http://uslpro.uslsoccer.com/home/690631.html inter-league match ups: LA Galaxy v. LA Blues VSI Tampa v.s Portland Timbers Antigua Barracuda FC vs. FC Dallas & San Jose Earthquakes Charleston Battery vs. Houston Dynamo Charlotte Eagles vs. Chicago Fire Dayton Dutch Lions vs. Columbus Crew Harrisburg City Islanders vs. Colorado Rapids Orlando City vs. Seattle Sounders FC Phoenix FC vs. Real Salt Lake Pittsburgh Riverhounds vs. Toronto FC Richmond Kickers vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC Rochester Rhinos vs. Montreal Impact Wilmington Hammerheads vs. New York Red Bulls Other note: Antigua plays Zero home matches. all matches are on the road. Hopefully they rented a fleet of RVs and are approaching it as a "US Tour" like a band or something.
So much for the "regional" push. 1 home & 1 away game vs every other team in the league (with Antigua exception).
Regional is always going to be tough until the west coast adds more teams. and as to the MLS reserve matches, a few players that have played both said USL was way ahead in terms of intensity and pace plus reserve sides have depended on guest players so their wasn't a team cohesiveness like players who train daily together so I imagine it will we favor heavy to USL sides.
Interesting. That ends up giving every team 14 home games. Just like the NASL? (I've already forgotten what their new split schedule gives teams.)
79 days until Tampa's home opener and the venue is "TBD." Anyone wanna buy a season ticket? Edit - I just checked their site and it turns out you can't get a season ticket yet. It says "Discounted ickets for the 2013 Season will soon be available. Please come back soon for details." "ickets"
We've known it's going to be home-and-away this year for some time, and with Antigua not playing at home for a bit as well. Assuming PRI and the Cosmos show up in the fall, you've got it right.
I am not happy with the new schedule. Orlando waits until their fifth game to get a Saturday game at home. Only 7 of 14 on Saturday. It has to be USL Pro scheduling, the Citrus Bowl has no other commitments until Sept. The road schedule is not great for road trips either, way to dismiss the largest supporters groups in the league. Charlotte on a Tuesday, Wilmington and Charleston 3 and 5 July may be doable if people can get a 5 day weekend. Richmond on a Wednesday. Even the VSI game is a Sunday the day after a home game. Who made this up? Nic Murray you are not helping us set records.
Not great for the City Islanders either: only 4 home games on Saturdays, 5 home games on a Wednesday, home stand for most of June but only one home weekend match after July 13, 3 games conflict with baseball's Senators next door, and Florida back-to-back games on July 19-20 followed by two-in-three days out west on August 1 & 3, that's a brutal travel schedule for the stretch run.
I think it came up around the AGM. It makes sense with the traditional 24-game schedule and the 13-team league.
Absolutely. It's almost a perfectly balanced schedule. It's just very rarely to have any pro league in this country (especially a minor league) to not have nearby teams play more often. I guess they are taking the NASL's lead
I don't understand why there aren't more Saturday night games? I haven't compared them yet, but at first glance this schedule seems even worse than last seasons with the midweek and Sunday games. At one point Orlando City plays five straight home games, many of them very close together and alot of them not on Saturdays. That could really make the ticket reps jobs tough. For smaller clubs a set up like that with so many home games in a row could be really awful on attendance. Left once again scratching my head over the USLpro scheduling.
This year, Orlando has: Two Thursday games Two Friday games Seven Saturday games Three Sunday games Last year, it was: One Wednesday game One Thursday game Two Friday games Six Saturday games Two Sunday games For us, our extra Antigua game is on a Sunday, and the MLS game is on a Sunday. So it's about on par for us.
Kickers 2013: 1 Wed (as Home Finale vs Orlando) 4 Friday 8 Saturday 1 Sunday Kickers, last yr: 1 Tuesday (vs LA Blues) 2 Friday 9 Saturday Definitely more games not on Saturday. Also the Kickers open with 11 of 12 at home. Then 8 straight on the road.
From a ticket sales standpoint, I am not sure if Saturday is significantly better than Friday or Sunday. However, all those back to back and two in a weekend road trips can't be good from a competition stand point. That is where the NASL does have an edge, by stretching out the season, they are able to not mandate those short turnarounds on the road
Friday was our worst gameday for sure. The first two were our worst numbers of the year (at 3500 and 4700, and the first was compounded by shit weather), but the third was our regular-season finale and our best of the year at 8,932. Our Wednesday match did 6k, and our Thursday match did 7k.
I was at one of those Friday night rain days. The lightning and rain leading up to the match was fearsome and it only let up for the match. I found myself in a gas station not far from there hanging out with the "locals" that had been outside drinking 40s. We all were waiting on the rain to let up. At least the place had some good chicken and I stocked up on beer and stories! For the Battery this season we have 8 Saturday games 3 Friday night games 2 Wednesday 1 Thursday match plus only one back to back this year. On the down side, our matches against Charlotte is on a Tuesday and Wilmington is on a Friday, our two big road trip matches. I'm sure we will have a presence but might make filling the bus difficult
Nice that Orlando can sell tickets on any given night. Shows strength of sales team. Obviously Saturday is the best night, but unless the USL is going to schedule less two game per weekend road trips, then some of them will have to be other nights. You haven't lived a full life until you have eaten fried chicken from a gas station.
Actually, I'm just glad I lived...the combo of gas station fried chicken and homies drinking 40s.... Ive done three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan and felt more at ease, of course I had an M4 and a Beretta...
LOL. About twenty years ago my team was headed to New Orleans for a match and we made a pretty dicey stop in Jackson, MS. I was driving and didn't want to stop, but my team mates wanted to replenish their beer and pick up some chicken. Wasn't sure I was going to get out of that one in one piece.
The "Benefit" for the league with VSI and OCSC is this weekend game plan. Tampa gets Rhinos on Sat we get them Sun We get Blues Fri they get them Sun. They get Barracudas Fri we get them Sat. They get Hammerheads Fri we get them Sat. On Fri. 7 June we get Wolves and they get Barracuda and we swap opponents on Sun. No Saturday games if we are trying to be fair and give the road teams a day to rest. Then they get Kickers on a Fri. we get them Sat. We get the Battery on a Thur. they get them on Sat. They get Islanders on Fri. we get them Sat. They get Riverhounds on a Fri. we get them Sat. But then we travel to Tampa for a Sun. game. We end the season with them hosting Eagles on Fri. we get them Sat. It looks like our home opposition will have to play. If yu throw in our MLS team we play on a Sunday, we only have 4 home games against team that are rested. It looks to be a great year for the lions at home.