That is probably true but no one did when he was in LA either. Of course I'm sure things and times have changed since 1995 though....
I did read not so long ago that Mark Davis is exploring to play at Levi's in Santa Clara. Not sure how true it is but I'm sure it would be better than playing at O.Co.
My prediction is that if Oaktown can't quickly figure out a funding plan for a new stadium, the Raiders climb in bed with the 9ers in Santa Clara short term, while pursuing a stadium deal in LA.
He is, he's also apparently still working with Ed Roski in Industry to make this happen. I think it'll come down to what Oakland can offer them (which won't be much). Once they've established Oakland has nothing they can then decide if they want to go be the Niners lapdogs or if they want to be bold and retake the market they still own down in LA. Regardless they won't be helping to create an SF stadium to help SF get a team at any level. And no one else will either. An SF team will have to navigate the waters alone. And they're trickier waters than even NYCFC is dealing with in the Queens and Bronx (and look how much luck they're having). Just ask the Giants, Niners and Warriors how easy getting something done in SF is... And they're all established teams that have been here for 50 years or more.
Not really. It's right in the range of almost every other NFL stadium that's been built in the last 25 years. It would hold 75,000 which makes it only good enough for 8th biggest in the NFL if they ever build it. Plus its not like it would be home for a soccer team or anything. It's being designed primarily as an NFL stadium not unlike Levis in Santa Clara (which is only 6,000 or so seats smaller).
I heard some talk about expanding Kezar or adding the old Candlestick seats to the old relic but I don't know when they will do it. Kezar is a cool looking place for a team and many amateur soccer teams play there but to have a major professional soccer team play there doesn't seem like it will work. Access to the freeways and the rest of SF isn't the greatest either. https://www.google.com/search?q=kez...ATykoLIDA&sqi=2&ved=0CCgQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=905
Someone on this board suggested they do it. No one official has even contemplated the idea of moving the Candlestick seats to Kezar. They're selling off the ones they can to Niners and Giants fans and the rest will be recycled or blown up with the stadium. And Kezar won't work for pro soccer. Not long term at any rate. It's too isolated from mass transit, freeways and enough parking. To say nothing of the venue's deficiencies including old wood benches, no real press boxes to speak of, a distant field due to the very large track, and the generally cold location. No pro team that's called the place home has ever worked out or stayed long.
Its a cute area but yeah, I'll believe it when I see it. On another front, I know Bill Peterson NASL Commissioner posted a picture of SF on his Twitter page back in December and implied that they would be getting an NASL team there but I've yet heard or read anything more after that.
I don't think he tweeted that they'd be getting a team. He just tweeted a picture of the SF skyline and basically said "guess where I am". People drew their own conclusions. But I wouldn't get excited. He seems to do that wherever he is lately.
They've mentioned dozens of cities as possible expansion. Until they have an owner in place there's nothing to any of it other than trying to keep interest in their league in a region of the country NASL has thus far completely ignored and left to USL.
I'm not sure the Seals should count. Different environment now. I was also making a joke about how USL and NASL seem to be following each other around with their expansion lately.
No but the CA Victory were supposedly a higher level than the Seals were. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Victory
They were USL-1 which was the D2 league at the time. So equivalent of the current NASL. And yes they failed pretty miserably.
Quakes coming back I'm sure didn't help but Piterman thought by going to SF, somehow everyone would flock to his games. I remember him saying, all across Europe no one ever heard of San Jose but everyone knows SF. He may have a point but the whole world knows Silicon Valley which is basically San Jose and when I lived in Europe, everyone talked about the Valley. Its not like the high tech world all flocks to SF. Still , although I wasn't involved with him, I am pretty sure he didn't care or want to know anything about the local people with ties to the local soccer , college or amateur scene in the area. In a way it was all for the best in the end as the Quakes came back but I don't think too many SF and peninsula soccer fans cared or even knew much about that team.
Sorry if this is going to sound naive but here goes. Why hasn't San Francisco ever supported or had an old NASL team or MLS? Is it because of the proximity to San Jose? IM naive O, northern California should be able to support two pro soccer franchises but I live in the cold tundra so I don't know the area well enough. I am only out there to visit relatives and spend time touring breweries and wineries for work.
Check out this thread in the NASL expansion folder https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/nasl-bay-area.1991857/
Oh I agree Piterman was chief among the Victory's problems. And him scrambling because of Alvaes being relegated and the Victory's non existent marketing didn't help matters either. But then neither did playing at Kezar. In that regard I will say that SF has never had a fair shake at a properly run D2 or D3 team any time recently. But given the city's poor track record with minor league squads in all sports I still don't see how it would turn out any differently than it did for the Victory. They might not die as quickly as the Victory did (they were essentially abandoned and out of cash after half the 2007 season), but after a few seasons they'd end up folding like so many before them. Still at least the Quakes got the 1906 out of the whole Victory debacle.
Interesting you mention wineries. Former original NASL San Jose Earthquakes owner and founder Milan Mandaric actually sold the Quakes to Tony Kovac in 1978 and bought the Connecticut Bicentennials and moved them across from SF to Oakland calling them the Stompers. If you look at their logo, its has a bunch of grapes and I think his idea (back then) was to get the local Bay Area wineries involved with the team. It didn't last though as he sold the team to Peter Pocklington in 1979 who moved the team to Edmonton, Canada, calling them the Drillers. http://www.nasljerseys.com/Rosters/Stompers_Rosters.htm https://www.google.com/search?q=Oakland Stompers&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=JXXZUsjOAYS8oQSXloCQBw&ved=0CDYQsAQ&biw=760&bih=640 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland_Stompers https://www.google.com/search?q=Oakland Stompers&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=iu&imgil=EqYQjYMtUWzRaM%3A%3Bhttps%3A%2F%2Fencrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dtbn%3AANd9GcSVyfHvbQJnC9TyXxQXsk1YHbz5alJPWpoLqw6KrpIsMkGRbOkh3w%3B638%3B583%3BPXN_R70jySM3NM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.sportslogos.net%252Flogos%252Fview%252Fbzl6h90j6ghujcfa9tfkrifuw%252FOakland_Stompers%252F1978%252FPrimary_Logo&sa=X&ei=JXXZUsjOAYS8oQSXloCQBw&ved=0CDsQ9QEwAg&biw=760&bih=640#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=EqYQjYMtUWzRaM%3A;PXN_R70jySM3NM;http%3A%2F%2Fcontent.sportslogos.net%2Flogos%2F52%2F1409%2Ffull%2Fbzl6h90j6ghujcfa9tfkrifuw.gif;http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportslogos.net%2Flogos%2Fview%2Fbzl6h90j6ghujcfa9tfkrifuw%2FOakland_Stompers%2F1978%2FPrimary_Logo;638;583 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oakland_stompers_logo.png Around 1979-1980 the fair trade law was passed and a lot of wineries had a problem staying afloat. I remember my as my father was a wine salesman back in those days. Probably another reason on why Mandaric wanted out.