Minnesota United FC is headed to MLS in 2017, perhaps under a new name. Obscured by the discussion of what name Minnesota will have in MLS, is the reality that United in 2016 has been handed a major competitive advantage as they compete in the NASL. Northern Pitch reported earlier this month that MLS will allow Minnesota to take as many players of its NASL team and bring them to MLS. This is unprecedented as Orlando City SC the most recent team to move from the lower leagues to MLS was limited to taking a handful of players up with them. The same was true for Montreal, Portland and Vancouver all of whom moved from either NASL or USL to MLS this decade.
NASL cannot do anything about this oddly-timed change in MLS rules, but it quite possibly could impact the competition within the second division league this season. Minnesota having the ability to take an unlimited number of players signed in NASL which has no controls over salaries to MLS whose overall salary structure is much higher than NASL’s could be very damaging to the competitiveness of the league this season. While NASL teams attempt to operate within the confines of the economic realities of Division 2, Minnesota now at least in theory can spend as much money as it wants and promise many of the players a ticket to MLS at the end of the season.
It is ironic that Minnesota is the club whose spending on players and raiding of other clubs ushered in an arms race regarding on player spending in NASL. Minnesota’s raiding of several other NASL teams in 2013 began a pattern where every offseason the teams willing to spend more money than others would lob the top 2-3 players off each “lesser” team in the league. While NASL adherents and anti-MLS ideologues applaud this unlimited free market which lacks both the logical and illogical aspects of the MLS roster and pay structures, I would argue it has not all been good for the league. NASL still doesn’t have the visibility it needs, is developing fewer top young professionals who move on to better leagues than before and now has seen a few clubs who could not compete financially lose owners and drop by the wayside.
The great legacy of Minnesota and its ownership under Dr. Bill McGuire will be the increased spending in NASL which created a competitive environment where players were paid more and clubs spent more. It might seem ironic to some that this club when given the chance to leave this uncertain, laissez-faire structure is jumping to the very different styled MLS. Perhaps it is a sign of maturity from Minnesota’s ownership or just a dose of reality about where NASL stands that they are moving to MLS.
Back to the initial issue here – Minnesota now in theory can outspend by a large margin any NASL team who is trying to make ends meet on typical D2 revenue streams- that means Minnesota can outspend every other NASL team perhaps by a rate that is two-fold. In a league that is still trying to find its feet, having a club potentially blow away everyone else perhaps escalating a further spending war before landing in safer confines of MLS is probably not a good thing.
Other notes:
- The NASL has been playing in relative obscurity over the course of the last five seasons. Soccer junkies know about the league as well as some fans in local markets, though the vast majority of soccer fans in almost every NASL don’t follow the local club as closely as it can be argued they should. But last week, Bob Williams of The Telegraph reported that CBS Sports and the NASL have discussed the potential of a TV deal. This would be a massive step forward for the league in terms of exposure and credibility. No word on whether NASL would get a rights fee from CBS or another TV partner, but if they were to obtain a fee NASL would be the first pro soccer league in this era to get a direct rights fee from a TV network this decade. MLS’ US-packages are co-mingled with the USSF.
- Jacksonville Armada FC have released Steve Livingstone ,the club President. This was quite a stunning development and we can only hope the Armada replicate last season’s success off-the-field while improving this year on the pitch this year.
