Could MLS follow the example set by Major League Baseball and make the All-Star Game mean something come the end of the season?
It's a radical idea, and one that has been controversial in baseball, where the league that wins MLB's All-Star Game gets home field advantage in the World Series for their representative team. But if Seattle Sounders Designated Player and 2015 MLS All-Star Clint Dempsey had his way, he'd like to see something similar implemented in Major League Soccer's midseason classic.
"Major League Baseball does this: Maybe if the West wins, the West hosts MLS Cup. That’s just super exciting stuff to think about," Dempsey said in Denver on Monday during a press conference ahead of Wednesday's 2015 AT&T MLS All-Star Game against Tottenham at Dick's Sporting Goods Park (9 pm ET; FOX Sports 1, UniMás in the US; TSN, RDS in Canada).
MLS has used the format of inviting international club teams in the All-Star Game since 2005, in part because of a perception that two-time All-Star and 2015 All-Star Game coach Pablo Mastroeni said was because "there wasn’t really enough talent to make that game as exciting as it potentially can be today."
But the calls to return to an East vs. West format persist, and Dempsey discussed the merits of moving back to the original All-Star Game format.
"I think moving forward as the league continues to develop I think there’s a shout to kind of reconsider that East vs. West as you continue to have great talent coming in and to showcase all of it in a way that’s ultra competitive," the US international said.
Still, having a unique opportunity to play a European team like Spurs is something that Mastroeni believes holds value for MLS.
"I think the game last year against Bayern Munich made this a really competitive event," he said. "I don't know if the players at this point in the season you think ‘Do we want to put them through this?' But the response they had against Bayern was tremendous. This format has been very exciting and very entertaining and I think this game against Tottenham will be no different."
What about the annual conundrum that a win by the MLS All-Stars is a lesser accomplishment because it's against a preseason team, and a loss hurts the reputation of the league?
"For us if you win the game, [they’ll say] we’re in midseason form and they’re in preseason form," said Dempsey, who spent the 2012-13 Premier League season with Spurs. "So yeah it’s good, but I don’t think maybe we'll always get the credit it deserves. And if we don’t perform well you look at the league as a whole and say maybe the league isn’t moving in the right direction.
"I like the East and West thing as well. I think the more players your reward the better. But at the same time it is is cool to be able to play against some top clubs."
