yep, some of these fixtures would have been very good to see (BR v LA in 2011/12 would have been great fun to watch).

I disagree with many in this thread but I believe there would be a fair bit of interested in a Japan v Australia v USA v China (given the big names their teams have been signing) four team club cup. Each team plays three games, the winner being the top of the group as per world cup scoring.

The games could be played and be financially viable in USA and Japan, not sure about in China, and probably not in Australia.

Personally, Id rather see some sort of tournament play than just one off games against EPL clubs.

I like the look of it, but yeah, its financially and logistically impossible.

Yes, A small share with Yokohama

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-Pacific_Championship

City V City V City V Yokahama

Don't know why people are calling this plastic.

Because we aren't part of CONCACAF

The only reason why people want this is to further cement the myth that we have more in common with the MLS than we do with Asia

Step 1: Stare in the mirror and repeat 100 times "We are the MLS"
Step 2: Implement more ways to be like the MLS

Our fans, ratings, sponsors and investors are going to determine the appeal of the game. Not how we pigeonhole ourselves

So we can create the all stars, and create a play off and limit our own growth with a salary cap but if our stakeholders don't buy into it then it will be for nothing

It is just plastic shit and isn't worth a look in

This. Why waste money on MLS teams when you could play ICC etc.

Thanks for the laugh, lifted my day for sure!

umm no thanks.

The World Club Championships are more than suffice.

Edited by SocaWho: 3/2/2016 10:59:41 AM

I'm aware we aren't part of CONCACAF, but why does that preclude the champion of one domestic league playing another? Didn't the winner of the ECL play the winner of the Copa Lib for a long time? Didn't this somewhat evolve into the world club championship? Did these confederation says "oh look, you belong to another confederation, therefore we're not allowed to play you?".

The reality is we do have a lot in common with the US generally, and this appears to have spilled into sporting area hence why our soccer/football cultures and format are very similar. Is this something that could be leveraged? We already have the ACL, what's wrong with building links with other Confederations? At least what's the harm? I'm not pitching this as some kind of state of origin equivalent, but given our close culture links and diplomatic links it isn't entirely unfeasible that a rivalry could develop between our two domestic leagues. I'm sure American's would think nothing of our league and would be immediately convinced any MLS team could stomp all over any A league outfit.

I don't even think it would be plastic- why is pitching the two best teams from America and Australia against each other plastic? If anything it would be interesting to see how our league fairs against theirs, it would at least be a genuine contest rather than some All stars crap or big teams sending their 3rd string sides to Australia for some practice matches.

This competition spawned possibly the most facepalm moment in Melbourne Heart history: their CEO Scott Munn announced a competition where a member would go into the draw to win a trip to Hawaii with the team for the tournament if they completed the simple task of signing up 200 season ticket holders :lol: :lol:

Has a MLS Club ever Won the CONCACAF Champions League?

They did try this in 2008-09 with the Pan-Pacific Championship which was wholly organised and funded by the MLS.

Sydney FC represented Australia in 2008.

The concept failed as most teams, if not all teams, just used it as a holiday.

The winners of the A-League, J-League, K-League, CSL and MLS took part in 2008 while the A-League pulled out of the 2009 edition ( which was to be the last edition ).

The concept was a cool one but it never really attracted commercial interest or popularity. Gamba Osaka won the first year and Suwon Bluewings won the second year.

The TPP Cup ....

(Just dont ask to read the thing before your gubbiment signs u on for it.)
=;

Maybe they tried too much too soon. A one off game between A league and MLS champion would be a lot easier financially and logistically than four teams. It would also help if they played the game on a proper stadium on the mainland rather than on a 50ft wave.

Anyway it is interesting to see the event was underwritten by MLS marketing, it shows they are at least open to ideas such as this.

I don't see how that matters.



Bit of a strawman there tbh. It'd just be one game a year, not supplanting anything else.



I think you'll have to explain why fans, sponsors etc won't be interested, because I think you're making a bit of an assumption here.

I'm not sure what the salary cap has to do with it.

I usually really like your posts and have even quoted them elsewhere, fwiw.

Yeah to much to soon is probably the right point to make. I agree a one off game is better but it has to be competitive to make it work. I remember the Toyota Cup was really good back in the day before it was abolished in 2004 by FIFA who wanted to expand the one match into a whole world tournament and the Club World Cup was borne. And really they took what was a great game between the Champions of Europe and the Champions of South America and turned it into a tournament that no one really cares about.

The evolution of our game has nothing to do with the US

Historically there has always been a European flavor to our game. It was the European migrants that helped build it in terms of clubs, players and support

More recently there have been plays to make it appeal to mainstream Australia so they have been trying to inject things that the AFL / NRL do. This hasn't worked. The NSL at the end of its time was a failure and the A League has stagnated


There are people out there that hate the European flavor of our game. They hate Eurosnobs. They hate the premiership. They hate the idea of P/R. They hate the ethnic clubs. In their opinion the way forward for our game is to mindlessly adopt the American style and align our game

The problem is that the bulk of the stakeholders and support for our game is the European style. We can shove the American game down their throats and shout out "we are the MLS" but it wont get them interested


Who are the great Americans who have played in our league? Who are the great teams in the NSL / A League with American roots? Who are the American poster boys that fans aspire to be like?

Its a stupid alignment

An EPL winner v A League winner will sell out and rate 10 fold. We need to give people what they want instead of telling them the way things are

The problem with an EPL vs A-league team is the sheer gulf in class between the two clubs. an MLS vs A-League match would see a much more competitive match played. I would for instance be much more interested in seeing a MLS vs A-league game than a EPL vs A-League game. I still remember how much fun it was seeing the LA Galaxy vs Sydney FC match in Sydney in 2007.

this, and the fact all the EPL team travel to USA to play anyway

I'm not sure whether you're being over-analytical but the alignment exists whether you like it or not. Yes there has traditionally been a Euro alignment to our game, but it has also been significantly influenced by Australian sporting culture, hence why we have "play offs", franchises, contrived names like "Victory" and "Glory". Glory was the most successful club back in the NSL days and Victory is the most successful club in the A league, it appears people don't give a shit whether the club name is "Americanized" they are more interested in being entertained.

It's not an either 'us or them' approach. A game against the MLS champion doesn't mean we're abandoning our European roots and trying to copy the MLS. We still have differences, they call is soccer, we call it football, ownership models are different etc, we can celebrate our differences and still find commonality between the leagues, and leverage that to spawn interest in the game, media, bring big name players to Australia and build links between the leagues and exchange knowledge and best practice.

An EPL winner v A league winner is pie in the sky stuff, just won't happen. We have to stick with what's achievable.

How about no. Lets just stick to afc club competitions and fifa comps. Its bad enough we have the icc. Quit the gimmick bullshit.

Edited by biscuitman1871: 3/2/2016 12:43:59 PM

I remember in Hawaii??

Melbourne heart went i think i remember collarado rapids as well

What interest?

When LA Galaxy came here the interest was in 1 player - Beckham, who is European. There is no interest in American teams, players or branding

I bet most people here couldn't even name the last 3 title winners


Bringing over an American team with big name European players to spawn interest is beating around the bush when we can just as easily bring over the big name European team that created them

Its like going to a buffet in hope they serve a slice of pizza instead of going to a Lygon Street pizza restaurant and getting the real deal


I'm not saying a playoff will hurt the game. But equally not having a playoff won't hurt the game either. There is a cost to putting such a thing in place (travel, scheduling, appearance fees etc...) and it would only be in hope they had a good selection of reputable European players in their line up that could attract a crowd and interest here

The current arrangement of trying to bring over a big name team has the same impact plus more because it is a direct approach. Or alternatively if we had an A League / J League play off it could help cement an Asian alliance. Given the current ACL crowds and ratings this is much more important for the development of the game

As stipulated above there is more than one reason to bring a champion MLS team over (or one of ours going there). Beckham was arguably not possible to bring over when he was at Man u and Real Madrid, it took him going to LA to get him over here. Similarly it might also be more feasible and likely for globally renowned stars to come here as part of an MLS squad rather than waiting for big European clubs to decide to take a holiday here.

Why would the fixture not spawn any interest? The MLS is growing and developing a reputation for importing excellent players, some even in the prime of their careers, as well as playing a high standard. There's a huge European/South American influence across many MLS teams, many who have international caps. When people think of the MLS they probably think of folks like Beckham, Kaka, Gerrard and the glut of other stars making their way over there. I'm not saying the MCG is going to sell out to watch victory v Timbers, but surely there would be *some* media interest in such a fixture - an Australia v America kinda thing. Call it gimmicky but that doens't mean it wouldn't work, people like rivalries. Others like myself would be interested in seeing how the A league fares with the MLS, which league is developing quicker. If they bring a big name who can sell out a stadium that's a bonus.


Edited by rusty: 3/2/2016 01:29:39 PM

If you want to wank over becks then. Just bring him out. Dont waste time with this gimmick bullshit. As it stands with China they are fucking eclipsing the MLS re signings and they are in our confed. Fuck gimmicks with the MLS.

There's no shortage of big teams that want to play here. Once upon a time that may have be true but not any more

Not only do we have an inevitable two big fixtures on FTA but we also have the ICC to look forward to. Don't forget Arsenal next season


People like rivalries but not forced ones. What rivalry are we talking about here. The "not first choice code in country" rivalry? The "we have a salary cap too" rivalry? "Bullshit nickname rivalry"?

What are you hoping to establish?

People are disappointed an Aus NZ rivalry isn't happening in the A League like it does in other sports. So why would an Aus US rivalry work in football when we have zero ties with them and zero interest - just because it works in swimming or tennis

I don't see clubs lining up to bring MLS teams over here as it is. The timing of their season is all wrong and the fee they demand wouldn't see the ROI


Its obvious what works. Its obvious what sells. Why fight it?

Some people are just stick in the muds
I have no idea why anyone would oppose friendly off season games like this
I'd be interested to see A-League champion vs any other league champion in the off season. Not sure why anyone wouldn't be.