It's like the old Soviet Union -- everyone knows the system stinks. The old guard is desperately trying to pretend that the system is essential and still works
Steven Goff has twice posted that anonymous quote in the last two days. It's, to use his description, from someone respected by players and owners alike. There will be some who will dismiss it because it isn't sourced. I have news for those people. Nothing is getting sourced right now. If you want to share information you receive about the actual negotiation, you have to go anonymous because it ain't getting out otherwise.
Last week I reported what I had been told by two sources close to the players (one, very close since he chases balls around MLS pitches for a living). They told me that things were going well and that there had been an agreement reached on most of the key points, but that free agency remained unresolved. Pretty much everything we heard on DOOMWEEKEND! backed that up. The only difference was tone. With two weeks to go a disagreement on free agency seemed workable. With a week to go, less so. And now things that were agreed upon a week ago are being held up as negotiating tactics -- Remember when we told you that we would guarantee contracts for senior players? Yeah, well, we've been thinking about that...
Today Goff wrote an "open letter" piece where he essentially told the owners to negotiate in good faith. He didn't come out and say it directly, but the implication there is that they haven't been up to now -- at least according to the people that Goff trusts.
It's a reasonable thing to suggest, especially when it is becoming increasingly difficult to figure out what it is that the owners are trying to protect -- other than profit margins (which is their right, of course, but there has to be a balance).
I guess it comes down to whether you believe the owner's position that MLS losses them money. It doesn't, but a good accountant can do amazing things and Kool-aid is irresistible to certain types.
1 comments:
Frankly I don't buy the "poor finances" story of MLS nearly as much as many others do.
Soccer United Marketing is a cash cow, and the league has a, relatively speaking, decent handle on costs. On top of that there is all the expansion dollars coming in this year and next (Upwards of $100 million +). Yes there are some weaker sisters (KC, Dallas, Columbus, etc.), but the league has added two (soon to be three with Philadelphia) strong franchises in Seattle and Toronto that undoubtedly make money.
It might surprise some of you to learn that Soccer United Marketing is responsible for selling the US English and Spanish broadcasting rights for the World Cup, which for example I am sure makes a nice little chunk of change for the league...
If this league was in the poor shape the owners claim it to be in then I do not think that there would be clubs building new expensive stadia (RSL, Red Bull, KC) and new cities (Vancouver, Portland, and maybe Montreal) lining up to join the party.
I understand the cost control angle but I think the ownership is being far too unreasonable on issues like free agency, DP allocations, player movement and of course players on the bottom end of the scale making next to nothing in salary.
Let's hope saner heads prevail on both sides.
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