News: MLS Flushing Meadow Park Stadium Plan thread

Soccer Kicks Around Flushing Plan
WSJ
Fantastic Location For a stadium .....

Sweet

Would be wonderful if the league does indeed make this happen (or any 20K-25K seat stadium for MLS Team20 in NYC within the next few years).

Yes sir...

Could get some more clarification from locals probably ITT and the NYC Stadium thread on the NYC expansion subfrum, but this location seems to be great. Seems relatively equidistance for the two teams from the center of NYC.

As a fan of the league, this makes me a little giddy.

I got my fingers and toes crossed..Location is just perfect. No 7 train , Q48 bus stops there and the biggest plus it's in the heart of hotbed of soccer in the entire city.

kind of far removed from the rest of nyc if you ask me. fios loves it cuz its in his backyard

********ing Eurosnob...

Just wow.

looking at Google Maps, there doesn't seem to be any nearby parking.

I hope this happen. Great location for a stadium.

Big Apple Soccer.

So awesome to see this development. In yo face hatas!

I think after this is all eventually finalized and what not the league seriously needs to take a look at Orlando. That team and their fans deserve it. I'm also interested in seeing if this means the Cosmos are in fact happening or if the league will look into a different NY team all together.

That won't be determined until the stadium's done and alot will then depend on who's left to bid on the team. The price tag is still 100 mil and the stadium will be privately funded. So whoever is left to bid has to be able to perhaps fund a venture upwards of 300 million dollars out of their own pocket. None of the currently known potential groups (I don't see Wilpon being involved in this particular project) seem to be able to fund this on their own as separate entities.

Sela seems committed since they've already invested capital so I see them being a part of a potential ownership group, but they don't seem to have the money to go it alone, unless they have some Saudi friends who will loan them the money. I'm willing to bet that they aren't going to leave that name on the cutting room floor since we're seeing a trend (not only in MLS now with the Winnipeg Jets and possibly the Quebec Nordiques returning) towards going back to historical names and resurrecting a bit of a nostalgia factor in this. It's the best way to launch a team if it's possible, the name is available and there is residual affection for said brand. The MLS has seen that, and now the NHL is going along with that strategy. I can't see it going any other way. Just my opinion.

Oh that should work nicely with NY3 when the Cosmos build their stadium in Brooklyn...

Probably seems like a dumb question, but any chance the Glazers would want in?

Manchester United and the NY Cosmos...Phew.

Something tells me MLS might take an expansion break at 20 and regroup and focus in-league.

Mls and people on this board have been saying that for years now. Yet they keep going when something comes up. As the sport keeps growing more markets and investors will open up. Im still holding out for 24 teams by the end of this decade. Which, if we look at the markets that are being talked about now, seems very realisic.

Hope this stadium gets done, and that its for the Cosmos.

I'm new to this board and that's just my independent guess. I just think it would turn into a logistical nightmare past twenty if the new franchises aren't add simultaneously. You won't just be able to add an extra home as away when a team comes in.

There needs to be league goals seperate from expansion that should be met first before anything past twenty. That just my opinion,though. To each his own.

when MTL came in as team 19 MLS went to a conference-based "regionalized" scheduling for 2012 (and kept the total number of league games per team at 34).

so they've already crossed the bridge (and made the decision to go away from a singular, true H/A schedule -- which they didn't ever have for all that long) in the expansion process.

getting to 20 teams will be a major achievement for the league. and getting that team 20 to walk into a new stadium somewhere in/near NYC (and that Flushing Meadows location looks about as good as they could possibly and honestly "get/consider), would be a great accomplishment for the league.

let's see how this stadium project and "team 20" stuff all unfolds -- but it is certainly also interesting to keep an eye on how the league structures itself competitively (scheduling/format) and how is talks about and plans for the future (and any additional expansion beyond 20 that does seem very likely, on some timeline).

For those of you who haven't been to this part of Queens, "diverse" doesn't even begin to describe it. There's a street where one block you're in Bogota, the next you're in Seoul, the next you're in Port of Spain. It really is like a theme park or a "World's Fair" of cultures and this stadium is going to be mobbed, parking or no.

The fact that the choice is Stagnant Mosquito-Breeding Eyesore vs. Vibrant Job-Creating Soccer Stadium only helps matters.

I don't even think they need much parking, except for team buses and official business. If you want to drive to watch soccer in greater NYC, you can be a Red Bull fan. This is an urban stadium. People will accept that.

I tend to agree with the general MLS approach that rivalries help within the sport.

Rivalries help create/sustain passion for one's club.

MLS will benefit as more rivalries (local or distant) are established and fostered.

If fans of NYRB (be they in NJ or anywhere) are potentially given another Eastern Conf opponent to dislike and compete against, that could/should be a net gain. and the market of NYC and surrounding is certainly big enough to support, and support passionately, more than one MLS team.

the issue with the original MLS NY team now is that it is seen as a marketing brand (primarily) in many ways. What "NYC2/MLSteam20" will "add" to the market is truly a lot of stuff that doesn't do much to counter those "business/approach" issues that are seen/perceived in many ways in Harrison. Those issues (local to and created by the RB franchise) are issues that will have to be worked through in Harrison -- regardless of MLS ever being able to (or not) operate a NYC2 franchise.

imo, overall a successful MLSteam20 will/should greatly help the single-entity business of MLS. and that fully-built foundation of the league should benefit all members/franchises within that league -- even that NY/NJ team that plays in a venue just 20 miles (yet some 40-45 minutes on a good travel day/time) to the west.

(Of course, a lot of this depends on how Team20 brands/markets itself and how it approaches its potential customers.)

That's the hope, and apparently a reasonable one from MLS.

Well-stated.

What do tennis fans do (for parking/transportation) when they attend the US Open at that same park/area?

This should be a big flashing warning sign for anyone who thinks this new team will be an easy sell in those communities.