Don Garber wants more Premier League involvement in MLS: bad idea
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Version 0 of 1. Oversized headphones draped around their necks, designer clutch bags in-hand, bleary eyes – such is the look of a Premier League player on tour, and North American airports this summer welcomed more of them than ever before. No fewer than seven English top-flight teams went Stateside for their pre-season schedules ahead of the 2015-16 campaign, with games held from Toronto to Orlando. Major League football commissioner Don Garber wants more than just a summer holiday, though. When Garber, the league chief for 16 years, spoke at Soccerex in Manchester on Wednesday, he revealed that talks between MLS and the Premier League have been held, with a tournament involving both England and North American teams proposed. The realisation of such a vision could set a compelling precedent for not just the US game, but the inception of intercontinental competition. Related: Major League Soccer more competitive than Premier League, says MLS head “I would love to find a way we could play our cup champion and our league champion against an FA Cup and league champion in a tournament and play it in New York City every year,” the commissioner said. “If not every year, then every four years.” Of course, tournaments like the International Champions Cup – which has seen Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United participate over the past two summers – has given Stateside pre-season games a competitive edge, but Garber envisages a more ambitious and formal competition. But what exactly does he hope to achieve by establishing such a link between MLS and the Premier League? Primarily, exposure is what Garber wants most. But how credible is his belief that the Premier League’s elite can play a role in the growth and development of the American game, and more specifically MLS? Indeed, it is true that top European sides still bring out more fans than any North American team could, but is all exposure good exposure? Picture the hypothetical floating fan, turning up at the Rose Bowl or in East Rutherford or anywhere else to watch MLS’s best face a Premier League outfit (they may even be wearing a half-and-half scarf). Such match-ups may serve only to highlight how far short American football remains of the gold standard – and with the Premier League so readily available on satellite television, what would draw fans to MLS over its glitzier, more attractive – and easily obtainable – European counterpart? Broadcast in over 200 countries to millions of fans every week, the Premier League is a truly global interest, with Manchester United’s brand value estimated to be worth around $3.1bn. The rich are getting richer and Garber’s proposal would only stretch their already broad reach across the sporting world. English football acts in its own self-interests, and so the MLS commissioner must be wary over what his league would get from such a scheme. Cynical it may be, but the big guys very rarely help out the little guys: have you ever heard of Walmart helping out that independent, artisanal greengrocer on your street corner? What’s more, are Premier League clubs, whose schedules are already crammed, likely to welcome the introduction of yet another competition, more fixtures and another duty? Garber proposes that such a competition could take place once every four years, perhaps to avoid burn-out, but with such a long time between tournaments how does MLS expect to generate any narrative around its test-tube creation? The tipping point may well have been reached with regards to how much more football Premier League teams are willing to play. At what stage do English clubs start to consider what impact such jaunts – no matter how lucrative, no matter how many shirts are sold – are having on the sporting side of things? Louis Van Gaal, for instance, ordered a less demanding pre-season schedule this year following the globe-trotting exerts of Manchester United in his first summer in charge of the club. “It’s not always to fulfil commercial and football expectations,” the Dutchman said in between one of the countless flights United took across the US last summer. Jose Mourinho even managed to persuade Roman Abramovich that Chelsea could do without a money-spinning pre-season tour last year, amid concerns about post-World Cup fatigue. Nevertheless, Garber is keen on pitting MLS against its international counterparts – whether it’s the Premier League or another league. “This concept of super cups involving the MLS, whether it’s one with Mexico or one with some of the other leagues, would be smart,” he expanded. “Overall there is no doubt there are opportunities for the MLS and Premier League to work more closely together on either a tournament or some other type of activity, but that is about as far as it has gone.” However, Garber’s comments suggest that he doesn’t quite have a grasp on how ‘Super Cups’ and pre-season curtain raisers are generally regarded by fans. Such fixtures are derided by the majority, with even the Community Shield widely pilloried as little more than a summer day’s jolly and free lunch for the sport’s blazers, with a side-show of semi-competitive football as entertainment. Another competition of this mould - regardless of how it is packaged - would surely just add to the white noise that already deafens fans of football’s most saturated market. It’s important to note the progress MLS has made of late in raising its reputation and stature outside North America, with European football no longer so quick to denounce the league as an irrelevant backwater. The arrival of the likes of Sebastian Giovinco, David Villa and Steven Gerrard has helped in that regard – from a British perspective, the league’s new broadcast deal with Sky Sports has increased its prominence, too. Given a stage at England’s most prestigious football conference, perhaps Garber was simply taking the chance to make another sales pitch. Maybe he was counting on those listening in the audience not knowing any better, but his claims that MLS is in fact more competitive than the Premier League were somewhat puzzling. “We have wealthy owners but we are very committed to the idea that at the start of every season every fan can think their team can win a championship,” he explained. “We want someone in Kansas City, even though they are smaller than New York City, to think that they can win the title.” Garber, of course, failed to mention that the LA Galaxy have won three of the last four MLS Cups, with the Carson club – along with the Abu Dhabi-backed New York City FC – still a dominant force in the Stateside transfer market. MLS might be less predictable below its top tier, but his case hardly stands up under scrutiny. A competitive link-up between MLS and the Premier League would finally offer some sort of comparison for those perpetually asking how far adrift the former is of the latter. But other than providing such tenuous context, Garber’s belief that an intercontinental competition would benefit the North American game is based on sheer ideology, and scant else. Turning up at the Premier League’s door – hand outstretched, swag bag over the shoulder – is a bold move, but just don’t be surprised when they snatch it for themselves. |