Major League Soccer crowned its 2018 champion in the MLS Cup played in Atlanta Saturday night, and the home team Atlanta United shutout the Portland Timbers, 2-0, to claim the title.
The 2018 final at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, drew a crowd of 73,019, setting a new record for MLS Cup attendance. The previous mark of 61,316 came in 2002 at Gillette Stadium, when the LA Galaxy beat the host New England Revolution 1-0 in extra time. It’s the highest attendance total ever in MLS history, and the ninth time in Atlanta’s history the team has drawn more than 70,000. Atlanta drew a record 901,033 fans during the regular season across 17 games this year.
Scoring for Atlanta were Josef Martinez in the 39th minute, and Franco Escobar in the 54th minute.
An expansion team just one year ago, the Atlanta United organization came into the league with deep pockets. The Atlanta ownership went after and signed some of the top talent in the MLS and the world. This season it paid off.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in an interview at halftime of the FOX broadcast that Atlanta wasn’t playing for the title simply because they spent a lot of money on players.
“Chicago, the L.A. Galaxy, and Toronto spent more than Atlanta and didn’t make the playoffs,” Garber said. “The Portland team is not even in our top five and they’re in the playoffs. They have a great crowd that camps outside their stadium. It’s not about what you spend, it’s about how you spend it, and the good teams get rewarded.”
MLS is expanding to 28 teams over the next few years. Coming into the league next season will be FC Cincinnati, followed by Inter Miami FC and Nashville in 2020. An expansion team in Austin, Texas has also been announced, but their start date is yet to be determined. Garber hinted in his state of the league address on Friday that the league will look to expand even beyond 28 teams.
“I believe MLS can succeed in any market,” Garber said. “Five years ago, we never thought we’d have a team in Atlanta, and look what we have here today. So many cities want to have professional soccer, they all want to be part of the MLS family, they’ve got crowds they’re trying to satisfy, that time’s going to come and we’ll talk about it in our board meeting next week.”
MLS IN TULSA?
Some of the cities that have been added to the MLS in recent years are formerly members of the United Soccer League (USL), the league in which the Tulsa Roughnecks FC play. There was some talk about 18 years ago of the possibility of Tulsa becoming an MLS expansion city, however, Tulsa has not been mentioned in recent speculation of MLS expansion.
The Roughnecks have been working during this offseason to retool the entire organization, from the front office to the players on the field. Tired of the futility on the field, and the declining attendance, owners Dale and Jeff Hubbard have made changes from top to bottom in an attempt to turn things around for the franchise.
In the team’s first season, 2015, the Roughnecks averaged 4,714 fans per game. This past season, the team’s fourth year in existence, the average attendance was 3,094. Tulsa has made the USL playoffs only once (2017), and advanced as far as the Western Conference Quarterfinals.
Commissioner Garber might be slightly mistaken. I don’t think the MLS can succeed in any market. The league isn’t even profitable, but has hopes of being profitable by 2025. Can the MLS succeed in Tulsa? Highly unlikely.
TU AT ORU
The Mayor’s Cup will be contested on Dec. 22 at the Mabee Center as the ORU Golden Eagles (3-9) host cross-town rival Tulsa Hurricane (7-3), at 7 p.m.
Tulsa beat two Big 12 opponents last week, OSU 74-71, and Kansas State, 47-46. ORU has struggled this season, and lost last week to Missouri 80-64.