The MLS defeated EPL club Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in the league's All-Star Game at Dick's Sporting Goods Park last night, but MLS Commissioner Don Garber said it might be "time for a change" to the current format of the exhibition. The league has brought in top European clubs to face off against a team of MLS' top players since '05, and Garber said on FS1 during halftime of the game, “The time was when we needed to show the world that we can play against them." Garber: "Now the world is kind of looking at us and saying, ‘How can we be a part of it?’ So doing an East versus West with all the great players we have probably makes sense." He said the league will "go through a process during the year and we’ll try to figure that out” ("MLS All-Star Game," FS1, 7/29). FS1's Eric Wynalda said the league should go back to a traditional Eastern Conference-Western Conference matchup because “our fans are real now.” Wynalda: “Maybe 10 years, maybe even 20 years ago, there would be this idea, ‘We’ve got to bring some big names over because we’ve got to get that kind of attention and we’ve got to fill some seats.’ But I don’t think that’s the case anymore. The fans are real, they want to see their players, and the more MLS players, the better” (“Fox Sports Live,” FS1, 7/29). In Tacoma, Don Ruiz notes Sounders F Clint Dempsey "had floated the idea" of an East-West matchup last season, but the suggestion "was generally shot down." However, the "influx of new talent into the league" -- including this season's addition of Orlando City SC MF Kaká and NYC FC F David Villa, each of whom scored a goal last night -- "seems to have increased the perception that each conference could field All-Star-quality rosters while also filling MLS stadiums without the added draw of an international giant" (Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE, 7/30). In Denver, John Meyer noted last night's game was played "before a standing-room-only crowd of 18,671" (DENVER POST, 7/30).
EURO TEAMS CAPTURE BIGGER AUDIENCE: In Orlando, Paul Tenorio writes an East-West format "might be more viable now than ever because of the league's star power," but facing a top European club "provides the best chance for MLS to show its growth and to capture a global audience." If the format changes, there would have been "no opportunity for last year's 2-1 win over a Bayern Munich team that featured six players from Germany's World Cup championship team." Also, without big draws like Bayern Munich, there "would not be the same television audience tuning in. More than 850,000 people watched last year's All-Star Game on TV, and the game, "ultimately, is about getting people to tune in and see how MLS has progressed" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 7/30). FS1’s Alexi Lalas said the All-Star Game is a “celebration of what this league is and what it’s becoming, not just for us junkies of MLS but for a lot of people that might be stopping by and to have them understand this league is full of stars” ("MLS All-Star Pregame," FS1, 7/29).
