SoCalian said:
ok, one thing I think we could use, besides a better tv deal, is more meaningful international competition. The inclusion of DC in the copa sudamerica this year was a good start, and I hope it continues. That is a good route to competition against south american clubs, but what about against European clubs? I think that the US is in a very nice and unique position to become a place of fusion between the European and south American styles, and for compeating against both. That's why I propose that MLS or the USF hold a cup every summer between American and European teams. Call it the Transatlantic cup or something like that. It deosn't have to be big to start (16 teams?), and doesn't necisarily need to have the bigest clubs from Europe either. It just needs enough competition to spice up the MLS season a bit. I like the summer time slot, because it would be durring the middle of the MLS season when teams are in thier best form, and it is durring the European off season, when they are not in thier best form, thus giveing MLS teams a bit of a leg up, something that they need for thsi kind of competition. I could see a few teams wanting to participate for several reasons. 1) alure of hardware, another trophy to ad to the shelf is always nice. 2) Increase fan base abroad, especialy in the United States and Canada, and thus more money. 3) Pre season tours. a lot of the big clubs do this anyway, so giving them the option to come to america for a preseason competition could be more apealing than just a series of friendlies.
You are WAY behind. Ever heard of the
Toyota Cup, also known as the "Intercontinental Cup"?
Well, it goes like this: For about the last 30 years or so, Toyota has been sponsoring a championship to determine the "best team of the planet". Such tournament went on without FIFA recognition and, while originally played as two games (home and away), later evolved to one single match in neutral territory - Japan.
The game used to feature the UEFA Champion vs the "Libertadoras Cup" Champion - basically, the best team of the season in both Europe and South America, the only places where top notch football (used to) happen.
While having a humble origin, the tournament grew in recognition, and in the last two decades, no team failed to send it's top squad to play - and it includes the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid, São Paulo, Boca Juniors, Borussia Dortmund, Porto, Juventos, Grêmio, River Plate, all among the greatest teams of both continents which recently have had a shot at the title.
So great is the reputation of the tournament, that FIFA failed to take over in it's first attempt - in 2001, it created it's own club's cup, meant to outshine toyota's one, played here in Brazil, which featured Corinthians as World Champion. But it didn't went ahead, nobody really cared (except for supporters of Corinthians), and it never had a new edition.
Last year, FIFA surrended, and recognized all the titles of the former Toyota tournaments, embraced the tournament as it's own and rearrenged it to have now representatives of all countinents. This year, in the first actually FIFA featured Club's world cup, São Paulo FC, which has also won twice the former cup, was champion after a 1 x 0 victory over Liverpool FC. Here is
Fifa's Toyota Cup Site.
This new tournament, which will happen once every year, already involves CONCACAF teams, represented in this ocasion by Costa Rica's Deportivo Saprissa.
As for the question posed in the thread, I've heard an interesting theory from a friend, who heard it from a US citzen which he met on a trip. He said that one of the reasons why US TV networks don't invest in Football (sorry, can't call it soccer) is because, due to the manner the game flows, it does not have much room for advertisement - only the half-time break, which is too long and allow people for a temporary channel swich. Hence, it's not interesting for transmission for a merely commercial POV.
So, while innevitable that it will grow, due not only to the cultural influence of the world, but also due to the growth of latino population in the US, the networks have little intention to facilitate the progress.
Any insights on this theory?
Regards
.
