Consistent inexperienced referee selection for MLS, RSL matches raises questions

After last night's 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City, Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis took umbrage with the referee selection for the match. With the referee for the match in question having only 16 MLS matches under his belt, and with the two teams in question at the top of the league, with one known for a generally physical approach, there was some sense that Kreis had valid complaints.

For posterity, here's Kreis on the refereeing from his post-match press conference: The level of consistency was the lowest I've seen from a referee in MLS. And again, I don't want to belabor the point about the referee being poor. He is going to be poor. It's his 14th match of his entire career. The referee in a sold out stadium, in a first place versus second place matchup - it's the wrong game for him to make his 14th MLS game." (Note: Kreis was mistaken about it being his 14th — it was his 17th MLS game, but it's a moot point.)

It's not the first time Kreis has had this specific complaint, so looking at some facts is a wise plan. Before we jump in, some notes on these numbers. Match counts are for all professional competitions refereed in as the head referee, and they come from transfermrkt.com.

Without further ado, the numbers:

By team, average number of matches officiated by head official

Non-national TV

When match is not on national TV: By home team, average number of matches officiated by head official

When match is not on national TV: By away team, average number of matches officiated by head official

National TV

An interesting pattern emerges, but first let's note the difference between referees selected for national TV matches and those selected for non-national TV matches.

When match is on national TV: By home team, average number of matches officiated by head official

When match is on national TV: By away team, average number of matches officated by head official

Without regard to national TV: By home team, number of matches officiated by head official

Without regard to national TV: By away team, number of matches officiated by head official

Do your own analysis of these numbers, but from a Real Salt Lake perspective, here are some interesting patterns that emerge.

• Head officials in Real Salt Lake matches have, on average, officiated over the fewest matches when compared to all teams in MLS. The median offers a different perspective — Real Salt Lake is 9th-lowest when sorted by median.
• When the match is not on national television and Real Salt Lake are the home team, they are well in the bottom half in both average and median matches officiated by head official.
• As above, when they are the away team, the head official has officiated even fewer matches.
• Real Salt Lake have had no home matches and have had only a smattering of away matches on national TV, so we'll skip that thought for now.