In N.Y., Andrew Das writes the MLS Red Bulls' 1-1 tie against EPL club Arsenal at Emirates Stadium yesterday -- which "earned them the winners' trophy in the Emirates Cup -- ranked as quite an accomplishment." What mattered to the Red Bulls, and to their league, was that an MLS team "had finally taken the field for a game with a top European opponent and come off with its collective head held high." Red Bulls F Thierry Henry said, "It is a good result for the MLS as a league and obviously for the Red Bulls." D Tim Ream added, "We want to get the word out that MLS isn't a joke." Several European teams have played matches against MLS clubs this summer, and while the league "clearly enjoyed the exposure and the television appearances the high-profile visits created, and won praise for its improvement from many of the teams, the sometimes embarrassing losses were clearly not what it had in mind" (NYTIMES.com, 8/1).
RUSHING TO JUDGMENT: In Ottawa, Mark Sutcliffe wrote NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman "has many detractors," but with recent tax filings showing Bettman made $7.5M in '09-10, "we shouldn't be so quick to assume he's overpaid." Despite his "faults and missteps, the NHL is in better financial shape today than it was before Bettman took the helm." The NHL "recently signed the biggest TV contract in its history, generating" $200M a year, and Game 7 of the Bruins-Canucks Stanley Cup Final "drew the fourth-highest American TV audience ever" for an NHL game. In addition, league revenue "has grown from $2.1 billion to $2.9 billion" since the '04-05 lockout. Although Bettman's compensation package "would have made him the 18th-best paid player in the NHL, he would have the 33rd-highest salary among Canadian CEOs and the 185th-highest in the U.S., at least among executives whose compensation is made public" (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 7/31).
WAVE OF THE FUTURE: In London, Dominic Fifield notes the EPL in March will discover whether FIFA will "sanction the introduction of goalline technology," and EPL CEO Richard Scudamore is "confident the league will then be 'at the absolute forefront' in implementing it in time for the 2012-13 season." Scudamore said, "I hope there will be multiple suppliers who meet FIFA's criteria, and I would hope FIFA approve the suppliers who can do the job and then we can talk to them about putting them in Premier League grounds. It won't be a test; once it's in, it's in. It has got to work before we put it in, of course -- we are not going to risk our competition on stuff that doesn't work -- and the signal has to be instant and accurate, but the technology people have to convince FIFA of that" (GUARDIAN, 7/31).
