RSL Soapbox

Real Salt Lake vs. BYU - details

2012-05-18T16:58:47Z

Many RSL fans are jonesing for some live RSL action, well the team won't be playing at Rio Tinto until the 26th when FC Dallas comes to town, but you can catch some live Real Salt Lake action on Saturday:

REAL SALT LAKE TO FACE BYU COUGARS IN EXHIBITION ON SATURDAY, MAY 19

Kickoff at South Field at 5:00 p.m.; Tickets Available in Advance at BYUtickets.com

SANDY, Utah (Thursday, May 17, 2012) - League-leading Real Salt Lake (8-3-2, 26 pts.; West #1), as part of its 13-day layoff from MLS action, will head south to Provo for an exhibition match against the Brigham Young University Cougars on Saturday, May 19, 2012. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. MT at South Stadiumon the BYU campus.

"We're very excited to be playing down in Provo this weekend. We look forward to a great game against BYU, and we look forward to playing in front of the great fans in Provo as we work to build the RSL audience all over the state of Utah," stated RSL General Manager Garth Lagerwey.

more info after the jump:

The last match-up between RSL and BYU on October 2, 2009, resulted in a Claret-and-Cobalt victory of 3-1 on the Cougars' turf, and occurred nearly a month and a half before RSL captured the MLS Cup 2009 title. BYU has not lost a game yet in their early pre-season, and the Cougars do not have a single player in their lineup that has squared off with RSL before.

"We are excited and grateful to have RSL on our schedule and in our stadium. Their organization is the class of Major League Soccer and we can learn a great deal from them," said BYU Head Coach Chris Watkins.

Tickets are $10 for adults and children and $12 for reserve seating. No student discount is available and the BYU Seven Peaks Pass-of All-Passes will not be accepted for this match. Tickets are available now and can be purchased in advance by visiting www.byutickets.com or at South Stadium on game day.

WHO: Real Salt Lake and BYU Cougars

WHAT: Exhibition Match

WHERE: South Field

1 University Hill

Provo, UT 84604

WHEN: Saturday, May 19, 2012

5:00 p.m. MT

RSL, which has played an MLS-high 13 games during the first 10 weeks of the 2012 campaign, will return to MLS on Saturday, May 26 when it hosts FC Dallas at Rio Tinto Stadium with a 7:00 p.m. MT kickoff. Please visit www.RealSaltLake.com for ticket information for this match against a long-time Western rival.

This will be a good scrimmage for RSL to get some minutes for the likely first team that will face Dallas, minutes that will be played without Kyle Beckerman or Nick Rimando, who are on national team duty. I would expect that you will see a good number of healthy starters get a half in, and some of the younger and less experienced guys also get some quality playing time.

If you are heading down, don't forget that there is a lot of road construction going on this weekend, so beware.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

For Major League Soccer it is all about the numbers, TV, attendance, and season tickets

2012-05-18T15:28:57Z

On Wednesday @MLS tweeted the following:

So it is kinda funny that I was looking at some numbers recently and some of them compared the footprint of MLS on soccer in the US, how much of the dollars generated by TV did MLS capture and how much of the live event dollars did MLS capture? Now the numbers were generated in 2009 but I think they are revealing as a guideline to how the gap between the fans who buy tickets and come out to matches and the overall lack of TV ratings.

now those might be a bit hard to see with such a small image but let me explain what you are seeing the yellow section on each chart represents the portion of the revenue pie that MLS gathers from various sources. So the first is a break down of the $126,000,000 cumulative US TV spend. MLS claimed $9,000,000 of that pie, which was dominated by Mexican League soccer, Premier League soccer, and La Liga soccer, who had $50,000,000, $20,000,000 and $16,000,000 respectively. In fact MLS generated the same amount of revenue 7% as did the FMF rights.

Now we all know that MLS has struggled with their TV ratings and we have talked about that in the past, but it is the second chart that spells a much better story for MLS, that is the breakdown of the $136,000,000 cumulative US spend on tickets to live soccer events. Here MLS owns 45% of the market, and generated a whopping $61,849,765, the next closest rival was the Gold Cup which claimed $15,000,000 in total ticket sales, the combined international friendlies from CAA and SUM generated just under $25,000,000 in ticket sales.

After the jump a much deeper look at some of the numbers from both the live event side as well as from TV:

So from this we can clearly see that for MLS revenue is generated via live events at almost 7 times the amount of money brought in by TV. Now this is a great thing as it means lots of people are coming out to watch MLS, and in 2007 and 2008 the average number of paid attendance was at its highest level since 1996.

So here is a chart that looks at both the TV ratings and average paid attendance from 1996 to 2008:

The live numbers have continued to go up as the league has grown since 2009, and while many teams have added to their fan base, the overall average is clearly impacted by the Seattle Sounders and their ability to draw over 38,000 each week. The number that was 12,604 in 2008 was up to 17,872 last year and so far this year it is up to 18,775.

So while the number of fans showing up and paying for tickets has gone up since the league started expanding again, the TV numbers are a whole different matter, and as a result you can see that the overall TV ratings are simply flat for MLS, which is why the league can't find a way to get more money for their TV rights. I have written in the past about the issues with MLS and their inability to draw decent ratings with their national TV partners, the reality is that the league with the exception of their first year has been simply unappealing to a national TV audience the ESPN number of 0.21 in 2008 is as of last year a 0.24. This despite adding the Sounders to the league, despite big names like David Beckham and Thierry Henry and the millions spent on DP's the league simply is unable to get the attention of the larger sports market and thus larger TV ratings.

I think part of the problem with MLS and TV is an expectation that all soccer fans will be MLS fans, and that the appeal of the USMNT, World Cup, FMF, and even European soccer represents their potential market. They aren't completely wrong, but clearly things aren't as easy as that.

Let's look at a demographic that MLS focused a ton of attention on over the years, the Hispanic market, a group that is a natural target for MLS. They have a historic relationship with the sport, so it would be stupid to not try to attract that group to the league. The problem is split data, so while the Sport Business Journal back in 2010 published data showing that Hispanics make up 23% of MLS fans:

in that same edition they revealed that MLS is less likely to have "avid fans" among Hispanics than the Winter Olympics:

I think if MLS is waiting for fans of the World Cup or of the USMNT or FMF to start watching MLS, they are barking up the wrong tree. Often I have been reminded that World Cup numbers like the Olympics get a huge boost from casual fans who follow out of nationalistic pride, more than a dedication to soccer.

So should MLS continue their approach or simply try something else? Could a radical move away from ESPN and NBC Sports to a full blown MLS Live work? Think about it, what about a MLS Live network to go along with the multi-platfrom product that launched this year? It could replace Direct Kick we could then see MLS compete for rights to other leagues, create their own programming that would do what the networks won't feature recap shows, feature player profile shows, I know it would be a struggle to fill up that much content but perhaps a partnership with some lower divisions, full broadcasting of the US Open Cup, some NCAA soccer, and other programming could be included. The time for radical ideas is now as we are in a period of time when technology and options are more rampant than ever before. Clearly we have seen almost two decades of the same ideas and same strategy and it hasn't worked, so perhaps some radical change is needed?

Perhaps the answer lies in what has driven the one area that I think Major League Soccer has shown real leadership and growth in, and that is ticket sales. In particular Season Ticket Holders (STH). So here is what I know from an internal MLS document as far as the full STH sales for each team in MLS as of April 2009:

Seattle Sounders - 18,977
Toronto FC - 16,074
Real Salt Lake - 5,385
LA Galaxy - 5,161
Houston Dynamo - 4,480
D.C. United - 4,231
New England Revolution - 3,781
New York Red Bulls - 3,652
San Jose Earthquakes - 3,156
Columbus Crew - 2,881
Kansas City Wizards - 1,749
Colorado Rapids - 1,458
Chivas USA - 1,395
FC Dallas - 1,232
Chicago Fire - 498

Now those numbers are troubling to me but remember this was in the depth of when the economy was tanked, so via big soccer (which actually linked various sources), here are the most current numbers:

Seattle Sounders --------- 32,000 (2010)
Toronto FC ------------------- 16,000 (2012)
Portland Timbers FC --------- 14,750 (2012)
Vancouver Whitecaps FC ---- 13,000 (2012)
Philadelphia Union - 12,000-13,000 (2011)
Houston Dynamo ------------ 12,000 (2012)
Sporting Kansas City --------- 11,000 (2011)
Montreal Impact -------------- 8,000 (2012)
Los Angeles Galaxy ----------- 7,500 (2012)
Real Salt Lake --------- 7,000-8,000 (2011)
Chicago Fire ------------------- 6,000 (2012)
Columbus Crew --------------- 5,000 (2012)
San Jose Earthquakes --------- 4,000 (2012)
Colorado Rapids -------------- 3,500 (2012)

On the Big Soccer page they have: Red Bull New York ----------- 7,800 (2012) as unconfirmed .

I know from a source that as of September 2010 that the following teams had these numbers:

New York Red Bulls - 6,776
D.C. United - 3,704
New England Revolution - 3,660
Colorado Rapids - 1,729
Chivas USA - 1,709
FC Dallas - 998

Those numbers show that in most markets there has been growth, for some teams like Sporting KC, Houston, and New York their numbers have gotten a big boost from new stadiums, but you will notice that of the top 10 teams in STH sales, only two of them are original teams (Kansas City, which has been rebranded and has a new stadium, and the poster team of MLS the Los Angeles Galaxy) all the other teams are expansion teams or in the case of Houston a relocated team that has also just opened a new stadium. There is clearly something happening with the new clubs that have joined MLS, a level of excitement that has translated into people willing to by season tickets.

I will use the top club as an example, the Sounders leveraged a number of factors in getting such rapid growth in their market, first they had an organization and a team already in place. The Sounders had existed in one form or another for decades in the market and when they combined that footprint with the power of an existing NFL front office they were able to do things that no other MLS team had. I remember when a number of us went up for the 2009 RSL opener in Seattle and we were amazed at the fact that you could buy Sounders merchandise everywhere, from the team store, to sports stores, to the Space Needle, all the way to every 7-11 in town. It was more than just merchandise the initial marketing of the Sounders, their scarf the city campaign, and more were simply as well done as any effort to launch or relaunch a brand. Now some people would be quick to say, well it is the old NASL teams, they have such a great legacy that it is a given that they would be successful. I don't buy it, because of cities like Toronto, Philadelphia, and Montreal had some version of NASL teams but nothing hugely successful and nothing linked to their MLS teams. So what is it that is allowing the newest teams in Major League Soccer to have such success?

One thing is clear for Major League Soccer the cap on how much money can be generated by live events is real, and the potential earnings on television are not, but without radical change when it comes to TV I doubt we will ever see the type of growth that we have seen in ticket sales.

So as fans of Major League Soccer, what are your thoughts? How can your team get more STH's? Can MLS find a way to capture a national TV audience?

OFF MY SOAPBOX

Javier Morales of Real Salt Lake, Brek Shea of FC Dallas, Teal Bunbury of Sporting KC and...

2012-05-17T16:50:58Z

Javier Morales of Real Salt Lake, Brek Shea of FC Dallas, Teal Bunbury of Sporting KC and Darlington Nagbe of the Portland Timbers star in the :30 commercial showcasing the adidas micoach SPEED_CELL, which captures 360-degree movement and measures performance metrics during practice or gameplay. The chip’s unique on-board memory stores up to seven hours of data, wirelessly syncs with the user’s smartphone and uploads performance stats that can be shared through Facebook and Twitter.

The next generation of adidas micoach technology will debut at the 2012 AT&T MLS All-Star Game on July 25 in Philadelphia as MLS All-Stars v Chelsea FC will be the world's first "smart soccer match" and will feature the new adidas micoach professional soccer team tracking system.

National Team Call ups, US Open Cup, what it all means for Real Salt Lake

2012-05-17T14:23:17Z

For Real Salt Lake a light MLS schedule before the FIFA break is a good thing, as the team will be dealing with a number of missing players. First we know that Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando were in the first 16 players called into the US Men's National Team camp, and while I doubt that any other RSL players will be called in before the 5 matches that are coming up, I don't expect that either will be coming back. I think Nick Rimando has proved himself and will get a fair shot at claiming the number two spot keeper spot, and if he is given a shot, I think he claims the spot.

That is only the start, I expect on Thursday when Canada announces their call ups that we will lose Will Johnson, and whenever Costa Rica announces their list, I expect that Alvaro Saborio will be on the list as well. That means that it is very likely that for the May 26th match against FC Dallas that RSL could be without those 4 players, now had RSL no had experience dealing with injuries and suspensions already this year, I would be worried but I am not.

There are no MLS matches scheduled for RSL after that match until June 16th. The USMNT has 5 matches scheduled between May 26th and June 12th, the Canadian National team has two matches between June 3rd and June 12th. Costa Rica will have 4 matches between May 26th and June 12th. So as you can see it will be a busy couple weeks for the guys who get national team call ups, so beyond that one MLS match, how could these call ups impact RSL?

The answer after the jump:

So in the midst of the FIFA break, US Soccer has scheduled a couple rounds of the US Open Cup. I am not sure why but I am sure there is a logical reason somewhere, one thing is clear the advantage could go to the lower division teams who are unlikely to be impacted by national team call ups. For RSL. there will be a May 29th US Open Cup match, which could either be at home or away depending on how next weeks matches go (you can get a full update here) that would be impacted by call ups, and should RSL win that 3rd round matchup, they would be playing again on June 5th in the 4th round of the tournament (I think the drawing for matchups and hosting will be held next week after the matches on the 22nd).

So what does all this mean for RSL? Well it means that we will have to see mixed lineups for the Open Cup matches, but with no league matches those two weeks we are likely going to see RSL field a lineup of the top guys from the training sessions prior to those matches. There are some interesting scenarios based on injuries that could see us getting a lot more of Jonny Steele, Kyle Reynish, and Sebastian Velasquez. I also think you could see more of guys we haven't seen much of, since RSL hasn't had a lot of luck in the reserve matches and we don't have another one of those until June 12th, oh wait that is right in the middle of the national team call ups and the FIFA break. That June 12th reserve league match will be at AmericanFirst Field when we play host to the Chicago Fire.

Could we see the 2012 RSL debut of Cody Arnoux? How about some more of defenders Chris Estridge and Terukazu Tanaka, maybe we also will get a chance to see some more of Enzo Martinez and Nico Muniz? One thing is clear with four of the big names away for several weeks there will be a chance for some other guys to really step up in practice and to get themselves some playing time.

I do think that Jason understands how important the US Open Cup is as it offers perhaps the most direct path to qualifying for CONCACAF Champions League, something that has become both a priority and a bit of an obsession of the RSL staff, and some of us fans as well. Still when you are facing teams either a level or more below you, it is a great chance to get younger players time in matches that really matter. That is something that is important as younger players develop.

So what about those guys with national team call ups, we know that Jurgen like that Kyle Beckerman is capable and willing to do whatever he has asked him in the midfield, something that is no surprise to those of us who watch him on a regular basis. I fully expect that Kyle will be a part of the USMNT's efforts heading towards that 2014 World Cup, which means that anytime there is US call ups we can expect to lose Kyle for a couple weeks. What about Nick Rimando? Listen I think Nick brings an element of leadership that combined with his knowledge of the game and his physically abilities makes him a perfect backup to the clear number 1, Timmy Howard, and I expect that we will see Nick claim that #2 spot as his own through this camp and first set of matches. The upside is that MLS has gone out of their way to ensure as few MLS matches were scheduled during the FIFA dates as possible.

The same goes for Will Johnson who has become a fixture in the Canadian National team over the last couple of years, Canada has only qualified for one World Cup in recent history, 1986, and their attempt to quality for Brazil won't be easy as they are in a tough Group C that includes Panama, Honduras, and Cuba. Only the top two teams in the group will advance to the next stage of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. As a note the US group, Group A includes Guatemala, Jamacia, and Antigua & Barbuda.

It is very likely that Alvaro Saborio will be part of Costa Rica's World Cup qualifying as they are in a tough Group B, which includes Mexico, El Salvador, and Guyana. Sabo has scored 23 goals in his 55 national team appearances, no other player on their recent call up lists has broken double digits in international competitions.

Wow, we covered a lot of things in this post, but the thing to remember is that some of the injuries and suspensions that could have been considered a negative early this year for RSL, in fact now provide us with a positive as a number of players have shown early in the season that they can contribute for RSL at the highest levels. So while you might look at the RSL schedule and think you will be without much to do the next month, remember you have a number of events:

5-19 Scrimmage at BYU
5-26 FC Dallas at Rio Tinto
5-29 US Open Cup - TBD
6-5 Possible 4th Round US Open Cup match- TBD
6-12 RSL Reserves vs Chicago Fire at AmericaFirst Field
and finally
6-16 Real Salt Lake at Chivas USA

So plenty of chances to catch the boys in action.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

Real Salt Lake will open US Open Cup action on May 29th, plus Full 3rd round pairings

2012-05-16T22:38:22Z

So this puts a Real damper on my plans for a extended Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas, or I should say it could put a damper on my plans. But the reality of how important the US Open Cup is, as it is the easiest path to a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League, win 5 matches and you are in. There is also a matter of allocation money, as Garth Lagerwey mentioned on #OnFrame on Monday night, there is now an allocation money bonus for teams that wins the US Open Cup, and for players there is also prize money at stake. So while it may be a bit inconvenient to my travel plans, this is one of the Trophies that we want and should be a part of every MLS teams real agenda of #TrohpiesNotFriendlies as we look to fill our schedules with matches that matter.

Real Salt Lake learned their fate for the 3rd round of the US Open Cup:

Real Salt Lake (MLS) at Minnesota Stars FC (NASL): National Sports Center; Blaine, Minn.; 7:30 p.m. CT

OR

Des Moines Menace (PDL) at Real Salt Lake (MLS): Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah; 7 p.m. MT

So depending on who wins the May 22nd match between the Minnesota Stars FC and the Des Moines Menace, RSL could either find themselves playing host or having to travel to Minnesota, Hey didn't we lose to them in US Open Cup action several years ago? Ah yes it was a 6-4 loss back in 2005, when they were the Minnesota Thunder. So I guess we will be cheering for Des Moines or will I be cheering for an extra day in Vegas and watching RSL online?

Ticket Update from RSL:

IF RSL ends up hosting on 5/29 vs Des Moines, tickets will be $12 for general public and $6 for current PRIDE Season Ticket Holders ...

Once the Minn/Des Moines game is over, people can buy tix at RealSaltLake.com and STH can get their seats AND buy unlimited amount of seats at their preferred pricing ...

anyhow after the jump you can see the full press release from US Soccer:

OK, here is the full PR:

2012 LAMAR HUNT U.S. OPEN CUP THIRD-ROUND POSSIBLE PAIRINGS ANNOUNCED

MLS Teams Enter Tournament on Tuesday, May 29; Second Round Kicks off Tuesday, May 22

CHICAGO (May 16, 2012) - U.S. Soccer has announced the third-round possible pairings and locations for the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Results from the second round of play next Tuesday, May 22, will determine the matchups for the third round taking place one week later on Tuesday, May 29.

The 99th edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup includes a random selection process for determining home teams from the first round through the quarterfinals among clubs that have applied to host. The process, conducted by a coin flip, gives participating teams with venues meeting tournament standards an equal chance at hosting their possible opponent for these rounds.

Format, Composition of 2012 U.S. Open Cup | 2012 U.S. Open Cup Results, Schedule

The first round concluded on Tuesday, May 15, and all Division I, II and III professional clubs are participating in the tournament proper for the first time ever. The Division I field includes all 16 U.S.-based Major League Soccer teams, which is double the representation from the past five years and the first time since 2006 that all Division I teams are taking part.

2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Schedule
THIRD ROUND - Tuesday, May 29
Houston Dynamo (MLS) at Laredo Heat (PDL): Texas A&M International University Soccer Complex; Laredo, Texas; 7:30 p.m. CT

Houston Dynamo (MLS) at San Antonio Scorpions (NASL): Heroes Stadium; San Antonio, Texas; 7:30 p.m. CT

Chicago Fire (MLS) at Michigan Bucks (PDL): Ultimate Soccer; Pontiac, Mich.; 7:30 p.m. ET

Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL PRO) at Chicago Fire (MLS): Toyota Park; Bridgeview, Ill.; 7:30 p.m. CT

K.C. Athletics (USASA)/Orlando City Soccer Club (USL PRO) Winner at Sporting Kansas City (MLS): LIVESTRONG Sporting Park; Kansas City, Kan.; 7:30 p.m. CT

D.C. United (MLS) at Richmond Kickers (USL PRO): Richmond City Stadium; Richmond, Va.; 7 p.m. ET

Dulles Sportsplex Aegean Hawks FC (USASA) at D.C. United (MLS): Maryland SoccerPlex Stadium; Boyds, Md.; 7:30 p.m. ET

Dayton Dutch Lions (USL PRO)/Chicago Fire PDL (PDL) Winner at Columbus Crew (MLS): Columbus Crew Stadium; Columbus, Ohio; 7:30 p.m. ET

Charlotte Eagles (USL PRO)/El Paso Patriots (PDL) Winner at FC Dallas (MLS): FC Dallas Stadium; Frisco, Texas; 7:30 p.m. CT

Fresno Fuego (PDL)/Fort Lauderdale Strikers (NASL) Winner at San Jose Earthquakes (MLS): Cagan Stadium, Stanford University; Stanford, Calif.; 7:30 p.m. PT

Brooklyn Italians (NPSL)/Rochester Rhinos (USL PRO) Winner at Philadelphia Union (MLS): PPL Park; Chester, Pa.; 7:30 p.m. ET

Long Island Rough Riders (PDL) at New England Revolution (MLS): TBD; Time TBD

New England Revolution (MLS) at Harrisburg City Islanders (USL PRO): Hershey Park Stadium; Hershey, Pa.; 7 p.m. ET

Reading United AC (PDL) at New York Red Bulls (MLS): Red Bull Arena; Harrison, N.J.; 7 p.m. ET

New York Red Bulls (MLS) at Charleston Battery (USL PRO): Blackbaud Stadium; Charleston, S.C.; 7:30 p.m. ET

Chivas USA (MLS) vs. Ventura County Fusion (PDL); TBD; Time TBD

Chivas USA (MLS) at Los Angeles Blues (USL PRO): Titan Stadium, Cal State Fullerton; Fullerton, Calif.; 7 p.m.

PSA Elite (USASA) at Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS): The Home Depot Center; Carson, Calif.; 7:30 p.m. PT

LA Galaxy (MLS) at Carolina RailHawks (NASL): WakeMed Soccer Park; Cary, N.C.; 7:07 p.m. ET

Colorado Rapids (MLS) at Tampa Bay Rowdies (NASL): Al Lang Stadium; St. Petersburg, Fla.; Tuesday, May 29 at 7:30 p.m. ET

Jacksonville United (NPSL) at Colorado Rapids (MLS): Dick's Sporting Goods Park; Commerce City, Colo.; 7 p.m. MT

Cal FC (USASA) at Portland Timbers (MLS): JELD-WEN Field; Portland, Ore.; 7:30 p.m. PT

Portland Timbers (MLS) at Wilmington Hammerheads (USL PRO): Legion Sports Park; Wilmington, N.C.; 7 p.m. ET

Seattle Sounders (MLS) at Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL): Atlanta Silverbacks Park; Atlanta, Ga.; 7:30 p.m. ET

Georgia Revolution (NPSL) at Seattle Sounders (MLS): Starfire Sports Complex; Tukwila, Wash.; 7 p.m. PT

Real Salt Lake (MLS) at Minnesota Stars FC (NASL): National Sports Center; Blaine, Minn.; 7:30 p.m. CT

Des Moines Menace (PDL) at Real Salt Lake (MLS): Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah; 7 p.m. MT

SECOND ROUND - Tuesday, May 22
Michigan Bucks (PDL) at Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL PRO): Chartiers Valley Stadium; Bridgeville, Pa.; 7 p.m. ET

Long Island Rough Riders (PDL) at Harrisburg City Islanders (USL PRO): Skyline Sports Complex; Harrisburg, Pa.; 7 p.m. ET

Cal FC (USASA) at Wilmington Hammerheads (USL PRO): Legion Sports Complex; Wilmington, N.C.; 7 p.m. ET

PSA Elite (USASA) at Carolina RailHawks (NASL): WakeMed Soccer Park; Cary, N.C.; 7:07 p.m. ET

Fresno Fuego (PDL) at Fort Lauderdale Strikers (NASL): Lockhart Stadium; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; 7:30 p.m. ET

K.C. Athletics (USASA) at Orlando City Soccer Club (USL PRO): Seminole Soccer Complex; Sanford, Fla.; 7:30 p.m. ET

Reading United AC (PDL) at Charleston Battery (USL PRO): Blackbaud Stadium; Charleston, S.C.; 7:30 p.m. ET

Brooklyn Italians (NPSL) at Rochester Rhinos (USL PRO): Sahlen's Stadium; Rochester, N.Y.; 7:35 p.m. ET

Tampa Bay Rowdies (NASL) at Jacksonville United (NPSL): Patton Park; Jacksonville, Fla.; 7 p.m. ET

Richmond Kickers (USL PRO) at Dulles Sportsplex Aegean Hawks FC (USASA): Maryland SportsPlex Stadium; Boyds, Md.; 7:30 p.m. ET

Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL) at Georgia Revolution (NPSL): RYSA Soccerplex; Conyers, Ga.; 7:30 p.m. ET

Laredo Heat (PDL) at San Antonio Scorpions (NASL): Blossom Athletic Center*; San Antonio, Texas; 7:30 p.m. CT

Dayton Dutch Lions (USL PRO) at Chicago Fire PDL (PDL): Toyota Park Practice Field; Bridgeview, Ill.; 6 p.m. CT

Minnesota Stars FC (NASL) at Des Moines Menace (PDL): Valley Stadium; Des Moines, Iowa; 7:30 p.m. CT

Charlotte Eagles (USL PRO) at El Paso Patriots (PDL): Patriots Stadium; El Paso, Texas; 8 p.m. MT

Ventura County Fusion (PDL) at Los Angeles Blues (USL PRO): Norco Community College*, Norco, Calif.; 4 p.m. PT*

* Note: Changed from original May 1 announcement.

FIRST-ROUND RESULTS - Tuesday, May 15
Jacksonville United (NPSL) 2, Orlando City U-23s (PDL) 1: Seminole Soccer Complex, Sanford, Fla.

Reading United AC (PDL) 2, N.Y. Greek Americans (USASA) 1 : Ray Buss Field, Fleetwood High School, Fleetwood, Pa.

Long Island Rough Riders (PDL) 2, FC Sonic (NPSL) 0: Whitehall High School Stadium, Whitehall, Pa.

Dulles Sportsplex Aegean Hawks FC (USASA) 3, Carolina Dynamo (PDL) 1: Maryland SoccerPlex, Boyds, Md.

Michigan Bucks (PDL) 6, Jersey Shore Boca (USASA) 0: Ultimate Soccer, Pontiac, Mich.

Georgia Revolution (NPSL) 1, Mississippi Brilla FC (PDL) 0 (OT): RYSA Soccerplex, Conyers, Ga.

Brooklyn Italians (NPSL) 3, GPS Portland Phoenix (PDL) 2: Memorial Field, Deering High School, Portland, Maine

Chicago Fire PDL (PDL) 1, Croatian Eagles (USASA) 0: Toyota Park Practice Field, Bridgeview, Ill.

Des Moines Menace (PDL) 3, Milwaukee Bavarians (NPSL) 1 (OT): Bavarian Soccer Park, Glendale, Wis.

Laredo Heat (PDL) 4, ASC New Stars (USASA) 2 (OT): Texas A&M International University, Laredo, Texas.

K.C. Athletics (USASA) 3, Real Colorado Foxes (PDL) 1: Colorado School of Mines Soccer Stadium, Golden, Colo.

El Paso Patriots (PDL) 3, NTX Rayados (USASA) 1: Patriots Stadium, El Paso, Texas.

Fresno Fuego (PDL) 2, Stanislaus United Turlock Express (US Club Soccer) 0: Academica Fields, Turlock, Calif.

PSA Elite (USASA) 3, Portland Timbers U-23s (PDL) 1: JELD-WEN Field, Portland, Ore.

Cal FC (USASA) 3, Kitsap Pumas (PDL) 1: Bremerton Memorial Stadium, Bremerton, Wash.

Ventura County Fusion (PDL) 6, Fullerton Rangers (NPSL) 2 (OT): Santa Ana Bowl, Santa Ana, Calif.

2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Schedule (Per Round)
May 15: First Round
May 22: Second Round
May 29: Third Round
June 5: Fourth Round
June 26: Quarterfinals
July 10: Semifinals
Aug. 7 or 8: Final

A look inside of Major League Soccer's Collective Bargining Agreement

2012-05-16T13:08:17Z

So it has been a while and getting any official information from either Major League Soccer or the MLS Players Union about details of the Collective Bargaining Agreement that was agreed to just days before the 2010 MLS season was scheduled to start. It cause a lot of conflict and controversy between the league, the players and to some extent the fans, but in the end a deal was reached and the season went on and since then there have been little things that have signaled some of the changes but recently I was given access to what I was told was a partial summary of the CBA that currently governs MLS.

There was little shocking in the document, and not a lot that was really revealing but that is the nature of these types of documents. I did find some interest in the Salary Cap numbers that will be in play the next couple years:

Salary Budget

2010 $2,550,000

2011 $2,675,000

2012 $2,810,000

2013 $2,950,000

2014 $3,100,000

I had nope that maybe we would see the cap grow a bit more quickly, we have to remember that most players have contracts that grow 5-15% a season. In fact we know that for players that make under $125,000 a year that if they play in 66% of their teams matches they will get at a 10% raise, and if they play in 75% of a their teams matches they will get a 12.5% increase.

The cap isn't growing quickly enough to keep up with that and that means that teams are forced to let players go because of cap restrictions and less about performance. That seems like a real shame for a league that needs constant improvement in quality of play to keep growing.

more information after the jump:

So recently RSL GM Garth Lagerwey talked on ESPN KALL 700's On Frame program about how while we know the cap number and we get some salary information from the league that there are a lot of other things that play into the salary cap, things like allocation money, things like player bonuses. There are a lot of ways that players get bonuses, one of them is player appearances.

Now I totally understand that players deserve to be paid for their time, everyone else with a job gets paid for their time, and so should players. Yet I find myself missing the days of the autograph alley after matches, I thought it was a great way for the younger players to build relationships with the fans and I miss it. It was nice to see both Lalo Fernandez and Sebastian Velasquez recently taking time to interact with fans at halftime of a match they weren't playing in:

things like that can turn people into fans for life. Still there were some players that were clearly abused by their teams and the league, so rules were put in place and I have a hard time thinking these rules aren't fair:

Fees for Promotional Appearances

Players are required to make a reasonable number of charitable appearances without compensation. Players are also required to make 4 team and 2 individual promotional appearances without compensation after which a player will receive $250 per appearance. A player cannot be required to make more than 24 such appearances in a year and not more than 2 per week. The player can agree to make additional appearances. A player will also receive $300 per appearance for a local sponsor and $750 per appearance for a national sponsor. The player is not free to negotiate an appearance rate less than those set forth above.

Teams are required to provide a schedule to the players 1 week in advance.

I told you there wasn't anything really shocking in the CBA but there was one thing that I found really interesting, as a fan I have long wondered what players think about mid-season friendlies and while I am sure a lot of them relish them as a chance to test themselves against some of the best players and teams in the world, for others playing in these matches is a potential income source.

International Exhibition Games

The CBA also includes a schedule of appearance fees for MLS players who play in exhibition games for their Clubs (either home or away) during the regular or post season. The fee schedule does not apply to preseason games. Games are divided into Tier 1, Tier 1A and Tier 2 depending on opponents.

Tier 1:

Arsenal

Chelsea

Manchester United

AC Milan

FC Barcelona

Real Madrid

The appearance fee is $2,000 for each MLS player on the 18-man roster for the game.

Tier 1A:

Club America

Chivas

The appearance fee is $1,500 for each MLS player on the 18-man roster for the game.

Tier 2:

Any team other than those listed above.

The appearance fees are:

1st game No fee

2nd game $500 per player on 18-man roster

3rd game $750 per player on 18-man roster

4th game + $1,000 per player on 18-man roster

Postseason $1,000 per player on 18-man roster

I do find the tiers interesting, but remember that a lot of MLS players don't make a lot of money from just their salary, and things like appearances and friendlies could along with other bonuses provide a real boost for guys trying to make a living.

If you think this isn't a concern for the league think about this, RSL drafted Oliver Kupe, who was allowed to finish his education at Northwestern, and then received a job offer outside of soccer that he chose to take, rather than take the risk of signing with MLS for what likely would have been a minimum contract, which in 2012 is $44,000.

Again, I have to be clear the final details may have changed this info was simply from a brief that circulated prior to the season starting. I am still waiting for the final version to be released by one side of the other, but it is clear that there are some interesting things that were covered as part of this CBA. It is also clear that MLS is still taking a very cautious approach to things, and while this deal was being worked on when the economy was struggling, I have to say that I think the league is being a bit tight in a number of areas. Over and over again we have heard Don Garber talk about wanting to make MLS a top league in the world, well that isn't going to happen with league minimums like this.

So what do you think?

OFF MY SOAPBOX

Real Salt Lake by the Numbers - 13 matches in

2012-05-16T01:52:14Z

Well there are 34 regular season matches on the MLS schedule this year for each team, for Real Salt Lake they have had the busiest start of any team in the league with 13 matches already played. That means that RSL has completed almost 40% of their season and so far one would have to claim it has been a rather successful start of the year for the claret and cobalt.

So we can look at the what might be the most telling number, that is the number of points per match that teams are earning. The last two seasons the LA Galaxy have been the winners of the Supporters' Shield with and average of 1.97 points per match. So this year has seen a number of teams get off to very good starts, 5 teams are above that total as we stand today:

Team	Points	Matches	PPM
Seattle Sounders	22	10	2.20
Sporting Kansas City	21	10	2.10
San Jose Earthquakes	23	11	2.09
Real Salt Lake	26	13	2.00
New York Red Bulls	22	11	2.00

It is important to remember that no team has finished at 2.00 or above since 2005 when the San Jose Earthquakes (MLS version 1) finished with a 18-4-10 record to get 64 points from 32 matches.

you can check out the full MLS break down of points per match plus more after the jump:

Team	Points	Matches	PPM
Seattle Sounders	22	10	2.20
Sporting Kansas City	21	10	2.10
San Jose Earthquakes	23	11	2.09
Real Salt Lake	26	13	2.00
New York Red Bulls	22	11	2.00
Vancouver Whitecaps	17	10	1.70
Chicago Fire	15	9	1.67
Colorado Rapids	15	10	1.50
DC United	18	12	1.50
Houston Dynamo	11	8	1.38
Columbus Crew	11	9	1.22
New England Revolution	12	10	1.20
Los Angeles Galaxy	11	10	1.10
Montreal Impact	12	11	1.09
FC Dallas	12	12	1.00
Chivas USA	10	10	1.00
Portland Timbers	8	9	0.89
Philadelphia Union	7	9	0.78
Toronto FC	0	9	0.00

So as you can see some teams have a real shot at history if they can keep their winning percentage up, I believe the number is largely due to the fact that we have seen so few draws this year in MLS. So what does this mean for Real Salt Lake?

Well RSL has 26 points from 13 matches, a number that is higher than their total from any other season at the same point. Last year it took RSL to match 15 to get there, in 2009 it took until week 19 to get 27 points. Here is how it looks on a graph.

7 points over the last 3 matches is a great total and the biggest bump RSL has had this time of year. Now I have to say that the RSL season has been one which has surprised me a bit, given the injuries, suspensions, debatable calls, and roster turnover. It has been done by hard work, and exceptional effort as the results haven't been easy, which is why when I look at goals scored RSL is a bit behind their past offensive prowess.

We are running just a bit behind the pace set in 2010, but we are ahead of all our other seasons at this point. I think as we get guys back healthy that you will likely see the offensive output improve, one thing is for sure if Fabian Espindola has anything to say about it he will extend his role as the all time leading scorer in RSL history by a good number this year.

So then there is of course goals allowed, and while RSL has 5 clean sheets in 13 matches which is 38%, not a bad number so how does the RSL goals allowed of 2012 of 12 stack up against our own past?

Just as a note, 6 MLS teams have allowed fewer than our 12 goals and of course none of them have played our 13 matches. Only RSL's own past, we had only 8 allowed at this point last year but it is very close to the 11 allowed in 13 matches during the record setting 2010 season when RSL allowed only 20 goals all season (30 matches).

There you go a look at some of the numbers for RSL as a team, later this week I will take a look at some of the individual numbers for RSL.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

For Major League Soccer it isn't just about team 20 (NY2) but beyond

2012-05-14T19:24:39Z

So last weekend we saw the opening of another Soccer Specific Stadium, this time in Houston and of course Don Garber was in the house for such a big event and Don made some interesting comments again about expansion. I have no doubt that he is still almost single mindedly focused on NY2. Which is an issue of it's own, but this was a chance for him to speak beyond team 20, something that while mentioned in the past has never really been talked about much.

I think a lot of people were hoping that maybe MLS would stop at 20 teams, and put more focus on a real second division (some combination of NASL/USL/??) which may someday in the distant future lead to some type of promotion and relegation within North American soccer. I just don't see a day when that happens in my lifetime, but some out there believe it must be for the sport to grow. Instead the reality is and I believe has been for years that while team 20 will mark a bit of a milestone for MLS, more of a figurative one than an actual. It is just a stepping stone to a larger league.

You can pick up the hints over the years if you listen carefully to MLS leaders talk about how big the US (now more about North America) is, and how all the sports have teams in a large number of cities. It isn't just a possibility that MLS will go beyond 20 teams it is a certainty. So while many of the purists, traditionalists, or "Euro-Snobs" may be offended by going beyond 20 teams it has in reality been the thought of MLS for a long time.

And Don confirmed it last week:

For now, Garber said, the league remains focused on getting something done in the New York market. But in the future, there are hopes for MLS to have a much larger footprint.

"This expansion project is a 20-year process," Garber said. "It's not a two- or three-year process. I can't imagine that 20 years from now we're not in markets like Miami or Minneapolis or [Atlanta]. I think we'll be in most major markets. We have to be. It's a big country. The question is: How long will that take?"

mlssoccer.com

I do believe they have slowed the progress to 20 and beyond to create an artificial demand for NY2, and thus a way to get their $100 million dollar expansion fee (to get their return on the interest of SUM they sold to finance their stadium location and paperwork project). That action has been at the frustration of some other potential markets, like Orlando who would love to have their team be #20.

So how did I know that MLS has had a plan in place to go beyond 20 teams? It is easy, back in 2009 they as much as said so in their pitch to potential sponsors and partners.

The proof and more thoughts after the jump:

So the year the Sounders joined MLS and the Philadelphia Union were announced, MLS was already on their way to a much larger league. You can see back 3 years ago that Portland, Vancouver, and even Montreal were all very much already on the road map to the MLS future. You can also see that the plan for New York 2 isn't anything new, if you followed my conversation on Twitter earlier today, you know that I firmly believe that NY2 isn't a bad thing but that MLS spending time and resources on finding and probably financing a stadium is something I oppose.

If these markets like all the others on the map below want into MLS, shouldn't they get that same help? Now I get that NY is a huge TV market, but the last time (2010 numbers) that Nielsen published a list of the top viewing markets for MLS, New York wasn't even in the top 10. Now some markets that are already supporting MLS by watching it on TV are on this map of potential team locations, St. Louis, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, and Las Vegas all are in the top 10 markets watching MLS on TV, none of them are getting the advantage of having MLS hire staff to scout potential stadium locations, none of them have MLS spending millions of dollars trying to get a stadium built.

So when you hear the comish talk about Miami, Minneapolis as potential cities, don't think for a minute that he is just blowing smoke at fans and potential owners in those cities. MLS has planned for the longest time to expand beyond 20 teams, the question is to what?

I think we only need to look at the recent development in our 2012 schedule to see the future, while it is clear that MLS believes that rivalries (well other than New York vs. LA) are all geographically based, let's think about potential scenarios and how they might impact what number MLS stops at. 24 is a number a lot of people like, but it seems a bit light to me.

I can see 2 conferences (East & West) with each having 2 divisions of 6 teams, this would allow teams to play each team in their division 3 times (for 15 matches) and each of the other 18 teams once, that would give us 33 matches a year, very close to our current 34. This would allow for a fairly clean playoff system- the 8 teams could advance, but we know MLS wants more teams in the playoffs so I could see them letting the top 12 teams in with the top team in each division getting a bye round and then facing the winner of the #2vs#3 matches.

I don't think 26 works as well unless the league sticks with just conferences and doesn't break things down to lower units, I consider this highly unlikely as they seem to be doing their best to replicate what Don Garber knows best which is the NFL. Still with 26 teams you could have two conferences of 13 teams, this would require that within each conference you face each team twice (home and away) for 24 matches and then it is likely you wouldn't face the full roster of opposing conference teams, as that would lead us to 37 matches a year, so I could see a random mix of 10 matches against the opposing conference. Why not the other sports like the NFL do it. You could then take the top 7 teams from each conference for the playoffs with the top team getting a bye round. This would give us 14 of 26 teams making the post season.

So what about 28 teams? So again I think the league sticks with 2 conferences, each with 14 teams, but now it breaks down into 4 divisions of 7 teams each. So how would it work for scheduling? If you play each team in your division twice that would be 12 matches plus one match against the other 21 teams, and again you are at 33 matches for the regular season, which gives you a bit more time for playoffs. You could end up with 4 teams from each division making the playoffs, that would be 16 teams in the playoffs and I am sure that is something that Don and the networks would like for TV, it would make MLS more like the NBA and NHL where more teams make the playoffs than don't.

I actually think the magic number for Don's 20 year plan is 30, just like the NHL and the NBA. If you look at the map above there are 29 markets indicated on the map, those were cities that 4 years MLS was already looking at, it would be easy to add one more market (Orlando, San Antonio/Austin, Carolina, Phoenix, or ??) to that map. Then you get the two conferences of 15 teams each with 3 divisions of 5 teams each. There are all kinds of ways you can manipulate the scheduling to make it work for you, but this would allow the MLS to be just like the NBA and NHL as far as number of markets they are in.

For me I hope the number is 24, but I don't believe it for a second, I have that gut feeling that the number Don is thinking at the end of his 20 year plan is likely 30. Of course for this to happen a lot of things will need to change, things like the current salary cap, the DP system, national TV deal, and oh so much more. One thing is for sure while we may have little to no idea what Don Garber has in store for MLS, if you think he doesn't have a plan, well then you are just fooling yourself.

So what do you think MLS should do about expansion beyond 20 teams?

OFF MY SOAPBOX