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Originally Posted by Acajack
This is true about Ottawa almost getting a team a few years ago but I think that ship has sailed since MLS was not as mature a league then as it is now.
They are now thinking of the next phase in the development of their league and this means they have the NHL in their sights.
Perceptions are very important in pro sports (especially in the US) and MLS, not unlike the NHL, does not want to give the impression that it has a bunch of Canadian "filler" teams because most Americans don't care about their game.
Ideally, if the NHL had well supported clubs in all of the major cities in the U.S., that league wouldn't see any need for having teams in Canadian cities beyond the big three (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver) either. Trust me on that.
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It's perception is in its product. Your wrong in it viewing Canadian teams poorly.TFC was the "model" franchise for the leagues approach to expansion. The team sucks but they make a shit ton of money for MLSE for the nickels they put in. MLS packaged this approach to sell to perspective owners and many bought in. Nobody was crying about Canada being "filler" as they were all counting their cash.
The MLS is delicate about "perception" in television only, this is why the presented product is polished and produced "in-house" jontly by the league and ESPN to give it a "look" like European soccer. This is to present a polished and professional looking product to hesitant legitimate soccer fans whom may view the league as a toy compared to the European powerhouses. Taking that into account though, any legitimate soccer fan knows that in Europe teams exist all over and the only club that matters is your own. You don't care whom your team is playing aside from a rival as long as the soccer is good and your team wins. A LA Galaxy fan could care less where Montreal is as long as his club wins. The league already has created Derbys for clubs to instill fake rivalries. The rest of the clubs don't matter to fans, soccer is always a provincial and local game.
The MLS just wants to make money and this is why in its older days is nuked charter franchises in premier markets like Miami. But only suspended San Jose... Why? Because San Jose is in probably one of the most affluent suburban areas in the USA, and the MLS whom largely has zoned in on suburban soccer demographics in the states didn't want to burn the market or that franchise so they offered it a lifeline that Miami did not get.
The MLS is open to Canada because it grows it's money pot regardless. Again, nobody is watching his stuff on TV in the states and the league does not have to justify dumping teams in crappy markets like the NHL does to justify a national TV deal. They already have one and IMO its more lucrative then what the NHL is getting if you consider the numbers they pull in are piss poor. The MLS goes where it thinks it can make money and get soccer specific faculties built.
Why did they choose Columbus over Cleveland or Cincy? Salt Lake before Atlanta? Why did Portland and Vancouver all come on-line at the same time with Seattle? They know what they are doing, it's easily been the most stable growing sports league in history this far. If anything it's their charter franchises whom are bogging them down. DC is still working out the kinks on a soccer specific Stadium, RFK is too big for them and apple venue bag they have been dealing with since it's start.
The league is making money, with a considerable presence in Canada that will only continue to grow. Blue chip suburban type cites such as Ottawa and Calgary make sense for the league and you then make a case for having a Canadian farm league as a subset to the MLS down the road.
The soccer demographic is more affluent and has a better knowledge and class when it comes to sport. You see the riff raff that creeps into football games in America ad you understand that it's a different approach. If only the NHL could understand this and focus soley on populated markets in the North East that have a history of the game. The NHL if they were smart would only have teams in Cali and Texas for warm places and only deal with "colder" cities where hockey makes sense. The fact Houston which had a good history with its old minor team, is the 4th largest city in America, and a natural rival to Dallas dosn't have a team lets you know the NHL doesn't know what the hell it's doing. The MLS went to Huston in a joint deal and its already one of the more successful franchises.