There may come a point where that is the case. At this point, given MLS' timing of move-up franchises, they'd normally be looking at 2015 at the earliest, and that's only if they pulled the trigger in the next six to nine months. The desire to not continue to have an uneven 19 teams could play into it, as could the pace (or lack thereof) of movement on a stadium in New York. If Orlando wins USL Pro again this year (they're running away with the league), it may very well be a detriment if it goes on too long (no drama, see you when the playoffs come, etc.). If they've got a clear path to MLS, it might not matter. But to just stay in D3 and win it every year might bring diminishing returns. If MLS doesn't indicate it will pull the trigger anytime soon, they may need to move up just to inject some drama into the whole scenario for their fans, and to show progress.
An internet rumor on Twitter with no sourcing, as suggested in its thread in the USL subforum proper. Unless and until we actually get any sort of tangible information to that effect, we should regard it for what it is: bullsh!t. And Kenn's most recent sentiment is what I've been saying the entire time. We cannot linger in the third division for too long. If the move to MLS is delayed for any significant timeframe beyond the three-year contract that somebody recently claimed Orlando City is bound to USL Pro for, it would be wise to move up to NASL in the interim. I've been advocating an ASAP move to NASL for quite some time. I don't think domination on the field is a bad thing in and of itself. Look at the Storm and the Predators in the AFL. But looking around and seeing how apathetic more than half the league is (read: everyone except us, Rochester, Charleston and Wilmington) will wear on our attendance eventually if we stick around too long.
Well, okay, look at them. Excellence is not the same as domination. The Storm haven't won the AFL championship since 2003 and are out of the playoffs for the second straight year. They won three titles in four years in the mid-1990s. But their best records in all of those years were 10-2 and 12-2 and they never bludgeoned the league over a long period of time. The Predators haven't won the league since 2000 and their best records were 11-1, 10-2 and 12-4. They, too, never just made it look easy and basically swept through the league for a sustained period of time as OC is appearing to do.
Through 9... 7933+7279+5876+4517+4241+5934+6923+4594+4758=52055 (5783.88) 8421+7899+6722+7231+6821+5602+6148+3506+7216=59566 (6618.44) At this point of the season, attendance is up 14.4%, or 834 per match. We only need 5,419 total to match last year's regular-season attendance. Another number to watch: 10,889. That was the attendance at the Newcastle match last year.
It doesn't say it on the USL website, but Orlando's recap has the attendance at 7260 for the 7/14 Rochester match.
This is where the average will pull away this season. Our 10th match last year was one of our rescheduled matches after the folding of the PR teams, and it did BAD. Terrible combination of different schedule date, PLUS it was on a Wednesday. Compare this year's home match #10. Also on a Wednesday, but it was normally scheduled, and hosted a fairly large group of employees from SeaWorld. Attendance up over 300%. So, through 11... 7933+7279+5876+4517+4241+5934+6923+4594+4758+1321+5253=58629 (5329.91) 8421+7899+6722+7231+6821+5602+6148+3506+7260+6031+4703=70344 (6394.91) Our average is up 1,065 per match, or 19.98%.
I see now where our difference is for 2011. That rescheduled Wednesday match. The number I have is 3121. I don't see anything on the match report on the USL website. And I had to do some Google digging on the Orlando City website to find the Press Release for that game. Also nothing.