MLS Game Differences

[Tim Burr]

Saturday night I attended an MLS game, Seattle Sounders v Chicago Fire. As an impartial viewer, I noticed a few differences that others may or may not be aware of. The teams only appeared at the advertised kick off time, so kick off was late. Only the Seattle teams names were announced by the PA, and the name announced was their first name even though the last name was on their shirt. The Chicago teams names were not announced or on the big screens. Ref not announced. Then a former local star appeared and wound up the crowd after which he sang the National Anthem. This brought fireworks at the appropriate line. At kick off, hot flares fires off. Throughout the game one end had Seattle flags waved by fans and a continuous drum. When goals were scored this brought fireworks and the scorers' first name shouted out on the PA multiple times. VAR took about as long to resolve, VAR changed one call by the Ref, he unawarded the penalty he had given and withdrew the yellow card. Subs names were announced and displayed for both sides. Extra time about the same, managers interviewed on the pitch at the end. Quite a good game, but I found the never ending drumming difficult to tune out and annoying. Very comfy seats and you could take any drink you bought (beer, coffee, pop) into your seat and a cup holder was provided , very useful as the drinks were in an open container. No crowd segregation, and no obvious away support, though Chicago is 4+ hours away by plane!

[Vegas Claret]

I've lived in the US now for about 15 years and I can't watch it, I've tried many times and I thought I'd be able to get into it a bit more with Westy and Arfield being over here but I can't - sadly for the most part it's a really crap standard. I would have thought the US would have made huge strides in the sport but even the national team is poor at the moment.