I really hope Charlotte or another nearby city can get moving. NC has a lot of soccer hot beds, the colleges are full of talent, and it's just so darn close. Easy road trips.
With the ex-MLS players being signed, SSS thats easily expandable, and the huge latin community I'd be very surprised if San Antonio didn't land a team in the next year or so.
I am not sure about all this. I agree the NFL has a limited talent pool... There are lots of college football players, but only a few actually are good enough to become pro. The modern game of foootball you basically have to be a freak athlete or a freak in size (unless you are a kicker). Basically the modern game is so fast, powerful and specialized that it limits the pool. Basketball has a similar problem - Tons of people play BB and tons of colleges have quality players, but again just a few are good enough to play in the NBA. The average height of a NBA player is 6' 7". So not only do you need to be a great athlete , but you have to be tall to be in the NBA. This height requirement combined with being a fantastic athlete limits the pool. Baseball probably is the most similar to soccer. There are lots of countries producing great players, and most guys probably want to play in the US, because of the quality of the league and the $$$, and you don't have the same height or size requirements that are needed for the NBA or the NFL. Hockey is limited because it is mostly played in the north, so there is a limited pool of athletes coming from these regions. Added to this is the fact that hockey is expensive, at least it is where I live (Michigan). This limits the talent pool too.
adding on to my post above... A NFL players average career is 6 or 7 years long. The NFL is truly a young mans game... and this limits the talent pool as well. Soccer on the other hand is obviously globally played, it doesn't have the same physical size limitations as the NFL or NBA, and there a many quality leagues around the world. Also, the average career length is 16 years so the talent sticks around longer. If athletes would rather choose the MLS over their own domestic league then there will never be a lack of talent to choose from. At them moment the MLS doesn't have a problem with obtaining decent foreign talent. As the league grows and the salaries go up it will become even easier for teams to bring even better foreign talent to help fill out a roster.
Yes, and all those players come, mostly, from ONE country; USA Don't really see that presently, as a large percentage of players in the NBA (Tall and short) are coming from all over the world. On the Oklahoma City Thunder ALONE we have players from; The Congo New Zealand Switzerland So, just anybody can play baseball? Once again, players are coming from all over the world; USA Canada Mexico Nicaragua Cuba Dominican Republic Venezuela Panama Japan Taiwan Hockey is limited because it is mostly played in the north, so there is a limited pool of athletes coming from these regions. Added to this is the fact that hockey is expensive, at least it is where I live (Michigan). This limits the talent pool too.[/quote] Once again...even THOUGH it is somewhat limited by geography, that still leaves; USA Canada Russia Latvia Norway Finland Sweden Ukraine Serbia Slovenia Slovakia Czech Republic Germany Poland ...
The Congo - Serge Ibaka 6' 10" New Zealand - Steven Adams 7' Switzerland - Thabo Safolosha 6' 7" These guys are on the team because they are athletic AND tall... to me this proves how limited the talent pool is in the US. There are thousands of US born college athletes that are probably just as good as these guys, but there are not enough US guys tall enough for the NBA. So the NBA has to find taller guys outside the US to fill the roster. This is were we agree... BB players come from all over the world. Like I said baseball is the most similar to soccer in this regard. So, just anybody can play baseball? I didn't say this, but baseball does not have the same physical requirements to make it as a pro athlete as the NBA and NFL have.So there are more potential athletes that can play the sport. (this makes a bigger player pool) The average height of a MLB player is 6' 1" The average height of a NBA player is 6' 7" There are a lot more people in the world that are around 6' then are over 6'6". This simple fact is what limits the player pool for the NBA, and why they have to go to places like the Congo to find talent. It's NOT just geography that limits hockey... it's also resources. I grew up in "Hockey Town" USA. Only a small percentage of kids play the sport here. It costs money to play hockey, and only the people that can afford ice time, equipment, skates etc are the ones that can play. This limits the player pool in-conjunction with the geography issue.
MLS expansion update: Atlanta closes in, Minneapolis a ‘frontrunner,’ realignment, more http://soccer.si.com/2014/04/09/mls-expansion-atlanta-minneapolis-realignment-miami/?sct=obinsite
24 team league west=== van sea pdx sj lag la? slc col hou dal kc minn (seems best option, STL is a long shot, INDY outside chance also) east= chi cbus tor mon ne phil nyrb nyfc dc atl orl mia -------------------- PLEASE KEEP 2 CONFERENCES ! Balanced home/away within conference, alternate home /away against other conf. Don't look like every other North American sport with multiple divisions, keep in simple
Pioneer Press- http://www.twincities.com/News/ci_25573318/Vikings-stepping-up-efforts-to-bring Supposedly the Vikings are still interested in a MLS franchise. Don Garber must love having three billionaires lobbying for a franchise. Good for him. ha.
http://www.soccerbyives.net/2014/04/increasing-receive-minneapolis.html "Bagley also mentioned to the Pioneer Press that the new Vikings stadium has a “house reduction mechanism” that would bring capacity down to 20,000-30,000 to give the feel of a more intimate setting. This process is similar to what the Vancouver Whitecaps do at BC Place." If this is true then it will be better but not a SSS.
I don't know how to feel about the Minnesota situation. I lean toward the Twins group, because the Viking's owner is by most accounts a scumbag, and having a SSS with a grass field would be great. On the other hand, being able to play in an indoor venue during Minnesota's cold winter months would give the league more scheduling flexibility. Either way it's a good market and would make a good addition to MLS.
The key to the whole Minnesota situation is Bill McGuire. If they can just keep the Minnesota United team and transition them to a MLS team that would be best. I would take the Twins ownership over the Vikings any day if it came to running a soccer team. I see it as McGuire + Twins = More of a SKC. Vikings = More of a NE.
I really cannot stand those kits. I like the bird, but only within the seal. Not sprawled out like it is now.
The "talent pool" is not and will never be an obstacle to MLS expansion. Nor will some arbitrary limit like 24 teams. (Certainly I'm not the only person here old enough to remember when the "hard cap" was 20 teams. Because that was only, like, four years ago.) This is not the NFL, which people watch everywhere even if the nearest team is 1,000 miles away. There is some logic to the idea that NFL owners protect the value of their teams by keeping franchises artificially scarce. This league grows by giving fans in major-league markets a team of their own to root for. Do you think tens of thousands of people in Seattle, Portland, and Toronto watched MLS every week before they had teams? Of course not. Has the level of play in MLS fallen since adding those teams? Of course not. Because MLS has more money now... Because MLS has more fans... Because MLS has more teams in more cities. (FIFA, of course, knows all this. And they're salivating over the prospect of a successful league in the biggest economy in the world. They'll never utter a word in anger about MLS blowing past the so-called 20-team limit.) The only limit is the finite number of viable markets and ownership groups. If Minneapolis, San Antonio, Indianapolis, St. Louis (let me dream) and any other major-league city come up with billionaires and stadiums, watch 24 turn to 26, or 28, or 30, or 32. Why not? (Your answer may not include the terms "quality of play" , "talent pool", "FIFA regulations", "balanced schedule", or "pro/rel".)
10 years ago, all sorts of teenagers started in MLS. Nowadays, can you name a rookie who is starting this year? The talent pool has expanded greatly.
No, MLS will be one of the top leagues in the world when it has the money to compete for the best players in the world. Where will that money come from? Growing the league's fanbase. Every time MLS add a well-run expansion team in a good market, it adds thousands of season ticket holders. Tens of thousands of regular TV viewers. Vast new corporate sponsorship opportunities. And more national media coverage. Which breeds more fans. And lets you sign better players. Lather, rinse, repeat. I would love to know your answers to three questions: 1) Tell me which one of "the top leagues in the world" got that way by emphasizing development of local players. La Liga? Premiership? Bundesliga? Serie A? 2) Let's say you're a casual soccer fan. You love the game, but you have a job, kids, other things to do. You have time to watch one game on TV this weekend. Your choices include Chelsea, Bayern, Dortmund, Spurs, AC Milan, Celtic, Inter Milan, Club America, Roma, Toluca, or your pick of any MLS game. Which team would you spend those precious hours watching? Would your answer be different if one of those MLS teams was your local team? 3) Finally, a simple yes or no: in 2004, MLS had 10 teams. In 2014, it has 19. Has the quality of play in MLS gotten worse since 2004? New teams. New fans. That's how MLS has grown. And there's room for more.
I probably would actually like it a lot more if the bird were done in a more subtle manner. Say, like Indy's checkerboard pattern, where it's subtly different shades of the same color.
Nah I think that other guy is in the minority. Minnesota has a very nice crest and jersey. Of course Indy Eleven does too, but they're very different from each other and that's a good thing.