The MLS All-Star Game is Broken. Here’s How to Fix It.
Why does a growing, successful league have fewer than two-thirds of its teams represented in its All-Star Game? Why is the game still played at venues that seat under 25,000 fans? We're confused, too.
Today, MLS announced their All-Star squad to take on players from Liga MX in Columbus, Ohio later this month at the 2024 MLS All-Star Game.
This year’s event, however, demonstrates another missed opportunity for Major League Soccer, and a lack of ambition surrounding the event that, while disappointing, is fitting for a 20,000 person venue like Columbus’ Lower.com Field.
Since the 2017 All-Star Game at Soldier Field drew a crowd of 61,428 in Chicago, and the 2018 edition at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta attracted a record crowd of 72,317, MLS has held the match at smaller venues that limit fan participation. The highest attendance since was 25,527 for the 2019 All-Star Game in Orlando, the last of the series played prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To be clear, we’re not saying Columbus can’t host the All-Star Game; we’re asking why it isn’t at the 100,000 seat Ohio Stadium.
Part of the problem with the MLS All-Star Game is obvious: soccer has “All-Star” competitions with higher stakes, like the World Cup and the Champions League.
However, even though the MLS All-Star Game will never have the gravity of an international competition, that doesn’t mean it can’t improve. Other competition models - like the 7v7 TST in Cary, N.C. - have shown Americans will travel for a fun, festival-like soccer experience that centers fans. If you build it, Don Garber, they will come.
In fact, the MLS All-Star Game could easily be the best of America’s all-star offerings; but as it stands, what could be an opportunity to celebrate the massive growth of soccer in the United States has become a confusing, perfunctory event. Is it an expensive, Messi-led ad for Leagues Cup?
We’re proposing some fixes - some easy, some likely to cause heartburn. Here are our top recommendations, with explanations below:
Only Large Venues
Represent Every Club
Raise the Stakes
Make it Fun
Respect the Fans
Soccer Sheet’s Suggestions to Fix the MLS All-Star Game
Only Large Venues
Four MLS All-Star Games, starting with the first one, have attracted crowds over 60,000.
However, since the second All-Star Game saw attendance decrease by 50,000 fans, the league has played it safe, not wanting to risk another mostly empty match at Giants Stadium.
Counterpoint: a lot changes in 27 years.
MLS, for the foreseeable future, will have a Messified All-Star Team capable of easily attracting 60,000+ crowds, and MLS has venues like Lumen Field, Bank of America Stadium, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium that can all host a well-attended All-Star Match.
For teams that don’t play in NFL Stadiums, good venues aren’t hard to find - and you can always play a rousing Young All-Stars match at a smaller soccer-specific venue.
However, if MLS is still worried about filling up big venues, there’s another obvious fix …
Represent Every Club
The MLS All-Star Team has a 30-player roster, which will be the exact number of MLS teams after San Diego joins the league next year.
So why isn’t every team represented?
In the beginning, MLS had your standard East vs. West All-Star Format seen in other U.S. Sports. There was more than enough roster space for every team in a league, since MLS was smaller at the time.
After that, they tried USA vs. World, and then moved to a model where one MLS All-Star team plays a friendly against a popular world team like Arsenal.
This year, however, the MLS All-Stars are playing the Liga MX All-Stars, which is a combination MLS fans will experience many times over during the Leagues Cup competition.
The matchup begs a simple question: who thought this fixture would draw more eyeballs and fans than an East vs. West or USA vs. World All-Star match with two 20- or 30-player rosters that could feature multiple players from every MLS team?
On 2024’s roster, only 12 players from the Western Conference are represented, and only 10 teams out of 14 are represented. While the East has more representation with 18 players, only 8 of 15 Eastern Conference teams are represented on the All-Star Squad.
That’s a total of 11 MLS fan bases with no reason to watch or attend the festivities. Eleven sets of ultras and Supporters Groups that won’t travel, eleven media markets that have no reason to turn on Apple TV+ that week.
Additionally, giving so many choices to the head coach of the MLS All-Star Team - in this case Columbus Crew coach Wilfred Nancy - means the choices that could provide balance to the fan vote instead give the team 5 total members from the Crew.
On the other hand, it would be easy to get fans to watch if MLS would …
Raise the Stakes
In Major League Baseball, the All-Star Game determines home field advantage in the World Series. Imagine, for example, if the MLS All-Star Game gave the winning conference an extra Designated Player slot for the next season. At the very least, MLS would then have a way to justify Inter Miami’s Byzantine roster math if the Eastern Conference wins.
But in all seriousness, even a $1 million prize was more than enough to legitimize TST in the hearts of soccer fans. The MLS All-Star Game could have even higher stakes, like giving the winning conference an extra slot in the CONCACAF Champions League.
Are higher stakes a silver bullet? No, of course not. Red Bulls fans who feel their stars were snubbed aren’t going to tune in en masse all of a sudden, even if the MLS All-Star Game MVP wins a new Audi with $1 million in the trunk.
However, as a journalist who covers an MLS club with no players on the All-Star roster, I have little reason to report on the All-Star Game now (other than this editorial). If the match mattered in any way, shape, or form, there would be storylines for everyone in the MLS ecosystem - and both the event and the league would get more attention from reporters, “fanalysts,” podcasters, and, just maybe, fans.
Stakes, by the way, also …
“If you build it, Don Garber, they will come.”
Make it Fun
Yes, MLS added the Skills Competition to the All-Star Game to up the fun factor and match showcase events like MLB’s Home Run Derby and the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, but that should be the floor, not the ceiling.
In addition to visiting TST for ideas (Elam Ending Golden Goals!), MLS leadership should visit one of countless other sporting events to find ideas to improve MLS All-Star Game.
Visit the CIAA Basketball Tournament and see all the creative ways fans show up for their schools - as well as all the entertainment you can schedule around a major sporting event.
Go to a college football halftime show, close your eyes, and imagine a supporter group drumline competition.
Go to any Wrexham match in the U.S. and immediately realize that they should be the opponent for an MLS U-22 All-Star match. Wrexham is one of many overseas clubs with a huge untapped American fanbase that MLS is ignoring at their own peril.
Speaking of which, Wrexham’s men will play a friendly against Chelsea in Santa Clara, Cal. on the same night as the MLS All Star Match. The last friendly between the two sides in the States drew over 50,000 on a sweltering night in Chapel Hill, meaning the MLS All-Star Match won’t even be the best-attended soccer match in the United States on the day it’s held.
MLS should be embarrassed by that. Any other member of the Big Five would be. However, they should be more worried that the current All-Star format doesn’t …
Respect the Fans
Eleven fan bases feel disappointed and disrespected by today’s All-Star announcement, and they have few other reasons to join what should be a celebration of soccer, a fiesta of fútbol. Again, that’s eleven clubs worth of ultras and supporters groups that are left out of the festivities.
MLS fan culture is arguably the richest and undoubtedly the most organized in the U.S. Who needs a skills competition (except Goalie Wars, keep Goalie Wars) when you could have tifo challenges, amateur competitions, a 7v7 tournament, the aforementioned drumline competition, and an absolutely massive supporter group parade/march with 60-100 supporters groups?
By respecting the fans and fan bases, and bringing them into the event, MLS can also exponentially increase the economic impact numbers surrounding the MLS All-Star game, making the event more attractive and prestigious for the cities that bid for it and the corporations that sponsor it. That, in turn, will lead to more support from host cities and a more lucrative event for MLS.
MLS has grown up a lot in recent years. It’s time for the All-Star Game to grow up as well.
Your Thoughts
What did we get right? What did we get wrong? Tell us in the comments!
Great article! All teams, bigger venue and more fun!
This article is masterfully written, capturing the genuine sentiments of millions of MLS supporters and players. The writer demonstrates keen insight, offering practical and achievable solutions. From the perspectives of fans, players, and clubs, these suggestions are imperative. The MLS aims to grow the league, yet the planners of the MLS All-Star game are limiting participation. Why are clubs with clear contenders being overlooked? For instance, Charlotte FC's Kahlina and Malanda have been inexplicably excluded.
Current statistics show their performances as among the highest in the league. Kahlina's key saves and clean sheets rank among the best, while Malanda's crucial tackles, interceptions, and clearances underscore his defensive prowess. His defensive stats, including duels won and tackles completed, consistently make Charlotte FC's backline one of the best. These measurable statistics are readily available online. The MLS prides itself on data gathering, so why was this overlooked? The criteria for selecting the MLS All-Star roster were evidently biased and flawed. This was a missed opportunity for the MLS, disappointing millions of supporters. Improvement is essential.