So a hockey team comes and goes and there is still no news on the .... San Francisco Expansion Soccer Team!
And there likely won't be for a long time. Not until an owner is found and a venue built, ideally in an easy to access to location if it can be done. Which is why hockey remains relevant. Right now NASL's plan seems to be to put a team in Kezar and then find an owner for it. Basically their plan is to do everything backward and to fail from the start.
To be fair, is that actually their stated plan, or is it just more Fanboy Wish List stuff run amok? Someone says "Hey, wouldn't it be great if.....?" and before long it becomes, "The NASL is planning to do....."
No I distinctly remember the NASL president (his name escapes me right now), saying they were looking into SF and putting a team in Kezar. I'll see if I can dig up the link, but it definitely wasn't the usual fanboy telephone progression.
No, that's fine, but is their plan to put a team there and then find an owner? That was my actual quibble. They also said they were interested in St. Louis, once upon a time. You know, before the evil USL (apparently) swooped in there and spoiled their plans, like they do.
Admittedly stating it like that was my harsh take on how they're approaching it. They did state Kezar is a venue they're looking at, and they're doing so without an owner yet identified. When I get a moment I'll find the actual wording, but it came out around the time he was racking up frequent flier miles posting twitter photos of various cities like he was trying to prove NASL hadn't forgotten about the western half of the country.
I heard on KNBR sports radio last week someone proposed to build soccer fields and basketball courts when they tear down Candlestick. Then the radio announce , I think it was Gary Radnich saying all there is down there is poverty and cold weather and that they wouldn't build anything there. I think that is pretty much the only available area currently in SF as most every other area is taken up. Don't know where else a stadium could be placed other than at the Waterfront, Kezar or the Golden Gate Park area but I doubt they will build down there.
The Candlestick site is already slated for some other development, mainly housing and retail. If they built soccer fields they'd likely be the community variety, not the sports venue type. But on top of that the issues that made Candlestick a pit would still remain, not to mention the poor access and non-existent transit access, which would just be compounded by the added housing and retail in the area after its redeveloped. As someone on another board mentioned to me, SF is only a good sports town when access is easy. And access is only easy where transit is concentrated, namely the downtown core and waterfront. Golden Gate Park, Kezar, Cow Palace, and even Candlestick all share the same problem to varying degrees... they're not easy to get to.
Posted on Reddit today. "Just waiting on ownership". Classic!!! Them and every other would-be fanboy, wannabe market. Topeka, KS is just waiting for ownership too.
And if his earlier statements are to be believed that "plan" is Kezar. So essentially what I said earlier, they've got a plan that involves Kezar and are now looking for an owner to take over said plan.
Hey, good luck to anyone who actually plucks down some serious $$$ on that venture. Hopefully, they know more than we do. Personally, I (most of us actually) think its a waste of money and a futile effort. The failure of the SF Bulls surely can't be helping the NASL recruitment process.