At 3pm Wednesday, USL will make what it calls a "major announcement regarding the future of professional soccer," and Jeff DiVeronica tells us that it is, in fact, about indoor soccer. Apparently the I-League is back and Rochester will be its first announced team to begin play in 2011. History buffs will recall what is now USL began as an indoor league after the demise of the NASL, and that it had an indoor component called the I-League up until 1998 (when one of its teams was, oddly enough, the Western Massachusetts Twisters). If they're bringing it back, I'm curious as to how they're going to pull it off.
Source: www.uslsoccer.com/aboutusl/ USL I-League The I-League is a national indoor soccer league that features an economically viable model for team owners. Set to debut in 2011, the I-League will offer high-level professional indoor soccer in regionalized divisions. The launch of the I-League is the initial phase of USL’s efforts to build the soccer pyramid to meet the growing demands of the indoor game.
I wasn't aware there were growing demands of the indoor game. And I'm skeptical of an 'economically viable model for team owners,' because that's what the PASL has been trumpeting. And while their teams are (I'm guessing here) not losing tons of money, they're also not giving off the aura of being high-level professional teams. We'll see. Good luck.
Maybe its a(nother) try at the age old suggestion on here to have one front office, one infrastructure, one sales staff and play in two leagues. I personally thought it was a good idea.........until the Montreal Impact actually tried it in the NPSL. That didn't pan out financially (IIRC). I'm a little unclear if this is the Rochester Rhinos of the NASL or a bunch of former Rhinos? I'll give the USL a ton of credit, during the NASL and USL schism of the start of the season they left the PDL and W-League Vancouver Whitecaps along and didn't threaten Vancouver with a "if you go, they are out" type of message. I'm just wondering if Rochester is in the same boat. DiVeronica is one guy who actually has his finger on the pulse about the USL, NASL and Rochester in particular, so its a very credible sighting. I wish them luck. Someone needs to pull the indoor game up from the ashes. I'd be interested to see if Ed Hale is looking at this as an direct threat or a savior? Anyone from Baltimore (credible people, not the lunatics) know?
It would be really interesting if this I-League can actually get off the ground if there are no goofy twists (like MPS or no boards). It could be exciting. Or it could f-up the MISL and PASL and put the sport in worse shape than it is now. We never get from point A to point B as a sport because people keep driving off the road to look at shiny objects and then they run out of gas or crash into a ditch.
Why bother? In the last few years, some USL clubs have had squads in the PASL-Premier. Williamsburg Legacy and FC Fredericksburg come to mind. So why bother with yet another duplicate league? Next fall, we can have pro clubs within a few miles of each other playing at approximately the same level, in seperate leagues, yet again.
Not to mention joining the NPSL nearly killed the Montreal Impact. Not to mention USL D1 only has 3 teams unless they can reconcile with the NASL teams. Not to mention the last iteration of the I-League ended with like 4 teams drawing 300 a game.
As much as I dislike the USL and personally think that indoor soccer has blown since the original MISL closed up shop, this might not be bad. Yes this I-League will basically be the PASL, but what it will offer is a coordinated organization. The infamous Impact and Wave attempts to play both indoors and outdoors didn't fare well simply because there was no synergy between the indoor/outdoor leagues. If the USL can create the old NASL vibe where you played the same clubs indoor and outdoor then they are on to something. I would expect maybe a dozen teams the first time out. Mostly USL 1 or 2. Remember PDL clubs use mostly college players in many cases so PDL teams won't be involved I wouldn't think. What would be really nice is if the MISL would join forces with the I League and maybe have a decent sized league of teams playing a decent quality of indoor soccer. But I won't hold my breath for that.
Ok. Took all of five minutes for reality to set in. Plus I took the time to read the link to the Rochester announcement. This thing is doomed. The indoor team has no affiliation with the Rhinos. Bad deal. Same old soccer. Instead of working together we are going to reinvent the wheel and screw each other.
On the surface, this proposed league seems like it has a few positive aspects that the MISL cannot claim: 1) If they truly have "regionalized divisions," they will be avoiding the ridiculous travel costs MISL teams have to pay. It's something I have wished the MISL could achieve for years. 2) Even if the indoor and outdoor organizations are separately owned/operated, it seems to me that it will be a lot easier to attract fans by using recognizable names in established markets than it will be to start a team from scratch that plays in a league most soccer fans don't even realize exists. And I have to believe that there would still be some crossover, at least in terms of players. Many MISL players already play in USL-1/NASL or USL-2 in the summer, and I imagine most would love the opportunity to stay in the same place year-round. 3) On at least some small level, announcements are already being made regarding teams that won't play until 2011 (Whereas the Kansas City area is just finding out that they'll have a team that starts play in three months). In terms of securing sponsorships, selling season tickets and spreading the word among the soccer community, they are at least giving themselves a fighting chance. I recognize they still have a huge mountain to climb, and I don't like the idea of competing leagues undercutting what little life is left in professional indoor soccer; however, I am more impressed by what little we've heard about the I-League than I am by anything the NISL/MISL has done lately.
I used to think it would be cool if the team you followed outdoors would also then play indoors with a lot of the same players, as was the case when I was a teen and the Rowdies played outdoors and indoors. But I have yet to see anyone do it successfully. I am left to believe it can't be done effectively. You're never in offseason sales mode, you're always in "in-season" mode. It hurts.
I think the I-League is a great name but its bound to fail! I see a Will Farrell movie coming from this! HA HA
This 4 leagues thing shouldn't be a problem. There are about 80 minor league hockey teams in the AHL, ECHL, CHL, and, SPHL. The problem is no one in indoor soccer is smart enough to create a new team. They either try to steal each other's teams or they try to put teams in Cleveland, Kansas City, Dallas, and St. Louis. There are plenty of players and markets if anyone took the time to discover them.
There are a shitload more players for hockey between here and Canada than there are decent indoor soccer players who aren't already being siphoned off by outdoor, and, no, there aren't plenty of markets, either. We've scorched the earth on many of them. And there aren't 80 owners. Not to mention the fact that, without question, minor league hockey is more popular than indoor soccer. From a spectator standpoint, from an investor standpoint, from every standpoint you can think of. We've never had 80 indoor teams. We'll never get close to 80 indoor teams. At the crest of the hockey boom, there were 139 total teams and 111 of them were in the minors (1999-2000). Everybody had a hockey team. This season we were down to 110 total and 80 in the minors. I don't know where we are now. But that's going to be 6 to 7 times more teams than we'll have in indoor soccer, among all these leagues. The upside for this simply isn't as big as you constantly make it out to be. Which perplexes me, given that you actually worked in it and you actually tried to make a league go, and you actually work for another league. Why can't you see it? Why do you insist that what is happening in front of you is simply a matter of people not getting it quite right? It can't be done.
Because our sport isn't organized. Because our owners don't have a lot of money. Because no one gets that they are not in the soccer business, but the sales business. Because it's a professional sport marketed as a Wiggles concert. Because everytime someone starts to build something some other asshole comes along and tries to take it away from him. For starters.
You have a point about constantly playing and needing an offseason to sell tickets and give the fans a break. The problem is that the indoor season and outdoor seasons have overlapped since the demise of the old NASL. The Rowdies and some others did well because the indoor season was brief. The USL would be wise to follow that model. Good luck to them, they will need it.
I believe that the NASL ran three official indoor leagues/tournaments. It started as a round robin tournament and then eventually a full blown league. Teams had various amounts of success (in many cases facilities were a huge factor) and it started off as a way to keep busy in a long offseason and then became a major deal. Remember the MISL came on the scene and threw a wrench in the works, which is why I wish that everyone would just settle their differences and work together. I can only speak for the Rowdies, but they did quite well with indoor. Both on and off the field. They were hampered by substandard indoor facilities, but still drew well. Even when the NASL had no formal indoor league, the Rowdies played indoor exhibitions (most notably against Russian sides). My point is if it is done as a small scale addition to an outdoor club (less than20 games) it could be complimentary to a club. If you try to play eleven months a year between indoor and outdoor, then yes it will fail.
Is anyone watching the announcement on USLlive.com? That just shows you right there how serious they are about this thing. This whole I-League deal is probably one of the biggest fails we've seen so far. This even surpasses an epic fail.
