Don Garber sees MLS teams getting more involved in NWSL… http://equalizersoccer.com/2016/04/21/don-garber-half-mls-nwsl-expansion-partnership/
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The eight-year deals with ESPN, Fox and Univision are priced five times higher than the average annual value of the league’s current media deals. MLS Cup, which ESPN broadcast in 2013, will alternate between ESPN and Fox Sports. http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2014/05/12/Media/MLS-TV.aspx
MLS commissioner Don Garber says the next round of expansion could be the 'final' one Major League Soccer is on the come up. Expansion fees are at an all-time high, and it's because the league can afford to be choosy. After two decades of MLS owners losing hundreds of millions of dollars, the league has stabilized and valuations have skyrocketed. There are a number of prospective buyers hoping to get a piece of the league's next expansion, which till take the league to 28 teams. At that point, the league may stop expansion altogether. http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/sto...nd-of-expansion-could-be-the-final-one-090716
Expansion Draft Format (ATL and MnUFC) In 2014, MLS teams submitted their protected lists for the Expansion Draft on the day after MLS Cup. They could submit a list of eleven players from their roster that could not be drafted. Important things to consider: Generation adidas players who did not graduate from the program at the end of the 2014 season, along with Homegrown players, were automatically protected. Designated Players were not exempt from the Expansion Draft. Clubs could leave Designated Players unprotected if they chose to do so. However, if a player had a no-trade clause in their contract, then their club had to include them in the protected list. One element of the protected lists that is often overlooked is the number of international players clubs could make available. Clubs had to protect a minimum of three international players, unless they only had three or less on their roster. If they had three international players, they were forced to protect two of them. If they had two international players, they had to protect one. Players whose contract was scheduled to conclude at the end of 2016 were still considered part of their team’s roster . A team could lose no more than one player. If an expansion team selected a Supplemental Roster player, they had to offer that player a Senior Roster spot and he had to remain on the Senior Roster as of the Roster Compliance date. The expansion teams also had the opportunity to renegotiate contacts with players they selected.
Expansion Priority Draft set for Oct. 16 to decide player acquisition order Before Major League Soccer's two newest clubs, Atlanta United FC and Minnesota United FC, select players from the league's 20 current clubs in the Expansion Draft on Dec. 13, the league will have an Expansion Priority Draft on Oct. 16 to determine the order of selection for six of the league's methods of acquiring players, the league announced Tuesday. A coin flip will decide which of the two expansion clubs gets first selection, with the two teams alternating picks to determine their selection ranking in the player acquisition methods below. 2016 Expansion Draft (Picks 1 and 2) 2017 MLS SuperDraft (Picks 1 and 2) Player Allocation (Ranks 1 and 2) 2016 Waiver and Re-entry Draft (Ranks 21 and 22) Discovery Player Ranking (Ranks 21 and 22) USL/NASL Player Priority Ranking (Ranks 1 and 2)
MLS’s strategy to specifically target the community by understanding the culture, and not just the language, has been a success. In fact, MLS is the most diverse professional sports league in North America, with players from 59 countries around the world. The league’s social media presence is also impressive. Its bicultural strategy – both from English and Spanish accounts – is confident, without being overbearing, and is aimed at appealing to fans from all cultures, not just Hispanics. When it comes to identifying the importance of the Hispanic community, MLS leads the way among US sports leagues. And there have been specific plans of action that have helped this growth. “To us it’s about the difference in how we communicate to Hispanics today as opposed to 15 or 20 years ago,” says Gabor. “There’s a recent survey that showed that the majority of Hispanics in the US are no longer foreign-born, so even though they have the Hispanic culture in their blood, they consume everything in English. So regardless of language, we think about being bicultural and that’s what sets us apart. We’re not just translating news.” https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/sep/15/mls-latinos-hispanic-community-dna