Aww such a wonderful dream. But in my case it would be Oklahoma City, Tulsa and maybe Omaha or Des Moines. However, I've also thought about adding Fort Worth to that list. I mean it is close to Dallas and all, but I think it could be doable with the right stadium and ownership.
sorry guys if I win the lottery, Im buying Messi and bringing him to the Battery. Oh and a personal expansion to Blackbaud stadium.
I was looking at this 40 million dollar fee and thinking about how that's twice what the Columbus Crew are worth and how it seems awfully expensive for entrance into an unprofitable league and then all of a sudden it hit me, holy crap, the MLS is basically a giant ponzi scheme, in that one of the most significant influxes of cash comes from new entrants into the league. Sure Toronto and LA are successful, FCD just about breaks even and Seattle will probably end up being profitable pretty quickly, but most teams lose around 2-4 million a year. 40 million dollars disbursed amongst the whole league goes a long way towards filling that deficit. I remember hearing something about how this has basically been the logic among the owners behind the hastening expansion of the league. Could it be that the expansion of the league is essentially being driven by its unprofitability? Somebody please tell me I'm crazy.
Meanwhile USL clubs apparently only need 3-5k in attendance per game to turn a profit, which the league as a whole has been averaging for the past seven years or so. MLS attendance is about the same as it was in 1996; meanwhile, USL-1's attendance has more than double since it's inception.
I just want a team to call my own. USL-1 or MLS. Either one. At this point, I might actually prefer USL, based only on the fact that I won't have to wait another 3 years to see the team on the pitch. STL USL-1 2010!
The Lions are probably St. Louis' best chance, really. They have a stadium (albeit a tiny one, but they'd expand) and history in the town.
I agree, MLS for 40 million is a joke. You could do so much with 40 million in USL1, I do hope St. Louis is in USL1 next year along with Orlando hopefully.
You know this how? If you have some access to team's books, please share. I wish I could dig ti up but there was an SI article back in 98 about the Rhinos which stated they were the only soccer team in the nation in the black (at that time) when they were drawing 11000 on average. And since 1996 USL1 attendance has skyrocketed. From an average 4946 http://a-leaguearchive.tripod.com/1996/1996.htm all the way to 5164! http://www.gregs-mom.com/USLAttendance.htm Look, I think the USL is fine. But do not go passing it off as something its not.
http://www.uslsoccer.com/aboutusl/history/285764.html the A-league was an independent league in 1996. the A-league that is now known as USL-1 was not established until 1997.
They merged with the USL in '97. But back to the topic of the thread which is the Lions trying to get a USL 1 franchise. A couple of other things to think about with this expanion. Their organizaiton is going to need to expand both on and off the field. They will need to expand their front office, infrastructure and dramatically increase their budget. So there is a lot more involved with a move like this then just starting to pay players and expanding your stadium. But they seem to have a pretty good solid base to build from. I would think if they wanted to come on board next season they would have to get approved soon and get starting on the work to do so. You could put everything together in less then a year, but more time is alwasy better.
I can assure you there is a lot of work going on to bring a USL-1 team to St Louis. As Butler Bob has noted there is a lot of thing's that need to take place on and off the field, it just simply does not happen over night and the league has to agree that this is what they want to do and what is best for the league.
I know that in trying to do something here in Oklahoma City that a lot of effort does go into this process. I respect what they are doing and I hope for nothing but the best. Plus, it would give me an excuse to visit the area.
Come to St. Louis on Saturday, April 25th @ 3pm and watch St. Louis Athletica take on Marta and the L.A. Sol. It is being held on the St. Louis University Campus at Hermann Stadium and are expecting over 6,000 for the match. Is a great atmosphere and the speed of the game is excellent.
Sadly, whether Glavin or Cooper, I simply don't think USL will work in our fine city. We have a major league attitude and feel anything less than that is beneath us. I think you will find many of the soccer diehards in St. Louis will simply say - "Thanks, but I think I'll just stick with the Billikens." Right or wrong, fair or unfair - many of the so-called soccer people I talk to in St. Louis see no difference in USL and Div 1 College and they indicate they'd stick with D1. Stadium location is going to be a big problem. It is as out of the way as Collinsville, however, unlike Collinsville, there is no direct interstate access. Hwy 94 and N is a traffic nightmare.
Sport Billy, This is not directed at you becasue I know you really want professional soccer in St Louis as much as anyone. As with either location at any level, don't throw in negative thing's (ie..traffic, location and such) we need to continue to talk about all of the positive thing's that the teams do on the field which will bring people out to support. Support shows that we want a professional soccer team here in the future. If everyone keeps falling back on why they cannot go to a game, Athletica or Lions, then it plants the seed in others that they should not go. There are some people out there that want to see both organizations fail, these same people probably would not go see a game if it were in their own backyard. Rowdies 1965, no thread jacking. I respectfully do not post Lions info on the athletica boards boards without asking them.
I would rather look at the truth of the situation rather than just stating the positives. I think that's a form of lying. If these guys (Cooper & Glavin) want me to support their efforts - the very least I expect is honesty - that involves discussing the down side as well as the positive.
Maybe if big support is shown for Athletica then you'd have a better chance at getting a USL1 or MLS team. Heck, you even point it out in your own post. Did his post really hurt anything? I don't see moderator under your name either. Maybe Sport Billy is right about St. Louis sports fans.
No but it is courtesy, and as a Big Soccer member you have probably witnessed how threads spin out of control and don't remain on topic. Just keeping it on topic.
No problem, I was just trying to show a unified front. So you can have this thread and enjoy. I will take my happy self elsewhere. Enjoy your matches in front of a couple hundred of people.
Rowdies, don't take it personally that folks want to keep the thread on a particular topic. Thread starters are allowed to set reasonable limits on the discussions in their threads according to internet common law. I don't think that a USL-1 team requires widespread support from all of St Louis to be viable. It's a shame that people from Waterloo will have a long trek to see the Lions and probably won't make it, but there are lots of folks in O'fallon, St Charles, etc who can probably go to a game. I think an MLS team might have attendence problems out in Cottleville, but the Lions aren't in the MLS. I live in Valley Park, so C-ottle-ville and C-ollins-ville are both a little further away than I'd like, but I'll visit either (both) c-villes once or twice a year to see some pro soccer in person. I'm not a super-soccer-fan or anything, I don't follow EPL or know a lot about the pro scene, I just like to go out for a fun day and watch soccer. Probably a lot of people in StL are like that, and I think St Louis can support more than one cost-effective soccer team, D1 or pro. They might not be "good enough" to inspire rabid fanaticism among the soccer elites, but I'm not one of them so I don't care. What do I know, I enjoy Grizzlies games, and the drop-off from the Cardinals to the Grizzlies in talent is probably 5x greater than the drop from MLS to USL-1 (and I'm no USL-1 truther by a long shot). Do we have any idea when the decision about the Lions joining USL-1 will be made? I'm guessing it must be soon if they're intending to play in 2010.
Well, that was a bit of a different situation because it wasn't as if the team was starting from scratch. Then again: http://usl2.uslsoccer.com/scripts/runisa.dll?M2.65878:gp:955626389:72013+L3/Display+E+112+112+161293