[Chapter 535: Major League Soccer]
Arica had many types of leagues. The most famous ones were football, baseball, and hockey, while the NBA, despite its improvents over the years, still ranked the lowest, only slightly closing the gap.
Now, Arica was about to birth a new league. It was hard to say whether it would succeed, but many intended to get involved.
Arica did not have an institution like the FIFA in England; all leagues were primarily products of capital gas. Even though there were incentive chanisms, promotion and relegation systems were nonexistent.
As for the pros and cons, Aricans didn't care. Sports were just entertainnt, after all; it was a business. If they relegated you, what was the point of pursuing that business?
Despite the Hunter family's decline, they still held onto the Super Bowl. This ant as long as Aricans continued to watch football, the Hunter family would have a ans to survive.
They sold the farm, the oil business, and even their beloved horse racing. The only thing the Hunter family couldn't part with was this league.
Since they were unwilling to sell, William White had no intention of stealing it. They could keep playing; he would just start another league.
Okay, soccer was indeed quite niche. Over seventy percent of Aricans showed no interest in the sport. It was hard to understand; didn't people co to Arica when soccer hadn't even been invented?
There was no reason for it. South Arica had high standards in soccer. They were on the sa continent, so how could the gap be so imnse?
Now that the richest man wanted to get involved, it certainly made a difference. After all, this gentleman had many successful case studies.
"Sir, twelve organizations plan to participate. This opening is quite good for such a niche sport," Filson said.
Filson's comnt almost choked William White. "You gotta be kidding , niche sport? Don't you know hockey is the true niche? Soccer is the world's ga." (Except in Arica, alright, and also in India.)
"It's just niche in Arica. I believe that as the World Cup approaches, Aricans will slowly co to understand soccer. Moreover, we are a nation of immigrants, so we're not lacking in South Arican and African descents. By the way, those twelve clubs..."
"They are the Columbus Crew, D.C. United, New England Revolution, New York troStars, Tampa Bay Mutiny, Miami Fusion, Colorado Rapids, Dallas Burn, Kansas City Wizards, Los Angeles Legends, Los Angeles Galaxy, and San Jose Earthquakes."
"Twelve clubs, not bad. For now, let's keep it that way. There's really no need to split into Eastern and Western leagues. Arica is vast, but travel is manageable. There's no need to copy the NBA."
"Cough, cough, sir, they believe ties are very unfavorable. To increase the fun of the matches, if a ga ends in a tie, they will use a one-on-one shot to decide the winner."
"One-on-one shot? What on earth? Filson, are you sure it's not a penalty kick?"
William White was dizzy. Deciding the outco through penalty kicks was already cruel enough. For the goalkeeper, it was a disaster. If they added one-on-one shots, the goalkeeper would be questioning their life choices.
"No, they said it's actually quite good."
"Ha! A bunch of ignorant fools! I won't allow one-on-one shots, but I don't mind using penalty kicks to determine the winner. I also don't like ties. These guys need to stop ddling; how this league operates is what really matters."
Filson actually wanted to say that if it weren't for what you initiated, no one would have gotten involved. After all, Arica was a soccer desert. There weren't many suitable fields, and most were converted from football fields.
Of course, there were exceptions. William White's Los Angeles Galaxy planned to build their own ho field. There was no need for a stadium with 70,000-80,000 seats; there simply wouldn't be that many spectators. A stadium with around 50,000 for the Galaxy should be a decent choice.
...
With William White's interference, the Major League Soccer also had its own local derby. This was rare in Arican leagues. Usually, even if a city had two teams, the gap between them was imnse, making it impossible for a "clash of titans" to happen.
But this ti it seed a bit different. The Los Angeles Galaxy certainly had the strength to compete against the Los Angeles Legends, and only matches between teams with similar levels could attract fan attention.
"So, how about it, George? How about managing this league? If you plan to enter politics, this would be so solid experience."
"Seriously? Managing a place is a lot more complex than managing a league, isn't it?"
"Hahaha, what are you thinking? Even if you beco governor, there won't be too many complexities. To , that position resembles a stamping machine. If you can handle so many clubs, honestly, you could manage a legislator's work with ease."
"Alright, it does sound appealing. But right now, I don't think so; you know how it is."
"Hmm, then let's wait for the election to finish. I think if you win reelection, you can do whatever you want afterward."
"Fine, it's a deal."
William White was uncertain whether George Bush Sr. would repeat past mistakes. What exactly caused his unexpected defeat?
Initiating a war might have been one reason. After all, no matter how crazy oil prices got, Arica had its own oil wells. Fighting wars for cheap oil was sheer idiocy.
...
"Sir, I talked to those Scots, and if everything's alright on your end, we can sign the contract."
"Okay, no problem. By the way, I promised Ferguson to give him ten million pounds for signings and another ten million for expanding the youth training camp."
"Got it, sir. I'll inform the folks in London right away."
...
When Aricans took over Manchester United, the news didn't cause much stir when confird. Fans realized Manchester United remained the sa, just with a different owner.
What? You say he doesn't understand soccer?
Ha! He didn't understand basketball either, and look at that! The Rockets just won back-to-back championships. At the ti of acquisition, the Rockets were a bottom-tier team.
"Expand the youth training camp? Our current size is already more than sufficient," Ferguson said, sowhat puzzled. The boss was generous, but this order was rather odd.
"Haha, you didn't know, did you? Arica also has a soccer league now, run by our boss. He wants to imdiately revamp the youth training, but there's no ti."
"I see. If those kids don't have the chance to join the first team..."
"Of course, you can loan them to Galaxy. If they perform well, you can call them back. Although there are also second-tier matches, to be honest, official matches are still official matches; they're completely different from second-tier gas."
"Alright, I support this decision. I think I need to figure out how to bring in new signings. Just to confirm, is the entire ten million pounds allocated for new signings?"
"Absolutely! I think if it's not enough, the boss wouldn't mind spending a bit more."
*****
spatreon/Sayonara816.
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