I've always been a soccer fan, going all the way back to the days of the Globe Kicker magazine (which i subscribed to) and Soccer Made In Germany (on PBS) in the 1970s. I'm very excited about our own, very successful local franchise The Seattle Sounders, (officially known by the rather silly Seattle Sounders FC name). I've been lucky enough to have friends take me out to 3 or 4 games in the last few years.
The Seattle Sounders have a long history as a lower division team, this is now their fourth year as a first division team. They have been 4 very successful years. They've done well in the Major Soccer League standings, but most notably they've won the US Open Cup, the oldest soccer competition in North America, three consecutive times.
Unlike what we are familiar with in sports like Baseball & American Football, Soccer teams worldwide participate in several tournaments simultaneously, during the course of one 'season'. An Association Football (slurred and shortened to 'soccer') team in England (or anywhere else) might play 4 games in 2 weeks all in different tournaments with different regulations. For example, earlier this year, the English team i follow, Tottenham Hotspur, played a Premier League match, followed by a European Champions' League match, followed by another Premier League match and then an FA Cup tournament match all in a 10 day period.
The Sounders are half way through the MLS season, and well placed in the standings, while they have unfortunately already been knocked out of the North American Champions League. But their campaign for a fourth US Cup started yesterday. Because they are a first division professional team, they got to skip the first two rounds and joined the tournament in the 3rd round. They played The Atlanta Silverbacks, a lower division team that is a strong candidate for the MLS when the first division league next expands. The Sounders, playing in the smaller of their two home stadia, dominated possession and won convincingly 5 to 1; the lower division NASL team that won so commandingly in the first and second rounds was overmatched.
I've been following the the brackets for the US Open Cup for the last few weeks and i noticed something interesting. This match was originally listed as an away game for Sounders FC, but changed at the last minute to a home game. The Sounders played a league game in southern California this weekend and came home afterwards.
I wonder if this game would have been such a blowout if The Sounders had not spent some money. They bought the home field advantage from Atlanta, utilizing a loophole in the new rule that is supposed to make the tournament more fair this year. I wonder if this was why the Sounders game was a day later than all the other 3rd round games.
In the past, during the US Cup, clubs submitted a sealed bid to the United States Soccer Federation, saying how much they would pay for the right to host the match. Since it was secret, the other club didn't know how much they bid and that helped the USSF because it made the winning bids higher. If you really wanted home field, and you had money to burn, you just promised a big payout. Sounders FC has had a reputation for bidding very high and that's why they've had so many home games in previous Cup tournaments. Other clubs complained about that, and there were accusations that Sounders FC was "buying the tournament" so this year the process was changed to a simple coin flip to make it "more fair".
The Portland Timbers figured out a loophole early on. They realized there was no rule against paying off the other team. MLS clubs obviously have a huge monetary advantage over lower division clubs. Before the tournament even started, the Timbers straight out bought their home field advantage for the their entry in the third round (which they didn't need because the team they paid off lost in the first round).
After the second round last week The Sounders bought home field advantage from Atlanta. Real Salt Lake then bought home field advantage from lower division Minnesota (also a strong candidate to join the MLS.). The ploy didn't work for RSL, Minnesota, beat them, in Utah!
It helped The Sounders both financially and in wear and tear on the players to avoid making 2 cross country flights in a week (from LA to Atlanta and then back to Seattle) and the home field advantage is certainly helpful in winning. They also pocketed a bit of money from tickets, although they still had to pay USSF for the right to host. ($12K i believe.) I don't know what the percentage is, but the home team does share gate receipts with the visitors. The game was played at Starfire, the Sounders second home field. Their first home field seats 60,000. This stadium seats 3,700. Atlanta's stadium seats 5,000 and they were expecting a sell-out.
Playing at home, Atlanta would've made more money on tickets and spent less on airfare. Traveling to Seattle they saved money on hosting fees and they got money from The Sounders. The amount was not released, however Atlanta announced what they are going to do with the money: sign new players, give away all the tickets to an upcoming home game, AND host an MLS exhibition game. Wow, Sounders FC must have paid A LOT to move the game. They are one of the richest clubs in the US and they want their 4th straight US Open Cup pretty badly.
Since the payoff money went to the Atlanta TEAM instead of the USSF, i suspect this loophole will be filled next year as the federation would rather be getting that money themselves, like they did in the secret bid process.
In a rather nasty response to accusations that richer clubs buying home field advantage "spoils the purity of the tournament" Sounders general manager and part owner Adrian Hanauer, said: “… It’s to their benefit as well because they got something out of the deal in terms of cash … That’s sort of a win-win situation.”
While the Atlanta GM's quote also sounds quite ominous: “Sounders FC presented us with an offer that we simply couldn't refuse,"
Atlanta fans were furious of course. A meaningful game against an MLS opponent had the loyal fans very excited. Somehow the promised exhibition doesn't quite do it for them. It was a chance to show off and grow the brand and demonstrate their ability to advance into the MLS. Granted, the money may help with that too, behind the scenes. Many fans said they felt betrayed.
I'm fascinated, as always , to see how things work behind the scenes. But as a Sounders fan, i have to admit it spoils some of my excitement for a fourth cup. Sports are a business, i recognize that. This is the way the game is played, and it's not really much different than previous years. But it still feels a bit dirty.
Several blog posts and newspaper stories that i read were highly critical of this move by RSL & Sounders FC. The comments boards on soccer websites show the fan frustration in Atlanta and Minnesota over the sale, and many Sounders fans weighed in with embarrassment too. Of course the conservatives were outspoken in these discussions with their 'money solves everything' and 'if i have the money i can do what i want' arguments.
Eight of the remaining 16 teams are lower division teams. The brackets get tweeked a little for regional purposes so not all future matchups can be predicted. Sounders next match is at home against a very low division (5th level i think) team from California. After that Sounders will likely play only MLS teams in the 4 more games to try to win the cup.
bibliography:
US Open Cup
Soccer Newsday
Bellingham Herald
Soccer Union Dues
Sounder At Heart
No comments:
Post a Comment