MIAMI GARDENS, FLA.
Miami is abuzz with talk about MLS. The expectant public here is patiently waiting for the announcement about a David Beckham-led expansion team on Wednesday. The chatter even crept its way into the unveiling of the 2014 Guinness International Champions Cup on Tuesday morning.
Eight teams from across the world will compete in the second edition of the tournament this summer. None of them actually play here. LA Galaxy finished fourth during the inaugural event last summer, but Bruce Arena's side - or any other domestic club, for that matter - will not take part this time around.
The primary reason behind the omission: logistics. The structure of the tournament - three matches in the span of a week and an overall footprint from July 26 to August 4 - conflicts with the MLS regular season. The increasingly dense MLS calendar can accommodate a lucrative home friendly or two against a top European side to generate revenue, but it leaves little room to travel around the country for a series of matches in the middle of the summer. There simply isn't much room during a World Cup year to accommodate the changes required to make it work somehow.
"One of the challenges we have is the scheduling challenge," Relevent Sports CEO Charlie Stillitano said. "It's a full week in the middle of the MLS season. We reached out to several MLS teams. To be fair, I think the teams, in particular, wanted to attend and wanted to be a part of it. We just couldn't make it work with the schedule this year."
Stillitano said his company and the tournament on the whole maintains a good relationship with MLS. The former Metrostars general manager also noted his bullish outlook on league's potential return to south Florida and underscored the altered demographics in the area since the Fusion ceased operations in January 2002.
Perhaps a new franchise in Miami can participate in the tournament at some point down the line. For now, Stillitano said the ICC plans to leave the door open to bring MLS back into the fold in the coming years.
"We expect this to be an annual event," Stillitano said. "Certainly, MLS will be a part of it in the future."
