Should NASL have it's own World Football Challenge?

Discussion in 'NASL' started by WhiteStar Warriors, Jul 22, 2012.

  1. WhiteStar Warriors

    Mar 25, 2007
    St.Pete/Krakow
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    against Championship teams?

    Thoughts?
     
  2. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Would anyone show up a Championship team?
     
  3. WhiteStar Warriors

    Mar 25, 2007
    St.Pete/Krakow
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't know they said on tv that Chelsea has more supporter groups in U.S. than in England, so I'm sure their are fans for Championship. it doesn't have to be against Championship could be Bundesliga 2, Serie B or any other federation besides UEFA that's in preseason. just a suggestion.
     
  4. ceezmad

    ceezmad Member+

    Mar 4, 2010
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Maybe Traffic can be like SUM for this. SUM is who runs the Summer WFC I believe.

    I think Tampa Bay played Stoke last year right?

    I mean NASL is not MLS, each team is independent, but just like MLS does not run the WFC, NASL would not run a D2WFC.

    Nothing stopping NASL teams from scheduling friendly games in the summer.

    I know Atlanta and I believe San Antonio have played frindly games vs Mexican D2 teams.

    Maybe friendly games with Central American clubs during their Pre-season.
     
  5. Skippysasquirrel

    May 11, 2012
    San Diego, CA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think this is a really cool idea, but I worry that that's the soccer nerd in me more than the businessman (because I'm not much for being a businessman...).

    Bolton Wanderers vs. SA Scorpions, Crystal Palace vs. PR Islanders...

    I could get into it. But I'm curious as to the cost, and how much attention it would actually garner.
     
  6. WhiteStar Warriors

    Mar 25, 2007
    St.Pete/Krakow
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    or something like this now defunct trophy:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Trophy

    play one game in each NASL city.
     
  7. Macsen

    Macsen Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 5, 2007
    Orlando
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    What stopped any of you from hosting international friendlies this year? The Rowdies faced Bolton last year.

    I don't think NASL could arrange anything as concerted as the World Football Challenge right now, but there's nothing stopping individual teams from arranging international friendlies of their own.
     
  8. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Certainly there's no reason the league couldn't arrange a league-wide series of visits by international club teams, but....

    1 - You might rather differentiate yourself from what MLS teams are doing (if they're doing something called a World Football Challenge - which isn't really a tournament - you might rather do something more akin to the old Transatlantic Challenge Cup, with a couple of the better NASL teams against recognizable-but-not-EPL-level clubs in a mini-tournament). Do it differently, else it's just a kiddie version of what MLS is doing.
    2 - These things are really expensive to do, and you have to spend a lot of resources in promoting the tournament/event in addition to the very real hard costs of getting those teams over here (which are less than for EPL-level clubs, obviously...but the expected return would be much less, as well). Unless NASL teams are going to find larger venues in their markets (and not every market has one that's feasible) to handle enough ticket-buyers to make the ROI worthwhile, it might not make sense.
    3 - There are some NASL teams that would get their asses kicked by most of the teams that have some name recognition, so you run that risk. You wouldn't necessarily have every NASL team play in whatever challenge it was. And any one club that comes over isn't going to want to play 8-10 games on its US tour, so the kind of barnstorming foreign club thing that the original NASL did in its early days probably isn't feasible with the number of clubs the NASL has right now. Basically, if you bring a team over that's likely to sell tickets, they're also likely to be hard to compete with, and if you bring someone over that Atlanta or Edmonton could hang with...well, you get the picture.
     
  9. drSoFlaFan

    drSoFlaFan DEFEND THE FORT!

    Feb 25, 2008
    Plantation, FL
    Club:
    Ft Lauderdale Strikers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No no a thousand times no. The WFC is a terrible idea in the first place IMO, so long as they continue to have MLS teams play in the middle of their playoff races, risking injury and so forth.

    I'd much rather see NASL teams simply hosting international friendlies between two foreign clubs(or national teams) at their stadiums and making the money off the game, but not having their teams compete. I think Championship level(even a few League 1 or 2 teams with name recognition from years gone by) would be good targets. Sheff. Wednesday, Wolves, Leeds etc.
     
  10. Skippysasquirrel

    May 11, 2012
    San Diego, CA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I was surprised to find out West Ham has quite the following among my friends... Then I realized they all watched "Green Street Hooligans," and decided they liked the Hammers... That being said, there may be a number of lower level clubs (especially the ones you mentioned) that would garner some attention over here, even at the NASL level.
     
  11. speedcake

    speedcake Member

    Dec 2, 1999
    Tampa
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'd definitely be down with NASL teams playing more friendlies vs teams like Bolton, who the Rowdies played last year.

    Why have there been next to no friendlies this year? For one, the calendar isn't very forgiving. For another...well I don't really have another. Other than maybe the cost of hosting a recognizable name.
     
  12. Skippysasquirrel

    May 11, 2012
    San Diego, CA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm not sure what the actual figures are, but I imagine it gets kind of expensive, and if the team you're bringing in is Bolton, they're not going to bring the crowd that others would... If anyone has actual numbers though, I'd be interested to hear what they are.
     
  13. Howard the Drake

    Feb 27, 2010
    This seems like a great way for a lot of people to lose a lot of money.
     
  14. Alamo City Ultra

    May 15, 2012
    san antonio, tx
    Club:
    San Antonio Scorpions FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This would be awesome. The USL teams were able to pull this off. Charleston was supposed to play Nottingham Forest until they got bought out and Orlando is scheduled to play Stoke.
     
  15. Mikey mouse

    Mikey mouse Member

    Jul 27, 1999
    Charleston, SC
    Club:
    Charleston
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not sure how accurate the article was but one report I saw in the Daily Mail said that Forest would have to pay Charleston and Orlando 70,000 GBP each. (about $110,000) The article made it sound like it was a cancellation penalty as well as compensation for the appearance fee.

    Of course I can't find the article now.
     
  16. Skippysasquirrel

    May 11, 2012
    San Diego, CA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That doesn't seem so bad. Then again, I'm not the one paying for it lol
     
  17. drSoFlaFan

    drSoFlaFan DEFEND THE FORT!

    Feb 25, 2008
    Plantation, FL
    Club:
    Ft Lauderdale Strikers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well Orlando is different because the have a connection to Stoke(Rawlins is on the board?). That's an easy game to set up.
     
  18. si2009

    si2009 New Member

    Jun 25, 2009
    Club:
    Wolverhampton Wanderers
    would the championship sides here in the uk take it seriously or just send reserve sides not to risk injuries as the lure of epl promotion or the championship play off would just be to great as the championship is so competitive.
     
  19. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It would be during the pre-season for the Championship teams, so it would, most likely, be treated the same way that any other pre-season would be treated. Give the guys fighting for position some playing time, while letting the starters play in a "competitive" match to get match fit.
     
  20. WhiteStar Warriors

    Mar 25, 2007
    St.Pete/Krakow
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  21. CShine

    CShine Member

    Dec 13, 2009
    Huntsville, AL
    Club:
    Rocket City United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    If you're not inviting the likes of Barca and ManU then the way to draw fans to the stadium is by getting Mexican clubs. Remember, World Football Challenge is going after a TV audience and that's not going to happen for NASL + Championship.

    Scorpions v. Monterrey, Cosmos v. America, Mexican clubs like that have a fanbase that's already here. I honestly think they would be a bigger draw at the gate than Blackburn or Millwall.
     
  22. tampasteve1

    tampasteve1 Member

    Tampa Bay Rowdies and Strikers
    Jul 21, 2009
    Tampa
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I agree with the Mexican club idea. I for oe would LOVE to see the Rowdies play the Xolos or maybe some Cuban clubs. Cuban clubs could draw well in Florida.

    Steve
     
  23. kenntomasch

    kenntomasch Member+

    Sep 2, 1999
    Out West
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    How easy do you think it would be to get Cuban clubs here, and can you name two famous Cuban clubs with the name recognition to sell tickets? Cubans are not monolithic.
     
  24. Taly

    Taly Member

    Feb 25, 2001
    Big Al's Brewery, WA
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I prefer trophies and not friendlies.

    World Football Challenge are a rip-off and boring. The guest team will use their starters who will play relaxed in the 1st half. In the 2nd half, the bench of the guest team will play.

    WFC is a good revenue stream for a club that needs money.
     
  25. TheJoeGreene

    TheJoeGreene Member+

    Aug 19, 2012
    The Lubbock Texas
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    And that's a negative for NASL how?
     

Share This Page