The North American Preseason

Soccer is exponentially growing in Canada and the United States. The number of clubs, fan engagement, interest and attendance, are all climbing. Not only is there interest here at home, but there’s interest and eyes from abroad as well. Players and fans are noticing, following along, and enjoying the brand of soccer that North America now has to offer. The interest is not only in Major League Soccer either.

The North American Soccer League, United Soccer Leagues, National Premier Soccer League and National Women's Soccer League are all thriving, with supporters from all over the continent chomping at the bit for more. There’s even news of a Canadian Premier League to be launched in 2017. Fans are so engaged they practically, if not quite literally, beg for the upcoming season’s schedule to be released with matches months away.

Here in Toronto, soccer is a relentless topic of conversation. There are no days off anymore; there is no offseason. Although there’s snow on the ground and a cold chill in the air, the soccer pre-season is officially upon us. Many player signings have been made — the MLS SuperDraft has changed the lives of many young soccer players, and the upcoming league schedule has been released. It’s time to start training and look on to 2016.

But what happened in 2015? To briefly recap:

• The Portland Timbers won the MLS Cup
• The New York Red Bulls won the Supporters Shield
• The New York Cosmos won the Soccer Bowl
• The Rochester Rhinos won the USL Championship

It would be interesting and fun to see these respective Champions face off against each other. A secondary prize, and bragging rights, for the clubs to look forward to. Granted the winner of the MLS Cup, and Supporters Shield earns a berth into the CONCACAF Champions League the following season, but what about the NASL Soccer Bowl or USL Playoff winners?

In England the winner of the FA Cup and the Premier League pair off in August, just before the season starts, to play for the Community Shield. The winner of the UEFA Champions League and Europa League meet for the UEFA Super Cup. Both matches are within the pre-season and both draw a lot of attention.

The Community Shield for one, which has been contested 93 times since its inauguration in 1908, recently saw Premier League Champions Chelsea versus FA Cup winning Arsenal, drawing over a million viewers on television and 85,437 people to Wembley Stadium. In the US and Canada however, the preseason is much more casual and fragmented, with no real pomp and circumstance. What if there was a pre-season cup similar to ones in Europe?

A North American Preseason Tournament

One idea, and mouth-watering opportunity, is to have the Supporters Shield and MLS Cup winners play for an MLS Community Shield Trophy. Another idea which could potentially draw huge attention is a tournament, with stages, inviting the NASL Soccer Bowl Champions, USL Champions, Canadian Champions, US Open Cup Champions and of course the MLS Cup and Supporter's Shield winners.

One major advantage that England has is that their Football League is a unified system of 92 clubs over four divisions. Although the MLS and USL are building relationships with one another, each league is separate from the other. This doesn’t prevent inter-league play from happening in the pre-season, however. Many preseason tournaments involve all three leagues, including the NASL — one-off matches are quite common as well.

Preseason plans are commonly announced only a couple weeks, or even days, prior to kicking off. Often times, clubs are invited to a warm place in February to train, with fans desperately trying to watch via a horrible internet stream. It doesn’t have to be this way.

An inter-league tournament would showcase the talent from the three different leagues and quench a thirst for those interested in a promotion-relegation system some argue is lacking and holding the game back from its true potential in North America.

Since the match or tournament would most likely be at a neutral, warm weather site, opportunities at first should not be focused on ticket sales or turning a profit. It’s much more important to realize this is a chance to strengthen the exposure given to the NASL and USL that often only gets attention from the hardcore supporters, or at best the communities their clubs represent.

Challenges & Conclusions

Clubs with an MLS II team are often more concerned with individual player development, getting minutes, and ensuring a certain style or system to match the corresponding first team. The MLS II clubs are not as concerned about wins or standings as much as the stand-alone clubs, which could be a challenge to overcome as the MLS-USL relationship builds.

The NASL hasn’t shown its stability as a league recently, with the Atlanta Silverbacks choosing to cease operations, the San Antonio Scorpions' departure to the upstart USL, and Minnesota United's ascent to MLS in the 2017 or 2018 season. In addition, expansion has come slowly, with competition from a well-funded Miami Beckham United in the Gateway to the Americas, a struggle to push beyond the Rocky Mountains, and a failed venture in Virginia, not to mention the tension between the NASL and MLS reaching a fever pitch.

As with the regular season, exposure for soccer is only as good as the access given to fans. To give the tournament the the validity it needs to thrive, a major network would need to back such an event. In order for that to happen the network would need to be assured of a worthwhile audience for sponsors to make it worth their while. Preseason MLS matches are not generally on television — Toronto FC’s 2016 preseason matches, both home and away, are behind closed doors with no access to the public, and not available to stream online. NASL and USL regular season matches are thankfully available online and if the tournament takes flight, watching it online may be the only option. Although streaming matches online is easy and a fantastic option for many, to the casual fan, the media attention it garners may not be enough.

Winter is a time to mix it up. Even the NHL, NFL and NBA do so with their All-Star Games, all within a couple weeks of each other, to give fans the opportunity to see the best players from different teams play against each other. Soccer in North America do just that as well. It’s an opportunity to have fun, be more organized, gain additional exposure, and even have a little excitement with a trophy at stake. The sky is the limit as the Beautiful Game is still growing here. If there is any hope of a unified system of the game in North America, including promotion-relegation, this could very well be a fantastic start and a big step forward.