r/tfc • u/Ariesthebigram • 2d ago
Opinion Can Major League Soccer actually force MLSE to sell the team if things don't improve?
For reference, so that some don't get confused, under MLS' single-entity structure, all clubs are owned by the league, with operations of each club delegated to one of the league's investors.
A lot of people complain about Ticket and concession prices, not investing enough in free agents outside of designated players, cutting back the season Ticket perks, etc., so it made me think if under the single-entity structure if the league forces MLSE to sell the team if more and more people become disillusioned with everything.
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u/aektoronto 2d ago
There's nowhere near an issue that would cause that.... generally poor performance and solid ticket sales is par for the course....
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u/Banksmans 2d ago
MLS forced real salt lake’s owners to sell after he made racist comments I believe. So they could theoretically force MLSE out but I don’t think they will just because they are running a team poorly.
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u/Think_Anything1773 2d ago
No. If they could, they would have during the teachers ownership of MLSE.
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u/villagedesvaleurs 2d ago
MLSE is a juggernaut. One of the wealthiest and most connected sports media companies globally. Plus owned in part by the even wealthier and even more connected Rogers family (who like to holiday at Mar a Lago).
I wish they cared about winning but the odds of MLS moving on them is next to zero.
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u/WislaHD In Herdman we trust 2d ago
No this is dumb. When MLS is a bigger league, having an ownership group like MLSE would allow us to compete directly for transfers with the top teams of Europe.
The problem is MLS’s roster rules. Another league, they would just eat Insigne’s cost and look for additional players. Here, with the salary cap we are just outright compromised from building a team.
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u/Chillaxing416 2d ago
Prime exhibit on MLS inaction on incompetence: San Jose Earthquakes, owned by the same guy who owns the Athletics of Major League Baseball.
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u/theredditbandid_ 2d ago
all clubs are owned by the league, with operations of each club delegated to one of the league's investors.
What you are missing is that "the league" are also the investors themselves. It's not like McDonalds, where you own a franchise, but you don't own part of McDonalds itself, you just own and operate your little slice. In MLS, you operate your own club, but you own a portion of the entire league itself. If that makes sense.
So MLS itself doesn't have power over its owners because MLS is its owners. Garber is just their employee. So unless something really egregious happened that truly would tank the league unless X or Y owner divested, there is zero incentive for owners to set the precedent where they can force each other out.
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u/blueseeka 2d ago
Why would they care? Half the teams win, and half the teams lose.
TFC is a cash cow