Opinion: The Leagues Cup Needs The Tampa Bay Rowdies
The two largest soccer leagues in North America have big plans for the future. On September 21st the executive teams for Major League Soccer and Liga MX stood together to announce they would be revamping the Leagues Cup.
Aptly named, this is a competition that was previously only open to a few teams from the first division leagues in the United States and Canada, as well as Mexico – usually some of their most recent top performers. The new-look Cup will soon be a month-long tournament likely in the style of the new-look World Cup (which is set to begin taking place when these same three countries host it in the summer of 2026). The details are yet to be confirmed; but, we do know there will be a group and knockout stage.
The reason fans might expect a format similar to the 48-team men’s World Cup starting in 2026 is because there are set to be twenty-nine teams from MLS and eighteen teams from Liga MX, giving us forty-seven overall.
The 2026 men’s World Cup will feature sixteen groups of three teams each, with the two top finishers moving onto a knockout round. That will start with a Round of 32 and whittle downwards. Keen readers will note there is a problem, though: only forty-seven of forty-eight slots are filled. Here is where this could all be of interest to local soccer fans from Tampa Bay.
If one slot does remain open for the time being, due to the expansion schedule of MLS and the size of the league in Mexico, someone somewhere will need to #48. Of course, that should absolutely be the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Why do the Rowdies deserve to be in this competition? Why wouldn’t it be anyone else? Hell, isn’t this almost selling out? These are all things to consider, and to that end, we need to consider the context of this tournament and what it will do for every club involved.
A quick Google search will show you that the most popular league in the United States is Liga MX. This is no doubt due mostly to the large Mexican-American and Mexican immigrant population here. Another quick Google search would show you that MLS does not get high ratings on television. With each league looking to tap further into the American-based viewers of Liga MX in some way, the obvious answer was collaboration.
The two leagues have been working on some form of that for years now, with the Leagues Cup being only the latest iteration. Previously there was the North American SuperLiga, and the Campeones Cup continues to this day as-far-as-we-know after this most recent announcement.
Clubs from Liga MX would likely want to involve their fanbase which lives in the United States and rarely gets to see their favorite teams in person. MLS wants to get those fans more involved in the products of American soccer, whether that be the individual players, teams, or the league itself, on a more regular basis. These are both understandable goals which could – nay, will – improve the rate of growth of each league.
Potential problems with all of that aside (another column for another day, sadly), MLS and Liga MX have even brought CONCACAF, the regional body governing all professional soccer on the continent, in on the idea. I presume that was more coercion than cooperation; but, again, that will need revisiting another time. With their backing, and the guarantee of more CONCACAF Champions League spots for the winners of this competition, the new version of the Leagues Cup is happening, consequences be damned. There are fans to be won over; there is money to be raked in.
While the Rowdies are undoubtedly very good at the second tier level in America – and also unlikely to be able to get into the first tier – fans, money, and overall growth can never be bad things. There seems to be a good organization running things locally: we have top players, a good young coach, access to a beautiful stadium, and most importantly stability. However, things could always get better. To wit, I think a forward thinking club would want to seize any opportunity they can. This one is staring us in the face.
Let’s first discuss the dollars. In a country and system like ours, money makes the world go ‘round. Reports by the Athletic have stated that MLS wants to sell the broadcasting rights to this tournament separately from their league television rights. Whatever the factor leading to that choice, if indeed it comes about that way, the dollar figure on the contract for this tournament would be distributed among the teams involved. While the Rowdies do enjoy some benefits from broadcasting deals through ESPN+ and through local television stations, it is entirely possible that those for the Leagues Cup would dwarf any revenue split between all the teams in the USL Championship for its streaming rights and that provided by our smaller local stations. How long could the Rowdies take part to even earn that money? At this point, no one knows. MLS expansion seemingly never rests. But, while there is an advantage to take, we should go on: we should take it.
The next aspect to consider is the supporters. I have been lucky enough to attend many more games this season than I have in past seasons. Regardless of when I went to a Rowdies game, though, one thing always stood out: the fantastic fanbase. The supporters section sings all game long and never seems short of people. They chant such that the fans from outside the supporters section join in. There will be thousands of people at any Rowdies game you go to, whether that be midweek or on a Saturday night. In addition to all that, Rowdies supporters are passionate. Only this year have I really engaged with the fanbase online and discovered just how active #RowdiesTwitter is. Yet again, though, I sometimes wonder… What could Al Lang Stadium look like if even more people came? How would it sound in downtown St. Pete if the place was sold out and not one seat was empty? Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a supporters section that was double or triple the size because they had so many members?
I recently spoke to Áron Retkes, the head of the Rowdies supporters group Ralph’s Mob, for our RBLR Rowdies podcast. I asked him at the time if he sees a lot of interaction with the Latino population of Tampa Bay, which of course is quite large. He said that they would like to see many more people from this subset join in and take part. However, a problem he’s noticed is that many people seemingly already have teams that they support from their countries of origin, or those of their parents. Why go to a Rowdies game if you’re going to miss Chivas de Guadalajara vs. UNAM Pumas that’s playing at the same time, one might ask.
To get someone to see just how great a game at Al Lang is, I am a firm believer that they need only attend one time. In fact, I recently took someone to their first Rowdies game, which happened to be for a 6-0 win over the New York Red Bulls II. While it may be a little much to expect the Rowdies to win any Leagues Cup game 6-0, or even that they might win any of these games at all, the ability to show people who otherwise wouldn’t come just how great an atmosphere we have would surely attract some return guests. Some number of people would then turn into long term fans, and some number still would take part in the actual chanting, singing, and even taunting that goes on in the supporters section. We fans are good at winning others over.
The final aspect stems from those first two I talked about: that’s growth. It is impossible to say from such a speculative position that the Rowdies have a chance to truly compete in a group with what would likely be an MLS and a Liga MX team. Maybe truly competing isn’t necessary to get your name out there.
Small teams capture the hearts and minds of fans all over the world when they get their chance in the spotlight. As an example, I want to mention two teams: Havant & Waterlooville and Sheriff Tiraspol. In the 2007-08 FA Cup in England, Havant & Waterlooville barely received any attention at the time of the cup draw. They were supposed to face teams from around their level, the sixth tier of English soccer, and get knocked out very early on. However, they managed against a couple of teams from within their own league before facing a team from the fifth tier. The Hawks, as they’re known, knocked out that fifth tier team before also beating a team from the fourth tier, which is the first level considered professional in England. They went on and beat a team from the third tier, before drawing Liverpool in the next round. Liverpool, previous UEFA Champions League winners, went down twice before eventually winning that game. I have never forgotten the name Havant & Waterlooville since.
Sheriff Tiraspol have earned their way into the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time in their history. They also happen to be the first Moldovan club to make it to this hallowed ground. Not only did they beat some big names to get here, they only went and won their first ever Champions League game, a 2-0 home victory over perennial competitors Shakhtar Donetsk. This is the stuff of which dreams are made. While their story at this level has not written itself completely, you can expect that little Sheriff are going to be remembered far and wide for their displays over the coming months. Never underestimate what a good cup run does for a club.
One final thing to consider is the logistics of getting our club, the (soon-to-be-champion) Tampa Bay Rowdies into this competition. The fans can’t do anything at this point to be involved, short of storming some league headquarters somewhere. (I can only hope we would scare the executives with the threat of having such a good time in Florida they can’t help but come back.) What say the owners of the Rowdies could have in this is also entirely up in the air. The new format won’t even kick in until 2023.
However, my plea is this: the Rowdies have the goods, the history, and the desire to be the best of the best. Our goods consist of our excellent coaching staff, our talented roster, our solid infrastructure, and our diehard fans. The Rowdies are already a known-brand as well. As an old NASL team, people who have lived in Tampa since the 1970s still remember the days of the original Rowdies, something the current iteration has nodded to on the crest of our third kits in this 2021 season. The last piece of the puzzle may well be desire. If the fanbase demands we try, there is little doubt in my mind that certain people with those certain connections will be reaching out to heads of leagues. Fan pressure can do all sorts of things, and applying that pressure – always graciously – to say, “this is where our team needs to be” can move mountains.
I think it’s time more people knew about soccer in Champa Bay. Imagine the headline: TAMPA BAY ROWDIES TAKE THE LEAD EARLY BEFORE FALLING TO CLUB AMERICA. That’s, of course, right after we’d beaten Orlando City.
