The buildup to Major League Soccer’s 20th season has not been without a sense of theatre but at least it has avoided, albeit narrowly, spiralling into farce. Until Wednesday night there had been a genuine threat that the curtain-raiser between the champions LA Galaxy and Chicago Fire on Friday would not take place and it says something for the expectations bestowed upon this edition of the North American league that the implications of any delay would have been felt more keenly than ever before.
The juggernaut is free to set off now on a journey that would, if league and television executives’ wildest dreams were fulfilled, see hundreds of thousands of British viewers tune in to watch Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard contest an MLS Cup final nine months from now.
That may be far-fetched for the moment but the four-year deal signed by Sky to cover the league from this weekend onwards raises the stakes in terms of global appeal and means that a critical season for the league’s development – both internationally and organically – will be visible to more people than ever. The moment when Nick Rimando, the veteran Real Salt Lake goalkeeper, emerged from a meeting room in Washington to announce that “the deal is done” between the league and its players’ union over a new collective bargaining agreement brought sighs of relief and signified that the increasingly real prospect of a strike had been averted. It means that, at 9pm UK time on Sunday, those who feel curious can watch Orlando City host New York City in a match that brings together the league’s two newest franchises and also marries two of the league’s biggest ambitions for the long term.
They will see the Citrus Bowl filled to its 61,348 capacity as the debutants – the home side fielding Kaká and the visitors calling upon David Villa – look to make a quick impression. It should be the biggest-ever crowd for a match between two Eastern Conference sides and may not be a flash in the pan: Orlando’s second home game against Vancouver Whitecaps is also close to selling out and the club, whose #FillTheBowl campaign has exceeded all expectations, could yet find that the initial 19,500 capacity of the soccer-specific stadium that it will open next year is a rather snug fit.
Season ticket numbers have been capped at 14,000 this year to ease the transition between stadiums and – unless Adrian Heath’s team make an immediate impact – it would be natural for those with a more casual interest to tail off. Yet there is clearly a thriving football market in the heart of Florida, even if average attendances of 9,000 and 11,000 for the now-defunct Miami Fusion and Tampa Bay Mutiny did not suggest it in the league’s early years, and if things hold up for Orlando then they may come to be seen as a barometer for the sport’s rapidly increasing hold on the public attention.
Major League Soccer will hope so, not least because there remains a struggle to find a market in the east that can take off as naturally as those in the Pacific north-west. That region has been helped by the resurrection of rivalries between old NASL powers but Orlando will have Florida to themselves for a while yet – at least until David Beckham’s planned Miami franchise has finalised its own stadium plans.
Perhaps this is where New York City FC come in. The first-ever New York derby will take place against the Red Bulls on 11 May and, clad in their Etihad-emblazoned, Manchester City-inspired shirts, the newcomers will certainly be an easy target for those seeking to stir up enmity. Perhaps it will not all be one-way. Mix Diskerud, the USA midfielder who looks a canny acquisition for head coach Jason Kreis, told locals that “New York City is your team” upon his unveiling and added jokingly that “I hate the Red Bull”. There has been little scope for animosity yet but New York City’s initial occupation of the Yankee Stadium, in the Bronx, gives them a foothold in the city that the New Jersey-based Red Bulls have never had and provides access to a wide cross-section of potential support.
An immediate impact from Lampard, when he arrives in July, would help matters and LA Galaxy will be of a similar view when Gerrard pitches up for the second half of the campaign. Along with Villa and Kaká, these two give MLS perhaps its most concentrated injection of star quality yet and the number of arrivals a notch lower on the scale – such as Sebastian Giovinco at Toronto and Shaun Maloney at Chicago Fire – has been encouraging too.
They will complement a pool of local players whose depth is improving, but the averted strike action speaks of a growing unease about the league’s structure and its place in a globalised sport. While Kaká will earn $7.17m a year in his “designated player” slot, half the league’s players earn under $100,000 annually and have had little room for manoeuvre within their league-owned contracts.
The players had sought the potential for free agency of the kind enjoyed by most around the world and eventually agreed on a compromise whereby those aged 28 and over, with eight years’ service in MLS, can entertain offers from elsewhere. The minimum salary is said to have increased, too, from $36,000 to $60,000. They are welcome changes but will lead to a hunger for more, which will probably be necessary if the quickening stream of big names is ever to feel like more than a bolt-on to a system that works independently of other big leagues.
That will not be the first concern of most who tune into Sky Sports 3 on Sunday night. If first impressions are everything then the boisterousness promised at the Citrus Bowl stands a chance of getting this new era off the ground; should things evidently need a boost, then those who monitor the viewing figures will keep their fingers crossed that Orlando’s mooted – but unlikely – move for Mario Balotelli comes to fruition before long. The league itself would probably like to avoid any more circus acts for a while after this week’s close shave.
How the league works
20 teams divided into two conferences play 34 matches in an unbalanced schedule. The top six teams from each conference advance to 12-team MLS Cup playoffs to determine the champions.
Reigning champions
LA Galaxy. Landon Donovan’s farewell season ended with the club’s third championship in four seasons, thanks in no small part to Robbie Keane’s MVP campaign.
Favourites this year
Seattle Sounders are a popular pick after winning last year’s Supporters’ Shield but Los Angeles – boosted by the mid-season addition of Steven Gerrard, who will join at the end of his Liverpool contract – will prove difficult to dethrone.
New teams
New York City FC, bolstered by joint owners Manchester City and the New York Yankees, give MLS a second club in America’s largest market. Orlando City join from the USL Pro.
Star players
Keane has been the best foreign designated player signing in MLS history. Kaká will look to shine for debutants Orlando City. US national team captain, Clint Dempsey, is Seattle’s midfield talisman. Bryan Graham
