The MLS All-Star game is what you make of it. Want to see it as yet another benchmark by which we can measure the US and Canada’s top professional league against Mexico’s? The current format, pitting a team of MLS stars against Liga MX’s own selection, will provide that (however flimsy the conclusions may be from MLS’s 3-1 win).
Want it to be nothing more than a good time? The tenor of play, and that of the previous night’s very fun but very silly skills competition won by MLS, will do that. Sam Surridge’s first-half opener, the confirmation of which was somewhat hilariously delayed by a VAR check, came after an impressive display of speed and skill from LAFC’s Denis Bouanga, who picked the pocket of Necaxa’s Agustín Palavecino before bursting through on goal. The Philadelphia Union’s Tai Baribo finished off a well-worked second off a super through ball from Columbus’ Diego Rossi. All four of those involved in the goals are among the league’s best attacking stars, and they shone brightly.
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LigaMX had a major asset ball out as well. Sixteen-year-old Gilberto Mora, who broke through impressively with Mexico during the Gold Cup and has done the same at club level with Tijuana, scored the league’s only goal of the night. Vancouver’s American standout Brian White bundled in MLS’s final goal, giving a boost to the league’s work improving the depth of the USMNT ahead of a huge World Cup year.
Substitutions came with regularity, every 30 minutes or so. No heavy tackles were put in, no injuries were reported, both teams put forth effort in attack and a lively sold-out crowd seemed plenty entertained by the spectacle.
If you see it as a total waste of time, though, there’s some reason for that too – and you’d have some famous company. The biggest star in the league said as much with his actions, as Lionel Messi skipped the three-day festivities in Austin, Texas entirely (along with Inter Miami team-mate Jordi Alba, who shared many of Messi’s best years at FC Barcelona). Both could be suspended for Inter Miami’s next match as a result of their absence, a crucial clash against top-of-the-table Cincinnati on Saturday.
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In one sense Messi’s no-show is a needlessly aloof move. The publicity demands on him would have been great, but they always are, and that hasn’t stopped him from continuing to be his famously reclusive self. Events like All-Star, as silly as they may seem to the rest of the world, are a fixture of American sports culture. It’s existed since the first year of the league and every other major US pro league has one. To effectively scoff at its existence is akin to protesting against the searing heat and bitter cold that accompany MLS’s season, or complaining about Boxing Day matches and the resulting holiday-period fixture congestion in England. The conditions may not be ideal, the timing may suck, but it’s part of the culture.
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And in that sporting culture where Messi is a natural fixture, big stars like him show up for these games. Michael Jordan played in 13 of them. LeBron James has started all 21 of the ones in which he appeared. Wayne Gretzky played in 18; Sidney Crosby just made his 10th. Shohei Ohtani has taken part in each of the last five All-Star games, even when his health has prevented him from taking part fully. It is not ridiculous for MLS to have an All-Star game, and it is similarly not beyond the pale to expect a player making over $20m per year with the implicit expectation of being the face of the league to take part.
Or is it? Unlike those stars of past and present, neither Messi nor Alba made their names in a North American league. It’s not like either player is coasting on their names – both have been extremely impressive in MLS. In a way, Messi is showing the league a backhanded form of respect by saving himself for games that actually matter. Even MLS commissioner Don Garber admitted in a press conference before the game that All-Star, while useful to the league from a business standpoint, is not without its flaws for players.
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“This is first time we’ve had all of our CSOs [Chief Soccer Officers] here, all of our CBOs [Chief Business Officers] here, all of our owners here, it is an important mid season break for us,” Garber said, before pointing out that Messi has indeed played nine games in the past 35 days between the Club World Cup and MLS league play, with him going the full 90 minutes in every one. “Miami’s had a schedule that is unlike any other team. Most of our teams had a 10 day break. Miami hasn’t. We have to manage through that as a league. At the same time, we do have rules, and we have to manage through that as well.”
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By “manage through that,” Garber is hinting at a feeling he said explicitly later on in that press conference: It is time for MLS to re-think the foundations of its All-Star game. The commissioner revealed for the first time a specific per-game number of viewers the league draws for its game broadcasts on average: 120,000. That is not an impressive number, and it represents a near-50% increase on last year, according to Garber. Does continuing to hold an All-Star game as currently presented help boost that number as the league, like all leagues, deals with increasing fixture congestion? It’s unlikely.
Garber said that the league was still focused on keeping the game competitive, and that changing it up could be as simple as finding a different type of opponent. In the past, the league has hosted games against famous clubs from around the world – and perhaps that could be a reality again.
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But this push for competitiveness comes as most US leagues are doing the exact opposite. The NBA abandoned the East-West format of old and the game itself seems less and less like real basketball each year. The NFL no longer holds a Pro Bowl at all (A sensible decision, all told, considering the violence inherent in modern American football). MLB is seemingly the only other major league to hold firm – its recent All-Star game was the most-watched among US sports, with viewership up 6% this year.
“I love the All-Star game,” Garber said, “Most leagues probably do. But how do you get your players to love the All-Star game?”
Judging from their comments throughout the week, most MLS players do. But that feeling may be declining, and perhaps it’s not as important any more anyway.
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