Mexico suspended promotion and relegation in 2020 under the justification of financial instability. It was supposed to be temporary. Now, Liga MX is staying closed.
The consequences go far beyond which clubs play in the first division.
Remove promotion and relegation and you change the incentives throughout the entire ecosystem. Second-division clubs have less reason to invest in players, scouting, academies, infrastructure, and their communities. Players lose leverage. Salaries suffer. Games lose consequences. Sporting merit becomes secondary to protecting existing owners.
We break down how Mexico arrived here and why the deterioration of its open ecosystem may help explain some of the problems Mexican football has experienced in recent years.
Then we turn to U.S. Soccer’s latest “solution.”
The federation recently launched its Talent Reporters Program, designed to expand the talent identification network into more communities across the country. On the surface, it sounds like progress.
But American soccer has seen initiative after initiative for decades. Project 2010. Residency. Sueño MLS. Double Pass. New scouting programs. New coaching programs. The programs change while the underlying structure remains.
Finding more players isn’t the same thing as fixing the ecosystem that overlooks them.
If American soccer is serious about creating opportunity, the conversation has to go beyond another program. It has to address the incentives, barriers, and closed structure that determine who gets opportunities in the first place.
We also discuss U.S. Soccer’s criticism of FIFA, MLS salary spending, why money isn’t the problem in American soccer, MLS NEXT and the college pathway, and why education remains central to changing the system.
00:00 Intro
02:33 Mexican Football Federation Letter of Support for Infantino and FIFA
03:35 Mexico Wants to Leave CONCACAF?
06:56 If It’s Not About Leaving CONCACAF, Then Why Is Mexico Supporting Infantino?
08:16 Timeline of Mexico’s Pro/Rel History
10:53 Why Having Promotion/Relegation Matters
14:00 Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste
18:26 U.S. Soccer Giving the Keys to the Youth System to MLS
19:24 First Division Club Owners in Mexico Are Happy With the Announcement
20:57 What Effect Does Pro/Rel Have on National Team Performance?
25:34 Audience Question: How Did MLS Avoid Promotion/Relegation?
27:37 Audience Question: Will MLS Raising Salary Budgets Help Improve the League?
30:24 Audience Question: What Is the Most Harmful Division One Sanction?
33:32 Money Is Not an Issue in American Soccer
36:40 Audience Question: How Does Gary Stay Hopeful?
38:58 U.S. Joins Stand Against FIFA
42:47 The Arrogance of the Monopoly
45:20 Audience Comment: MLS Brainwashed the Public
50:01 Audience Comment: Benny Is Still an MLS Guy at Heart
50:59 U.S. Soccer’s Latest Initiative – Talent Reporters Program
01:00:41 Audience Question: Which Country Would Be the Best Model for the U.S.?
01:02:48 Technicolor Printing – Santa Fe Springs, CA
01:03:23 Impact of MLS NEXT on the American Ecosystem
01:08:18 MLS Is the “League of Choice” for Retirement
01:11:21 Gary’s Excitement Level Seeing Three American Players Play in the EFL
01:12:00 There Are ZERO Clubs in MLS
01:12:38 Audience Question: Are MLS Franchises Developing Players With Europe in Mind?
01:15:15 Audience Question: How Do 15-Year-Olds Get Opportunities in Europe?
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