Why David Beckham’s Miami MLS Franchise Is A Bad Idea
With the news that David Beckham has chosen Miami to host his MLS expansion team, i thought it’d be the perfect time to explain why i don’t think it is the best move for US Football or David Beckham in the long run. Next year with the arrival of New York City FC the league will have hit 20 teams. Which is a huge milestone for a league that in the past has struggled to find an audience and a market for the games. However over the last couple of years in the Northwestern part of the league there has been a transformation in the way the sport is looked at. Games between Seattle, Portland and even Vancouver have begun to resemble the kinds of atmospheres of derby day games in the Premier League. This article from Buzzfeed gives us a real feel of what it’s like to be a supporter in that area of the country.
Miami on the other hand couldn’t be more different. The nearest current MLS teams would be in DC or in Texas, so there really wouldn’t be much room for rivalry or potential for derbies unless the league adds more teams in the Southeastern parts of the country. Fans of sports in Miami have recently come under criticism for the support given to the Miami Heat basketball team. I may be looking at this too much with a football supporter’s mind. MLS teams are not run in the same way as our British teams. They are called franchises for a reason, and are run in a similar fashion to your local McDonalds, for profit. Which of course is how any business should aim to function, but if the British sides were run in the same way they would find themselves in League 2 before you can say Accrington Stanley. With no threat of relegation in the MLS, the teams are run more as a spectacle and less as sports teams. If the MLS is to truly improve to become a world power which i feel it could be then they need to take a look at what pretty much every other country in the world does regarding their Football leagues.
A potential positive side effect of David Beckham’s new franchise could be a slow and steady move over towards a British style football system but it will require a lot more than one man. The MLS is so stuck in it’s ways that they are unlikely to make any move that will hinder their profit making potential regardless of whether it will be beneficial for the sport in the long run.
I would have been filled with hope had Mr Beckham thought about buying an expansion slot for another city in one of the northwestern states in order to increase the rivalries up there and to give the already passionate fanbase another team to support.
About the Author
SYC Matt A football fan just like the rest of us. Battling with the usual ups and downs that come with supporting one of the less glamorous teams. Crusader for footballing justice.
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