re: Thoughts on Brek Shea's comments

I understand and agree with the need to expand. Geography must be taken into account when you are talking about the US. They say that they are going to stop at 28 clubs and I think that sounds right. I look at the support and the great things that places like Sacramento, Cincinnati, and San Antonio are doing and I think there is space for them in MLS. I would, however, stop at 28.

The league needs to continue to fill out its geographic footprint and that should be close to being fulfilled. Attendance needs to continue to be nurtured. The primary issue moving forward is TV. Geography, attendance, and enthusiasm will hopefully be to the point where revenue from TV can be exponentially driven to larger amounts. Meanwhile, the presence of academy development at MLS clubs should help greatly with youth.

Once maturation has been established regarding the league, the final step should be the adoption of promotion and relegation. My hope is to bring all the clubs together, including the viable ones from NASL and USL, and creating a three tiered structure. You could have MLS and USL1 and USL2 or you could have MLS and MLS2 and MLS3. The fourth division could continue to be the NPSL. The champion of the lower division should gain automatic promotion and you could have a playoff between the 2nd and 3rd place finishers to determine another club for promotion. Conversely, the last place club should be automatically relegated and the next two worst finishers could have a playoff to determine the other club to suffer relegation. I am an optimist and I like the opportunities that lie ahead for American soccer. I am enjoying the perspective of watching it unfold.