Is The Doom and Gloom from MLS Owners a Negotiating Ploy or the Beginning of the End of the League?

Want to catch a glimpse of the new Red Bull Arena? It's beautiful, and perfect for soccer in the New York area.

Now we just have to wait and see if anyone will ever play in it.

As of today, we are just outside one week away from the start of the MLS season, and we still don't know if there's going to even be a start to the MLS season. Since last week's announcement that the players have voted to strike if a deal isn't done by March 25, there has been nothing in the reports to indicate the sides are close to a deal. In fact, we're getting closer and closer to the MLS sky falling, if you believe what most people are writing. Here's the lead to today's Reuters report, followed later in the story by a quote (both excerpted below) from AEG boss Tim Leiweke:

The United States could face a year without soccer if players do not drop their demands for changes to the league's structure, according to the head of AEG, the firm that owns the Los Angeles Galaxy.

"It's not ready to stand on its own two feet yet," (Leiweke) said of the league. "We have work to do there to make this sport viable in the United States and what we're not going to do is throw out the very economic model that's gotten us through the first 10 turbulent years.

"After 10 years of us kind of propping this damn thing up, I don't think a strike accomplishes anything but disrespect."

That comment is almost optimistic if juxtaposed with Seattle Sounders FC majority owner Joe Roth, who told reporters on Tuesday (via The Olympian):

“From an entertainment standpoint, we haven’t made enough of an imprint on the national psyche,” he said. “… I don’t think there will be a national outcry like with the NFL if somehow we wouldn’t be out there for a year – which would be terrible. Everyone would lose their jobs. We would all lose our franchises. And that would be that.”

Let's keep one thing in mind when we read these comments: men like Roth and Leiweke run enormous multi-national entertainment companies, so a lot of what they say is obviously part of a shrewd set of 'kill or be killed' negotiating skills. That being said, Leiweke is dancing along the line of businessman and passionate American soccer fan, telling the Los Angeles Times, "We do this out of passion. If this were a business, we would have quit this 10 years ago," and estimating that AEG alone has spent $300 million on building American soccer over the last 10 years.

"I don't even know how to react when I hear the players now saying that we have treated them poorly and they're going to strike. The fact is, the Galaxy isn't going to make money this year. There are only a couple of [MLS] teams that will make money this year.

"So when I hear them talk about striking and shutting the league down, I've got to tell you, they're going to lose us when they talk like that."

And there in lies the problem: the owners are looking at the bigger picture, with a potential free agency structure undoing all they've created over ten years of slowly building the league into a viable and sustainable American sports league. The players just want to make sure they can afford to pay rent. Veteran defender Mike Petke told NJ.com the players understand that while both sides never get what they want in a negotiation, some things – in this specific negotiation – still feel like deal-breakers.

“There’s definitely some player rights that we need and we want. Things like minimum salary, like guaranteed contracts. I’ve been in the league for 13 years. I have a wife and two kids. I’ve averaged 25 games a year. This is the first year in eight years I don’t have a guaranteed contract, and I didn’t argue it because we had a horrible year last year. But if I don’t deserve a guaranteed contract then something’s not right to me.

“Why do you want me stepping out on the field for the opener against Chicago wondering if I’m going to get released tomorrow and not have a paycheck for my family? Wouldn’t you want me concentrating on soccer alone?”

It probably doesn't help negotiations that the majority of the national media doesn't even know this situation is going on. And who can blame them with the NFL playoffs, Winter Olympics, NCAA tournament and Tiger Woods storylines dominating the sports landscape throughout this protracted process. Mike Wilbon was asked about the MLS labor situation in a Washington Post chat yesterday and gave the "Big Media" perspective:

IF NFL players can be replaced, you think soccer players (in America!) can't be replaced? I wonder how many people who identify themselves as sports fans in this country would even notice or have their viewing choices affected.

Hey, at least he's talking about it. Which is more than we can say if the league disappears. Whether or not that happens – for a few weeks or a year or, if you believe Roth, forever – still remains to be seen as we get closer and closer to March 25.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.