MLS: The very easy way to fix All-Star Game

The Major League Soccer All-Star Game will now involve an MLS All-Star team taking on a Liga MX equivalent. But the change does not fix the All-Star game. For that, there is a much simpler solution.

Sport revolves around money. It is a sad but plain fact. In fact, most things in modern society revolve around money. And Major League Socer, an extremely glamorous and exuberant league, is no different. Money talks, as they say, only in MLS, it shouts.

That is why many of the decisions that are made by Commissioner Don Garber and others seem curious to the general football fan. Why allow a team to play in a baseball stadium? Why continue to expand when you do not have the sporting capacity to, even if the market may be there? Why not have promotion and relegation?

There are other factors in play when it comes to these debates, of course, but the common driving reason for all of them is money. MLS makes money, the clubs make money, the players make money. And thereby, it is declared ‘good’.

And now there is another decision that has been made with money as the primary motive: the MLS All-Star Game. This week, Garber unveiled new plans for the oft-criticised and largely meaningless All-Star Game. Rather than be played between the best team MLS has to offer and a European giant in the midst of their preseason preparations, an All-Star Team will now play another All-Star Team, one from Liga MX.

In a wonderfully crafted and utterly contorted PR statement, Garber said:

"“We are so pleased to bring the 2020 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target to Los Angeles, one of the great soccer markets in North America. As we celebrate our 25th season, we wanted to deliver an [sic] unique and unprecedented format for our annual All-Star Game.  Our first ever game between the best of MLS and Liga MX’s top players is the perfect way to build on the growing relationship between the two top soccer leagues in the region.”"

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The move is an attempt to fix the All-Star Game. And in principle, it should be better than the previous debacles of uncompetitive friendlies that no one could care less about. But this is not the fix that the All-Star Game requires. That is a far simpler — and more ruthless — action. To fix the All-Star Game, MLS must get rid of it entirely.

No player cares about playing in the All-Star Game. Very few fans watch it — the 2019 All-Star Game averaged only 182,000 viewers in the English version on Fox Sports 1 this year. The opposition only use it as a friendly, giving more thought to the fitness of their players than the result of the match. The only motivation is money — this, incidentally, is made quite clear by the fact that Garber has introduced such a drastic change after a year in which the All-Star Game performed the worst it has over the past decade. No coincidence there.

Attempting to jump on the back of the manufactured but nevertheless burgeoning rivalry between MLS and Liga MX is a smart move. It bring about a semblance of competitiveness. But the match will still take place in the middle of the season and players will be more concerned about getting injured than winning.

Sadly, money talks. And here, like with many other decisions MLS has made over the years, this is no different. There is an easy way to fix the meaningless All-Star Game, but it is a decision that will never be taken for one reason and one reason only.