As is common with the American soccer fan, much attention this pre-season has shifted toward something completely ancillary to the success of the game in the United States. And I worry that unlike screams for single table to make the league “authentic” or promotion and relegation to sate a small few (while killing any real chance for new long-term investment), that the league will give in on this one way too soon.

The topic this time is the MLS Reserve Division. The league announced recently that the secondary circuit would feature 10 games per team again this year. A small cadre of fans howled in disgust. Then a few more intimate gatherings between team officials and fans revealed that the schedule may double as soon as next year to 20 games and could come to resemble a “second division” of MLS. This news comes at the time when Inside Minnesota Soccer put together a really comprehensive of how the reserve system could fit into growth plans that The NASL and USL have (Part 1 and Part 2).

My big question to all of this is really a simple one – why now? I’m not arguing that MLS doesn’t need to consider changes for the reserve division. I just don’t see why things need to change drastically now, especially with the 20-game model Nick Sackiewicz floated at a meeting with Philadelphia Union supporters.

Let’s break that down. Teams are having trouble fielding full reserve teams now with 30-man rosters. If you double the amount of reserve matches, you probably need a minimum of six more players on each team. At the lowest salaries, that’s somewhere around $250,000 per team. Add in ancillary costs, benefits, an expanded staff, travel and game costs and we’re probably talking upwards of half a million dollars per team per year just to expand the reserve system. In short, expanding the rosters to accommodate a larger reserve league could cost between $5 and $10 million for the league. Each year.

For what? Will adding a bunch of games for non-starters (games which the teams could actually arrange on their own above and beyond the MLS Reserve schedule) really generate that much money? Will transfer fees for first-team players increase because the rookies get more games? Will anyone really notice except the most hardcore fans?

I know the Reserve League needs to grow. If the league and teams continue to pump money into the home-grown system and academy teams, these guys need to have a viable alternative to college. The question is, does it make sense to create that alternative right now?

With six new players for each team, that eats up (theoretically) half of the money the league (well, SUM really) reportedly gets for the NBC television contract. Now adidas did double down on the league and youth development a couple of years ago, but can we wait to see how that pans out via the academies and home-grown players first before throwing money at the reserves? We need to remember this league is still in growth mode and a key component of growth is knowing when to step back and let the seeds you have planted build strong roots.

The television contracts all come up after the 2014 season. If things continue to move forward, the positive energy surrounding MLS, a solid World Cup run and the potential announcement of the 20th team would make those deals much more valuable than they are today. Isn’t that the time to push for expansion of the reserves instead of now?