International Play Intriguing but Difficult
“The Galaxy playing Kansas City on a Wednesday night means nothing.”
So said Tim Leiweke, president of the Anschutz Entertainment Group that operates four Major League Soccer teams, among them the Galaxy.
Leiweke did not intend his comment as an insult, either to the Galaxy or to the defending MLS champion Wizards, who do, indeed, play the Galaxy tonight at 7 at the Rose Bowl.
The point he was trying to make is that MLS has to find a way to reduce or eliminate midweek games, which do not draw well, and at the same time boost attendance by increasing the number of international opponents that MLS teams play.
“It’s not just a great idea, it’s survival,” Leiweke said.
What he would like to see is MLS teams all playing a certain number of international clubs each season and having the results of those games count in the league standings.
Ivan Gazidis, the league’s deputy commissioner, said Tuesday, however, that such a plan, albeit attractive, is not feasible.
“It’s something that Lamar Hunt has raised at a number of owners’ meetings over the years,” Gazidis said. “I think there are a lot of difficulties.
“Equality of schedule is one of them. It’s difficult to get any one international team to play all 12 [MLS] teams, so you’ll probably end up with three international teams each playing four of our teams, or four playing three, and how do those [foreign] teams compare [in strength]?”
Between them, Phil Anschutz and Hunt control half the league, so this is not an idea that will quietly disappear, and Gazidis recognizes that fact.
“Clearly, it’s an objective of ours to get meaningful games against international club competition,” he said.
Just how, remains to be worked out.
On paper, a game pitting the league champions against the team that took them to the wire in the playoffs should be attractive.
In reality, there are too many factors detracting from tonight’s encounter to lure all but the hard-core Galaxy faithful to Pasadena.
For one thing, the Galaxy will be playing without three starters--Luis Hernandez, Simon Elliott and Greg Vanney, who are involved in World Cup qualifying with, respectively, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States. For another, the game is going up against Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
TONIGHT
VS. KANSAS CITY, 7
Site--Rose Bowl.
Radio--KRLA (870), KTNQ (1020, Spanish).
Records--Galaxy 5-4-3, Wizards 5-5-1.
Record vs. Wizards--1-1-0.
Update--The Galaxy is coming off a 3-1 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes that ended its four-game unbeaten streak and increased the gap between the first-place Earthquakes and second-place Galaxy to six points in the Western Division. Alexi Lalas returns after having sat out nine games because of a knee injury and may start against his former team. Kansas City is coming off a 5-1 loss to the Miami Fusion, the Galaxy’s opponent Saturday, and a victory would move the Wizards into second place in the West ahead of Los Angeles. Galaxy forward Brian Mullan (sprained right ankle) is listed as questionable.
Tickets--(877) 342-5299.
