Once again, MLS executives prove they are not in tune with their product.  The Gold Cup provided the perfect opportunity for MLS to expand their fan base.  Collaboration with CONCACAF representatives could have brought doubleheaders featuring one MLS game and one Gold Cup game from the first game through to the final (This year’s format does provide doubleheaders, two Gold Cup games/one stadium, except for the final).  

A collaboration among organizations would have allowed for more stadiums to get an opportunity to host the Gold Cup, which in turn, allows more people overall to see live soccer action.  By spreading the wealth, Soccer gets more promotion and more exposure.

What this would have accomplished is good for both CONCACAF and for MLS.  By having an MLS game take place for fans who might not be familiar with the MLS product, there is a possibility of enhancing the significance of the CONCACAF Champions League.  Fans of different heritage would get the chance to see teams which may play in the Champions League.   

MLS would  have benefited by getting their product to their easiest fans to win over, soccer fans.  A game between Guadeloupe and Nicaragua in Reliant Stadium on the 9th of July with an MLS game as part of the attraction is a marketing wet dream for the Houston Dynamo.  

The biggest dilemma for the organizers of these events would have been which game becomes the headliner.  This is a problem you want to have.  Some may argue the MLS game may have more broad appeal than the Gold Cup game or visa versa.  Regardless, there are still two games to be played and to be enjoyed for fans. 

There’s also the possibility of marketing to the sports fan and getting them more heavily involved.  With 2 games to see, there’s a stronger likelihood they’ll see a great game and be pulled in more to soccer as an entertainment option.  (International doubleheaders tend to attract a specific audience already familiar with Soccer). 

Scheduling MLS games could have been made easier by getting all the teams involved during this 3 week period of 25 matches.  They could have scheduled just 25 MLS matches during this time. 

Among the 25 matches to be slotted to accompany Gold Cup matches, another brand could also fill the void.  With sufficient planning and anticipation from U.S. Soccer and CONCACAF, some U.S. Open Cup matches could have been included. 

It’s dissappointing this is not transpiring because it would have made for great theater and discussion for soccer fans.  It also seems that this idea would have garnered more national attention from ESPN.

Today is the last day of Interleague baseball for this season of MLB.  It ends coincidentally on the same day as the final of the Confederation Cup.  As great as the Confederation Cup has been for Soccer, Interleague play has given baseball a great boost as well.

MLB scheduled its Interleague dates to start right after the finals of the NBA.  It is a great move for baseball because it rejuvenates its fans and transitions sports fans by refocusing their attention from basketball to baseball.

MLB has begun to master its technique for giving Interleague baseball the spotlight in the crowded sports calendar and has accentuated the rarity of matchups among teams by having in-state, intra-city rivals playing one week and the next week having World Series rematches, as well as other oddly encounters. 

Drama has followed baseball’s good moves.  Anyone watching Interleague play in the last two weeks will have noticed that there has been an unbelievable amount of highlights, history and walk-off wins.  The steroid controversies, ticket prices and other problems with ego-driven players that has plagued baseball does not seem to be effecting the public’s will.  Baseball is coming through this Summer in better position than originally thought by many critics and it seems to be weathering the financial storm. 

It is also no secret that MLB is working all the angles of college baseball.  The college World Series played out tremendously this year, as its format has begun to take on more tradition and more recognition with each year that passes. 

Make no mistake about it, Soccer is competing with baseball for the American sports fan’s dollar.  More than any other sport, baseball is a thorn in the side of the growth and popularity of U.S. pro Soccer because it is a constant scene stealer.  This is a reality mostly because of the timing of the seasons they play. 

But, there is no doubt to the fact that the Confederation Cup has boosted Soccer in the consciousness of the U.S. sports fan.  It proves the U.S. is nearing equal footing with the best in the world. 

What effects will possibly winning Confed Cup and winning the Gold Cup have on recruiting new fans for the struggling professional leagues, MLS, USL and NPSL?  Will the boost from the Confed Cup and upcoming coverage of the Gold Cup help the U.S. pro leagues with attendance in general? 

Attendance should rally not only due to improved international play, but also because of hotter temperatures and better weather across the country. 

Of course, if there is no improvement in attendance or television ratings, no worries.  Soccer purists have it figured to be only that ’the public needs to have patience’ as these professional leagues develop.  After all, they are such young leagues. 

Sometimes though, it seems as if  U.S. pro Soccer can’t catch any breaks.  On the heels of the success of the USMNT in the Confed Cup comes the unfortunate link of AEG, a huge part of MLS and its future, to the July-planned Michael Jackson concert series in England.  What impact will Michael Jackson’s death have on AEG’s financials and what transferrence will be felt in MLS ? It appears certain there will be some sort of significant fallout, as AEG was way deep into its commitment with the King of Pop.

With the release of the United Soccer Leagues 2009 D1 schedule and accompanying Fox Soccer Channel tv schedule, USL shows once again that MLS is not the only game in town.  USL proves again that it carries a lot of weight when it comes to professional soccer in the U.S.  The USL infrastructure is strong enough to continue to be a thorn in the side of MLS.  It has major partnerships with European clubs, its own youth and development leagues and a Women’s league.  

Unfortunately, the USL at the professional soccer level, has a lack of innovation and leadership.  There’s no backbone and no guts.  It has the same losing business model as MLS.  It suffers from an identity crisis, just as MLS does.

The key statistics to follow this year will be the same as it has been for every year that MLS and USL have been existence, attendance and television ratings.  The next significant key statistic to follow is how many goals are scored per game (Offense brings sports fans in the U.S.).

In order for one of the leagues to stand out and become mainstream, they must solve the puzzle.  It is the greatest sports conundrum in the history of modern American sports, why can’t soccer make it in America? 

The pot of gold is out there, it is buried at the end of the rainbow, but the rainbow is multi-layered and multi-dimensional.  MLS and USL will never be able to count on what’s happening with soccer leagues everywhere else around the world to be able to discover the treasure.  They must figure out how to market soccer, the beautiful game, to American sports fans and not just soccer purists and/or soccer enthusiasts.

The most interesting stories to follow from USL and MLS are its business dealings.  Both leagues are so lost in what direction they want to go.  There is intrigue involved at every corner of every new stadium being built, both the small ones and the bigger ones.  Sometimes, the strategies involved with play calling, coaching and watching games does not match the intrigue and strategies involved with which developing soccer areas of D2 and Premier of USL are next to breakout and become new soccer havens. 

Who will be this year’s Cleveland City? and What will be the next small city to emerge as having the label of a pro soccer city, like Austin?

To its credit, the USL’s D1 is hanging around.  Even as it struggles for its survival, it deserves to get attention when it makes news.  Today it made news and showed all of the U.S. soccer fans that it will maintain an appropriate schedule.  With its organizational strength, the USL is indicating a commitment to provide a high level of pro soccer for fans in North America and the Carribean to enjoy. 

USL and its teams have worked hard in recent years to gather business sponsorships and marketing parterships with major and minor companies.  It has also made tremendous leaps on the international stage and in the U.S. through its participation in sanctioned pro and open league tournaments. 

USL has earned a right to be mentioned in the same breath as MLS.  It’s too bad that what USL is inhaling is the same kind of poison that MLS is swallowing.  The lifespan of these leagues is hanging in the balance. 

USL is trying to put a veil over the real issues, just as MLS is doing.  New ideas must replace the stale ones if soccer wants the big piece of the sports action in the U.S.