I think that slow, graduated growth with a check on costs is the right strategy to grow a soccer league in the U.S. But your last point is spot on. MLS can do better by its players without bankrupting itself.

Because it works for them. They’re not inclined to change it if it works for them. Unless they are given a compelling reason to do so.

I guess the argument that free agency inevitably leads to higher wages (it pretty much does) is mitigated by a hard salary cap, but MLS might be saying “We know we won’t be able to stop ourselves, because instead of responsible spending, we’ll just keep voting to raise the cap,” which is just death by a thousand cuts.

MLS can absolutely do better by its players without bankrupting itself. But to spend the kind of coin it would take before people would see a marked increase in the level of play WOULD, I think, bankrupt the league. Because you’d be talking about many orders of magnitude on the spending scale.

Fans taking a stand on free agency doesn’t make much sense given that most people don’t understand the underlying economics of the league’s long term strategy. I’m not saying that the league’s rationale for controlling costs makes sense or doesn’t. I’m just saying that very few people know what the math and the assumptions look like. I imagine that a significant amount of work went into the single entity calculation.

If the league’s math does make sense, people arguing for free agency would in fact be arguing for the league’s downfall. Holding off on free agency, however, doesn’t mean that the league can’t improve player terms. Before people decide to go out and picket, they better know that they’re picketing for the right issues and that they understand the implications of what they’re asking for.

I think it already is clear to the league that fans just want the game to go on. I want the players to get better terms, but I’m not yet ready to vote for free agency because there just isn’t enough information out there (at least that I’ve seen) to suggest that free agency is the better long term bet for the league. The only thing that I’d imagine has been thoroughly studied in the MLS context is why the league should go with single entity. It would be highly irresponsible if the league didn’t do this research prior to making the decision. Whether the reasoning has been revisited, who knows. I’m not sure that people have studied what the long term impact of free agency would be in MLS. It seems like the discussion on free agency is being driven by short term discussions on what is good for the player’s pockets, which is certainly a worthwhile topic, but it can’t be considered in isolation from whether the long term decision is good for the league.

And do what, exactly?

I have yet to see a decent protest from supporters. It seems to me like you’re unlikely to boycott games unless they bow to your will, and I doubt very seriously they’re going to consult you in the business of running their league.

Not sure what you’re getting at – are you calling me out for holding an opinion in December that I don’t still profess? If so, wouldn’t you think me stupid not to take new information/developments into account?

I don’t know what the players will do, and I’m willing to be that neither does a large portion of their ranks. I’m nervous there could be a work stoppage, but I’m certainly not going to feel bad about a 3 month old tweet being held over my head.

Obviously, the two sides think the other is bluffing and only a quasi free agency compromise can lead to a new CBA.

I’m excited to see Jimmy Conrad play at FC Scandinavia this spring at least. Anybody got any good stream links for the Iceland League?

Jason – I also have a great screenshot of a tweet from you in December about how I shouldn’t be worried about the CBA talks. I’m so glad I had no reason to be concerned.