THE BATTLE FOR RATINGS AND REVENUES. Long, dark, quiet months have enveloped MLS in a shroud of trepidation. Not that the winter was without news, but much of it came over like the ôWeekend Updateö segment on ôSaturday Night Live.ö

Cue the studio announcer:

ôHi, IÆm Jack Edwards and youÆre not. Our top story tonight: MLS says it will stage a season this season! The league has dumped its Hispanic partner for one sexier and more willing to do its bidding. And, Doug Logan is still not the commissioner!ö

Year 5 is nearly here, and with it returns the fear. Like the dawn of a new TV season, hundreds of millions of dollars are at risk and nobody knows who or how many will tune in.

The most popular MLS episodes this winter were the ôThe Lothar Matthaeus Hide-and-Seek Competitionö and Fire general manager Peter WiltÆs long-running appearance on ôWho Wants Compensation for a Mexican Millionaire?ö The slapstick farce ôGazza!ö tested well with carefully selected pub audiences, but was shelved upon confirmation U.S. airlines would charge double for the two coach seats heÆd occupy on road trips.

Speaking of television, letÆs start there.


TELEVISION. There will be a lot of live TV soccer on Saturdays, as many as three games broadcast nationally on three channels in two languages on some weekends. The weekly ôMLS 2Nightö debuts in June.

Preliminary plans call for Jack Edwards to replace Phil Schoen on the ABC telecasts. John Paul Dellacamera will work the ESPN and ESPN2 play-by-play assignments Schoen cannot fill.

Alexi Lalas might also get behind the mike.

ôWeÆre in a battle for ratings,ö said D.C. general manager Kevin Payne. ôWe need to show some growth this year. [MLS business affairs & chief legal officer] John Ertmann did a fantastic job getting us an opportunity to do that with scheduling. Now, we have to make sure the product we deliver is one that people want to watch.ö

Telemundo will televise the first of its 16 games on opening day, March 18. ABCÆs coverage kicks in the following weekend with a D.C.-L.A. MLS Cup æ99 rematch at RFK.

ô[Telemundo] have their needs to increase their distribution, to increase their ratings, and increase their share of the Hispanic market, and weÆre trying to do the same thing,ö said MLS Commissioner Don Garber.


TICKETS. Season-ticket sales, which are lagging behind last yearÆs, canÆt be accurately evaluated until May 1, two weeks after every team has opened at home. A statement issued by the league office claimed several teams had boosted their group-sales numbers, but no numbers were included.

The league is fighting skepticism on several fronts: Perceptions that its committed operator-investors, whoÆve reportedly lost upward of $100 million, are not commited enough; that its stars are not stellar enough; and its product isnÆt good enough.

Garber says the teams themselves are best-equipped to sell tickets in their markets; Payne disagrees.

ôWe have to sell more tickets,ö says Payne, ôand there has to be a greater focus at all levels. It hasnÆt happened the way it needs to.

ôThe owners need to get focused on it more and maybe the league office can become an arm for disseminating information, but also enforcing that teams do things the right way.ö

A month before the start of the season, Tampa and Dallas had sold less than 1,000 season tickets. Columbus led the pack with approximately 7,500.

Teams and the league are desperately dependent on ticket revenues, which are shared 50-50. Under an accounting system implemented last season, teams must make up differences between projected ticket revenues and the actual sums.


TROUBLE SPOTS. Hope springs eternal that Danish bombardier Miklos Molnar can trigger a revival of 1997 fireworks in Kansas City, but that team tied for the leagueÆs best record that season and couldnÆt draw. Can the NFL Chiefs strong-arm fans to Arrowhead in the summer?

San Jose general manager Lynne Meterparel has yet to shake up the Northern California community despite usurping the nickname Earthquakes.

Miami is clamping down on spending, and has apparently decided not to buy any radio or TV advertising outside of its sponsorships or local broadcast packages. Only 18 of 24 players traveled on its preseason tour to Mexico, supposedly to save a few thousand dollars.

The league is still looking for buyers for Dallas and Tampa Bay, the two teams it operates.


MANAGEMENT SHUFFLE. There are new general managers in four cities, and another is to be replaced in Dallas, where the incumbent bolted for a league audacious enough to start its acronym with an X.

Billy Hicks will earn double his salary with the XFL. It spells trouble if MLS canÆt hold onto top players or top executives, but Garber says money is not the only issue. He offered ex-Crew general manager Jamey Rootes a higher salary than Rootes took to join the new NFL team.

ôItÆs getting harder and harder to hire and keep top talent in any business, let alone an emerging professional sports league,ö he said. ôThe XFL has $100 million in startup capital, but will they be around in five years? Maybe, maybe not, but IÆm convinced this league will be.ö


GARBER. The euphoria of the no-shootout, no-nonsense commissionerÆs arrival has faded. Six months into his reign, he has yet to implement a brilliant, perfect master plan of salvation. ôThereÆs no magic wand, although a lot of people want to think there is and that I have it,ö he says.

HeÆs added staff at the league office, notably former U.S. marketing executive Mark Noonan, and preaches patience.

ôIf we come out strong, people will say this is the solution to all the problems, which itÆs not,ö Garber says. ôIf we start off slow, everybody will say this league is going out of business, which is not true. This is a long haul.ö


REALIGNMENT. Payne voted for the 32-game schedule in deference to Lamar and Clark Hunt, but is having second thoughts. Too many games and two few dates, he believes.

Opinions as to the relative strengths of the revamped divisions differ, but those in the seemingly strongest Central believe their tough schedules have an upside.

Of the BurnÆs brutal schedule ù it is in the strongest division and will also play two extra games against Los Angeles and D.C. United ù veteran Mark Santel says, ôSurviving in that division will be difficult but I think it will be a benefit in the playoffs.

ôYou have to beat the good teams sooner or later, anyway.ö

Good players, good games, good teams. Does MLS have enough of each and the business savvy to produce ôSecrets of Soccer Success?ö Or will ôFinal Matchö appear in the TV listings some day?

by Soccer America senior editor Ridge Mahoney