Dear A-League,

How's everything? I know it's your off season and we're smack dab in the middle of ours, but I thought I'd drop you a line with a little unsolicited advice. I say unsolicited because I haven't seen too many FFA types prowling around and checking out our league. But I've got a Twitter account and lots of followers, and I keep reading that A-League fans are incredibly jealous of what's happening over here.

First of all, I need to point out that not everything's completely healthy with our game. Although Portland, Seattle and Vancouver - the area the hipsters like to call "Cascadia" - continue to set benchmarks for attendance, fan engagement and genuine, overall passion for the game, we've still got a few dud franchises. San Jose has been a problem for years. The Earthquakes don't have a good stadium and their attendance reflects that, with an average of just 13,000 fans per game. Chivas USA still feels like an experiment, and one that might not turn out the way we expected. And we're still considered a niche sport over here by the mainstream media, but we're growing, and thanks to our deal with ESPN, we're becoming more and more visible all the time.

By and large, we are thrilled with the way we are developing. We have 18 teams at the moment, and will add a 19th - the Montreal Impact - next season. The real key has been putting these new franchises in places where soccer already had a toehold. Portland and Vancouver, our two newest teams, both had clubs in the old North American Soccer League and fielded teams in the lower divisions prior to joining MLS. The Montreal Impact has been around since 1993. I know it's difficult for you, since you effectively blew up your old league and started from scratch. North Queensland and Gold Coast were probably poor decisions, but I suppose you realize that by now.

We are also committed to having our franchises play in purpose-built facilities and 12 of them do. Kansas City has brand-new Livestrong Sporting Park which replaced cavernous Arrowhead Stadium. Seattle, which uses Century Link Field - home of the NFL's Seahawks - has taken steps to ensure it still has a compact feel to it. The Sounders, of course, lead the league in attendance with more than 37,000 fans per game. I know you have a superb new venue in Melbourne, AAMI Park, which is as nice as anything we've got. But I also hear that Melbourne Victory gets a better deal from that airport hangar called Etihad, so they play a bunch of games there. Sure would be nice if both Melbourne clubs could play all their games at AAMI the way the Galaxy and Chivas share the Home Depot Center. I've been to Suncorp, which is a great place to watch a game, but the Sydney Football Stadium should probably be renamed the Sydney Rugby & League Stadium.

I heard a rumor that you're fixing up your website. About time. Let's be honest - and no offense - it looks like a couple of college kids designed it. We've put a bit of money into our online offerings and they look good. If you have an iPad, our app works really well too. We've got lots of video, including highlights and condensed games. Our clubs have a bit of freedom to do what they want with their own sites. Portland, in particular, has gone crazy with the social and digital media, producing some wonderful video storytelling. Their local advertising has been good too. Not sure if you've seen the "job exchange" campaign that Alaska Airlines is running. They're Portland's main sponsor and they've integrated their sponsorship in a number of ways, including pre-boarding for any passenger wearing a Timbers jersey.

I guess that's the thing I'm most excited about, our fan engagement. We can't take our fans for granted. We want them to feel part of this whole thing. So they can bring banners and scarves and flags and get fired up in the stands. Hell, we let a guy named Timber Joey take a chainsaw to a giant log after Portland scores a goal. In Seattle, the Sounders fans rally in a park near the stadium and then march to the game en masse. It's a fabulous scene. Obviously, we do have rules and regulations, but by and large we let the clubs deal with their fans directly. The Timbers Army, which is registered as a non-profit organization, knows that it can't cross the line or the team will deny it some of the wonderful behind-the-scenes access it provides for them.

As for the on-field, product, well, you guys are stepping it up big time. Players like Marco Rojas and Thomas Broich are tremendous talents, guys we'd love to have in the MLS. I also see you're starting to sign more South and Central Americans. That's good. We're lucky being part of CONCACAF that we have access to lots of those players. Their skills raise the level of overall play. I know you've had a bit of bad luck with some of your returning Socceroos who just haven't given your league much of a lift. Our situation isn't as bad, but I'm not sure we have as many guys playing in Europe as you do.

I've also read a bit about the Harry Kewell scenario. Sounds like a nightmare. Obviously a guy like Harry would be great for the A-League, but the negotiations sound like they were completely stuffed up. Not sure who's at fault, but at this point it sounds like a longshot for him to be in Australia next year. Obviously, we had David Beckham over here, and while people are kind of over the whole "Becksmania" thing, he's been a great ambassador for the league. He brought us a lot of mainstream media coverage. Thierry Henry has turned out to be good, too, but we've had our fair share of disappointments. Don't get me started on Freddie Ljungberg. He was a prima donna who didn't want to put in the hard work. But marquee players are hit and miss and always will be.

Anyway, best of luck for the new season. Looking forward to the Colorado Rapids and Melbourne Heart meeting in Hawai'i in February. I can taste the Mai Tais already.

Your pal,

Major League Soccer