Rumored NASL expansion cities

With how hard the NASL has worked to try and create some sort of relationship between them and MLS, I don't think it's terribly far-fetched at all to think the White Caps and/or Impact could be fielding a "reserve type" team in the NASL at some point. Don't know what kind of rules changes or concessions MLS would have to make to allow it, or if ultimately they would, but it wouldn't surprise me.

For some reason Detroit keeps sticking out at me as a possibility for one of these teams. I know they have MLS aspirations, and the recent model for reaching MLS is by going through D2 first, so it sounds feasible as long as there is an owner and a place to play that meets D2 standards. Of course I have no clue about those two important things. LOL Is there any chance that the LA Blues are unhappy with USL's "efforts" to get even a single team to join them out west in D3? Could that owner have the $$$ to give his team a rebrand to the LA Aztecs and move up? Want to say I read somewhere awhile back that the current NASL bought up some of the original NASL trademarks and the Aztecs was one of them. Anyway, just thinking outside the box here.

Smoke & Mirrors, I think Detroit is another real possibility especially if its the Canadian group that bought the Silverdome. They would have the wealth to qualify as owners but they would have to find somewhere to play other than the Silverdome IMO in its current condition & with its seating capacity.

The LA Blues idea is interesting and it would help the NASL meet the time zone requirement for a D2 league. Also, I think you're right about the Aztecs name being owned by the NASL. In the end, don't know how stable that group is though. Maybe someone who is closer to their situation could shine some light on that for us. In the meantime, I'd be cautious if I were the NASL about adding them to the mix. If the NASL is interested in growing with stable groups, I would question their strategy if the Blues were part of it. They haven't really caught on in their first 2 years and as we've seen with the Rowdies (no offense intended to the Rowdies fans) but a rebrand in and of itself won't bring the fans to the games.

Re: Let's Go To the Scoreboard

Dude, do you have any idea how hot it is here at night in the summer?

The answer would be, "Hot enough so that you can play, but also hot enough to keep most people away." It's routinely 100 degrees at midnight here in the middle of summer. (Insert dry heat reference here, for which you will be cockpunched.)

There's a reason the two sports franchises here whose seasons touch the summer months have facilities with retractable roofs. And that the Cardinals started a sellout streak as soon as they moved into theirs after 20 years at Sun Devil Stadium (and, yes, that predated the Super Bowl season).

I do not believe it is feasible to play outdoor soccer here during the summer at an existing facility (and the only ones that exist, really, I outlined above) that doesn't have a roof if you want people to actually attend matches in any decent number. That's just me. I don't see it. Someone may try, in which case, knock yourself out.

But without spending a shootload on a stadium, I can't see it working. I just don't see an economical way to do it.

Heard thirdhand a couple of weeks ago that that was a possibility, but the logistics of the thing boggle my mind.

The people who own the LA Blues have money, for sure. But they're losing a ton at the third division level ($800,000 last year) and I'm not 100% sure moving up would make that better, even with the potential presence of a San Diego NASL team. (Proximity's great, you need somebody near you to play, but it can't be the sole determining factor as to whether you continue throwing money away.)

They had a decent crowd the first game and were back to 2011 levels the next game. If they continue to be unable to draw crowds and they continue to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars, a rational person might think it would be hard to convince them they'd do better moving up a level. Maybe that's just me.

As for rebranding, I think they like the "Blues" identity, given their women's team (Pali Blues). Anything's possible, I guess.

The US Patent & Trademark Office says "Los Angeles Aztecs" is officially a dead trademark, so no one apparently owns it.

Ever been to City Stadium?

Re: Let's Go To the Scoreboard

That's a solution, a realistic solution for sub-MLS level soccer.

I didn't say it was a great solution, but it's one that's affordable for sub-MLS level soccer. Anything else is dreamworld. And this is pretty closes to that.

It's pretty much the same reason we don't play soccer in Chicago or Toronto in February either.

It is rather nice. We call it reality.

Yes. That's better than the day. Players will probably be able to play the whole game before succumbing to heat stroke instead of the 50th minute.

With money you can solve any problem. That's sub-MLS level soccer's problem. There's no money.

I bet those franchises make money too. Or at least they're owned by people than can afford to lose millions to tens of millions a year. Sub-MLS soccer team owners can't do that

I would concur, especially since U of P stadium is air conditioned (8,000 tons of HVAC to be exact) and has a retractable field. But of course, they have the NFL and "real" soccer on occasion to pay for that building

Ain't no one gonna building no bubble. That's Re rrrrr, Not Very Smart, Jenny

Re: Let's Go To the Scoreboard

Oh, they can play. I've seen the game played here then. I just don't believe you can get more than a small group of hardy individuals to pay to watch it played.

And I'm sure there's a really expensive solution to that - the Qataris either have or haven't figured it out, depending on who you listen to.

Yes, no one's going to build a bubble for a D2 team, I don't think. Or if they are, I'd love to see the plan.

Re: Let's Go To the Scoreboard

It's about as interesting as watching EL & UCL teams play in St. Petersburg in the Russian Winter

The Qataris don't figure shit out, they hire people in England, the US or hong Kong to figure it out and pay them stupid money.

If they do, I'm sure the County will figure out what do to do with it when goes back to them as a tax auction.

No I haven't. But I guess by it's age and your response that it's hardly a gem of a stadium.

As I said, I was going out on a limb where there might be a team that had an owner with the wealth in the existing NASL footprint to meet the USSF standards. It might have been a weak limb and the stadium might be a big enough problem to break that limb.

So is the stadium that bad that it rules out the Kickers? If so, I concede and will search for another limb to go out on.

City Stadium is very old and shows it. Infrastructurally...well, it's old. I am not 100% sure the Kickers' ownership meets the standards USSF wants, either, but I'm not willing to say that conclusively. They dropped from D2 to D3 before most of the other teams, I'm guessing there's a reason for that. You don't get to stick around for 20 years making poor decisions, usually.

Two straight seasons of making the D2 final cost a boatload of money, that's why they dropped to D3. Minor league sports teams tend to be financially penalized for their success. Last minute travel, plus paying more staff to stay on board longer, and I believe USL made playoff teams kick in money to televise the championship games.

I talked with some of the brass a few years back at Sportsbackers Stadium (the tiny VCU soccer field next to the Diamond that the Kickers occasionally use for USOC games).

City Stadium is a bit of a mess. Oddly, the part the Kickers were talking about tearing down is the more modern aluminum stand that I only remember being used for USMNT and USWNT games. The half oval concrete older stand is ancient, crumbling, and most of the seats are a long way away from the soccer field.

Yes, I heard they were going to tear the rusty part down years ago, which was why I was kind of surprised to see it still standing when we were there last summer. The other side, as you mention, is no great shakes, either. And the press box is inadequate.

(Incidentally, Richmond hadn't made the D2 final two straight years before the drop...they lost the final in 2002 and then again in 2005 before dropping to the third division for 2006...and winning the final there.)

Any chance the San Diego Flash would be the existing organization?

and how about Baltimore for the New organization and "Current Footprint" city.

If they had some additional investors, I figure. I don't believe the current ownership is thinking second division, but who knows? I guess "existing organization" could mean at a lot of different levels, not necessarily just a USL Pro team that jumps.

I guess one could toss out any city of a certain size within the footprint. Where in Baltimore would they play? CPB shuttled around between a few different places, I don't know that there's any one obvious good venue.

Kudos, at least one person here has basic reading comprehension.

Exactly. Andy, Kenn and Mr. "Warmth" are assholes to everyone in nearly every post but it's the other people that get infractions for responding to them in kind. It would be great if the mods weren't worthless, inconsistent trash themselves.

And Kenn's post is clearly nothing more than another attack itself yet the clueless mod does nothing about it.

Baltimore does have one renewal project going on that has a soccer stadium in the approved proposal, but it is contingent upon actually having a team lined up to move in. The expectation is that they'll keep chasing DC United while that situation is up in the air, but an NASL team could sneak in the back door if ownership were to materialize.

Awwwwwww, is that what's botherin' ya, Bunky?

I know, we're maddening when we're right, aren't we?

They are trying to get more investors....but a grassroots approach. I know they want to move up, just don't know to what level.

Isn't this the whole point of the thread - trying to figure out what cities are the rumored two new expansion teams - one in the footprint and the other on the west coast? I'm a fan just having some fun guessing who might be joining the league. I've never worked for a team and I'm not plugged into the league in any way.

Just saying that these are guesses...

So, let's toss out another city for everyone to shoot down. I actually learned a good deal from those who are more in the know than I am from my last guess.

I think the footprint team could be the Wilmington Hammerheads.
Here's why:

• Great attendance
• Very little competition for sports in town
• Stadium that meets USSF standards

Unknows and why it might not work:

• Bill Rudisill as majority owner may not meet standards. I could not find out anything other than he owns a series of hotels.
• Does the team want to move to NASL - no idea
• Wilmington MSA is below 750,000 but standards allow for 25% of teams in the league to be below this requirement.

The west coast team will be in Sacremento because I read somewhere once that a guy with money wanted to bring MLS to Sacremento. Final answer.

The Aztecs will be returning in 2013 with new owner James Farrell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Aztecs

Who is James Farrel??
What league would be playing?? NASL?

I found this page:
http://mls2centralfl.webs.com/eventsandnews.htm

Of course this was in relation to the the Rowdies, not the Aztecs.

Information on the Survival Fighting Championships (from April, 2007):
http://www.sherdog.com/news/pressreleases/Survival-Fighting-Championship-7359

The xtremefightingchampionship website no longer works. Nor does the survivalfc website.

Here's a bigsoccer post by SoccerPrime from 2003:
http://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/central-florida-pt-3.595360/page-10#post-13181673

And I found another side debunking the above:

And he definitely doesn't show up in the San Jose stats for 2001. It's possible he was a trialist, or maybe even on the roster at some point, but he would've been only 18 at the time. The aforementioned BigSoccer thread also debunks Farrell being with either the Quakes nor Charlton.

Don't let the two jackoffs bother you. Kenn and Andy are the type of pathetic little weasels whose whole life depends on playing internet tough guy. BTW, Baltimore has approved funding to study an MLS stadium with the goal of poaching DC United, but that study could potentially lead to either an expansion team or NASL team if they really like what they see.

As far as Wilmington goes, it's just way too small of a MSA to support D2 soccer. Under 370k and growing very slowly (up 7300 since the last census). For a league trying to set itself up as a legit D2, having its sites set on very large markets without MLS, and having a requirement that 75% of their markets be at 750k+, it just doesn't seem like Wilmington would fit.