, is a question for future consideration. Simply forming committees gives reason to lend the league the benefit of the doubt, recognizing that there will be at least some effort made to correct problems facing MLS teams in each competition.
Not that you should hold your breath on major changes coming any time soon. The forming of committees is, in itself, no real action. There's bound to be months of discussion with no final conclusions drawn while we all forget that the committees even exist. In the case of the US Open Cup committee, all the league can do is make recommendations to US Soccer, who will then need to address changes themselves. This could take awhile.
But hey, you gotta start somewhere, right?
