Rochester Rhinos? They were part of the breakaway effort earlier when NASL broke from USL. And ... Phoneix... my guesses. http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/nasl2.html
According to Railhawks' twitter, NASL mentioned Phoenix, San Diego and Indianapolis as places discussed in Carolina with Johnson and Downs. What that exacting means, I do not know. Possibly investment groups, possibly wishful thinking.
Charleston have repeatedly said they don't want to move up. They're happy with their rivals. If anything, Charleston would be the club I'd want to lead a D-3 breakaway.
I really do not want to see that, I am cool with a few team moving to NASL from USLPRO, but I do want USLPRO to continue, as long as they accept their role as D3 and NASL their as D2, I want both to do ok and survive.
The problem is the USL are still the USL. They can change the odd person, push Francisco off to one side but it basically still has all the same problems and lacks credibility. Already, they've had this one division III league for a season we've had the Puerto Rico debacle and FCNY going to NPSL. The best thing for D-3 long term is for the main franchises that have been going for years to take control of their own destinies, not be beholden to the USL. A large chunk of the USL-PRO is currently decent, it's just the USL themselves that are the problem.
Unlike Wilbon, I'd be very surprised with Phoenix. Not hearing any rumblings, first off, but more importantly...there's no place to play here in the summer that makes sense. None. And no matter how many times you ask Charleston's people, they're happy in the third division, with no impetus to go back up to the second division and expend more money for the limited return they would get.
I was going with Phoenix solely off of the news from the commissioner that pointed to it as one of the cities they are in contact with, along with San Diego and Indianapolis. I agree that Rochester is much more likely as the established team and as the team that is in the current NASL footprint, I just really want Charleston in the mix. Has anyone looked into potential PDL or NPSL clubs that might make sense as the ones trying to make the move up to the NASL level? I believe Des Moines (PDL) and Chattanooga (NPSL) have some pretty good attendance numbers. Any rumblings that either ownership group wants to try and make a go with more than amateur players?
They may very well be in contact with people there and I have no reason to believe they'd be lying. But of those three, only San Diego could be considered to have semi-viable places to play, for reasons I've gone into before. It's less about what you want and more about Charleston's goals as an organization. And they have said - time and again - that they are happy where they are. It wouldn't make a lot of sense for Charleston to move up. Has anyone looked at what happens to amateur teams that move up? Historically?
Over the winter there was a good thread (i know that sounds impossible) on the large barriers to teams making the jump from PDL. Maybe after doing some work I'll go look for it.
How about AztexII? Not sure about the feelings after the original team left, but Austin had success as a new team and was building strong fan support nicely before moving. Talk about a natural derby with San Antonio. Would reduce overall travel costs a bit for both teams as well.
Austin would be a great spot. That would probably take a show of good faith by signing a 5 year stadium deal, or something to that effect, to help get the fans back.
They'd have to either convince the current PDL team to jump or just bigfoot them out of there (they're playing at House Park, currently). You could do the former, I guess, but if you do the latter, they're not going to be the Aztex.
I'm sure they consider it every day of the week, then nobody from Austin calls and asks, "how do I sign up", then they move on to other business. In the news, they mentioned one of the MegaMillions winning tickets was from "northeast Kansas". After calling my retired parents, I ended up going to Kroger's as planned instead of Whole Foods for groceries. It's not like MLS, USL, and NASL haven't spent the last couple of decades trolling for potential owners in every medium sized media market and up. University of Texas aside, I'm pretty sure every professional sports league in the country is salivating over the size and growth rate of the Austin market and its complete lack of professional teams.
Was there any comment about how far along the 2nd set of 2 new teams is? I think all that we saw was that they "hoped" to have another 2 by the end of the season for 2013. I think we would all be pretty happy with this for next year: Atlanta Silverbacks Carolina Railhawks FC Edmonton Fort Lauderdale Strikers Minnesota Stars FC Puerto Rico Islanders Rochester Rhinos San Antonio Scorpions San Diego ??? Tampa Bay Rowdies Throw in 2 more viable locations and we've got the makings of a fairly legitimate Division 2 league.
New interview by the11.ca interviewing the Commish David Downs where he mentions more NASL potential markets : http://the11.ca/2012/04/17/nasl-commissioner-speaks-about-ottawa-fc-edmonton-and-canadian-expansion/ "Downs cofirmed that NASL’s sights are set on San Diego, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Sacramento and the greater Los Angeles area (Anaheim, Riverside)."
Rochester isn't going anywhere. Joining the NASL to be the only northeast team in the league would make zero business sense. Financial losses from such a move would be staggering. It would increase travel costs noticeably for the rest of the league also. Ottawa isn't coming in 2014 either, unless they find another venue. The one they planned on using won't be ready: http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loc...-glebe-design-120207/20120207/?hub=OttawaHome
I think the Stadium will open in 2014, but the complete project which includes the retail village and park space will complete 2015, so Ottawa should enter the league for the 2014 season.
Well, San Diego's on an island (figuratively) unless one of those other two also happens. But at least they have places you could play. Sacto has always made some sense, and Greater Los Angeles is, obviously, a big place (though there's a lot of soccer teams there). Seriously, though, people act as though Phoenix and Las Vegas aren't in a desert. I mean, honestly, people. We don't have a realistic place to play here that makes both economic sense and offers reasonable spectator comfort. Contrary to some people's beliefs, soccer fandom is not an exercise in how much misery you can endure for the glory of the badge. ("Phoenix 'Til I Die...In August.") I'd be stunned if there was someone here with the wherewithal and the plan to make the NASL (a) happen here and ( b) work here. Ditto for Vegas, though I don't live there and can't realistically be as sure about that. And I know zip about ABQ, though I wonder if there's a reason they don't have anything there.