So what format should the MLS All Star Match feature

Since the announcement of Everton as the international opponent for the 2009 MLS All Star Match hosted by Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium, there has been a ton of controversy about the selection of the 6^th place EPL side, and even about having the match go back to the East vs. West or US MLS All Stars vs. World MLS All Stars. I think about the current depth in MLS and wonder how those matches would have looked last year? Here were the MLS players selected:
Matt Reis-US
Frankie Hejduk-US
Christian Gomez-World
Juan Toja-World
Jimmy Conrad-US
Jonathan Bornstein-US
Shalrie Joseph-World
David Beckham-World
Pablo Mastroeni-US
Kenny Cooper-US
Cuauhtemoc Blanco-World
Pat Onstad-World
Steve Ralston-US
Juan Pablo Angel-World
Landon Donovan-US
Jim Brennan-World
Dwyane De Rosario-World
Edson Buddle-US

Those were the active players, the first string of the All Stars, MLS did announce 14 inactive All Stars (they have to in order to be in compliance with the CBA) here would be the other players part of a East vs. West match:
Jon Busch-US
Greg Sutton-World
Gonzalo Segares-World
Bakary Soumare-World
Marvell Wynne-US
Kyle Beckerman-US
Marurice Edu-US
Amado Guevara-World
Guillermo Barros Schelotto-World
Brain Ching-US
Luciano Emilio-World

I am not sure but no matter how you slice these players up, it really doesn’t sound as appealing as seeing an international team to me. In fact I would expect a US vs. World match to get ugly and embarrassing for the US. But of all the formats tried only one has lead to sellout crowds, so let’s look at some numbers:

So the first All Star Match, which is quoted by Seth Vertelney in his call for MLS vs. MLS to be the format of the All Star Match, as the model because of the attendance, what he doesn’t tell you is that match was a double header. The other match, which was the big draw saw Brazil take on the FIFA World Stars (Jorge Campos (MEX), Lothar Matthaus (GER), John Harkes (USA), Fernando Hierro (ESP), Marcel Desailly (FRA), Mark Fish (RSA), Michael Laudrup (DEN), Fernando Redondo (ARG), David Ginola (FRA), Jurgen Klinsmann (GER), Kazu Miura (JPN), Nelson Tapia (CHI), Fernando Couto (POR), Krassimir Balakov (BGR), George Weah (LBR), Abedi Pele (GHA), Ned Zelic (AUS)).

The numbers don’t lie East vs. West only sold out twice and only once on their own. Yes the format lead to high scores as teams played no defense and that might appeal to the generic sports fan in the US, but since the matches have started being against international teams, the quality of play has improved and every match has been a sellout. Sorry Seth you are simply wrong on this one, as I stated we all would love to see Barca, Liverpool, or some other top 5 team in the world but the financial reality is that when you have 20-22,000 seats you can sell the cost of the match if you include it with your season ticket package doesn’t allow for the team or league to spend more than a million dollars on the match. Clubs use this match to spur their season ticket sales, and it provides them a chance to showcase their stadium to the nation, but with MLS season ticket prices being reasonable there simply isn’t the money to up the competition at this time.

The solution isn’t going back but going forward, move the match to the weekend, add a second match (US vs. World futures match or USL vs. MLS second All Star team) do it where you can use the event to build local ties by giving away 4-5,000 tickets and then sell the others to generate more revenue, add a skills competition, hold autograph sessions, do more with what you have. This could easily be used to build excitement, figure out a way to bring 50 supporters from each team and have a supporters summit, hold a song/chant contest between the groups, there are so many things that the league could do to build this into a real event that would build its own excitement. Just announcing the match and hoping that it sells itself isn’t a good marketing strategy, in fact it isn’t any kind of strategy.

I expect that sometime in the future when MLS can get a better TV deal and some sponsors for side events that we will see the All Star Match turn into the All Star Weekend like it has for so many other leagues. I have been to both a MLB and NHL All Star event and the buzz is 3-4 days of lots of activities and exposure of the sport and players to the local community and fans, they are great fun for kids and adults and that is where MLS needs to head.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

This entry was posted on April 30, 2009 at 3:16 pm and is filed under The soapbox. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.