MLS to open an office in Canada

[Ansem]

Fixed it above

[Ansem]

 

[Rheo]

3 minutes ago, Ansem said:

 

Well that's good.  Now I won't have to read people complaining about it so much

[Ansem]

1 minute ago, Rheo said:

Well that's good.  Now I won't have to read people complaining about it so much

Does this counts?

MLSE re-purposed Janitor's closet for MLS

[ChrisinOrleans]

Why is this a big deal? 

An MLS office in Canada adds nothing to our national soccer program nor the MLS teams already in existence. Since there is no hope of another MLS team in Canada any time soon, it doesn't seek to expand the pipeline of revenue into the nation, only the exflow of talent and capital south of the border.

Economically, it will probably only employ a few people anyway; many of whom will probably be American, if MLSE have any involvement. 

[Ansem]

2 minutes ago, ChrisinOrleans said:

Why is this a big deal? 

An MLS office in Canada adds nothing to our national soccer program nor the MLS teams already in existence. Since there is no hope of another MLS team in Canada any time soon, it doesn't seek to expand the pipeline of revenue into the nation, only the exflow of talent and capital south of the border.

Economically, it will probably only employ a few people anyway; many of whom will probably be American, if MLSE have any involvement. 

I think the whole "MLS opening a Canadian office" was a reaction to CPL

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

35 minutes ago, Rheo said:

Well that's good.  Now I won't have to read people complaining about it so much

Never been clear why he saw this as even being worth commenting on. The whole adverserial CPL vs MLS angle always seems to come from people like him who are trying to maintain interest in blogs and podcasts a lot more than it ever does from the people directly linked to CPL like Paul Beirne.

[Rheo]

6 minutes ago, ChrisinOrleans said:

Why is this a big deal? 

An MLS office in Canada adds nothing to our national soccer program nor the MLS teams already in existence. Since there is no hope of another MLS team in Canada any time soon, it doesn't seek to expand the pipeline of revenue into the nation, only the exflow of talent and capital south of the border.

Economically, it will probably only employ a few people anyway; many of whom will probably be American, if MLSE have any involvement. 

Some get their back up because it's been promised for a long time but undelivered until now apparently.  Some view it as a direct response to the CPL (see post above).

Personally I think it's a good thing.  MLS and CPL are both going to be in Canada for a long time (assuming the CPL folks know what they're doing which I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt)  An MLS office will help build corporate, media and other relationships in the country which can only benefit the game up here in the long term.

[ChrisinOrleans]

Just now, Rheo said:

Personally I think it's a good thing.  MLS and CPL are both going to be in Canada for a long time (assuming the CPL folks know what they're doing which I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt)  An MLS office will help build corporate, media and other relationships in the country which can only benefit the game up here in the long term.

Depending on where the office is located, I'll buy that. 

I'll remain skeptical until I see results. 

[Rheo]

7 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Never been clear why he saw this as even being worth commenting on. The whole adverserial CPL vs MLS angle always seems to come from people like him who are trying to maintain interest in blogs and podcasts a lot more than it ever does from the people directly linked to CPL like Paul Beirne.

The anti-MLS rhetoric isn't as bad as I've seen in the past on here.  I get that people want them to do more for the game in Canada but the bottom line is it's an American league with a Canadian presence.  Anything they do for the game here is great but they are under no responsibility to do that.  That's why the CPL is so important in my opinion.

[Rheo]

9 minutes ago, ChrisinOrleans said:

Depending on where the office is located, I'll buy that. 

I'll remain skeptical until I see results. 

Well Totera says Toronto and that does make the most sense.  Be skeptical if you want but I highly doubt that MLS is going to fund an office with people sitting on their thumbs just to placate those critical of the lack of the promised office.  Also my guess is most of the benefits from it will never be seen by most of us.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

11 minutes ago, Rheo said:

...Anything they do for the game here is great but they are under no responsibility to do that...

They are Canada's top soccer league and will remain the main flagship of pro level club soccer in the three major metropolitan markets in the years ahead no matter what happens in the smaller cities with leagues like CPL. As such they definitely do have a responsibility towards Canadian soccer and are not an alien presence but an integral part of Canadian soccer. MLS is pumping millions into the development of young national team prospects because of the way that academy systems an the homegrown player rule has replaced the NCAA as the main development route, so as far as I can see they are doing a reasonable job and the changes made on the domestic player rule and Generation Adidas show that the CSA are actively working with MLS to try to make that pathway work better for Canadian soccer in the years ahead. It remains to be seen if pro teams in the smaller cities will be able to generate the finances to do anything significant on player development in comparison with that. We have already heard that Halifax are not planning on having an academy setup. 

[BrennanFan]

27 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

They are Canada's top soccer league and will remain the main flagship of pro level club soccer in the three major metropolitan markets in the years ahead no matter what happens in the smaller cities with leagues like CPL. As such they definitely do have a responsibility towards Canadian soccer and are not an alien presence but an integral part of Canadian soccer. MLS is pumping millions into the development of young national team prospects because of the way that academy systems an the homegrown player rule has replaced the NCAA as the main development route, so as far as I can see they are doing a reasonable job and the changes made on the domestic player rule and Generation Adidas show that the CSA are actively working with MLS to try to make that pathway work better for Canadian soccer in the years ahead. It remains to be seen if pro teams in the smaller cities will be able to generate the finances to do anything significant on player development in comparison with that. We have already heard that Halifax are not planning on having an academy setup. 

what a joke.

[toontownman]

2 hours ago, Ansem said:

Does this counts?

MLSE re-purposed Janitor's closet for MLS

This also just in: Confirmed reports, while we can hire Canadians freely for the Janitors post in Toronto, Canadians wont count as domestics for the American janitorial positions. 

[Ansem]

4 hours ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

They are Canada's top soccer league and will remain the main flagship of pro level club soccer in the three major metropolitan markets in the years ahead no matter what happens in the smaller cities with leagues like CPL. As such they definitely do have a responsibility towards Canadian soccer and are not an alien presence but an integral part of Canadian soccer. MLS is pumping millions into the development of young national team prospects because of the way that academy systems an the homegrown player rule has replaced the NCAA as the main development route, so as far as I can see they are doing a reasonable job and the changes made on the domestic player rule and Generation Adidas show that the CSA are actively working with MLS to try to make that pathway work better for Canadian soccer in the years ahead. It remains to be seen if pro teams in the smaller cities will be able to generate the finances to do anything significant on player development in comparison with that. We have already heard that Halifax are not planning on having an academy setup. 

That was very moving BBTB.

 

[harrycoyster]

4 hours ago, BrennanFan said:

what a joke.

Way to add to the conversation. I sometimes wonder why this forums is the same 15 people posting and responding to each other all the time...thanks for a reminder as to why that is. 

[BrennanFan]

41 minutes ago, harrycoyster said:

Way to add to the conversation. I sometimes wonder why this forums is the same 15 people posting and responding to each other all the time...thanks for a reminder as to why that is. 

People don't post on the board bc I think some agenda driven bullshit post is a joke and not worth discussing? 

[harrycoyster]

1 hour ago, BrennanFan said:

People don't post on the board bc I think some agenda driven bullshit post is a joke and not worth discussing? 

Please explain to me what about his post is "a joke and not worth discussing" on the MLS forum? You have a difference of opinion, and decided to be an asshole instead of providing legitimate criticism.

[Complete Homer]

8 hours ago, ChrisinOrleans said:

Why is this a big deal? 

An MLS office in Canada adds nothing to our national soccer program nor the MLS teams already in existence. Since there is no hope of another MLS team in Canada any time soon, it doesn't seek to expand the pipeline of revenue into the nation, only the exflow of talent and capital south of the border.

Economically, it will probably only employ a few people anyway; many of whom will probably be American, if MLSE have any involvement. 

I believe there was a theory going around that MLS could bypass the legal issues of having Canadians as domestics by simply paying them out of a Canadian office. Not sure if that actually held any legal weight, but if it's true this is nothing but a positive development. 

Even if the adversarial angle isn't quite correct, I think Lenarduzzi and Manning’s comments indicate that at the very least they aren't seeing eye to eye on all topics, and it's hard to interpret MLS' sudden interest in the Canadian market (sudden changes to the domestic status rules, Garber making proclamations about bringing back Canadian DPs, finally opening a Canadian office after a decade of promises) as anything but a response to CPL. But that's a good thing.

MLS isn't an enemy, but it's fair to say that it has been complacent on a number of Canadian issues. If the extra competition gets MLS to work harder, good, that's to our benefit. 

[Areathrasher]

https://twitter.com/byIanThomas/status/914839758500716544

 

In @sbjsbd: @MLS has hired Coca-Cola marketing exec Diego Moratorio as general manager of new MLS Canada unit. Will be based in Toronto.

[Rheo]

CP story on the above hiring

http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/mls-appoints-moratorio-promote-growth-league-canada/

Big takeaway

• Moratorio is tasked with guiding the league’s growth north of the border and increasing sponsorship at the league and club level.

[Ansem]

That's going to be hard to do with the league being adamant at not expanding in Canada and with CPL starting within 2 years. I'm sure they can succeed in regards of sponsorship but fanbase? I have huge doubts about that one.

Could have worked if this was 4-5 years ago but too little too late about growing the fanbase outside the 3 cities

[shermanator]

Call me crazy, but I thought the whole idea of MLS Canada was to grow the number of Canadians on the pitch in MLS, rather than just growing the number of dollars the Canadian clubs can generate for the league.

[Rheo]

MLS is a business and wants/needs to make money.  The growing of players is a side effect of the growth.  CPL will be the same as well although with a greater emphasis on growing Canadian players than MLS.

[Grizzly]

2 hours ago, shermanator said:

Call me crazy, but I thought the whole idea of MLS Canada was to grow the number of Canadians on the pitch in MLS, rather than just growing the number of dollars the Canadian clubs can generate for the league.

Ok I will call you crazy: you are crazy!   ML$ is about one thing and that is money and they are in Canada for only one reason, to make money here. Canadian players on the pitch will only increase if they are cheaper than foreign ones and help market the teams in Canada, ie. earn more money for the league although hopefully the CSA and the coming CPL will also put pressure on them to play more Canadians.