- Don Garber did a "State of the League" roundtable yesterday with a bunch of journalists. They actually asked him some tough-ish questions, which was a surprise to me. In any case, some highlights:
- He repeatedly claimed that MLS is losing $100m a year, which I find to be laughable. While that may be true from a pure accounting perspective, it probably includes investments the league is making in infrastructure, and doesn't include the revenue from SUM. To say nothing of the fact that each team is playing their own corporate shell game - one legal entity is the team, another is the stadium, another is the concessions, etc. If the league were truly losing $100m year with record high attendance and a new TV deal locked in for the next eight years, it would be fucked. But someone, people are still falling over themselves to get in
- He sent some not-so-subtle messages to Miami that they aren't getting a team without the right stadium
- The next few expansion teams could be announced in 2015
- Garber confirmed that the league is looking to expand the playoffs to 12 next season. His rationale is that the league is definitely going to 24 teams, so it's better to set one playoff format now, rather than tweak with every individual expansion. I still don't like it very much.
- Shot down the fall-to-spring schedule idiocy yet again
-
MLS Best XI announced. A GK, three CBs, and seven attackers. Not exactly a team....
- NY re-signed Bradley Wright-Phillips to a DP contract. They'd better be careful - despite all the goals BWP banged it, he's not a versatile player and without Henry his production could slip considerably.
- Portland signed on-loan Jamaican fullback Alvas Powell to a permanent deal, reportedly for the modest price of $100k to Portmore United.
- Chicago also signed a fullback from the Caribbean - Trinidadian Joevin Jones, who comes from W Connection.
- Toronto cut loose Ryan Richter, Andrew Wiedeman, Jeremy Hall, and the ancient Dwayne de Rosario. They've also let loanees Bradley Orr (Blackburn) and Doneil Henry (Apollon Limassol) return to their clubs.
- NY also cleaned out some international deadwood - former Rev Saër Sène, Kosuke Kimura, Marius Obekop, Richard Eckersley, Damien Perrinelle, and Ibrahim Sekagya - as well as one piece of domestic deadwood (Bobby Convey). Some of these guys may re-sign on smaller deals.
- Dallas cleaned out a TON of cap space and international slots - Peruvian NT goalkeeper Raul Fernandez, Andres Escobar, Henry Thomas, George John, Jair Benitez, Adam Moffat, Peter Luccin, Nick Walker, Walter Cabrera, and Jonathan Top. I'm really interested to see what Oscar Pareja does over the course of the next few seasons given the talent coming through FCD's academy. His predecessor Schellas Hyndman didn't give the kids a chance, but they really rewarded Pareja for taking risks on them in 2014, particularly Victor Ulloa. Hopefully that progressive attitude continues.