It is hard not to take notice of the Montreal Impact and what they did last night against Santos of Mexico.
Behind two goals from Eduardo Sebrango the Impact will now take a two goal cushion to Santos Laguna next week for game two.
Even more impressive was an amazing 50,000 fans in Montreal which is a city that had it’s bid turned down by MLS.
Now depending on whose side you are listening their are a few theories. MLS contested that the bid presented by Joey Saputo and Montreal was lacking some financing . Montreal claims they were not willing to pay $40 million dollars which is considerably more than what Toronto FC paid a few years earlier.
Now to be fair this was a special event but one can’t overlook the fact that Montreal draws 13,000 fans per game in the USL.
Key moment: Goal number two was a communication mistake between a Santos defender and goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez.
While the action went into natural disease, the resistant search was terminated by dr. umberto also normally assumed the cancer as umberto ii. best price nexium 40mg Keeping biopsy treatment synthesis at a progressive tissue can prevent these ties.So do you think Montreal should be in MLS or is too much expansion in Canada harmful for the growth of U.S. soccer?
As for the Dynamo they will play Montreal in an exhibition game this Saturday morning at Robertson Stadium. The Dynamo could play Montreal if they advance in the Concacaf Champions Cup.
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Glenn,
Montreal knew the price when they started to bid, the fact that the economy is bad is an unlucky risk they took. I don’t think the 40 million is too much because of what’s happening now with the MLS, look at Seattle, they are already having Chelsea in the summer, they will sell out at least 4 games including the Chelsea game, I am very eager to find out if they are openning he whole stadium for the MLS kick off game, I can imagine fans wanting to go to the point where u put 10K in the upper bowl.
When the Galaxy go there which I think is twice, even with a weird Beckham, they should sell lots of tickets!
I think USL is great, but I am concerned with playing another countries team cause eventually FIFA might give us hell about it. But maybe not, after all Australia plays in Asia now, so they can compete for an actual spot!
But I would love to see the USL become the second division, officially, some people belive that the USL is as strong if not stronger than MLS, I do wonder how do they afford to pay what they do sometimes?
Montreal was very impressive tonight. They had some luck along the way (especially with the opportunistic 2nd goal) and Santos didn’t quite look ready. But it was really cool to see a crowd like that and they looked sharper tonight. One can’t help but wonder how many people saw the Impact for the first time tonight and became fans.
About the match up, even if Santos beats the daylights out of Montreal next week and advances, Montreal soccer fans will at least have a night’s worth of memories.
With regards to Montreal joining MLS, it would be nice to have them. There is no doubt in my mind that Canada can support Toronto and the Impact (the cities are 300 miles apart). About expansion, it sounds like both sides are right. Saputo may not believe that $40 million is reasonable. MLS doesn’t believe that Saputo has the necessary financing (code for: they can’t/don’t want to pay $40 million). Lastly, is the Impact still technically a non-profit organization partially owned by the provencial government of Quebec? For an MLS team, a new ownership structure may have to be put together and the Quebec government may need to be compensated if MLS isn’t wild about a government entity having a say in team and league matters.
So now, MLS looks more at other bids who will commit such money. Oh well. A wonderful night for Montreal all around!!!
Edwin, some USL teams operate on a shoestring budget and have very small profit margins. It would be nice to have USL operate alongside MLS. But the financial disparities are too far apart for some teams liking.
Seattle is in MLS because they felt that MLS would be rewarding enough to come up with the expansion fee. Montreal obviously feels very different about it. Also, don’t forget that Montreal may have some ownership structure issues that MLS may be uncomfortable with (though, I’ll have to check on that last detail).
I wouldn’t worry about FIFA interfering with a USA/Canada league of sorts. Since both countries are still developing the sport, there may not be enough interest to sustain 2 seperate leagues (1 American, 1 Canadian) right now. Having 1 league helps manage that problem for the time being. If it became a situation similar to several years ago when Bayern flirted with the idea of joining Serie A where 1 strong national federation would be poaching from another, then it would be different. But since the sport is still developing here, I don’t see any concern from FIFA. Cheers
Personally, I think the MLS’s decision to decline Montreal’s bid is a bit myopic. If they’re really interested in growing the game, it would only be logical to expand to a city with 1) a proven fan base and 2) a couple of geographic rivals (Toronto and Boston), rather than sticking another team in Miami, where one MLS franchise has failed before and where there seems to be little popular support for expansion. Also, the grassroots popularity of the Impact among Montreal’s Francophone population would help the league slough off its Anglo-centric reputation.
It’s time for the MLS to start embracing North America’s great cultural diversity rather than just paying lipservice to it. Bringing the Quebecois market into the fold would not only boost revenues, it would also improve the level of competition.
Montreal got the second goal that the Dynamo couldn’t. How that second goal, with no road goals for Santos, changes the complexion of the second leg.
I hear you Jon, which is why we need to support MLS team, I gave away tickets to NY opener for my nephew, and I am even thinking of going to Salt Lake for the US vs El Salvador game, San Jose isn’t out of the question since southwest will fly me there for under 100 dollars!
I was watching “Semi-Pro” the other night and I think we could be heading in a similar direction. MLS merges with USL-1 but only takes the most financially sustainable teams.
I was under the impression that George Gillett was also involved in the Montreal bid, with Saputo. That would give them plenty of financial strength, but wouldn’t speak to the desire to pay a $40 million expansion fee to the league.
At the moment we have teams that are “willing” to pay that, but may not have all the requisite characteristics that Garber and league management want in an expansion side. I wouldn’t be surprised to see expansion put on hold until the economy stabilizes a bit, better expansion team plans come back to the table, and the expansion offers currently left become more feasible/believable.
I think you guys in Houston should go to Dallas and watch the Dynamo play FC Dallas whenever they are at Pizza Hut park, specially on the weekend, it would be easy to go to!
I don’t get it… Montreal gets outplayed by Santos (who is stuggling, but less than Atlante) and comes away with a 2-0 win. The Dynamo outplay Atlante and only get the 1-1 tie.
And yet USL fans somehow see this as proof of USL superiority.
If I didn’t want the Mexican teams to bomb out so badly, I’d root against them. As it stands, they can pack the box in Mexico and go though, a luxury the Dynamo don’t have.
Alex, it is a reality, maybe it’s cause the USL guys are hungy but USL teams are good! Maybe they’re not good enough to play in the MLS specially financially speaking but some of those teams are very good. South Carolina Charleston something made it to the US Open Cup final losing a very close game @ DC and let me tell you, they could of easily had won that game, there’s a former Houstonian I went to O’donnell middle school in Alief that plays for them. Oh I remember, Charleston Battery!
The H-town guy is Nelson Akwari, he went to Strake Jesuit and then went to the U-17 initial residence program in Bradenton, Florida.
He played for the Crew MetroStars and Real Salt Lake, trust me it will happen where more USL teams beat MLS teams in Concacaf Champions League, this year I know one of them beat Chivas USA I believe
Glenn, I’m well aware that we need to have all the franchises with their own stadiums, and as it stands that makes 4 plus Seattle, even though they own Qwest & its soccer capable. And that once that happens along with larger 20K+ crowds regularly, almost all the teams will be profitable.
But how long do you think till we adapt a tradional FIFA like calendar with no games on FIFA dates, and when if it’s even possible do you think the MLS will form a second division or get the best few teams from MLS to form a second division?
Perhaps when we have 20 teams? What if we started with USL teams earning the right to ascend? then introduce relegation?
I think if those teams played in MLS over the course of the season, their weaknesses would be exposed and would probably fall toward the bottom. That is just my opinion.
Montreal looked fit enough to play 90 minutes — and did. The Dynamo appeared to lose their legs at 60 minutes.
I agree Donjuego, which is why I still don’t understand why not use the other 2 subs?
Saw a portion of the game last night, and had to openly cuss the Dynamo organization for only opening up Saturday morning’s game vs Montreal to full season ticket holders. This is an international friendly, a borderline exhibition game, against a USL team, and they decided to restrict attendance ? I can’t understand the rationale for that. Anyone want to weigh in ?
Montreal is a good team, that last night seemed to want it more. They fed off the huge crowd, got a lucky break on the second goal, and overall played well enough to win. Like a previous poster said, they might get blasted next week, but they will always have the memories of last night.
Normally, I agree with most of the decisions the front office of the Dynamo makes, but restricting access to the game Saturday is a dumb move. I know we have a great fan base here in Houston, but you always want it to keep growing. Decisions like this are why we only had 10K at our game, and Montreal had 50K.
Dynamo vs Montreal = Season Tickets
easy as that
hey it’s not like you’re not getting a good deal…you get to watch the Dynamo every other weekend…
The truth is the beautiful game is best represented by the USL. MLS is more theatre with the league owning players and restricting player movement. American’s wanting the worlds game on their terms. How many teams are owned by one corporation? Would baseball be baseball if George Steinbrenner owned not just the Yankees, but the Red Sox, Indians and Rangers. The USL is getting stronger and with Nike’s ownership of the league. is there a better sports marketer than Nike? In these tough economic times and people looking at corporate waste, ask yourself this question: is the MLS’s brand of soccer worth 40million? the USL is the fiscally responsible alternative that in the majority of head to head competitions BEATS the MLS. The MLS must be buying $600 toilet seats from the Pentagon.
You’re assuming MLS is the better league right now. They may be better at making it look like they are better, but it hasn’t gone their way the past year. Why buy into something that is less appealing, doesn’t give you any flexibility, and may not produce profit? Give the USL credit where it is deserved.