Is MLS truly a major league in the US? It depends where you are | Hacker News Reader

Is MLS truly a major league in the US? It depends where you are

theguardian.com

2 pointsPaulHoule5 comments

> “The Union have definitely broken through, but it’s not as big a deal as the Phillies being in the World Series,” says Jonah Gardner of sports data website, Sports Reference. “When people talk about how Philly sports is having a moment, they mention the Phillies and the World Series and the Union in [MLS] Cup and the Eagles [reaching the Super Bowl]. They’re being presented alongside the others as part of the city’s sports.”

Hey, Sports Reference. They ran a graphic last year that showed the most-viewed team pages on their FBRef subsite in 2022.[1] Not a spoiler to say MLS didn't do well; their teams didn't rank in in-market states, including Oregon (NWSL's Thorns FC), Colorado (Crystal Palace), Minnesota (the US national team), California, Washington, Illinois (Chelsea), Florida (Liverpool), New York (Man City), and New Jersey (Liverpool).

So... MLS maybe still has a ways to go.

1: https://the18.com/en/soccer-entertainment/us-map-most-viewed...

us culture relies on relativistic concepts. one up man ship, if you will. and only when its favorable (consider how much more intense rugby is to american football). i have more examples but no way out

I have a content-based classifier that struggles to learn that I don't want to hear about Arsenal, Chelsea and all that but that I am interested in the NFL and some other sports, not to mention expansion of women's soccer.

It might make me fall in love with the game, however, because I have seen how relegation is a high stakes event for teams and the fans

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/feb/18/everton-lee...

Similarly promotion is an event better than your team winning the Superbowl.

MLS in the US, however, is like the NFL in that it has no relegation. Certainly some NFL games are badly mismatched and frequently I wind up wearing Giants gear towards the end of the season because the Giants fans I know don't want to be seen in public with it.

> not to mention expansion of women's soccer ... It might make me fall in love with the game, however, because I have seen how relegation is a high stakes event for teams and the fans

Amusingly, Chelsea's women's coach thinks England's league should look into the US model without pro/rel: https://www.90min.com/posts/emma-hayes-wsl-should-be-open-fr...

England in particular's struggled with pro/rel in the women's game because from a financial sustainability standpoint, there's effectively no place to promote from or relegate to -- if you aren't Liverpool or Man United, promotion can be a financial bullet to the head. And if you're Liverpool, the stakes of relegation are next to nil, but if you're Doncaster, the stakes are utter destruction and demotion past the second and third tiers because of unattainable financial requirements. (Mexico's leagues, men's and women's, have had similar problems with pro/rel.)

The US has a similar, more systemic problem on the women's side. Even with new pro second-division leagues starting, our real women's second division is the NCAA, with all the legal baggage that carries.

Definitely pro/rel needs a healthy minor league.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com