The case for a designated player
By: Robert | August 8th, 2007(This is the second in a two part series)
With time running out on the window to sign a designated player (DP) and FC Dallas among the many teams opting to not sign a name they can put on a marquee (unless something drastic happens) its time to look at whether it’s a wise decision to not bring in a high caliber player. And while I have previously argued against such a high profile signing its only fair to look at some of the best reasons to look abroad for a player with name recognition.
Invigorate a fan base
While a few people may disagree with my views on bringing a promotion/relegation system into American soccer, this missing facet of the US game means that there is little reason to care about teams that languish near the bottom of the league table, especially late in the season. A designated player however changes all of that. While LA Galaxy fans will remind you “there’s only one David Beckham,” a big name signing will bring excited people to the stadium, even late in the season, to root for their team. And even though they won’t be able to enjoy the fruits of a successful season, a designated player will bring hope that better times are on the horizon.
Money
Sport is business, big business. And while a designated player will help fill a stadium, more than tickets, a designated player will sell t-shirts, jerseys, posters, ball caps, anything with his name or team name on it and not just to the fans in attendance at the stadium but across the country and possibly the world. While every designated player can’t move David Beckham units, just half of those numbers would constitute a great success and lead to a huge financial windfall.
The Juan Toja factor…part two
I’ve gone on record many times this season saying that this year’s MVP could possibly be Juan Toja, but for all ability he displays on the pitch as long as we are a society in love with our sports celebrities (something that may not ever change) a designated player, even one of lesser ability at this point in his career, will raise a team’s profile at home and abroad more than Toja ever could.
I know there are some people who have been waiting for this post for a while and I must apologize but real life and the release of the new Simpsons season on DVD has taken all of my time (longtime readers know my affinity for the Simpsons.) I should be back to my normal routine early next week, so until then remember in Dallas the FC stands for “fighting champions.”
HOOPS PRIDE!
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Comments
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I personally am a reinvigorated MLS fan based largely on a combination of two factors:
(1) Growing boredom with Major League Baseball and the NBA (Still love the NFL and NHL).
(2) The infusion of the designated player in particular Beckham and Blanco.I watched in the first couple years of the league and went to games in Denver, but it wasn’t until this year that I really was psyched again about the MLS. I think this is what the designated player does. Bring back fans that have started to wonder (keep interest) in addition to bringing new fans to the game. I think the designated player must be marketible though. You can’t just use the designated player anyone.
It looks like the early financial evidence based on Beckham and to a lesser extent Blanco supports this… It will be interesting to see the end of year financials to evaluate the impact of the designated player.
Posted from
United States
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Great points, Robert. I’d like to hear your opinion now, though – you’ve presented an argument for or against… what would you like to see your Hoops do?
And I think it’s again worth mentioning that the DP rule is a 3 year rule – we’ve got it for ‘08 and ‘09, and then we’ll probably see changes to the rule. For now, I think signing a DP is more of a “help sell the league” move, though one only has to look at who scored MLS’s gamewinner against Celtic to see if it’s helping on the pitch (though of course, looking at who scored the insurance goal reminds us that good old-fashioned young foreign signings can be just as good). The league is in another expansion phase, so we need to tread carefully in making changes to the salary structure. But I think the more teams that bring in a Blanco or Beckham, the better the trickledown will be for every team.Posted from
United States
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