Posted by Stephen Kuzner

By Stephen Kuzner - WFD Fan Correspondent

When asked about what could make MLS better, the usual first and obvious answer is continued growth in talent on the field. But, the league's growth at least in terms of attendances face an obstacle often little talked about: that of having something for the teams at the bottom of the table to play for. It's great for MLS to have Seattle Sounders FC bring in an average of 36,159 a game, but the New England Revolution's 11,796 hurts.

Like the carrot and stick, there are 2 ways to motivate the bottom dwellers, either (1) have enough spots in MLS cup that most teams have chance to qualify for late into the season or (2) a promotion / relegation system.

The case study of this problem is DC United the past 4 years. RFK Stadium, once the bastion of MLS supporters has slowly dwindled in attendance. In 2007, DC United was ranked 1st overall in the table for MLS. That year they brought in an average of 20,967 at the gates. Their slip down the overall table in 2008 and 2009 to 10th brought down attendances to 19,835 and 16,088 respectively. This year dead-last at 16th overall, DC United is getting 14,949 a game. That's over 6,000 less people.

Like any sport, people come to games if you are winning. This is not rocket science. But, people also come if you have something to play for. In America, we have sports leagues where there is a surplus of playoff spots available, thus giving mediocre middle of the road teams an opportunity to get in. The NBA and NHL each have 30 teams and 16 playoff spots. More than half the teams get a rebirth in the postseason. The NFL has 32 teams and 12 playoff spots. MLB has 30 teams and 8 playoff spots. MLS has 16 teams and 8 spots.

MLS looks to expand to 20 teams in the next few years, but expanding MLS Cup beyond 8 spots will diminish its value. Last year's MLS Cup winners Real Salt Lake had a sub-50 record. This draws league format legitimacy into play. Granted the Columbus Crew won the Supporter's Shield, but in America we remember who won the big one. And the winner of the big one was not one of the better teams for the duration of the season.

For the long term credibility of the league, after the expansion to 20 teams, MLS's chief concern should be finding a way to implement a simple promotion / relegation system. MLS doesn't need this system because the rest of the world uses some form of it, but rather to give teams at the bottom of the table something to play for: survival.

The Top 3 teams at the top of MLS attendance are Seattle Sounders FC 36,159, Philadelphia Union 21,320, and Toronto FC 20,494. The league can't expect these attendance numbers to stick if any of these franchises has a fall like DC United because there's nothing to play for at the bottom. Seattle's attendance dropping to 14,949 would be catastrophic for the league.

In a perfectly symmetrical world, an MLS with 2 tiers of 16 teams each with promotion / relegation of 3 teams would be beautiful. In this world, you could have a survival playoff for the 4 teams at the bottom of the top tier, an MLS cup for the top 8 teams in the top Tier, and some form of playoffs between the top 8 teams in the second tier for the 3 promotion. That's 20 teams in a postseason playing for either: glory, survival, or promotion. Attendances would go through the roof.

In the long run, convincing its owners to implement a promotion / relegation system will be MLS's biggest obstacle.



Please send any feedback to skuzner@gmail.com.