Proposal To Improve The Game

Penalty shootouts to decide a game after 90 minutes of regular playing time and 30 minutes of extra time have been criticized for a long time by players, coaches, and fans. Ask one hundred people and you will get one hundred different ideas for solving this problem. The various governing bodies have considered or used alternatives such as the Golden Goal rule, in which the first team to score during extra time won the match, but this resulted in defensive matches that hoped to avoid damage rather than create opportunities. Other suggested actions, never seriously considered at any level, have included tallying various combinations of corner kicks, shots on goal, goals scored during a series of one-on-two scrimmages or a set of corner kicks. Unfortunately, few if any of them would result in prettier soccer, and all of them seem artificial. Until now.

MLS Teams Adopting Club Model to Develop Talent

Original article appeared on BrotherlyGame.com

The New Year will undoubtedly be one of growth for soccer academies across the United States. Youth soccer and the development of homegrown players (i.e. Philadelphia Union’s signing of Zach Pfeffer) is key to the long-term success of the Men’s and Women’s National Teams, as well as Major League Soccer. The framework for soccer clubs and academies was laid in 2010 during the inaugural season for the Philadelphia Union and with the introduction of expansion club, Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Marketing a Player vs. a Club

     Marketing a specific player vs. marketing an entire team is an important distinction, and understanding the power of each is key. In the MLS, as in any business, there are essentially two types of customers: new and repeat. Everyone knows the name of the game is to get more new customers and turn them into repeats, however, the question is how to accomplish that. There are many different answers, but two simple strategies have already been mentioned above.

     To get people 'in the door', or in the case of an MLS club, in the stadium, focus on marketing specific key, and more importantly popular, players. For example, David Beckham, Thierry Henry, etc. Beckham has perhaps brought more new fans to the parks in the past few years than any other player in the league. The big name players are a great marketing tool in this sense. The problem becomes, how do you turn a fan that goes to a game only to see David Beckham into a fan that goes to multiple games a season to see the LA Galaxy.

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