So NYC is making progress it seems. What would need to happen for Rawlins to be able to disclose a stadium deal? I know he has an agreement with MLS and whatnot to not reveal, but what would be needed for him to be able to let people know where he is looking?
In all fairness, Kenn, it wouldn't take much to build a passible SSS at Tinker Field. The problem is, they'll need that space to stage materials for the reconstruction.
Tinker Field also has the National Historic Registry aspect that makes it a non-starter. And that collegiate summer (baseball) league is back to hosting a team at Tinker, this summer at least. Besides, in all the hoopla earlier this week about the Citrus Bowl deal, the city and county reps and the news writers made at least one passing mention each to "...attracting a Major League Soccer franchise..." as one of the presumed many/countless/bountiful/plethora/endless blessings of a fully refurb'ed Citrus Bowl. And just to clarify, as much as I'd love to have MLS here one day, my point is they couldn't give half a flip about a pro soccer team. But it's perfectly fine to hype the idea if it's a rent-paying tenant that helps pay the bills for the rest of the CB's annual schedule not already committed to NCAA games, NCAA bowl games, the barely 24-hours old NCAA Championship game, a few out-of-market NFL regular season games, and two handfuls of music events. Then they can get around to letting the MLS team schedule a few MLS matches.
I love it when some relevant bit of stuff happens just as you're about to click "Log Out." This is in today's Wall St. Journal: "Pro Soccer Nearing Net in Flushing" (link:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303640804577491090757743910.html#printMode) In short, Garber announced that MLS (the league itself) has decided on the hunk of land it wants for MLS-NYC, and that the league will finance and build the new soccer park itself, and then find the owners to pay for the team and stadium. Garber used the "...not if, but when..." line about OCSC when he was in town a couple months back---but does this rush toward MLS-NYC force anything/everything OCSC might accomplish to second place (no matter what Rawlins said in the Guardian one week ago (fyi:http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jun/20/mls-orlando-city-franchise-phil-rawlins?newsfeed=true ))?
Yes. We all know Garber is on that wild goose chase in NYC, and that takes precedence over everything else. I find it hilarious that the league is paying for the stadium when they have no owner, team or even a proven fan base.
Looking at this from outside is funny how people think ORL would actually be the 20th team. Number 1 market is NY and if you are looking at attendance and stadium situations San Antonio is way ahead of ORL. Garber came down to Miami and it doesn't mean jack $hit.
It will probably be announced at MLS all-star game: 20th team NYC http://gothamist.com/2012/06/27/mls_stadium_proposal_flushing_meadows.php Stop expansion at 20. start expanding in NASL to 20 then USL.
No it won't. What? Besides, if they announce a new NYC team at a MLS All-Star game in Philly, there will be a riot. Geez.
Maybe the investor of DC United should give the Don a wake-up call and threaten to move to Orlando when the Citrus Bowl renovation is done if the league does go ahead with plans to finance the NYC2 stadium themselves. Still extremely preliminary. No guarantees. Quit bringing your lonely wet dreams into our forum. We're tired of calling the Servpro fronton in Auburndale after your visits.
That is a problem. And I wasn't talking about building an SSS at Tinker Field. I was talking about using Tinker Field, which would be unrealistic. If you think Al Lang is a less-than-optimal venue for soccer, a small baseball stadium that will be 100 years old in 2014 (I don't know when or if it was renovated, I'm sure it's not the same structure as 1914) would be very, very bad. The place does not appear to be in good shape and the way it's constructed would make it a really bad place to watch a soccer game. Now, sure, if you wanted to bring in stands in the outfield and do some infrastructure stuff, I would imagine you could have a place to play, but I don't think it would be easy and I don't think the results would be very pleasing to the ticket-buying public. And, obviously, having your games while construction is going on would make it a non-starter anyway (though the SPBA's Juice played games while some reno was going on back in 1989-90. Not that the Juice drew anybody.)
It's only because it's New York. The single biggest problem is a stadium situation in what is probably the hardest place in the country to get it done (though Washingtonians might disagree). They do not believe (and they may very well be right) that finding an owner will be an issue. And in the largest metro area in the country, where 79,000+ can and have shown up for high-level soccer, I am sure they believe a fan base exists. A fan base for MLS - when we know there's a significant gap - may very well not support two teams. We don't know. They believe it. Says the guy who said months ago that New York would be "wrapped up" any day now because they met with the mayor. You do know these are different companies, right? They don't work in concert on things like this? 20 probably isn't the final number, but it's certainly the next number. I wouldn't expect 30, but I wouldn't be surprised with 24. In any case, they're going to do what's best for their business and not what you'd like to see.
50,000+ shows up for "high-level soccer" in Miami, but they still can't draw flies for local teams. (I'm talking about Miami, not Fort Lauderdale, and I'm sure Striker Likers would agree on that.) And you can refer to Gran's comment for the DC thing. It is as difficult to build in DC as NYC. And United fans will be up in arms at this idea. On Tinker Field: They haven't touched the place since the AA team left in 1999. And I've said it before: the fact that they ignored it in DMP3 is a crime. There is no reason to put it on the National Register if it's just going to sit there and rot.
And New York has three times as many people as Miami's MSA. I'm not saying it's what I believe. I'm saying it's what they believe. As they should be. But soccer fans get up in arms about anything that renders the situation less than absolutely perfect for them, and everybody else can sod off, in their minds.
In their case it's a matter of fairness. Why should a second NYC team that doesn't yet exist (and as of yet isn't guaranteed to ever exist) get a spankin' new stadium at the league's expense when they don't have one?
Because life isn't fair. Because there's no constitutional guarantee that a big-ass market of 19 million people - full of entrepreneurs and money people and ways around red tape - won't bigfoot someone whose elected officials won't get off their asses and do something. That's how it works. People standing with scarves and beers who whine about their lot in life don't see how it works. Fair? That's pretty ********ing funny. There is no ********ing fair.
Hey, it's no big deal with me. Unfortunately, we live in a society these days where "fairness" is what the powers that be are interested in. I'm only saying they're going to complain.