Tomorrow's the big day. I hope there's a good crowd. I'm a disappointed, but not surprised, there hasn't been anything in the N&O about it. No preview. No advertisement. Nada. Is anybody with CASL or any of the other leagues talking it up? What are people hearing out there?
Well, I know CASL at least mentioned it on their Facebook page, but I don't know how well they're pushing it internally. I'm on XL Soccer World's mailing list (having played for a little while in one of their adult rec leagues but drifted away after being sidelined by a fracture) and haven't heard a peep about it from them. We'll see how it goes. Midweek at lunch time is a very challenging time to get much of a crowd, but I hope everybody that can go does.
I've heard about it on 99.9 because they'll be there, but not anywhere else. Hopefully there is a video, because I can't get there.
Random observations: I got there late. It seemed like a good crowd. Curt Johnson said there were five different Chambers of Commerce there. I thought the audience questions were decent. I was surprised to learn, from Downs, that travel costs weren't as big of a drain on a team's budget as some would have us believe. The panelists all heaped praise on WakeMed SP.
I did read on twitter that operating budgets for D2 teams were around $2 Million. https://twitter.com/#!/RailHawksFC/status/190491430626660353 "Desire to expand to west coast and mid-west like San Diego, Phoenix and Indianapolis." https://twitter.com/#!/RailHawksFC/status/190490691246366720
Though they did comment they're looking for a stadium twice as big as WakeMed will be after this season ends.
FWIW, here's some press coverage. Text: MLS President: Soccer can work in Southeast http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/ml...s-president-mark-abbott-soccer-work-southeast MLS in the Triangle a possibility, not imminent http://www.wralsportsfan.com/soccer/story/10976146/ Major League Soccer to Triangle: Not quite yet http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/04/12/1997530/major-league-soccer-to-triangle.html Video: MLS leaders discuss Southeast expansion http://www.wralsportsfan.com/rs/video/10973632/#/vid10973632 RailHawks Fan Forum http://www.wralsportsfan.com/rs/video/10975323/#/vid10975323 Jennings: Gauging MLS interest in Raleigh http://www.wralsportsfan.com/soccer/video/10977272/#/vid10977272
Thanks for the links. If nothing else, it got the Railhawks out in the media 2 days before the home opener. Good to hear some answers on what we need and what we should expect from future NASL and MLS expansion.
That was my question. I was surprised, too. I thought that the notion that MLS was pushing an unbalanced, rivalry-heavy schedule to reduce travel costs was overblown, that it was a minor factor and the league has other reasons for this. That answer nailed it down for me. It's not even a minor factor, it's not factor. The answer said that in NASL, the average team's travel budget was about 10% of that about $2M figure, and (here was the interesting part) that the travel budgets only vary about 20% within the league. IOW, the difference between Edmonton's travel budget (presumably the largest one) and the smallest budget that the eastern teams have is only 20%. So travel is NOT an obstacle to putting a team in San Antonio or Phoenix or whatever. Presumably the MLS teams' travel budgets are bigger, but their overall budgets are much "more bigger." Since it's not an issue in NASL, it's REALLY not an issue in MLS. To me, that means MLS is going so heavily unbalanced for one of two reason (maybe both.) 1. Increase away support. If NY gets two extra games against local rivals at home, and that boosts their gate 1000 each time, and the average fan spends $50 bucks, that's $100,000. Not a huge deal, but meaningful. 2. They want to boost rivalries to have something to sell to their own fans. Concomitantly, rivalry games are a threat to sell out which will drive season ticket sales. In light of the Gals' local TV deal, it's possible they're trying to ensure a few extra games being played in the same time zone. If DC United swaps a couple of Pacific games for Eastern games due to the unbalanced schedule, that makes their TV package marginally more attractive. Getting waaaay off Railhawk-centric conversation, but even spinning this in a positive way, I just don't see swapping a small handful of interconference games for intraconference games as being real lucrative. I know it's easy to spend OPM, but I'd rather the league work to build the integrity and importance of the Shield and therefore the regular season, than to so dramatically unbalance the schedule for marginal revenue increases.
This reporter got confused. SD, Phoenix, and Indy were referred to as possible NASL teams, not possible MLS teams.
But MLS Limits travel supporter tickets teams have to make available to 500 (they may be more in the PNW).
That's not true. The 500 number comes from one particular circumstance. If NYRB supporters want to buy 1000 tickets to go to Gillette, they'll get them.
The travel thing shouldn't have surprised you. Once you get on a plane, it's basically the same cost. The density of teams needed to reduce costs (buses instead of planes) is just not practical in a national professional league covering the U.S. (much less Canada). MLS has always said the desire to reduce travel distance has more to do with the players than the money. The added travel time affects the athletes, especially the return trips after the game. ----------------- I'm just glad that Abbott was pretty definitive about both SEM (never going away) and Pro/Rel (not in the foreseeable future). It won't shut anybody up, but it'll make it easier to tune them out.
Yeah, but I was thinking more about motel stays and per diems for food. I was thinking short road trips would mean 1 night, if that, and only a couple of meals. While Edmonton to Cary would mean two nights and several meals. Those kinds of costs, I was guessing, would double (more or less) for Edmonton.
Carolina RailHawks @RailHawksFC now1 hour ago Due to field conditions at WMSP, tomorrow's game vs @CLTIndependence may get delayed. We will have a new update tomorrow at 9am #UnitingNC
Fascinating article on the clubs ownership group Traffic USA. http://futebolcidade.com/third-party-ownership-and-traffic-sports/ I find the connection between Traffic and third-party ownership especially intriguing wonder whether or not Carolina will be used to park talented players.
http://www.wralsportsfan.com/traffic-sports-in-discussions-to-sell-stake-in-railhawks/14594176/ Traffic Sports in discussions to sell stake in RailHawks Posted 12:32 p.m. today