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People who think Major League Soccer is holding back soccer in the United States gained an unexpected ally this week. Oliver Mintzlaff, CEO of Corporate Projects and New Investments for Red Bull, said in an interview on Monday that MLS is not growing as fast as it should be. Additionally, Mintzlaff said the players coming out of the New York Red Bulls have largely disappointed him.
Mintzlaff revealed that there has been no real benefit to having a club in the United States. He says the league’s minimal development since Red Bull entered the division is disappointing. Red Bull took ownership of the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in 2006.
Slow development in the Americas
Kicker presented to Mintzlaff the statement that: “Up until now, the benefits of the (Red Bull clubs) in Brazil and New York—apart from Tyler Adams—are not evident.”
The Red Bull CEO agreed strongly with that assessment of how things have gone for Red Bull in the Americas.
“Absolutely right,” he said, “MLS is developing, but it’s developing far too slowly and is still far away from the standard we would imagine for a country like the USA.”
However, as Derek Rae pointed out on Twitter, Mintzlaff is not entirely pessimistic about MLS and the US soccer market.
“I still remain bullish about the topic of football in the USA, also in relation to the Club World Cup 2025 & World Cup in 2026. We’re investing around €200 million into a fantastic academy to be opened in 2 years,” Mintzlaff added.
Is Mintzlaff part of the problem?
Even though he said he was optimistic about US soccer, many critics used Mintzlaff’s words as proof that MLS is holding the game back. In response, MLS fans pointed out that the criticism is a bit rich coming from someone like Mintzlaff.
The Red Bulls boast the best playoff record in MLS history. They have qualified for the playoffs a record 25 times, including the last 15 seasons consecutively. Despite this impressive…
Source link : https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/red-bull-ceo-mls-is-developing-far-too-slowly/
Author : Cody Aceveda
Publish date : 2024-10-01 14:58:59
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