[BostonCard]

One other problem I think has been MLS expansion.  MLS went from 10-12 teams through 2005 to 22 teams (with an expansion planned to 24). That means even as the number of decent players has increased, the team quality has remained somewhat stagnant on average (I think there is also less parity than there was before, so while the best teams have gotten better, the median team has not).  I think from the perspective of developing top talent, it would make more sense to have fewer, better teams and a higher level of competition than more teams.  But the MLS isn't working on that basis, and some people have argued that it is becoming a ponzi scheme, where franchise fees are really the only source of profits for existing teams.  That's not entirely fair, but at some point you reach saturation and start expanding into much more marginal cities that can't really support a franchise.  Still, this graph suggests average attendance is increasing, even in the face of the expanding league.



BC

[BostonCard]

One other problem I think has been MLS expansion.  MLS went from 10-12 teams through 2005 to 22 teams (with an expansion planned to 24). That means even as the number of decent players has increased, the team quality has remained somewhat stagnant on average (I think there is also less parity than there was before, so while the best teams have gotten better, the median team has not).  I think from the perspective of developing top talent, it would make more sense to have fewer, better teams and a higher level of competition than more teams.  But the MLS isn't working on that basis, and some people have argued that it is becoming a ponzi scheme, where franchise fees are really the only source of profits for existing teams.  That's not entirely fair, but at some point you reach saturation and start expanding into much more marginal cities that can't really support a franchise.  Still, this graph suggests average attendance is increasing, even in the face of the expanding league.



BC