Why not Albuquerque?

Its the 57th biggest market in the US. For a league trying to gain ground with national TV attendance, bringing in a metro area of 890k isn't going to push the needle. Yes, Salt Lake is not much bigger (48th) but if Salt Lake was bidding right now they wouldn't get in.

 

Why not Albuquerque?

I dunno. Find an investor and give it a shot. Otherwise, shut your piehole and quit expecting charity.

 

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

Any way you slice it, it is far too small for MLS at this point. If you count Santa Fe (which is over an hour away) as being in the same market, it is still about 1/3rd or 1/4th the size of other markets that could make bids. Albuquerque would need to put together a jaw dropping bid at this point (extremely wealthy investor, beautiful stadium, and tons of local support from community and businesses) to have MLS take them seriously. And since we haven't seen even modest investments into pro soccer, stadium development, or local support it makes Albuquerque a long long long shot. I'd put them on par with cities like Fresno or Tulsa as a potential expansion club. It would take something amazing for MLS to take them. The time for these kind of cities (Rochester as well) would have been during the retraction years when MLS couldn't find new investors. If a city like Albuquerque decided to build a SSS and pay a fee in 2001 or 2002, then they would have probably been let in. But at this point I really don't see it happening unless they put a great bid together.

 

I disagree, to a point. If MLS is presented with a solvent owner with the adequate assets and a city that is preparing to construct a 17,000-24,000 seat public, public/private, or privately funded stadium in a top 50 MSA, chances are, they're going to take it.

Since there isn't one in Albucracky, asluT, Fresno or Crapchester, it's barely worth mentioning any city w/o those two main criteria.

 

Bastard.

 

Totally agree that without cash and a city willing to play ball with a stadium development then it doesn't really matter. But Albuquerque is 57th in MSA and if a league is looking to build a better national brand/exposure and push national TV numbers then this isn't a market that is going to really interest them. I think they'd need to put together an incredible bid, I mean Rochester built an expandable SSS, had a bigger market and claimed to be 'soccer city' at the time. MLS came out and said publicly they were too small. Sure they leveraged them to get other SSS built, but once the expansion price skyrocketed post Beckham era, they had almost no chance. Salt Lake got in at the right time when MLS needed expansion checks. I don't think they need them anymore unless that new partner is going to bring something significant to the table beyond a 17k SSS.

I'm not saying a small market can't get in, but I think they will need regional support. Green Bay doesn't exist by only attracting fans in that city they attract fans from the upper midwest. The reason why I doubt a small market like Albuquerque could attract regional fans from around the state or Western Texas/Arizona is because those regional fans can just turn on their TV and become fans of much better European or Latin American clubs. That is not the case for other pro sports teams in the US that can secure regional fans.

 

Why not Boise?

 

Albuquerque isn't a big enough city for it for ratings or revenue generation.

 

Have you been to Albuquerque?

 

Yes. It's a pretty nice town. Much nicer than that shithole, North Carolina.

 

Neither is the New England region, apparently.

 

Why is this even a question? The next team out west will be based in Tucson. No doubt!

 

I've never been but I head the meth is pretty good down there.

 

I love it! Something about the troll in Mr. Warmth that makes for a good laugh. Thanks for the laughs.

 

fyp.

 

Well, if Albuquerque gets a team based on UNM's attendance, it'd be the first time MLS ever considered college soccer attendance to be a factor in awarding a team.
That said, I'll start giving more credence to the size of tv markets the day after MLS Cup draws a better overnight rating than the Beef O Brady's Bowl, or the New Mexico Bowl for that matter...

 

I think people confuse the TV market argument sometimes so let me try to explain it better.

I have a small media company and we do some commercials and different online marketing campaigns, and basically when we are putting together some campaign there are a few things we look at. For instance the network (meaning where is this media going to be seen) and the cost per impression (how much it costs for each person to see it). Every client is different, but many want/need a national network meaning they want people to see this ad in every market. Like for instance a national brand like Allstate. Others might be local or regional and won't need a national network. The problem MLS has is not only that they get low overall numbers is that they really only get numbers in certain areas. So if a potential sponsor/advertiser would look at MLS as a possible partner they might say...'hey look at how bad their numbers are in this region, we have lots of stores there...maybe this won't work out'. So I agree that MLS needs to get their numbers up, but they also need to build the kind of viewership network that really does give sponsors the ability to reach almost every market, or else they will never maximize their potential. The reason why American Idol or whatever else crap show or Monday Night Football is so profitable with advertisers is because they not only get a ton of viewers, but they get them from everywhere. That is the LONG term goal of MLS. So they can't be so short sided as to say that they aren't going to worry about national footprint because their numbers are bad. They need to add the kind of markets that will help build that national footprint AND push current markets to perform better to raise their overall numbers.

 

Let me try to explain it better... if Albuquerque or Fresno or Tulsa or Rochester has a committed bazillionaire and a better long term stadium situation and revenue streams than Columbus or Salt Lake City or ?, the league is not going to get their collective panties in a wad over media market size. They weren't overly concerned about KC moving to either Rochester or Tulsa a few years ago, and they weren't standing in the way when Dave Checketts chose SLC over the much larger media market and collegiate soccer hotbed known as St. Louis...

MLS is setting itself up for pro/rel in the coming years, but not the kind that bigsoccer geeks get all aroused over... older clubs without a stadium will be threatened with relocation to a market that builds one... older clubs with older facilities and a dwindling fanbase, ditto that...