The InterLiga was a bust, says Soccer365’s Richard Snowden: Mexican teams don’t want to have to trek to the United States to decide who gets the remaining berths to the Copa Libertadores. Meanwhile, Major League Soccer for years has expressed a desire to send its teams to South America’s championship. If indeed we’ll see the last of the Interliga in a few years, as Snowden suggests, then the answer to the problem could be right under our noses.
The SuperLiga, an eight-team tournament featuring four U.S. teams and four Mexican teams, was a big success last season, so why not hand out a Libertadores berth for the two finalists and throw in a Copa Sudamericana slot for the winner of the third-place match? Of course, it won’t be that easy — the Mexican league will probably be unwilling to share its coveted Libertadores slots with the U.S. That said, the move would certainly add spice to the continent’s most intriguing rivalry, and it would also provide a huge ratings boost for the fledgling tournament.
Moreover, says Snowden, “such an arrangement would surely be an attractive proposition for CONMEBOL [the South American Confederation] honchos as well.” Why? It comes down to money and marketing muscle, and MLS has both to bring to the table. “Plugging the continent’s premier club competitions into North America, and especially the world’s richest nation, can only improve CONMEBOL’s revenue prospects,” Snowden adds.