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Soccer Betting - USA Major League Soccer
MLS Important Facts
- Major League Soccer has since its founding lost more than 215 million dollars. However, several trends in media suggest that situation is going to change within the next decade. The fact that there is greater availability of soccer on American television especially with the Fox Soccer Channel, ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, now having coverage of MLS, various Latin American leagues, the English Premier League, the German Bundesliga and Italian Serie A.
- The second tendency noticed is the growing amount of money and profit to be had in soccer due to increasing advertisements and the idea of building soccer-specific stadiums to better control revenue and earnings.
- American media is more interested in soccer than just the covering the World Cup. Part of the agreement for 2010 and 2014 includes a handshake deal that likely will extend the MLS television contract with ABC/ESPN, and give the league its first rights fees.
- With the addition of 6 more stadiums by 2010, MLS will finally have a solid majority of its teams in venues that will allow them to earn more and expand in a more careful manner because the league will be much more financially stable.
- MLS teams are allowed a maximum of four senior (over the age of 25) international players on their active roster, as well as three youth international players (under the age of 25). In MLS, a player is not considered an international if he is a U.S. citizen, is a resident alien (green card), or is under asylum protection.
- MLS is organized as a "single-entity" organization, in which the league contracts directly with the players, in an effort to control spending and labor costs, share revenue, promote parity and maximize exposure. Each team has an owner/investor and the league allows an owner to have more than one team.
- Toronto FC, the new MLS team for 2007, is negotiating a diverse set of rules with MLS regarding internationals. Due to Canadian immigration laws, there can be no restrictions on the number of Canadians playing for a Canadian team and International players will be considered non-Canadians.
- In Europe, MLS is often viewed as a 'retirement league' on par with the old NASL. A number of high-profile players, such as David Beckham and Ronaldo have made statements about playing in MLS towards the end of their career. However, how such players would fit under MLS's tight salary cap is unknown.
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Soccer Betting
SPORTS EVENTS:
SPORTS BETTING:
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