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Report: Liga MX vs. MLS competition to be approved this month

Liga MX and MLS teams could be playing each other a lot more in the near future.

According to ESPN,  Atlas president Gustavo Guzman says that Liga MX owners may approve a new competition between the two leagues this month.  Both leagues currently play in the CONCACAF Champions League, but since Mexican clubs cannot participate in the Copa Libertadores anymore, there is a hunger for more meaningful games.

“It is already programmed,” Guzman said. “I don’t remember the date, [but] the teams that had won the right to go to the [last] Copa Libertadores will participate, and in the owners’ meeting there will be an outline for the tournament.”

“It is very good [news]. Unfortunately we left the Libertadores and it’s something you could see coming because we were invitees almost by obligation.I know CONCACAF isn’t comparable to CONMEBOL, but it is our reality and we were battling against many disadvantages [in the Copa Libertadores] through being an invitee.”

The meeting between Mexican club owners will be on May 22, which is when the tournament should be approved.

Liga MX and MLS clubs played in a competition known as the SuperLiga, but it folded in 2010.

Comments

  1. My opinion
    The regular season #1 ligamx (combined fall + spring) should play last years #1 mls (ss standings), home and away
    #2 vs. #2, so on…
    MLS #19-24 vs Ascenso finalists #1-6

    Ex. based on standings; Club America vs Dallas, Tigres vs Rapids, Monterrey vs NYRB, Toluca vs NYCFC, Pachuca vs Toronto, Pumas vs Galaxy…down to Dorados vs Chicago

    Only two matches per team (home and away vs the same team) and you could keep score how many series won by each league.

    Reply
  2. Why not just expand US and Mex allocations to Concacaf Champions League. Create a preliminary round format such as UEFA does that weeds out the weaker and non competitive teams from Caribbean and Central America.

    Imagine a four group group stage with top two advancing to quarters with 3/4th the spots filled by MLS and LigaMX squads. I’d watch that, how about you? Save a few token spots for Caribbean and Central American teams.

    Could look like this:

    Pumas
    Portland
    NYFC
    Vancouver(Canadian Cup)

    Tigres
    NY RB
    Tiajuana
    Olimpia

    Monterray
    Seattle
    Atlanta Utd
    WConnection

    Pachuca
    Dallas
    Club America
    Arabe Unido

    MLS gets 6 slots allocated, LigaMX gets 6, Canadian Cup gets one slot, Caribbean Club Champion and the 5 League winners from Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador play home and away for the other three slots.

    You have to convince the Central America teams that the current format isn’t going anywhere monetarily and this is true and that for TV rights payments to get better and more lucrative its only going to come from a format that more heavily emphasizes the LigaMX and MLS rivalry but that they will get three slots guaranteed to participate in the increased revenue. Convincing them will be the hard part. If they don’t go for it you could threaten to make the Caribbean Club Champion a guaranteed slot and leave them with two, Caribbean will have more votes within Concacaf anyway so they’d get out voted anyway if we make that overture to the Caribbean Club Cup champ.

    This works because its just 16 teams and not watered down with a lot of the ugly teams with cow pastures of a pitch and semi pro players who know one wants to watch. The current CCL group stage isn’t even worth watching. Who wants to watch Portland play CD Dragon again. How many of you watched those matches in the group stage. The beauty of UEFA Champions League or Libertadores is the group stage matches are great matchups of excellent teams of high quality. Concacaf could showcase their quality better by weeding out the less competitive teams and beefing up the MLS/LigaMX rivalry.

    This hypothetical group stages would have matches like:

    Pumas v NYFC
    Monterray v Seattle
    Dallas v Pachua
    Club America v Dallas
    Tigres v Tijuana
    Seattle v Atl Utd

    We get more of the matches that soccer fans want in a meaningful format. The old SuperLiga was just a bunch of friendlies. I remember Galaxay used to not even bring a full squad to some of those matches. The clubs didn’t take it seriously because it was in the end just a showcase for friendlies.

    MLS would have some growing pains competing with the LigaMX teams too, but thats how you grow. Tell me ESPN or FS1 doesn’t want to show a Club America v Dallas game or Seattle v Monterray. Those games would sell. At the least they sell much better than Portland v CD Dragon, matchups like that are taking this competition no where.

    Thoughts?

    Reply
      • Exactly, the whole point is that know one wants to watch matchups like Portland v CD Dragon or Pachuca v Police Utd. Those type of matchups are taking the completion no where. That type of matchup is a waste of time for MLS and LigaMX teams. If we want to grow this competition we have to expand at the top and convince the bottom that there will be more revenue and a bigger pay off if they win in to get one of the play in slots. The current format is doomed and going no where because it doesn’t showcase any quality and becomes a showcase for lack of quality instead. Rather than re hash SuperLiga or something similar why not make CCL the competition it should be and get matchups that fans in the US and Mexico would actually turn the the tv on to watch or buy a ticket if local.

  3. Agree that replicating Superliga is bad. If you’re going to make another competition, I’d make a US/MEX USOC similar to Englands league cup with only the pro level teams (MLS/NASL/USL and LIGA MX/Ascenso MX/Segunda Division) competing. But yeah, doing nothing probably sounds better

    Reply
  4. *Thin rosters.
    *Top heavy rosters.
    *Barely able to keep up with current schedule load.
    *Barely able to compete in current CCL.

    …yea, let’s add more competitions. That’s a sound idea.

    Reply
    • Agreed.

      I get the need for more money. I am there myself.
      Just no. MLS is growing just fine for your more money needs.

      Reply
      • I feel like this isn’t healthy for the perception either. Something they’re still combating on a number of levels and it doesn’t help when new “marquee” signings like Bastian Schweinsteiger reinforce it to the media.

      • OS – How many of the last 50 MLS signings have been in the mold of Schweini (probably just a couple and those have been 31 and 32, not mid to upper 30s)? That’s just lazy. You might not have been paying attention, but RSL just signed a 22 year old DP from South America. That is the new direction of the league that anybody who is paying attention will notice. And what poor perception are you talking about this adding to? (The first question was rhetorical; the second is legit.)

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