SuperLiga, Olé; MLS, Meh

The SuperLiga logo (from Wikipedia)

I still cannot believe that the only network to broadcast nationwide last night’s SuperLiga championship game between New England and Houston — two U.S.-based Major League Soccer teams — was the Spanish-language channel Telefutura. One would think that to have an all-U.S. final in the SuperLiga, which takes the top four teams from MLS and the top four teams from the Primera División de México and pits them against each other to play for essentially the championship of the NAFTA-zone, would represent some kind of significant milestone in the development of professional soccer in the United States. As such, one would assume it would — I don’t know — arouse some kind of interest here?

Apparently not. Which is a shame, because it wound up being a pretty good game. New England took the title on penalty kicks following a close game with a lot of late chances and even a pair of extra time goals.

Obligatory Liverpool Mockery (from Uncyclopedia.org)

In the rest of the world, the international tournaments like the UEFA Champions League, the Copa Libertadores, the UEFA Cup, etc. are a big deal, perhaps more so than even the regular domestic competition for some of the clubs in them (Exhibit A: Liverpool — even when talking about the other side of the world, one should always take a cut at them when one gets the chance).

It makes me wonder what, if any, reception the newly-revamped CONCACAF Champions League, the full North American and Caribbean championship tournament, the winner of which gets a berth in the FIFA Club World Cup, will get here. At least the Spanish-speaking portion of the country seems to be on board. Shouldn’t the rest of us be, too?

Tags: CONCACAF, CONCACAF Champions League, Football, Houston Dynamo, Liverpool, Liverpool FC, Major League Soccer, Mexico, MLS, New England Revolution, Primera División de México, Soccer, SuperLiga, Telefutura, TV, U.S.A., United States