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Forums - Sports Discussion - 2015 MLS Thread: Major League Soccer enters 20th season

 

Welcome to my MLS thread.  Thought I'd give the US/Canada's top tier of the sport it's own thread as the alll encompassing football thread seems quite large and MLS news gets buried a bit in the news with European leagues domianting over there.

The point of this thread is to inform and discuss matters related to MLS.  I am happy to answer questions for those unfamiliar and valid criticism is welcome.

NOTE: If all you want to say is "MLS sucks" of something equally pointless, please do not post, I will report this nonsense.

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All right! Moving on, what is MLS?

MLS is the top tier of association football, or soccer, in the United States and Canada. It was established in 1996 as part of the agreement for the US to get the 1994 World Cup.  

When does the season start? End?

This Friday! The 6th of March sees Chicago travel to Los Angeles, with other clubs playing Saturday and Sunday.  The season runs until the end of October, playoffs come after for those that qualify.

My goal is to regularly post results and fixtures along with standings.

Below is an amazing guide to 2015 season by the league, every club is outlined as well as main story lines.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/2015-mls-season-guide

Again, if you have questions about league, clubs, history or what ever I am here to help. Thought be easier than posting a massive OP filled with hundred of questions.

 

EDIT: HERE IS A GREAT GUIDE WRITTEN UP TO HELP NEWCOMERS

http://www.sbnation.com/a/mls-preview-2015/beginners-guide



Around the Network

Friday 6 March

Chicago at Los Angeles, 10:00, UniMas and MLS Live

Saturday 7 March

Montreal at DC United, 3:00
Colorado at Philadelphia, 4:00
Toronto at Vancouver, 6:00
Columbus at Houston, 8:30
San Jose at Dallas, 8:30
Salt Lake at Portland, 10:30

Sunday 8 March

New York City at Orlando, 5:00, ESPN2
New York Red Bulls at Kansas City, 7:00, Fox Sports 1
New England at Seattle, 9:30, Fox Sports 1



The battle for the Supporter's Shield (for top of the league) and playoff spots begins this weekend.

Big match of interest is new clubs New York City v. Orlando as big crowd is expected this Sunday. Headliners David Villa and Kaka will be players to watch.





In terms of overview main contenders for silverware look to be Los Angeles, Seattle and New England. However, MLS has great deal of parity so never rule out surprise club like a Houston or Dallas or even Toronto coming out and winning a shield or cup. Generally we don't really know until a good 10 matches in how the league is shaping up, especially this year with two expansion sides being major variables.

If I had to predict right now?

West
1. Seattle
2. Dallas
3. Los Angeles
4. Portland
5. Salt Lake
6. Kansas City
--------------
7. Houston
8. San Jose
9. Vancouver
10. Colorado

East
1. New England
2. Columbus
3. Toronto
4. New York City
5. DC United
6. Orlando
------------
7. Montreal
8. Chicago
9. New York
10. Philadelphia


Revisit this in a couple of months just to see how wrong I am. Again, very difficult to predict as single injury or major transfer can shake things up.



Ka-pi96 said:
Nice thread. As a Man City fan I'm looking forward to seeing how New York City do. Hope they have a good first game against Orlando


Thanks Ka-pi! New York City is very interesting club to monitor coming into the league. They have resources and a greta manager, but likely take time to gel and then Lampard coming in Summer could change things for them quite a bit.



Around the Network

Do you ever reckon Football will overtake hand-egg as the most popular sport in America (I refuse to call Hand-egg football).



Groundking said:
Do you ever reckon Football will overtake hand-egg as the most popular sport in America (I refuse to call Hand-egg football).


In the US there are the 'Big 4' professional sports leagues -- NFL (football), MLB (baseball), NBA (basketball), and NHL (hockey). TV ratings of MLS are very poor and as recently as 2013 trailed the Women's NBA. But MLS (18,807) only trials the NFL (64,698) and MLB (30,895) in average attendance, so fans show up for games (this info is a couple years old). The future looks bright for TV ratings as a Nielsen study shows that 52% of the biggest MLS fans fall between the ages of 18-34.

I myself am trying to get into soccer (I played it when I was younger, but never followed it professionally) and I'm not the only one doing so with MLS rapidly expanding into new markets.

Got the TV ratings info from here...

http://www.ibtimes.com/us-soccer-does-mlss-growth-mean-there-are-now-5-major-american-sports-leagues-1718087



"On my business card I am a corporate president. In my mind I am a game developer. But in my heart I am a gamer." - Satoru Iwata

Groundking said:
Do you ever reckon Football will overtake hand-egg as the most popular sport in America (I refuse to call Hand-egg football).

Not any time soon. Football popularity skews young so the future looks bright but time is needed.

 

The major issue is the sport itself was splintered between Mexican, European and other foreign leagues as well as national team fans. If MLS can just get those fans it would see a massive uptick in popularity.



BraveNewWorld said:
Groundking said:
Do you ever reckon Football will overtake hand-egg as the most popular sport in America (I refuse to call Hand-egg football).


In the US there are the 'Big 4' professional sports leagues -- NFL (football), MLB (baseball), NBA (basketball), and NHL (hockey). TV ratings of MLS are very poor and as recently as 2013 trailed the Women's NBA. But MLS (18,807) only trials the NFL (64,698) and MLB (30,895) in average attendance, so fans show up for games (this info is a couple years old). The future looks bright for TV ratings as a Nielsen study shows that 52% of the biggest MLS fans fall between the ages of 18-34.

I myself am trying to get into soccer (I played it when I was younger, but never followed it professionally) and I'm not the only one doing so with MLS rapidly expanding into new markets.

Got the TV ratings info from here...

http://www.ibtimes.com/us-soccer-does-mlss-growth-mean-there-are-now-5-major-american-sports-leagues-1718087

When you see World Cup ratings can see the potential.  I am a huge MLS fan and I watch it live at the stadium, at the pub or on a computer.  My hope is new television deal elevates exposure over next eight years.



Nice thread, Augen.

I live a few miles away from where the Chicago Fire play so I guess you could say that I am a supporter. I'm holding out hope that they can squeak into the playoffs, but your 8th place finish is probably pretty accurate. Also, I hope that they don't get embarrassed tonight in Spanish... Maybe they can do what they do best a get a draw.



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