Here's a group that trying to bring a USL 1 team to Victoria. It sounds like they are pretty far along the process. It sounds like they are shooting for '08 to start. I hope they follow more of the Carolina model for starting a franchise and less like Miami and California. Having a 5th team out west would be a good thing. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/sports/story.html?id=5ce8361c-49c4-4663-bfba-d4a07e4bb9c3
see also: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimes....html?id=6ec7b4ba-28cb-4924-b299-bced60cac3c2 and about their stadium: http://www.bcsoccerweb.com/articles-june/bcsw-jun-28.htm
Has anyone heard of any other expansion projects? I think ReAL Maryland in USL 2, and I thought I had heard about another one as well.
I don't like how they set their sights on 4,000-4,500 per game to be successful. Does that mean if they don;t get that many they will consider it a failure and we have a another group of owners walking away from the team? They aren;t going to draw that many, the Whitecaps real numbers aren't even that many this season.
I was told that El Paso was ready to come back into D1 next season as well. And wasn't Syracuse on track for '08 as well?
How many do you think a Victoria team would draw? Any new west coast teams are a good thing, especially if I can drive there for a weekend to catch a game. And won't the Whitecaps draw better with a larger, more centrally located stadium (like the one we're all drooling about that'll be in Gastown)?
I think that Victoria could draw 2000-2,500 per game which by USL-1 standards is not bad. I'm talking about actual numbers at games, not the inflated ones. I'm just wary of these potential owners who think they can draw 4,000-4,500 per game. Thats seems awful high. If the new stadium gets built in Vancouver the Whitecaps will draw Montreal like numbers. But who knows when that will be built.
Here's a follow up article about the effort. It talks about some of the conserns with the facility. They mention starting about starting to sell refundable deposits for season tickets as a way to see if there is interest. http://www.canada.com/victoriatimes...=e0ad47af-f37a-4cfe-b30e-9a7b4ef21d9d&k=30011
Latest Article in a National paper, looks like this story is getting some steam. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070724.FIFABC24/TPStory/National
Now those are road matches I could get into. RAP is about a mile from the Black Ball ferry terminal. I'll actually be up there in September for the Great Canadian Beer Festival (which, by the way, is a kickass time for those who've never attended).
Kalamazoo are supposed to be back in the PDL in '08 as well - not Kalamazoo Kingdom, but the "Kalamazoo TKO" organization which was supposed to be in NPSL this year.
Victoria will enter a PDL team for the 2008 season and then plan to step up to USL-1 for 2009. http://www.canada.com/victoriatimes...=400aaaca-99ba-40f8-9af2-415c273d3ef7&k=50945
This seems like a pretty good way to go. This way they have over a year to get everything in place for a team in USL 1. It helps them get their organziations feet wet without the added expenses involed with a team at that level. They'll lose money, but it will be a heck of a lot less then it would be with the USL 1 team.
Why would they? What are the similarities (besides both starting off in the PDL) between Calgary and Victoria that would make you ask the question?
My parents live in Victoria... My dad is a big soccer fan and hasn't really heard much about this. I think the PDL is a good move for them. The problem is Victoria is like Canada's version of Florida, it is warm(ish) year round and attracts a ton of retiree's. The WHL Cougars left when I was younger and there was a big gap from about 1985 to 2000 when Victoria was the largest city in North America without a pro team. The city is actually 4 seperate cities (Saanich, Esquimalt, Oak Bay and Victoria) with another 3 much smaller municipalities in the metro area. It probably has 300-400 000 people all together. There has always been talk of putting a hockey team or a baseball team or a basketball team or even a CFL team in the city. The problem is because it is essentially 4 seperate cities and 4 small towns in one single metro area nobody is willing to build anything as the brunt of the cost will be carried by a small percentage of the population. The guy that is trying to get this thing off the ground is the owner of La Colina bakery across from the Cedar Hill tennis bubble. To call it a bakery is a little misleading as he has a number of them and you can get lunch etc. Previous teams, Cougars (WHL), Vistas (CSL), Riptide (can't remember) and Capitals (CBL) have never had the ability to consistently draw fans. The Cougars had a good run and the 1950's era arena finally forced them to seek a better home. As Victorians are mainly senior citizens (at least 50-60 percent of the population) they simply don't go and support a team. I wish them well. THey need a stadium. Royal Athletic Park is where a lot of the bigger rugby and softball games are but it is old. UVIC has a nice stadium but the university has been real jerks about letting teams play on it. This is why the CFL team never came to fruition. Some guy in the early 90's was trying to get a CFL team in it and was going to pay for some expansion of the stadium, the Commonwealth Games were due in 1994 and he was going to move into it after the Commonwealth Games. Problem was (for reasons known only to them) they said no we don't want CFL and used the Federal money for the Commonwealth to expand with temporary seats. Only a small side bit remains from the Games. It is a stadium that has the grandstand on one side only. It now sits about 5500 odd people comfortably. But has continually been empty. The only time it is full is when Canada plays a rugby game there. No UVIC team can possibly even come close to filling it.
Boy thats pretty early in the play too SoccerPrime. I guess I didn't explain it well huh? Victoria is a retirement haven. Thats the only comparison to Florida I can make and tried to make. To say it is Full of retirees' is probably not the best description, but it has a ton of retirees' who have never supported sports in the past.
Victoria has an ECHL hockey team, the Salmon Kings who averaged 4,248 a game last year. But of course thats hockey and they have a new arena. Still it shows somebody there is supporting a team.
Would ~4250 be enough for a USL-1 franchise? Or is your assumption that they would outdraw the local ECHL team? Cheers!
The ECHL team has been a success. Hands down. Its also 4 years old. The Victoria Cougars used to sell out the Memorial Arena and be on local radio. The highlights were also on the local TV. They left town. However, averaging 4000 hockey fans in a Canadian city of 350 000 people isn't exactly the greatest sales job in the history of mankind. I hope the Salmon Kings continue to do well. I hope this PDL team flies, but the problem is pro sports has never really worked in VIctoria and the city set up of 4 seperate cities and 3 or 4 smaller municipalities is a real hurdle for funding. Throw in all the old timers who drive down Shelbourne St at 30 KPH and I just think we have some logistical problems. You can look at the ECHL team as a shining success. But it took a brand new building (ironically on the site of the old building) paid for by the city of Victoria and no help from the others, a 3 year old team and an affiliation with the Vancouver Canucks to make it to 4000 people average. This team will also live or die by the weather. It can rain a lot on the island and if you think Victorians are gonna go to a PDL soccer game vs Tacoma in a rainstorm you are wrong. That is not a knock on Tacoma or Victoria either, just a fact that as they are used to the rain Victorians make decisions as a walkup crowd with the weather in mind. Just ask the organizers of the New Years Eve "First Night" concert downtown. If it is clear the place is packed, if it is raining its deserted. They also comp tix to the local navy base. CFB Esquimalt which is the only real Canadian base on the Pacific. The same navy base that Doyle G claims to live on but I know for a fact......... A FACT that he does not. I was based on CFB Esquimalt and know whom to ask. Nobodys ever heard of Gavin. End of story I hope Victoria works, a new stadium will help but for 3 years max.
I actually wasn't making any assumptions, just pointing out there is a pro-team playing out of Victoria at the moment that shelts failed to mention. I'm quite sure a soccer team would not outdraw the local ECHL team. As for 4,250 a game being enough for a USL-1 franchise, if they got that much they'd be drawing better than most teams in the league.
One has to consider the fact that the SOFMC was built in order to bring the WHL back to Victoria. The ECHL is still seen by many in the community as a poor substitute. RAP worked great as a venue for the U20's but it's a jack-of-all trades facility. Centennial has the track so that doesn't tend to fit well. If a new stadium comes along, it hopefully won't be built out of the way. The big story now in Victoria is supposed plans to build a new set of condos on the waterfront. That would likely spell the end of the Coho ferry and the seaplane service. Too many damn NIMBY's would want them out.