Happy New Year, MLS. In what promises to be a critical 2015 for the game in the USA, hopes and resolutions were rocked from the other side of the pond just hours before the bells chimed to usher in a new dawn.
– #Quiz360: WIN dinner for 2 at Media Rotana, Dubai
Frank Lampard’s decision to delay his stint at Manchester City’s sister club in New York has enraged football fans and sports columnists alike.
It is, of course, a big slap in the face for MLS. Here they are, trying to promote their slick, cash-hungry product to the NFL and
NBA masses, only to see, arguably, one of the biggest signings in their 19-year history, decide to continue life in the Premier League.
The whole situation, though, was predictable. There was no way Manuel Pellegrini was going to allow the 36 year-old to leave
in January, especially with Yaya Toure heading off on African Nations Cup duty this week.
Lampard cannot be blamed either. A world-class athlete’s career is a short one. New York can wait. The chance of winning another Premier League title cannot.
The fans, however, especially the 11,000 who already have bought season-tickets, are not happy. They want a refund. Apparently, Lampard won’t be allowed to set foot inside Manhattan if – or when – he decides to come over.
Historically, sport has an inexplicable knack for giving people amnesia. When the new season begins in March, and David Villa fires out of the blocks alongside another star-name added to a squad of young, hungry players coached by Jason Kries, who won the MLS Cup with Real Salt Lake City in 2009, all will be forgotten.
Sources in Manchester insist it’s highly unlikely that Lampard will stay beyond the current season, so his future almost will certainly be in the US. However, MLS commissioner Don Garber may want to look back at his handling of it all.
Make no mistake. MLS is improving and in a good place. The linking of Steven Gerrard with a move to LA Galaxy once his Liverpool career comes to an end is a sign that these days, when a big player looks for that one final move, his first glance would be immediately stateside.
New stadia are being built all the time, David Beckham’s Miami franchise should be ready to roll within the next couple of years, while more fans are being sucked in.
Yet, Garber was surely naive not to see what was playing out in front of his eyes. Already stung by the botched experiment to use the Chivas team in LA as an ultimately subservient offshoot of Mexican side C.D Guadalajara, he should have been able to anticipate what happened and dealt with it.
The warning signs were there when Lampard returned to England at the start of the season. The fact that Lampard had actually signed a deal with Manchester City and the City Football Group – and not solely with NYCFC – should have sent the alarm bells shrieking.
City’s Abu Dhabi owners have been accused of not taking MLS seriously. I don’t buy that. By piling money into the franchise and
generating even more interest in the League, they have ensured the world is now taking real notice of what is happening in the US.
Yes it’s a blow. But the model for success in America will not be blown off course. Season-ticket sales have mostly been sold already, as have major sponsorships.
If anything, this may hurt walk-up sales in the few home games before he does arrive, but imagine the billboard in Times Square that reads, ‘See Frank Lampard fresh off the Champions League and Premiere League titles’,” stressed Steve Horowitz, whose company Inner Circle Sports helped broker takeover deals involving the likes of Liverpool, Inter Milan, DC United and Columbus Crew Sports fans here are not usedto being treated like this.
When it comes to American football, basketball and ice hockey, the world’s best flock over without hesitation, especially in New York. Lampard’s decision, though, says more about MLS and the quality of its product than anything else.
