Madrid's 'Mystique' Is Tantalizing but Potentially Damaging

D.C. United President Kevin Payne said Wednesday that, "We are trying to build the kinds of traditions on and off the field that clubs like Real Madrid have built over decades. I want our fans and players to look at Real Madrid and say 'That's what we aspire to'."

Madrid has a rich history, a global brand and an overflowing trophy cabinet, no doubt. It's also a club that distorts the competitive landscape of European soccer by paying outrageous transfer fees for players developed by other clubs, and one that famously lacks patience with the coaches charged with integrating those players. Since firing Vincente Del Bosque in June 2003 (after two Champions League and two La Liga titles in four years), Madrid has hired nine managers.

Madrid Director of Football Emilio Butragueno joined Payne on a conference call hyping the Aug. 9 friendly between the clubs and defended spending hundreds of millions of euros to bring the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka to the Bernabeu.

"Obviously we're talking about different circumstances. In the United States, it's more tradition where teams have to comply with salary caps. In Europe, obviously it's a totally different tradition here, and we're in two different environments. We have to be in an environment where it's very demanding from the global fan base Real Madrid has around the world," Butragueno said through an interpreter in response to a question from FanHouse. "We need to put all the resources the club has to uphold the prestige and mystique of Real Madrid."

He continued: "If you look at other sports in the United States, they use the salary cap. You can see that it has worked, and it has functioned for them. So I think eventually you have to let this grow out and it would also work for Major League Soccer."

Butragueno, who spent a dozen years at Madrid as a player, ignored the part of the question that asked whether he thought there was any part of MLS's operational philosophy that might work well in Europe. He is right -- there is no salary cap tradition in the rest of the world, no engineered parity. And obviously, as the club at the top of the heap, Madrid has no vested interest in helping the also-rans be more competitive.

But his admission that the cap has worked so well for other American sports was telling. There can be little doubt that the level playing field is beneficial for the whole. Simply compare the value of the Detroit Lions or Los Angeles Clippers with their bottom-feeding counterparts in England, Spain or Italy. Over time, the fact that each MLS team enters a season believing it has a chance to compete and win will be regarded as one of the league's greatest strengths, and Madrid's effort to make the vast majority of the teams in Europe competitively irrelevant certainly is not something that Payne or any American soccer official should hope to emulate.

The talent on display at FedEx Field next month will be impressive. But the price paid for it for exceeds the jawdropping sums of money -- it comes at the expense of a competitive league. The top-heavy leagues in Europe (and the Champions League), with their self-sustaining hierarchies, are growing tiresome and anticlimactic. Those who look to Europe as the ideal should remember that when thinking about what they want MLS to look like down the road.

That being said, Madrid deserves credit for scheduling United and Toronto FC (Aug. 7) rather than crossing the Atlantic to play far less appealing games against continental opposition who also are here on vacation. The truth is, the games against MLS clubs are far superior because of the American clubs' desire to win. They play harder, forcing the visitors to play harder, and the match improves as a result. It's also obviously far better exposure for MLS clubs still looking to establish a foothold.

Payne agreed, saying that "Real Madrid's approach is to come here and play teams in our league as opposed to other clubs that are coming for paydays and that's all and really don't care about the development of the game in the United States."

A fun evening out? Definitely. A unique opportunity for American fans to catch a glimpse of some of the world's great players and for those wearing United and Toronto colors to test themselves in an environment they'll always remember? Absolutely. But that should be all. We can enjoy the skill of the players on Real Madrid without admiring what the club stands for.

"I think for us it is very important for us to come to the United States," Butragueno said. "We feel that soccer is growing tremendously and is having a great impact on society. MLS and its investors are doing a great job promoting the sport. We know it isn't easy to compete against other traditional [American] sports...but we see that the growth of [soccer] is going to grow tremendously and we want to contribute to that growth."

As long as that contribution is limited to matches that challenge MLS players and expose fans to their local club and what the game might look like when played at its highest level, that's great. But anything that might inspire any league official or investor to create an institution like Real Madrid is unwelcome.