EDITORIAL: MLS is not ready for Sacramento Republic FC

On Saturday evening, Sacramento Republic FC will take on the Harrisburg City Islanders for the USL Pro Championship. On Sunday morning, club management will begin preparation to take on perhaps an even more ruthless foe: the MLS expansion committee. After one prosperous season in USL Pro, Sacramento owner Warren Smith and mayor Kevin Johnson are looking to push their team, their fancy new stadium, and the Tower Bridge Battalion to the top-flight in North American soccer. This seems to be a common theme among many cities these days, with the likes of Las Vegas, Minnesota, San Antonio, and St. Louis all prettying up to court MLS. There is just one problem: MLS is not ready for them.

Now let’s clarify something: this does not mean that Sacramento is not ready for MLS. In just one season, their team and their supporters have shown that this is a squad that is capable of advancing beyond USL Pro, Soccer certainly has a future in Sacramento. But can MLS sustain another team, let alone the four teams that are being added in over the next five years.

The problem with MLS is that it is a league that has no real plan for expansion. When the league was founded in 1994, soccer was not nearly as cool as it is now. While people may wear Real Madrid and Manchester United jersey’s now, twenty years ago the game was not nearly as stylish. So when establishing the league, the league’s founders opted to create a league that the average American could relate. Goodbye, standing penalties, forward clocks, and promotion/relegation. Hello, running penalties, backwards clocks, and one single league where every team has a chance to win the title every year.

While most of these policies may have gone the way of the dinosaurs, the single division system remains. While there may be different divisions in US Soccer, each league is independent of one another. In other words, no promotion or relegation.

This particular system damages the league because if the league wants to expand there is no clear path to getting into MLS. Teams are either brought up for the lower divisions (like the Montreal Impact, Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders, and Orlando City SC, among many others) or the teams are simply created out of thin air (like New York City FC). Neither system is particularly beneficial to the league as both paths create teams that are inexperienced and ill-prepared for MLS.  For every 2009 Seattle Sounders, there is a 2011 Vancouver Whitecaps.

Keeping the quality of play of the pitch up is also problematic when adding new teams to a league. Should MLS add all four teams to the league over the next five years, that means there will need to be an additional 72 players ready to play in the league. While teams will certainly add players from Europe, these teams will need to supplement their rosters with players from the benches of other MLS teams and the lower divisions of US Soccer. Can MLS sustain this many players and keep the level of play up?

While this might sound like a ringing endorsement for promotion and relegation, it is not. For as much as supporters would like to laud the progress of teams like the Indy Eleven in the NASL and the general progress for USL Pro this season, neither of these leagues have teams that are currently ready to play in MLS. In the last three years, USL Pro has had seven teams fold while the Northern Virginia Cavalry in the NASL are having difficulty even getting on the field. The New York Cosmos, one of NASL’s prized franchises, plays on a college pitch.

Now this is not meant to point out all of the flaws of NASL and USL Pro, but to talk frankly and honestly about the money and resources needed to play at the top level in North America. There are some important questions that need to be asked of this league. Is there enough money and resources available in the NASL and USL Pro to develop enough teams and players to take on the Seattle Sounders on an everyday basis? That is a difficult leap to make and while teams have done it, it requires a significant amount of capital to have a quality stadium and enough attendance to keep up with the rest of the league. The league cannot sustain another Chivas USA.

So the question is: how does MLS and US Soccer create a system where teams can make it to the top flight in North America, yet at the same time does not damage the quality of play on the field or the viability of the franchise? The first step is continued investment by both MLS and US Soccer into the NASL, USL Pro, and the PDL. This has already started with MLS teams setting up loan systems with various sides and the addition of reserve teams like the Los Angeles Galaxy II to USL Pro. Having talent not riding the bench in MLS and getting solid competition means that there will be more seasoned players who can play in any division.

With improved play will lead to more investors into lower divisions and better lower division sides. That will mean major cities will have chances to grow their supporter cultures, their own players, and their own identities.  Once this occurs, MLS owners will see that there is quality play occurring in the lower leagues and that it does make financial sense to have a system that encourages development and good results. MLS owners aren’t ignorant to what works abroad, but it has to make financial sense to them to put their teams in danger of being relegated.

This is not the quick solution that the Sacramento Republic or those in favor of promotion/relegation are looking for. But these things take time and incremental progress is what is needed to overhaul a twenty year old system. Eventually MLS will be ready for Sacramento Republic and the team will have the chance to play for the MLS Cup. But MLS is not ready for Sacramento. Not just yet.