mls 2015

I'm beyond excited!!!!!

I'm hopefully that a new stadium deal can be agreed to quickly and lock in that location they mentioned in the article, as the current location for Minnesota United isn't necessarily conducive to half of the city.

As a city, we are definitely ready for a soccer franchise, which historically we've been known to support and with "more than 70,000 registered youth soccer players" that should bode well for a good fan base.

I can't wait!!!! I may have to see if they have any job openings for their finance department.

 

LOL Evan!!! It wouldn't be the first time I've heard something like this.

 

I hope it works out for you Encore. That said, I don't like the move.

Minnesota's weather further ensures MLS will stay on the current scheduling path and continue to struggle with scheduling around International breaks.

They don't have a soccer specific stadium and, while they do own the land, they haven't secured financing for a new ground and have already been told there will be no taxpayer money available to help finance one.

Which leads me to the next point. This will be Minneapolis's 5th major pro sports team. I question how much success you can have when you saturate a market of that size, that much. There's only so much fan support & sponsorship money to go around and the Twins & Vikings have long relationships there.

We'll see what happens, but this addition is a big question mark, imo.

 

Great points Matt!

I definitely agree with the weather and schedule point. There is no way anyone is playing here in 20 below zero temperatures in the middle of January, much less watching outdoors!

Regarding the stadium, I believe I heard the the expansion team award is contingent upon the stadium being built. So no stadium, no team. I'm sure there's a deadline for the stadium, but I'm not positive as to when that is.

On to the market saturation, I know history is not necessarily an indicator of the future, but we have supported a soccer franchise in the past. The Minnesota Kicks back in the 70's drew 30k fans regularly in the old Met Stadium where the Vikings/Twins played (and according to the local news had the best tailgate parties that had another 20k people in the parking lot while the match was going on).

However, I think, to your point, scheduling will be key, especially if the stadium is built in the backyard of Target Field (home of the Twins). Side note: if the Twins continue to stink up the summer with their poor play, this may not be an issue. If MLS can schedule around competing against the Twins for game time, then I believe all will be fine. I'm excluding the NFL comparison here because the MLS isn't dumb enough to schedule matches on Sundays.

If we can show up 35k strong for this past summer's ManCity/Olympiacos match at the college football stadium, imagine what we can do if it were our own team. And as the 15th largest TV market and 3.5 million people (with a 25% jump in Millennials over the past 7 years), we should be able to support a soccer franchise that really only competes against the Twins.

 

They'll only compete with the Twins when it comes to viewership & attendance. However they're competing with the Wolves, Vikes & Wild as well when it comes to sponsorship & ad revenue. That's where it's probably going to get cramped. And I haven't even mentioned the Gophers.

I would hope the past isn't an indicator b/c in the past, MN lost both an NBA & an NHL franchise to relocation.

I have even bigger questions about putting a team in Miami.

 

Seattle & Portland get all the pub, but the third member of the Cascadia alliance aka the Vancouver Whitecaps are atop the standings after beating the Galaxy 2-0 and are seeking their 5th straight win tonight against the Crew in BC.

 

As a Timbers fan a little discouraged to see them sitting in 8th in the Western Conference, but upon further review they've won or drawn 5 of their 7 matches which would be good for 4th in the East. Would've posted highlights of the Timbers 0-1 win at NYC but Lalas was the color guy and no need to torture y'all. NYC was home (had no idea they played at Yankee Stadium) but it was great to see from the highlights a large section of Timbers fans there. This Sunday night and arguably the best rivalry in the league Seattle v Portland is showcased.

 

How long is NYCFC going to play in a baseball stadium? The pitch looked very narrow.

 

Good to see another Timbers fan! The last two games have been the worst I've seen under Porter. I know we won on Sunday, but we certainly didn't deserve to. The performance and result against Orlando last week was atrocious. Very lackadaisical and disorganized. I'm hoping playing Seattle will focus the team this week. Getting Valeri and eventually Will Johnson back should help things as well.

 

Evan, stupid me I had assumed as part of getting a team the stadium would be ready. Looked it up and they haven't even gotten a site yet.

 

With no site in place NYCFC are probably several years from building anything that would be located inside New York City at best.

 

It wasn't until I saw the fair pole in the highlights that I realized myself.

 

Money talks and.... well... other stuff walks. Mls isn't the only organization that bends or even breaks rules for money. Not by a long shot

 

MLS pulled the Earthquakes out of San Jose (2-time champions in early 2000s) and moved them to Houston (Dynamo) because their stadium wasn't judged to be good enough. Yeah San Jose was eventually given an expansion franchise, but the double standard is infuriating.

 

Sacffc is correct, as are the above posts regarding a double standard. MLS has an agenda.

As for the Quakes, the days of Spartan Stadium, Buck Shaw were quaint, yet I won't disparage any of those grounds. However, Avaya Stadium is fantastic - the support carried over from the intimate confines of Buck Shaw and it is a top notch soccer specific venue.

Come on you Quakes!!!!

 

Loved the giant banner unfurled by the Red Bulls fan yesterday before kickoff against NYFC, it called them Man City Lite along with the caption '20 years late and a stadium short'. Bradley Wright Phillips with a brace in the 2-1 win.

 

I've seen #4 a few times this season, and he has not been up to his usual level of performance. Maybe he should take the paycheck out of his back pocket, it's slowing him down...

 

Jozy out 4 to 5 weeks with his dread hammy issues flaring up again.

Interesting article on Benny and Charlie thoughts on the league. Hard to believe Feilhaber is only 30
http://www.espnfc.us/major-league-s...-and-davies-reflect-on-mlss-growth-since-2011

LAFC is building it's new stadium on the site of the LA Sports Arena. Thank Gawd that dump is finally going to be demolished. However, as quipped in the piece it's equally incovenient for all SoCals to get to. The traffic is a nightmare, and its only 12 miles from where the Galaxy play.